After all, President Donald Trump’s administration had been consumed over the last 24 hours with a “he said/she said” fight over what the President said to Myeshia Johnson, the widow of one of the four American servicemen killed in an ISIS ambush in Niger. Florida Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson — in an account backed up by a family member — said that Trump had told the widow of her husband that “he knew what he was getting into” — a phrase that deeply upset her. Trump insisted the call was polite and respectful, and that Wilson wasn’t telling the truth for partisan purposes.
Enter Kelly. A four-star general. A man widely respected even by those who roll their eyes at Trump. And, most significantly for the sake of today, a father who had lost a son in military combat. (Kelly’s son, Robert, was killed in Afghanistan in 2010.)
Kelly stepped to the podium and delivered a moving and raw recounting of how soldiers killed in action are transported from the field of battle to their homes. How they are honored by their peers. And how they are the best of us.
It was incredibly powerful stuff — made even more so by the back story of Kelly’s firsthand experience with his own son’s death. This wasn’t a politician saying the right words. This was a man who knows loss intimately. Who knows what it means to make the ultimate sacrifice.
No one who watched those first few minutes could help but be swayed by the power of Kelly’s words and his experiences. It was stunning.
Then, however, Kelly transitioned into an attempt to clean up Trump’s mess.
Kelly recalled what his best friend Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former commandant of the Marine Corps, had told him when Kelly’s own son was killed: “He was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he was killed,” Kelly said Dunford told him. “He knew what he was getting into by joining that 1%. He knew what the possibilities were because we were at war. And when he died he was surrounded by the best men on this earth, his friends. That’s what the President tried to say to the four families the other day.”
Added Kelly of Trump: “He expressed his condolences in the best way he could.”
The takeaway? Yes, Trump said the words Wilson said he said. But, no, he didn’t mean them in the way Wilson (and Johnson, according to family) took them.

Gold Star mother Michelle Deford says that the White House should “put someone else in charge of condolence calls to Gold Star families,” referring to President Trump’s controversial call to a Gold Star widow.

From the Washington Post:
The mother of a soldier killed in an ambush in Africa said Wednesday that President Trump “did disrespect my son” with remarks in a condolence telephone call.

Sgt. La David T. Johnson’s mother, Cowanda Jones-Johnson, told The Washington Post that she was present during the call from the White House on Tuesday to Johnson’s widow, Myeshia Johnson. She also stood by an account of the call from Rep. Frederica S. Wilson (D-Fla.) that Trump told Myeshia Johnson that her husband “must have known what he signed up for.”

“President Trump did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband,” Jones-Johnson said.

Trump lashed back at Wilson. He denied her account in a Twitter message Wednesday. He said he had “proof” that the exchange did not go as Wilson had described.

You know, for nearly 10 yrs I worked professionally in the field of Forensic Mental Health (before switching to a ‘NOT as twisted” field of mental health). And I’ve certainly seen my share of some of the worse, OF THE WORSE, of mankind who have ever walked the face of this earth!

Which brings me to Trump. We’ve now witnessed this man for nearly 3 yrs in particular. His words and deeds (actions and reactions) speak VOLUMES about the man. No sane and reasonably intelligent person could ever take comfort in having such a despicable, dishonest and, possibly, extremely dangerous creature in the White House….smh!. Not if you love this country. Not if you love life.