As has been the case since January 20, this week was filled with controversy, misdirection, and Twitter wars-- and that was just the NFL.
This week has been somewhat of a struggle to really figure out where I stand on certain matters. It's those grey-area controversies, or at least they are for me.
Let me back up a little bit.
On Monday, the President and Senate Majority Leader held a press conference in the Rose Garden. Once statements between the two leaders were complete, members of the press started asking the pair questions. The questions were more or less routine: the budget, repeal and replace, the President's Tweets.
Near the conclusion of the press conference, a reporter asked why there hadn't been a statement about the soldiers killed in Niger from the White House.
Here's where everything started falling apart for the week… on Monday morning.
The President's answer was a combination of blame, distraction, and bragging. You can read his entire transcript here (word search Niger to get to the one question asked). For those of you not clicking on the link (most of you), I'll summarize: he wrote letters to the Soldiers' families, Presidents Obama and Bush didn't call, at some point he'd be calling, he usually calls and writes letters.
It is entirely possible the President misunderstood the question which was, why haven't we heard anything from you so far about the Soldiers that were killed in Niger? At no point did the reporter ask about letters to the families or phone calls nor did he ask about his predecessors. The question was about Niger in general, something everyone is still asking about, and the intent, I believe, was to find out more about operations in Niger. But the President answered what could have been a dismissible question, with a sound bite.
Thus, chaos ensued.
Instead of talking about the Senate budget proposal (which passed on Friday), the executive order signed ending the Cost Sharing Reduction payments (which will raise insurance premiums), or the various policy debates we should be having as a country, we heard about Gold Star Families and the calls/ letters they did or did not receive.
Tuesday and Wednesday came with more Russia allegations, Tweets about Comey, and, of course, news about the President's call to a soldier's widow.
What is now a familiar story to all of us, Congresswoman Fredica Wilson was listening to the call that is now the subject of more controversy, more vitriol, and more useless debate.
The President has been called hypocritical and insensitive to Gold Star Families while the Congresswoman has endured claims of instability and selfishness. Those adjectives are obviously paraphrased and watered down.
Of course, veterans are weighing in on the subject, none more prominent than Chief of Staff John Kelly. As usual, those veterans on TV are either claiming to or appear to be speaking for all veterans. But that's another topic entirely.
What's being lost on almost everyone, however, is the widow and the parents of the fallen soldier, around whom the controversy is based.
There is literally no one who feels the pain more acutely than the widow and parents of Sergeant La David Johnson.
The debate isn't centered around how she feels, it's not about ensuring she gets the support she deserves, or Defense policy in Niger.
It's about a President we all knew is kind of an asshole and a Congresswoman we all knew is kind of nuts.
Alas, reporters, doing their job as they see it, are asking the family questions about how they feel about the President or the fight he's having with their Congresswoman, a close friend of the family.
I've known soldiers who have died in service to the country, I've known families who have lost their sons and daughters, I've known men and women who've lost their spouses. There's nothing anyone can say or do to really provide solace.
As Lincoln said, [it is] weak and fruitless … any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming.
So in the interest of his widow, his parents, and the memory of Sergeant Johnson himself, lets move on. There is nothing to be gained from arguing over who said what or who is being more disrespectful. All of us, by watching the debate with rapt attention like a reality TV show, are being disrespectful.
Please. Just…stop.
Keep your feet moving