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With no Eagles around, Trump acts like a turkey
Opinions
With no Eagles around, Trump acts like a turkey
By Dana Milbank Columnist June 5 at 7:29 PM Email the author
Patriotism, Samuel Johnson told us long ago, is the last refuge of a scoundrel. President Trump just made it the last refuge of the jilted.
Here, on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday afternoon, there was to have been a celebration honoring the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles , but it turned out very few Eagles actually wanted to be celebrated by Trump. So Trump, to spare himself the snub, disinvited the team because, he said, they disagree with him about standing for the national anthem — even though all members of the Eagles stood for the anthem all season long.
Instead, Trump declared a “Celebration of America.” He ordered the U.S. Marine Band and the U.S. Army Chorus to “loudly and proudly play the national anthem” — or, presumably, face court-martial if they played pianissimo.
The result was one of the oddest White House events in recent memory. It lasted six minutes from “Oh, say, can you see” to the last “my home sweet home” in “God Bless America,” and Trump’s three-minute speech was interrupted at the beginning by a heckler.
“Stop hiding behind the armed services and the national anthem to attack your fellow citizens,” called out the man, who had taken a knee. At this point, several booed the heckler, but the confusion created the appearance that the president was being booed. .... A man claiming to be the heckler, software developer Brendan Martin, later told me his civil disobedience was a way of “showing solidarity with my fellow citizens.” Said Martin: “It’s the job of elected officials to stand up to this out-of-control president, but if they won’t I will.”
....
Twitter: @Milbank
Read more from Dana Milbank’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
Dana Milbank is an op-ed columnist. He sketches the foolish, the fallacious and the felonious in politics. Follow @Milbank
With no Eagles around, Trump acts like a turkey
By Dana Milbank Columnist June 5 at 7:29 PM Email the author
Patriotism, Samuel Johnson told us long ago, is the last refuge of a scoundrel. President Trump just made it the last refuge of the jilted.
Here, on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday afternoon, there was to have been a celebration honoring the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles , but it turned out very few Eagles actually wanted to be celebrated by Trump. So Trump, to spare himself the snub, disinvited the team because, he said, they disagree with him about standing for the national anthem — even though all members of the Eagles stood for the anthem all season long.
Instead, Trump declared a “Celebration of America.” He ordered the U.S. Marine Band and the U.S. Army Chorus to “loudly and proudly play the national anthem” — or, presumably, face court-martial if they played pianissimo.
The result was one of the oddest White House events in recent memory. It lasted six minutes from “Oh, say, can you see” to the last “my home sweet home” in “God Bless America,” and Trump’s three-minute speech was interrupted at the beginning by a heckler.
“Stop hiding behind the armed services and the national anthem to attack your fellow citizens,” called out the man, who had taken a knee. At this point, several booed the heckler, but the confusion created the appearance that the president was being booed. .... A man claiming to be the heckler, software developer Brendan Martin, later told me his civil disobedience was a way of “showing solidarity with my fellow citizens.” Said Martin: “It’s the job of elected officials to stand up to this out-of-control president, but if they won’t I will.”
....
Twitter: @Milbank
Read more from Dana Milbank’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
Dana Milbank is an op-ed columnist. He sketches the foolish, the fallacious and the felonious in politics. Follow @Milbank
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
“... canceling an event because of an anticipated snub is consistent
with Trump’s you-can’t-fire-me-because-I-quit approach.”
with Trump’s you-can’t-fire-me-because-I-quit approach.”
