Surprised no one has mentioned this, but Trump may have just put our future military leaders in great danger. He wants to speak at the U. S. Military Academy’s graduation. And he wants to do so in person—forcing 1,000 seniors to come smack dab into the hottest zone for coronavirus in this country.
The academy had been looking at the option of a delayed presidential commencement in June, but had yet to complete any plans. With Mr. Trump’s pre-emptive statement, they are now summoning 1,000 cadets scattered across the country to return to campus in New York, the state that is the center of the outbreak.
“He’s the commander in chief, that’s his call,” said Sue Fulton, a West Point graduate and former chairwoman of the academy’s Board of Visitors. “Cadets are certainly excited about the opportunity to have something like the classic graduation, standing together, flinging their hats in the air.
“But everyone is leery about bringing 1,000 cadets into the New York metropolitan area for a ceremony,” she added. “It’s definitely a risk.”
“Definitely a risk” is being kind to it. West Point, like nearly all major colleges, has been all but shut down since March. The Corps of Cadets stayed home after spring break and is continuing its studies online. West Point superintendent Darryl Williams had ordered a working group to look at options for graduation, but a lot of people there were beginning to wonder if it was a good idea to hold an in-person graduation at all.
Those plans got upended in one stroke last Saturday, when Trump announced he intended to speak at West Point on June 13. Calling Trump’s announcement reckless is being kind to it.
For starters, the great majority of the Firsties (as West Point seniors are called) will almost certainly have to fly into New York and fly back home. And at this point, air travel is a crapshoot—but especially so at JFK, La Guardia and Newark. As I mentioned in March, my girlfriend was scared to fly into Atlanta last month because Hartsfield International had become one of the biggest hot zones in the country. She was coming back from her hometown in West Michigan to be with her mom through cancer surgery. Rather than chance going into a giant petri dish, she flew into Charlotte, and I ran her home the following morning. From what I’ve been hearing, the situation at the New York airports is every bit as risky as it is in Atlanta, if not more.
The Naval Academy wisely plans to hold a virtual graduation. In contrast, the Air Force Academy held an in-person graduation last weekend, with Pence as the speaker. That was risky in and of itself. But asking our nation’s future military leaders to come to an in-person graduation smack dab in the biggest hot zone in the country is unconscionable.
Simply put, Trump is playing with fire. If there could be a virtual graduation in Annapolis, why can’t there be one in Colorado Springs or West Point? The legal danger here is astronomical. If even ONE person gets sick and it can be traced to either Colorado Springs or West Point, at some point a judge is going to say, “You’re liable. Pay up!” And taxpayers may have to shoulder the ensuing legal burden.
This situation encapsulates why Trump is so manifestly unfit for office. A president who is willing to play fast and loose with the safety of our nation’s future military leaders is not someone who can be trusted with ordering troops into battle or using nuclear codes. Indeed, this move frightens me more than the night of Trump’s shocking victory. The mere thought I could potentially be exposed to this thing as a direct result of Trump’s narcissism is too damn obscene for words.
Saturday, Apr 25, 2020 · 5:57:42 PM +00:00
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Christian Dem in NC
Since this made the rec list, I thought I’d clarify what I meant by astronomical liabiity. If someone were to come in contact with a Firstie before or after the ceremony—like at the airport or on the way to the airport, for instance—then he or she absolutely could sue if he or she got sick. If, for instance, I got sick and it could be traced to a Firstie, I could contend strongly that this would have never happened if not for this incredibly reckless order from Trump.