The Fertile Crescent

 

Many scholars believe that urbanization—the formation of cities—first occurred in the Fertile Crescent.

How did the Fertile Crescent get its name?

The term “Fertile Crescent” was coined and popularized by James Henry Breasted, an Egyptologist at the University of Chicago. In Ancient Times: A History of the Early World, originally intended as a high school textbook, Breasted wrote: “The earliest home of men in this great arena of Western Asia is…a kind of cultivable fringe of the desert, a fertile crescent having the mountains on one side and the desert on the other.”

https://news.uchicago.edu/explainer/fertile-crescent-explained#:~:text=The%20%E2%80%9CFertile%20Crescent%2C%E2%80%9D%20a,of%20the%20world's%20earliest%20civilizations.

The Fertile Crescent is the boomerang-shaped region of the Middle East that was home to some of the earliest human civilizations. Also known as the “Cradle of Civilization,” this area was the birthplace of a number of technological innovations, including writing, the wheel, agriculture and the use of irrigation. The Fertile Crescent includes ancient Mesopotamia.

What Is the Fertile Crescent?

American archaeologist James Henry Breasted coined the term “Fertile Crescent” in a 1914 high school textbook to describe this archaeologically significant region of the Middle East that contains parts of present day Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Cyprus.

On a map, the Fertile Crescent looks like a crescent or quarter-moon. It extends from the Nile River on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in the south to the southern fringe of Turkey in the north. 

The Fertile Crescent is bounded on the west by the Mediterranean Sea and on the East by the Persian Gulf. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow through the heart of the Fertile Crescent. The region historically contained unusually fertile soil and productive freshwater and brackish wetlands. These produced an abundance of wild edible plant species. It was here that humans began to experiment with the cultivation of grains and cereals around 10,000 B.C. as they transitioned from hunter-gatherer groups to permanent agricultural societies.

https://www.history.com/topics/pre-history/fertile-crescent

Supreme Court Ethics. Too Little Too Late

  Supreme Court to adopt ethics code after scrutiny of undisclosed gifts

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4307444-supreme-court-to-adopt-ethics-code-after-scrutiny-of-undisclosed-gifts/?email=35e57319730c7897fe205537c4737366426dbd1c&emaila=675e5a99b2bd4b98d8dba1150588cc31&emailb=12298ff6d4febaf3d59a9c9233feae97b86cbe70e8808fe7cb0690887433cf80&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=11.13.23%20SR%20SCOTUS

About time. The reputation of the Supreme Court is in the sewer. The prestige of the court is non existant. Very pathetic. 

They were pulling crap that a military person would get court martialled for and most federal employees who pulled something like this would and should be fired. Thomas, Alioto, and Sotomayer should resign, but they won't. They should be impeached, but they won't.  A worthless bunch of mediocrities that have disgraced the Supreme Court and contributed to the growing distrust in our government.

Ralph Jim Chipman - Finally Home - Rest In Peace - Semper Fi

Our Marine Classmate from OCS and the Basic School at Quantico, VA in 1968 -1969 is finally home.

Semper Fi

Ralph Jim Chipman

Utah Vietnam War Veteran Finally Being Laid To Rest

BY KRISTINE WELLER

KSLNewsRadio

AMERICAN FORK, Utah — A Utah veteran who went missing in action during the Vietnam War is now finally being laid to rest. 

U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Ralph Jim Chipman went missing 50 years ago. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency found his remains in August and they will arrive in Utah at 1:13 p.m. on Nov. 9, 2023.

Chipman’s family members, the American Fork Police, the Utah Highway Patrol and the Patriot Guard Riders will escort Capt. Chipman from the Salt Lake City International Airport to the Anderson and Sons Mortuary in American Fork. 

Then on Nov. 11, 2023, Capt. Chipman will be honored and laid to rest.

According to the release, Utahns are invited to watch the cemetery procession at 12:30 p.m. on Center Street in American Fork from 100 North to 600 North. There will also be a jet flyover around 1 p.m.

