QUESTION 1 - TRUMP SONS AND THE MILITARY

TRUMP REPORTERS – TIME TO DO YOUR JOB

QUESTION 1 – TRUMP SONS AND THE MILITARY

If you are a follower of politics, I am sure you have watched or heard a variety of political debates and interviews where the interviewer or reporter failed to ask certain questions that you felt were relevant. Me too!

For example, the other day I heard (and eventually confirmed with online research), that current New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, previously U.S. Attorney,  prosecuted Jared Kushner’s dad, Jared Kushner being Donald Trump’s son-in-law.  Remember, Christie was a Trump competitor for the Republican nomination for president before becoming a Trump “deer in the headlights” supporter, campaign advisor, and potential VP candidate. Yet, for the hundreds of hours of debates and political broadcasts I watched, and newspaper articles I read, there were no questions for either Christie or Trump pertaining to this issue, nor were there questions for Kushner or his wife, Trump’s daughter Ivanka. It certainly appears relevant to me if one competitor for the presidency had prosecuted the father of the son-in-law of another competitor.

Now, with the beginning of the Republican Convention to nominate Trump for president, there is a relevant question that has yet to be asked of Mr. Trump, and that is, why neither of his sons volunteered for the military after 9/11? Based on age, Trump’s oldest son would have been eligible to join the military in 2001 while his second oldest son would have been eligible within a couple years of 9/11 during the U.S. surge of volunteers occurring subsequent to 9/11.

This question has risen to the level of germane because of the bluster, patriotic fervor and hyperbolic self-promotion of Trump campaign rhetoric, as illustrated by the following.

First, there is Trump’s identification as a New York symbol, and as a New Yorker, more directly affected by the 9/11 attacks. Second, Trump consistently states how much he loves the military and the vets (his charitable ventures notwithstanding). Third, Trump consistently asks the public to  believe his claim (not plan) that he is the only one who can lead the military and defeat the terrorists and ISIS while other won’t do such, or have not done so in the past. Last, during his NRA speech and during other interviews, and without being prompted, Trump made an issue and bragged about the knowledge and skill that his sons have with guns, their longtime membership in the NRA, and their hunting and marksmanship skills.

In the context of the foregoing, you have the emotional tie to New York and 9/11, you have the bluster and rhetoric of loving the military and vets and being the only one to have a plan to lead the military to defeat terrorism and ISIS, and you have the unprompted references to the love of guns and hunting and shooting skills that Trump’s sons have. So, how come no motivation or desire by the Trump boys (daddy was too old for service) to volunteer for the “beloved” military  where they could apply their gun and hunting skills to defeat terrorists who were involved with the 9/11 attacks?

So reporters, please ask the question. It might be that a partial answer is hidden in the fact that while the war against terrorism was continuing in 2011 with U.S. military lives at risk on various fronts, and a plan to capture and/or kill Bin-laden evolved in the Trump-despised Obama White House, the Trump boys opted to go big-game hunting in Africa. Is the “love” of the military and vets, the desire to get the terrorists, and the love of hunting more satisfied on a safari, or serving your country?