Promotion

 Some nimrod in a red baseball cap wandered into the campus at West Point on Graduation Day and somehow found his way onto the stage where he stood up in front of a bunch of cadets and their families and proceeded to babble on for some time before he ran out of steam. News crews and civilians on hand captured some of the rant: “The job of the U.S. armed forces is not to host drag shows, to transform foreign cultures, but to spread democracy to everybody around the world at the point of a gun. The military’s job is to dominate any foe and annihilate any threat to America anywhere, anytime, and anyplace.”

To be clear, this was not a group of soldiers who had just completed basic training, "hoorah." but rather more than one thousand men and women who completed their education at one of America's institutes of higher learning. At West Point degrees are available in a great many subjects, including such majors as Environmental Science, Foreign Studies, and History. Once their course of study is complete, these graduates become second lieutenants in the United States Army. The buffoon who got hold of the microphone last weekend seemed not to be clear on this matter. 

Or any other matter. 

"We are getting rid of the distractions and focusing our military on its core mission, crushing America’s adversaries, killing America‘s enemies, and defending our great American flag like it has never been defended before,” continued the man who seemed intent on rattling sabres more than inspiring future leaders. Instead, he seemed committed to reminding anyone who would listen about topics only he cared about: “We have liberated our troops from divisive and demeaning political trainings. There will be no more critical race theory or transgender for everybody forced onto the brave men and women in uniform—or on anybody else for that matter—in this country. We will not have men playing in women’s sports.” 

For more than an hour, this guy seemed intent to focus on a lot of things, including golf and real estate mogul William Levitt. Included in his Levitt bit was this aside, "He ended up getting a divorce. Found a new wife. Could you say a trophy wife? I guess we can say a trophy wife. It didn't work out too well." One might imagine that someone who chose to paint kettles in a particular shade might not have a bunch of pots at home that were black. 

No, this was not a salute to the newly minted officers of West Point. This was sixty-plus minutes of grandstanding from a guy who never served in the armed forces himself. He also failed to make note of one honorary graduate, Peter Wang. Peter never attended West Point, but he was a member of his high school's ROTC. He did not graduate high school. Seven years ago, Peter attended Parkland High School in Florida, the adopted home of the current "president." Like sixteen other classmates of his, Peter's life ended when a fellow student went on a shooting rampage. He held the door open so his others could escape and he wound up being shot and killed that day. It was this act of heroism that he was conferred the honor of being a member of this year's graduating class of cadets. 

At least he didn't have to suffer through the bloviations of the red-capped buffoon.