“After 50 years the day our family has been waiting for has finally come!” Scot Chipman, Capt. Chipman’s son, said in a release. “Our family wants to thank all of those that have made this day possible.” 

Capt. Chipman is also memorialized through the Freedom Tree in Robinson Park, American Fork. According to the release, the Freedom Tree will be lit throughout November in red, white and blue to honor Chipman’s and other Missin in Action soldiers’ sacrifices.

Capt. Chipman goes missing in action

According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Capt. Chipman was the pilot of an A-6A Intruder, which was the world’s first all-weather attack bomber. According to the Naval History and Heritage Command, the plane was capable of deploying weapons under zero-visibility conditions.

On Dec. 27, 1972, Capt. Chipman was flying in a nighttime combat mission with two other crew members, according to the DPAA. Chipman, his co-pilot Capt. Ronald Wayne Forrester and another crew member flew over the northern area of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

According to the DPAA, the plane indicated it was entering its target area. Then all radio communications were lost and the plane never returned to base.

According to the release, search and rescue teams couldn’t find “any trace of the aircraft or the crew.”

After that, the Marine Corps listed Chipman as Missing in Action, according to the DPAA. Then in July 1974, Capt. Chipman’s status changed to killed in action.

He left behind his wife Susan, 4-year-old son Scot, and 18-month-old son Matthew. 

Finding soldiers that were Missing in Action or POWs

It’s the job of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to account for missing military personnel in past U.S. conflicts. The Agency has worked with the governments of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia for almost three decades to account for soldiers lost during the Vietnam War.

Through those partnerships, the Agency conducts “investigations to collect evidence, investigate leads, and conduct excavations.”This process helped the DPAA to identify Capt. Chipman’s remains on Aug. 2, 2023.

According to the release, two excavations led to the discovery of Capt. Chipman’s dog tags, some bone fragments, and teeth. The teeth were verified to be Chipman’s through DNA testing.

Your Basic School Classmates remember and honor you. Welcome Home.

Semper Fi

http://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/8962/RALPH-J-CHIPMAN




All:

I had not seen anything about this in our class emails or blog. Ralph "Jim" Chipman is no longer MIA. His remains have been identified and he will be laid to rest tomorrow.

https://kslnewsradio.com/2057255/utah-vietnam-war-veteran-finally-being-laid-to-rest/

Some gave all.

Semper Fi

Tony Gasper

papatony61946@gmail.com

____________

I went to the website of the funeral home in American Forks https://www.andersonmortuary.com/ and was able to send a card to Susan and family. Jim, Mike Greene and I were the 3 Marine amigos at Vance AFB flight school.

Rest In Peace

Robert E. Freeburg AIA
Honolulu, Hawaii
Tel: (808) 383-7908

__________

If anyone can take a short video of the funeral procession / Fly over, please send it to me and we will post it on the blog.

S/F

Craighullinger@gmail.com

_____________

Bob - thanks for giving me the idea and I sent a message also on behalf of our TBS class; and Tony thanks for bringing this to our attention; very inspiring and at the same time gets you choked up.


SF Arnold

Craig I hope you get something you can put on the web site.

Arnold Punaro

_____________

Will do

Craig Hullinger

_____________

I have a Ralph Chipman story. Bob is correct, Ralph, who had the bunk right next to mine throughout OCS, was very quiet. On the first night of OCS, we'd been issued our Marine Corps skivvies and tees and told to put them on. Ralph didn't do it because, as he explained to Sgt. Arnold, our platoon sgt., the underwear he was wearing when he came aboard signified he'd been married in the Mormon Tabernacle, and he was required by his faith to wear it. Arnold was having none of that, and, after a few seconds of profane roaring, ordered Ralph to change. Ralph just stood there in silence, so Arnold ordered two other candidates to take off his ceremonial garb. This was done without resistance from Ralph, after which he donned the Marine issue as ordered, while Arnold wadded up the Mormon undies and tossed them in a basket with confiscated cigarettes, etc. 

