November 10, 2018: It is the day before the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I in victory for America and her allies. Representing America, Donald Trump had been scheduled to lay a wreath and observe a moment of silence Saturday at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial, located adjacent to Belleau Wood, about 60 miles northeast of Paris.
Trump had his appearance there canceled. Officially, the White House office cited weather conditions that grounded the Presidential helicopter, Marine One, for the cancellation.
Attending the cemetery event in Trump's place were the White House Chief of Staff, retired Marine General John Kelly; the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine General Joe Dunford; and several members of the White House staff. The Battle of Belleau Wood was a critical conflict in the war, the 1st-ever battle between American troops and European troops in Europe, and the victory is regarded as a pivotal encounter in Marine Corps history. So, if Trump couldn't go, these were appropriate people to send.
The truth: Trump could have gone, and should have. He chose not to. He wasn't advised not to go: He made the choice. A report in The Atlantic, penned by the magazine's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, said Trump had refused to visit the cemetery because "he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain."
Donald Trump was worried about his hair. Have you seen Trump's hair?
As if those soldiers, and their comrades from other countries, especially Britain and France, who had been doing it a lot longer, hadn't gone through horrible conditions.
"In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, 'Why should I go to that cemetery? It's filled with losers,'" the article said.
Donald Trump called Americans who died serving their country in war "losers."
"In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as 'suckers' for getting killed," The Atlantic added, citing four unnamed people it said had firsthand knowledge of the discussions.
Not one person, not two people, not three people. Four different people, who all heard him say it.
Donald Trump called Americans who died serving their country in war "losers" and "suckers."
Trump slammed the report, after his aides earlier called the allegations "disgusting, grotesque, reprehensible lies."
According to The Atlantic, Trump asked aides on his trip to France, "Who were the good guys in this war?" and could not understand why the United States had come to the aid of the Allies.
When asking Congress for a Declaration of War on April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson said, "The world must be made safe for democracy."
Wilson's hypocrisy on the issue of democracy became clear after the war, when he continued policies that were terribly undemocratic toward black Americans. Nevertheless, he at least understood democracy. Trump doesn't even try to understand it.
The truth: Donald Trump doesn't understand anything beyond his own selfish desires. He was not fit to be President of the United States, and commander-in-chief of our armed forces, and our representative to the world, when he ran for President in 2016. He was not fit to serve in those posts in 2018. He was not fit when he ran for re-election in 2020.
UPDATE: He was not fit while running again in 2024.
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November 10, 2018 was a Saturday. Among the college football games played were these:
* Number 1 Alabama beat Number 18 Mississippi State, 24-0 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 'Bama won the Southeastern Conference title.
* Number 2 Clemson beat Number 17 Boston College, 27-7 at Alumni Stadium in the Boston suburb of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Clemson won the Atlantic Coast Conference title.
* Number 3 Notre Dame beat Florida State, 42-13 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame were invited to the Cotton Bowl, where they lost to Clemson.
* Number 4 Michigan beat Rutgers, 42-7 at High Point Solutions Stadium (now SHI Stadium) in Piscataway, New Jersey.
* Number 5 Georgia beat Auburn, 27-10 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.
* Rivalry: Number 6 Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State, 48-47 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman. Oklahoma won the Big 12 Conference title, and were invited to the Orange Bowl, where they were beaten by Alabama. 'Bama went to the National Championship Game, where they lost to Clemson.
* Number 7 West Virginia beat Texas Christian University (TCU), 47-10 at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia.
* Number 8 Ohio State beat Number 24 Michigan State, 26-6 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan. Ohio State went on to win the Big Ten Conference title.
* Number 9 Louisiana State University (LSU) beat Arkansas, 24-17 at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
* Number 10 Washington State beat Colorado, 31-7 at Folsom Field in the Denver suburb of Boulder, Colorado.
* Rivalry: Number 12 Kentucky were upset by Tennessee, 24-7 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.
* The University of Washington were unranked at this point, and were idle this week. They went on to upset Washington State and Utah, ranked 8th and 17th at the time, respectively, and win the Pacific-12 Conference title. Washington went to the Rose Bowl, and lost to Ohio State.
* Rivalry: Duke beat North Carolina, 42-35 at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.
* Rivalry: Kansas State beat Kansas, 21-17 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas.
* And among the service academies, Army beat Lafayette, 31-13 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; Navy lost to Number 11 University of Central Florida (UCF), 35-24 at Spectrum Stadium (now FBC Mortgage Stadium) in Orlando; and Air Force beat New Mexico, 42-24 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado. UCF went to the Fiesta Bowl, where they lost to LSU, ending their dream of an undefeated season and a possible challenge to the winner of the official National Championship Game. (The highest-ranked team they beat was the University of Cincinnati, then ranked Number 24. Any pretensions they had to being on the same level as Clemson and Alabama were laughable.)
There were 10 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks lost to the Toronto Raptors, 128-112 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
* The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Golden State Warriors, 116-100 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named the Oracle Arena).
* The Washington Wizards beat the Miami Heat, 116-110 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.
* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 112-106 in overtime at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. Mike Conley scored 32 points to lead all scorers on the night.
* The New Orleans Pelicans beat the Phoenix Suns, 119-99 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 99-98 at the United Center in Chicago.
* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 111-96 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Houston Rockets, 96-89 at the AT&T Center (now the Frost Bank Center) in San Antonio.
* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 128-126 in overtime at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings, 101-86 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
And there were 11 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-4 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
* The New York Islanders lost to the Florida Panthers, 4-2 at the BB&T Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.
* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Vegas Golden Knights, 5-4 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-1 at the TD Garden in Boston.
* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-0 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-3 at the PNC Arena (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh.
* The Ottawa Senators beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-4 at the Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3 in a shootout at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Arizona Coyotes, 4-0 at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The Nashville Predators beat the Dallas Stars, 5-4 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Mattias Ekholm scored the winning goal, with 2:33 left in overtime.
* And the Calgary Flames beat the Los Angeles Kings, 1-0 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.
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