D-Day: 75 years ago today, European democracy was saved

There is a nostalgic poignancy pervading the 75th anniversary today of the Western Allies' massive D-Day invasion of Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, which signaled the new push to free Europe from Nazi Germany's fascistic hold.

The poignancy comes from the fact that it is likely that this is the last major D-Day commemoration that any of the men who fought in that invasion will be able to attend,  The small group of veterans of the invasion there today are in their 90s.   And, although an 80th anniversary commemoration is planned, even the youngest will be approaching 100 by then.

But there will always be those 10,000 graves of American soldiers buried in the cemetery nearby where the ceremony was held.   President Trump read some appropriate words that had been written for him -- about sacrifice and about heroism -- and, yes, about nations coming together to save freedom and democracy.   So we needn't use this occasion to dwell on the contrast of his having avoided military service himself and his opposition to joint treaties and multinational defense alliances.

Yet, it does not escape notice that it was the young French President Emmanuel Macron who gave the full-throated endorsement of alliance and cooperation among like-minded nations.

At one point in his remarks, Macron seemed to speak directly to Trump and his "Make America Great Again" slogan when he said:

“We know what we owe to the United States of America. The United States of America, dear Donald Trump, dear president, which is never greater than when it is fighting for the freedom of others. . .  The United States of America, that is never greater than when it shows its loyalty to the universal values that the Founding Fathers defended when, nearly two and a half centuries ago, France came to support its independence. . .    We shall never cease to perpetuate the alliance of free people.”

Macron then went on to expand on the fact that global institutions such as the United Nations, NATO and the European Union were created for that purpose.

If one looks only at our president's behavior at formal events during this trip, we might feel that he passed the test with a C-.    But, of course, in his Twitter remarks and in a televised interview with Piers Morgan, it was the same old Trump.   Picking enemies to attack and insult -- let's see, they were of course London's Muslim mayor, the American born, mixed race wife of Prince Harry, and the actress Bette Midler -- what is it about women and dark-skinned minorities that gets under his skin so?

When we add in the venality he showed in the televised interview with Piers Morgan and the utter ignorance and insensitivity he showed in the meeting with the Irish Prime Minister, I'd have to give him a failing grade.

This matter with the Irish PM concerned the difficult Brexit issue presented by the fact that part of Ireland is under United Kingdom control and would therefore leave the European Union if the U.K. leaves, while the Irish Republic itself is not part of the U.K. and thus would remain in the EU.   So then there's the problem of having to establish an enforced, international border between Northern Ireland/United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.   Trump treated this as a minor problem that could be solved with a wall (ugh) and ran rough-shod over his host's sensibilities about the whole thing.

Yes, it was probably his ignorance (not knowing the history of the problem this division has been for Ireland for decades, having for decades a virtual civil war) and his arrogance (that he can blithely offer another country simplistic solutions to their problems about which he knows nothing).

It's embarrassing.   It's humiliating.  And a dereliction of duty when he is so ignorant about the countries he's visiting on an official state visit.   So, yes, Donald Trump was a failure in this official state visit.

Ralph

PS:   Sorry, can't resist this.   In the interview with Piers Morgan on British tv, Trump was sounding off about transgender troops in the military and how much they cost the government for their medical care.   He claims that all the drugs they take (hormones, "so expensive").    Co-host Morgan pointed out that the government spends 10 times as much on Viagra for service members as it does on transgender health care ($84.2 million vs $8 million).