About half an hour later, Captain Moffett, our platoon commander, appeared with Ralph's Mormon gear neatly folded. He explained to Ralph that it was not the Corps' intent to interfere with his religion, and gave permission for him to wear it. So, off came the Marine stuff and on went the Mormon stuff. 

About half an hour after that, Sgt. Arnold reappeared. He told Ralph that, while he could wear his Mormon underwear, he had to wear his Marine underwear over it. So Ralph went all the way through OCS wearing two sets of underwear. 

The news that JIm's remains have been found and are to be interred in his hometown is good news that triggered the foregoing memory and a flood of others about what a fine, level-headed, helpful friend Jim was. I wish his family every comfort. 

Semper Fi,

Chris Britton

______________

The video of Ralph Jim Chipman arriving in Utah, and a short interview with his widow. 

S/F

 Thanks to Bob Freeman for sharing.

Missing Veteran Killed in Vietnam to Be Laid to Rest in Utah After 50 Years (msn.com)

R. Jim Chipman Obituary

American Fork

Ralph Jim Chipman was born on August 15, 1943, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Curtis and Faye Chipman. He was the second son in a family of four boys; Max, Jim, Kenneth Ray, and Joe. In Jim’s own words, his life was filled with hard work, close family ties, and lots of wonderful experiences. When he was only a year and a half old, the family moved to American Fork to the farm that had been owned by Jim’s grandpa, Elmer Chipman. They raised turkeys, chickens, sheep, grain, peas, and sugar beets. While Jim was at home, he always had farm chores to do after school which often kept him out of trouble and taught him to work hard.

Jim attended elementary school in American Fork, American Fork Junior High, and graduated from American Fork High School. Jim lettered in tennis at the high school but his first love was basketball. He wasn’t tall enough to play high school ball, but he played church basketball and was known for his long shots, even from the half-court line. Their ward team competed in the regional finals, which in those days was a big deal.

After high school graduation, Jim enrolled at BYU where he majored in Business Management with an emphasis in banking and finance. After his first year at BYU, he was called on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints serving in the Eastern Atlantic States. He loved teaching the gospel and he learned how to study which helped him at school when he returned home. Jim was always active in the church and served in many callings in his short life.

The summer after his mission, he went to work for Savage Brothers Inc. Neal Savage was a great mentor, boss, and friend for many years and financially supported part of Jim’s mission. Jim operated a heavy-duty loader at a construction site in Ogden. He also worked for his brother, Max, building boat seats and upholstering the inside of boats.

During his junior year at BYU, Jim married Susan Smith, daughter of Leland and Joyce Smith, on June 17 in the Salt Lake Temple. While in his senior year, Jim received his first draft notice so he applied for a deferment to finish his last year of college. A day or two after graduation, he went to the draft board office and they were preparing his second draft notice. He had always dreamed of flying airplanes but the Air Force had no openings for pilots. However, the Marines needed pilots so he was sworn into the Marines the next day and put on deferred enlistment.

After a short time with General Foods as a sales representative, he started his basic training and officer candidate school in Quantico, Virginia, and then on to pilot training at Vance Air Force base in Enid, Oklahoma. After pilot training, he was stationed at Cherry Point Naval Air Station to learn how to fly like the Navy, including training to fly on an aircraft carrier. At Cherry Point, he also learned to fly the A-6 Intruder. He was promoted to First Lieutenant and then to Captain just before he received orders to serve in Vietnam.

In 1972, Jim flew several missions a week in Vietnam as part of the war effort. On December 27, 1972, Jim’s plane was shot down over North Vietnam and he and his navigator, Ron Forrester, were listed as missing in action. This past July 2023, while a recovery team was investigating a crash site in Vietnam, they found Jim’s dog tags and some remains that were positively identified as belonging to Captain Ralph Jim Chipman. After more than 50 years, part of Jim is being returned to American Fork where he grew up.

Jim is survived by his wife, Susan Richards, and his two sons, Scot Lee Chipman and Matthew Curtis Chipman.

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of R. Jim Chipman, please visit our flower store.

