Lord, don't they help themselves

You can count me among the tens of millions of people—Americans and others—who are revolted and disgusted by the Kleptocrat’s antics at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday. In what was solely a campaign stunt supposedly marking the third anniversary of the deaths of 13 US service members at Kabul Airport, he sashayed up at the Tomb of the Unknown to lay wreaths, as though he’s a fucking dignitary, and then hied himself over to Section 60 to really piss on people he believes are “suckers” and “losers” because they served in the military.

(If you’re at all in doubt about the sole purpose, tell me why he didn’t show up last year or the year before to commemorate the anniversaries. I’ll wait.)

All military cemeteries have policies prohibiting the use of hallowed ground for commercial or political purposes—for reasons that are obvious for those who are not malignant sociopaths. Section 60, which is where the most recently fallen are buried, absolutely prohibits photos and videos not taken by authorized personnel. In a vast land of the dead, Section 60 is still an open wound and the military takes this seriously. ANC staff reached out to the Kleptocrat’s team well before his visit explaining this—probably in words of one syllable and possibly using sock puppets. But they, of course, ignored the regulations.

Cadet Bonespurs—the scion of parvenu NYC real estate developers, who received four student draft deferments while he was registered in various colleges and then got a fifth deferment on medical grounds when a doctor who rented office space from Daddy Klepto swore that junior had the foot impairment—dropped a gas station bouquet of flowers on the grave of one of the 13 killed at Abbey Gate and then posed for photos with some family members, in his campaign rictus grin and right thumb up. (His left hand was not visible; my money’s on him copping a feel on the woman posing next to him.)

An ANC employee tried to stop the desecration; Bonespurs’ staff got aggressive; MPs were called and a report filed. But the staffer is unwilling to press charges, because if her name gets out she’ll start getting death threats, like every single other person who tries to impose limits of decent behavior on this asshole. His spokesthug, Steven Cheung, declared that the ANC employee was “suffering from a mental health episode” and threatened to unleash “footage” if anyone filed “defamatory” stories about the incident. Big campaign adviser Chris LaCivita weighed in: “For a despicable individual to physically prevent [the Kleptocrat’s] team from accompanying him to this solemn event is a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hollowed [sic] grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.”

So—they agree that the cemetery is sacred. But they get to do whatever they want there, just like they do anywhere else.

They claim that some family members invited them to visit the graves. That’s possible, although I’m betting it was more along the lines of someone on the campaign reaching out to anyone related to any of the 13 until they got one or more willing to be part of a photo op, which is precisely what this was. Also, families—no matter how bereaved—do not have the power to override the restrictions at any military cemetery or to authorize filming or photography that violates the law.

Oh—and as a chef’s kiss on this: on Wednesday a reporter asked couch afficionado, doughnut orderer extraordinaire and Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance about the ANC incident. Here’s what he said: “You’re acting like [Cadet Bonespurs] filmed a TV commercial at a gravesite. He was there providing emotional support to brave Americans who lost loved ones and there happened to be a camera there.”

First of all: “happened” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. Second: “film[ing] a TV commercial at a gravesite” is exactly what was going on; the campaign video they shot out onto TikTok on Thursday. And third: the Kleptocrat couldn’t provide emotional support to anyone in any situation. The man is devoid of all emotions except greed, fear and hate. The families would have got more emotional support out of a moss-covered rock.

Vance followed that by falsely claiming that Kamala Harris slammed his boss for his antics (she hasn’t mentioned it at all) and then finished by exclaiming, “She can go to hell!”

I think he might have stamped his little foot, too, but the video I’ve seen only shows his upper body.

(The story may actually be infinitely worse. There’s a report that the Kleptocrat’s campaign intended to frame the stunt as a Memorial Day-like holiday commemorating the 13 deaths; he would release video of him “solemnly” placing three wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown like he’s a sitting president. They would claim the video as “proof” that he showed up to honor the “holiday” while Harris wasn't there: she declined because she hates the military. How they intended to pull that one off I do not know, but—like the story of Vance and the couch—this does seem to lie within the radius of their capacity for delusion. And, who knows—their followers might well believe it, right down to affirming that they got the holiday off from work, so QED.)

House Speaker Mike "Moses" Johnson is apparently involved; he tried to pull strings at ANC to smooth the way for Team Bonespurs to piss on the dead. Excuse me for a moment while I projectile vomit.

Well, anyhow. Today is earworm day, so we’re getting Creedance Clearwater Revival’s take on John Fogerty’s “Fortunate Son”, which is all about the difference between those who end up in the front lines and those who get deferments and joke that their personal Vietnam was avoiding STDs in the Manhattan dating scene.

God give me fucking strength. They need to burn sage over the entire 400,000 graves to cleanse the air of his foulness.

©2024 Bas Bleu