I have tried to keep my blog apolitical. I have not attacked anyone for their beliefs, and have been equally kind (I hope) to right and left alike when I have brought up politics (as in my post about having to end this blog, which I am doing all I can NOT to end). But when this headline comes in from multiple, reliable sources, I’m sorry, but I need to vent.
Go Google “Gold Star family of slain Calif. soldier booed on flight for deplaning first”. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
You want to deride “Black Lives Matter”? Okay, I can deal with ignorance. You want to claim the illegal immigrants are taking all our jobs? Fine, wait ’til the wall is up, then watch all the office park lawns go to seed (not to mention most golf courses), and that’s just for starters. But to jeer the family of a slain soldier for deplaning first, when they are going to retrieve the body of their dead son?!?
Welcome to “Hooray For Me, Screw You” Land. The United States of Trump. And if you think this is just a one-off occurrence, or just some “bad apples”, you’ll be proven wrong many times over the next very, VERY long four years.
Sorry, my Republican friends, but I cannot stand by and let veterans’ families be treated like this. Leave me if you must, but please don’t try to write this off. This is a warning sign, and ESPECIALLY Republicans should be condemning this kind of action.
Sorry to ruin your Monday, everybody. I’ll try to come up with something lighter in a day or two to make up for it. Happy Monday of Thanksgiving week (for all my US readers, just a plain Happy Monday to the rest of y’all)!
A Windy City boy, lost in rural Ohio, just shooting the breeze.
Commentality - Lotsa Comments .... 
Arrogant, thoughtless, entitled assholes….with apologies to real assholes everywhere.
Trump may actually turn out (may be forced) to become a half(assed)-decent president….or we may end up praying that it’s only four years. It could be like, ‘I love Jesus, it’s just a lot of his followers I hate. 😯 😦
I’m hoping for the best. I’m also worrying a bit less, because it looks like a couple of the key benefits we get come from the state level – and Kasich is desperate to keep his supporters happy.
And I realise (as I said to Tom below) that not all Trump supporters are a-holes or “deplorables”. It’s far more the air of hatred that has come to permeate so much of society – or the legitimisation of that hatred – driven by Trump’s rhetoric.
Meantime, I hope YOUR country can survive your current parliamentary crisis. Just remember, my friend, the answer is blowing in the wind. The foul stench should pass soon, as long as you don’t blame the dog. But be careful – these things can be silent but deadly. (Okay, I’ll stop now. 😀 )
I think – at least I hope – that we’ll both make it. 😀
I get your righteous indignation, but it kind of seems like making a bit much out of things. The version of the story that I read stated that no one explained to the passengers exactly who the family was or why they were being let off early.
I’m trying to put myself in one of those passengers’ shoes. Plane travel these days is a miserable experience, and flights are always running late. Then, I’m told a “special military family” is going to be let off first?
Maybe I would or would not have been upset, but it’s hard for me to see this as grievous as you make it sound. Had the pilot announced, “Hey, this Gold Star family is going to pick up the remains of their dead son.” Well … that would be different.
Sorry I’m just getting to your comment, my internet has been up and down like a yo-yo. One of the two versions of the story I read didn’t explicitly state that the passengers had been informed, but the other one intimated it had been announced early in the flight (maybe before everybody got on and settled?). If there was no announcement, then yes, I will openly say “My Bad”. It’s just that I’ve seen a growing increase of bad social behaviour recently, as well as a tacit approval by the incoming administration for … well, I’ll say “non-white disrespect”. I will give you that it isn’t just us – I just read a story about a Muslim teen attacked in Hamilton, Ontario (my adoptive hometown due to my Canadian WW2 re-enacting persona – that’s a LONG story! 🙂 ).
I will also plead guilty to coming on strong on ANYTHING relating to vets – I am a ferocious campaigner for vets of all wars and their families, and have had to deal with a lot of anti-military crap dating back to my teenage days at the end of the Vietnam War. And with the meds I have to take for chronic migraines combined with my age, I can be a pissy old fart sometimes. 😀
Thanks for the measured response. I appreciate having a dialogue rather than a shouting match. Your screen name is VERY well chosen. And please, do come back. As I stated in the post, I try to avoid politics. I’d rather make you laugh (preferably) or cry (with some of my amateur poetry) than anger you. Besides, I need all the followers I can get! Thanks again, and welcome!
Whoa, were those really Trump Supporters in the 1st Class section of the Ameriican Airlines plane that boo’d? Hilary would be so proud that you put us Deplorables in our place.
Less the idea that each person who booed voted for Trump, more the idea that since Trump was allowed to brand most illegal Latino immigrants as rapists and killers, and to smear all Arabic immigrants as dangerous to the US, that hate has become the new normal. I can’t see this happening under a Hilary.Bernie presidency, or under ANY of the other Republican candidates.
And I realise there are decent people (you VERY much among them) who voted for Trump. Remember, I started my political life as a conservative, and voted Republican right up until John McCain saw fit to bring the a-hole from Alaska along as veep. (I like McCain, but I couldn’t even THINK of voting for Palin in ANY capacity.) I would like to say I still believe in the GOP, but the hateful rhetoric coming from his camp (and yes, Hilary slung mud as well) completely disqualifies him in my book. Campaigning on hatred of over half the electorate just isn’t Presidential. And hate crime numbers ARE up since Trump won, so it isn’t just me.
In short, we both have a duty. You, as a little C or capital R, need to help the decent side of the GOP to keep Trump away from some of his crazier ideas. And I promise I will only point out those failings that can be directly blamed on him (which I feel this is). But one thing we gotta agree on – I’m willing to still be friends, regardless of what idiocy goes on in DC and which party is being the idiots. Deal? 🙂