You can leave a rememberance about our comrade Ralph Jim Chipman in three places.

https://www.andersonmortuary.com/ 

http://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/8962/RALPH-J-CHIPMAN

https://basicschool8-69.blogspot.com/   (send and email to craighullinger@gmail.com

Remembering Our Fallen

 

More on our blog   https://basicschool8-69.blogspot.com/

Obama Library Under Construction in the South Side of Chicago

 

Trump and Veterans

 

Marine General John Kelly's son Michael died in combat. https://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/rmkelly.htm.

    “What can I add that has not already been said?” Kelly said, when asked if he wanted to weigh in on his former boss in light of recent comments made by other former Trump officials. “A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family – for all Gold Star families – on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-questioned-kellys-sons-sacrifice-on-memorial-day-grave-visit-2020-9

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/02/politics/john-kelly-donald-trump-us-service-members-veterans/index.html
_______________________

I honor all veterans who died in war, the Marines I served with, my high school comrades, and my great uncles. Semper Fi, Gentlemen.

platoon350.blogspot.com    basicschool8-69.blogspot.com     empehiheroes.blogspot.com

sgtwalteranderson.blogspot.com    jameschapin.blogspot.com

General Kelly is a stand up honest Marine who is telling the truth. He is a Republican who worked for Trump as his longest Chief of Staff. Why would he lie? He is telling the truth.

Craig Hullinger
__________

Trump was asked about the naval service of then–U.S. senator from Arizona John McCain, in which Trump responded:

"He's not a war hero, he's a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured, okay?  I hate to tell you.[1][9]"

"Donald Trump: John McCain Is ‘A Loser,’"

When McCain died, in August 2018, Trump told his senior staff, according to three sources with direct knowledge of this event, ‘We’re not going to support that loser’s funeral,’ and he became furious, according to witnesses, when he saw flags lowered to half-staff. ‘What the f--- are we doing that for? Guy was a f---ing loser,’ the president told aides."

https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/09/08/president-donald-trump-john-mccain-loser-fact-check/5741070002/

https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/09/08/president-donald-trump-john-mccain-loser-fact-check/5741070002/

______________________

Trump Has Mocked the U.S. Military His Whole Life

Egged on by his father, the U.S. president began expressing contempt for Americans who fight in wars as far back as high school, his classmates say.

Foreign Policy Magazine  My FP: 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

Perhaps no one was less surprised last week when it was reported that U.S. President Donald Trump had called American war dead “losers” and “suckers” than his former high school classmate George M. White.

The 74-year-old retired Army veteran was Trump’s superior—the first captain, or highest-ranking cadet—in Trump’s 1964 graduating class at the New York Military Academy. White said he witnessed up close Trump’s contempt for military service, discipline, and tradition, as well his ungoverned sense of entitlement, all helped along by his father Fred Trump’s generous donations to the school.

“No, those remarks absolutely didn’t surprise me. In my dealings with him he was a heartless, obnoxious son of a bitch,” White told me in an interview over the weekend.

According to White and other former classmates at the academy, Trump’s five years there, coupled with the disregard for U.S. military traditions he learned at his father’s knee, helps explain a great deal of the president’s reported contempt for those who fought, died, or were wounded in America’s wars, as well as his skeptical view of the need for the United States to fight in places like Vietnam and Iraq.

According to the Atlantic magazine, during a trip to France to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 U.S. Marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers.” Indicating that he didn’t understand why the United States had intervened at all in Europe in 1917, Trump also reportedly asked aides, “Who were the good guys in this war?”

The Atlantic article, portions of which have been corroborated by the Associated Press, the Washington Post, and Fox News, also reported that when Trump aborted a visit to another World War I cemetery, blaming the weather, he remarked, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In addition, Trump reportedly said that the presence of maimed U.S. veterans would upset spectators at a military parade, commenting, “Nobody wants to see that.”

