The mask is right off

This time he said it before a microphone and TV cameras. Donald Trump claimed that from his perspective the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which he has awarded to, among others, donors, professional athletes, politicians, and radio commentator Rush Limbaugh "is better" than the Medal of Honor. He claimed the medal of freedom is "better" precisely because recipients do not have to sacrifice their health or their lives.

Donald Trump has made it clear from the outset that he despises service and sacrifice. He has repeatedly, and very publicly, rejected the notion that those who sacrifice themselves for the good of others have a claim on their fellow citizens. He dismissed the five and a half years his political rival John McCain spent in brutal captivity for his country with a sneer: "I like people who weren't captured, OK?". When the family of Humayun Khan, who had given his life in Operation Iraqi Freedom, appealed to Donald Trump to abandon his Islamophobic policies in the name of the United States Constitution, and of their son who had given his life for that constitution, Donald Trump dismissed them by doubling down on his Islamophobic positions.

Canadian Cross, Arlington National Cemetery

I can believe our species needs a better means of settling disputes than war and still respect the dedication and self-sacrifice of service members. I can believe, as I do, in honouring men and women for acts of valour and self sacrifice outside of lethal conflicts without lessening my respect for valour shown on the battlefield. As much as I long for the day when "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore," I do not expect to live to see it. When that blessed day comes, we will still need firefighters to run into burning buildings, physicians to face epidemics, and sailors to take on the glory and rage of the oceans. Our societies, for as long as they exist in time, will need to take on debts to individuals; debts we can never repay with any coin but honour and memory. 

The attempts by Republicans to shrug this blunder off have been predictable: claims Donald Trump "loves" veterans and the American military, and appeals to all he has done for the troops. Whatever Trump feels about the troops, he has made it plain he does not respect them enough to understand their values or comprehend their sacrifices. This defence of Trump brings to mind a quote from the Roman Cicero: "He removes the greatest ornament of friendship who takes away from it respect." *

Respect is not merely an ornament of friendship ; it is a prerequisite for appropriate treatment. Despite claims that Trump ensured American veterans received exemplary services under Trump, assessments of his tenure suggest a mixed record, at best about equal to that of the Biden Administration, with less steady leadership for Veterans' Affairs under Trump. Rolling Stone reports the proposals in Project 2025 include substantial cuts to the US federal civil service, which employs a disproportionate number of veterans who would find themselves jobless. These proposals also contemplate turning more services for veterans over to private sector providers, with the attendant risks of profit motivated cuts to care. The proposals associated with the Trump campaign raise major concerns before we consider the president who will oversee their implementation has little understanding of, or respect for, the people those policies will affect. 

Beyond even this, the question arises: what kind of a society will Americans have if they truly internalize the thinking Mr. Trump displays in this unguarded comment?  A society that truly disdains service and sacrifice is a society at the mercy of enemies from without and within, and even if it stays on good terms with all who oppose it, still subservient to the whims of nature. Whether that would make for a good society or not, it is not the nation the United States has been throughout its nearly quarter millennium of existence. Whatever future Americans want, it will not come without commitment, service, and sacrifice. Disdaining those who serve and who offer their country what Lincoln called "the last full measure of devotion" will not lead to a better country.