Trump’s comments appeared to be in line with the attitude he reportedly evinced on Memorial Day 2017, when he visited the grave of 1st Lt. Robert Kelly, the son of his then-homeland security secretary and later chief of staff John Kelly. Standing at the grave of the younger Kelly, who died in Afghanistan in 2010, Trump reportedly turned to the secretary and said: “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”

__________________

But the report was supplemented on Friday morning by the Washington Post, which quoted “a former senior administration official” as saying that Trump “frequently made disparaging comments about veterans and soldiers missing in action, referring to them at times as ‘losers.’”

The Post quoted “a person familiar with the discussion” as saying that Trump told senior advisers he did not understand why the US government valued finding soldiers missing in action “because they had performed poorly and gotten caught and deserved what they got.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/03/trump-american-war-dead-losers-suckers-report

__________________

Trump Boasted of Avoiding STDs While Dating: Vaginas Are 'Landmines ... It Is My Personal Vietnam'

Donald Trump likens avoiding contracting STDs during his single years to Vietnam in Howard Stern interview

https://people.com/politics/trump-boasted-of-avoiding-stds-while-dating-vaginas-are-landmines-it-was-my-personal-vietnam/

__________________

" A senior Defense Department official with firsthand knowledge of events and a senior U.S. Marine Corps officer who was told about Trump’s comments confirmed some of the remarks to The Associated Press, including the 2018 cemetery comments.

The defense officials said Trump made the comments as he begged off visiting the cemetery outside Paris during a meeting following his presidential daily briefing on the morning of Nov. 10, 2018.

Staffers from the National Security Council and the Secret Service told Trump that rainy weather made helicopter travel to the cemetery risky, but they could drive there. Trump responded by saying he didn’t want to visit the cemetery because it was “filled with losers,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss it publicly."

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2020/09/03/report-trump-disparaged-us-war-dead-as-losers-suckers/

________

 "Trump said: “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” The article also claims that Trump called the 1,800 U.S. Marines who died at a nearby battlefield in World War I “suckers.”?

https://www.wgbh.org/news/national/2020-09-10/gold-star-father-khizr-khan-says-trump-has-the-soul-of-a-coward

________

Reed: Trump Has Disparaged Fallen U.S. Soldiers & Gold Star Families on the Record

PROVIDENCE, RI -- Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a West Point graduate and the Ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee, condemned President Trump’s language deriding members of the Armed Forces, fallen U.S. service members, and veterans.

While President Trump denied much of the details from a report in the Atlantic that he called fallen American soldiers “losers” and “suckers” and asked staff that disabled veterans be excluded from military parades, Senator Reed noted that President Trump has been caught on tape on multiple occasions insulting veterans, POWs, Americans with disabilities, and active duty troops who were wounded in battle.

“President Trump has denied saying a few of these things, but there is no denying his pettiness.  He has certainly disparaged members of our Armed Forces who’ve dedicated their lives to serving others.  He has verbally insulted Gold Star families, attacked the memories of courageous POWs like John McCain, derided men of honor like General Mattis, and played down the severity of trauma and wounds suffered by our deployed troops.  Donald Trump has no understanding or meaningful regard for those who have rendered distinguished military service in war and peace.  All of that is well established.  You don’t need secondhand accounts because some of the comments occurred with cameras or microphones recording.

“President Trump’s toxic brand of so-called leadership has done serious, lasting damage to the U.S. military.  He has broken faith with our troops and sought to misuse the military for his own partisan agenda.  He has taken money away from needed military projects and diverted it to his ineffective border wall.  He seems intent on making it difficult for members of the U.S. military who are stationed overseas to exercise their right to vote.  The list goes on.

“It will take years to repair the damage President Trump has inflicted on the United States military.

“No one should condone the way Donald Trump insults people who gave their last full measure defending our nation.  He degrades the sacred obligations of the office he’s been entrusted with.”

________

Trump on Tape

https://www.google.com/search?q=trump+video+disparaging+veterans&rlz=1CAGZLV_enUS1070US1070&oq=trump+video+disparaging+veterans&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCTEwMzE4ajBqNKgCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:2d024d53,vid:vtVZJ2SqVYE,st:0

________

By Jeffrey Goldberg

Which former Trump defense secretary brands him a security threat?

Painting him as a security risk, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday added his voice to those critical of former President Donald Trump for his handling of classified information after his presidency. Jun 18, 2023.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/18/mark-esper-secrets-trump-classified-00102541

_____________________

Donald Trump, on his social-media network, Truth Social, wrote that Mark Milley’s phone call to reassure China in the aftermath of the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, was “an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH.” (The phone call was, in fact, explicitly authorized by Trump-administration officials.)

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/09/trump-milley-execution-incitement-violence/675435/

_____________________

Marine General James Mattis comments on Trump.


WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis ripped into his former boss President Donald Trump in a scathing Wednesday night statement.

“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us,” Mattis wrote in a statement published by The Atlantic. “We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership,” he wrote, adding that he “watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled.”

Mattis’ statement comes as the nation braces for the ninth day of protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd. Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

The ensuing civil unrest, some of which turned violent, prompted Trump to call for governors to use harsher tactics and greater force when confronting protesters.

On a Monday call with state governors, a recording of which was obtained by NBC News, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told states “to dominate the battle space” when dealing with the demonstrations. Trump also said on the same call that he was putting the nation’s highest-ranking military officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley “in charge” of protest response efforts.

Mattis, who resigned from the Trump administration in December 2018, criticized Esper’s terminology.

“We must reject any thinking of our cities as a ‘battlespace’ that our uniformed military is called upon to ’dominate,” he explained. “Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict—a false conflict—between the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part.”

On Wednesday, Esper told reporters at the Pentagon that he was using military lexicon but regretted using the term.

Mattis also took issue with a Monday night incident in which protestors were forcibly cleared from Lafayette Square, a small park in front of the president’s residence.

“The words ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind,” Mattis explained.

Trump walked through the square with several members of his Cabinet to stand in front of St. John’s Church while holding a Bible and posing for photographs. He later motioned to members of his Cabinet to join him for more pictures.

Esper, who has previously said he would preserve the U.S. military’s apolitical nature, entered the frame and stood alongside Trump for the photo op. In a Tuesday night interview with NBC News, Esper said: “I didn’t know where I was going” when asked about the highly criticized photo opportunity. “I thought I was going to do two things: to see some damage and to talk to the troops.”

“We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values—our values as people and our values as a nation,” Mattis added.

“We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution.”

Trump fired back in a Wednesday night tweet by saying, he “had the honor of firing Jim Mattis, the world’s most overrated General.” He continued by saying that he “didn’t like his “leadership” style or much else about him.”

“Glad he is gone!”

Before Mattis became Trump’s Defense secretary, the four-star Marine Corps general led the U.S. Central Command, the combat command responsible for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mattis, a revered Marine with a military career spanning four decades, was hailed for his battlefield prowess and kinship with rank-and-file servicemembers.

Throughout his military career, Mattis was affectionately referred to as “Mad Dog” and “warrior monk.” He was known for his strategy, matter-of-factness and disdain for PowerPoint, which is recognized as the U.S. military’s signature teaching tool.

In his extraordinary resignation letter that rocked Washington, Mattis wrote to Trump that he has “a right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours.”

“My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors,” Mattis said, “are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues.”

The president has frequently lashed out at America’s allies in France, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany, while at times appearing to side with U.S. adversaries over his own officials.

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/04/869262728/read-the-full-statement-from-jim-mattis

________

In 2015, shortly after launching his presidential candidacy, Trump publicly blasted McCain, saying “He’s not a war hero.” He added, “I like people who weren’t captured.”

Trump only amplified his criticism of McCain as the Arizona lawmaker grew critical of his acerbic style of politics, culminating in a late-night “no” vote scuttling Trump’s plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act. That vote shattered what few partisan loyalties bound the two men, and Trump has continued to attack McCain for that vote, even posthumously.

The magazine said Trump also referred to former President George H.W. Bush as a “loser” because he was shot down by the Japanese as a Navy pilot in World War II.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2020/09/03/report-trump-disparaged-us-war-dead-as-losers-suckers/

_________________

Trump said Putin's smart.' I mean, he's taken over a country for $2 worth of sanctions. I'd say that's pretty smart. He's taking over a country, really a vast, vast location, a great piece of land with a lot of people and just walking right in."

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/russia-ukraine-latest-news/card/trump-calls-putin-s-invasion-of-ukraine-smart-blames-biden-for-not-doing-enough-JicGb9xT5GnCZpQdiBjN

_________________

Former president Donald Trump on Friday revived a two-week-old controversy over his description of Hezbollah terrorist attackers as “very smart,” posting a column on social media that sought to defend his characterization of the group.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/27/trump-hezbollah-very-smart/

__________

President Donald Trump praised North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un – a man who leads a government that outside observers say brutalizes and starves its own citizens – as someone who “loves his people.” Speaking with Voice of America’s Greta Van Susteren following his historic summit in Singapore on Tuesday, Trump called Kim “funny” and “smart.”

“He’s got a great personality. He’s a funny guy, he’s very smart, he’s a great negotiator. He loves his people, not that I’m surprised by that,” Trump said. “I think that we have the start of an amazing deal. We’re going to denuke North Korea.”

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/12/politics/donald-trump-kim-jong-un-loves-his-people/index.html

Trump Foundation shut down for Misconduct

 Trump Ordered to Pay Eight Separate Charities $250,000 Each

Remaining $1.8 Million in Trump Foundation Bank Account Disbursed Among Charities

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today released the following statement after Donald J. Trump was forced to pay more than $2 million in court-ordered damages to eight different charities for illegally misusing charitable funds at the Trump Foundation for political purposes:

“Not only has the Trump Foundation shut down for its misconduct, but the president has been forced to pay $2 million for misusing charitable funds for his own political gain. Charities are not a means to an end, which is why these damages speak to the president’s abuse of power and represent a victory for not-for-profits that follow the law. Funds have finally gone where they deserve — to eight credible charities. My office will continue to fight for accountability because no one is above the law — not a businessman, not a candidate for office, and not even the president of the United States.”

As part of a resolution of the lawsuit announced on November 7th, Trump was ordered to pay $2 million, or $250,000, a piece to eight different charities. Those charities are Army Emergency Relief, the Children’s Aid Society, Citymeals-on-Wheels, Give an Hour, Martha’s Table, the United Negro College Fund, the United Way of National Capital Area, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Additionally, Trump was forced to reimburse his namesake foundation $11,525 for sports paraphernalia and champagne purchased at a charity gala, which was added to $1,797,598.30 already in the foundation’s bank account. The combined $1,809,123.30 was split evenly and recently transferred to the eight agreed upon charities. Each charity ended up receiving a total of $476,140.41.

Additionally, as part of the settlement, Trump was required to agree to 19 admissions, acknowledging his personal misuse of funds at the Trump Foundation, and agreed to restrictions on future charitable service and ongoing reporting to the Office of the Attorney General, in the event he creates a new charity. The settlement also included mandatory training requirements for Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump, which the three children have already undergone. Finally, the settlement required the Trump Foundation to shutter its doors last December and dissolve under court supervision.

https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2019/donald-j-trump-pays-court-ordered-2-million-illegally-using-trump-foundation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_J._Trump_Foundation

Indicted Four Times, Impeached Twice

Most corrupt President in history.  And America may reelect him.  Sad.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61084161

Donald Trump's Fraudulent University

 

Judge finalizes $25 million settlement for 'victims of Donald Trump's fraudulent university'

Trump University attendees are getting paid back.

"Judge Curiel's order finalizing the $25 million Trump University settlement means that victims of Donald Trump's fraudulent university will finally receive the relief they deserve," he said in a statement, adding that the amount surpassed the initial number the class-action suit initially negotiated.

"This settlement marked a stunning reversal by President Trump, who for years refused to compensate the victims of his sham university," the statement added. "My office won't hesitate to hold those who commit fraud accountable, no matter how rich or powerful they may be."

https://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-finalizes-25-million-settlement-victims-donald-trumps/story?id=54347237

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