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Every day, on average, 22 veterans of our armed forces will commit suicide. This Veterans Day we should resolve as a nation to prevent as many such tragic deaths as possible. To her credit, President Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, has worked as an unpaid volunteer in pursuit of this goal.
One way to reduce veteran suicides is to provide service dogs to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other trauma-induced anxieties. I have worked in suicide prevention, and I know that these dogs have a remarkable effect in helping our veterans.
But remarkably, a story in Newsweek trashes Lara Trump for doing charity work uniting veterans and animals.
If I am reading the contrived outrage of the story correctly, it is somehow inappropriate for members of the Trump family to volunteer their time and talents – at no cost to taxpayers – for worthy non-political causes that all Americans should be able to support.
In the case of Lara Trump, she was holding meetings in the White House trying to coordinate the training of service dogs that might otherwise be destroyed so the dogs could be given to veterans who need them, either for disabilities or other needs.
Lara Trump was working with The Humane Society and various veterans’ organizations. But because the groups met in the White House to talk about this project to help veterans, and because Lara Trump also serves on president’s campaign committee, the whole idea was deemed political patronage and attacked. This is absurd.
Had Lara been able to establish her program, how many veterans’ lives would be saved? How many veterans could have seen lives improve?
I understand we must guard against political patronage. No one should personally benefit financially from a family member in office. But this isn’t that.
What’s wrong with the president’s daughter-in-law – or his other relatives, for that matter –working as unpaid volunteers to benefit great causes like veterans and homeless animals? Isn’t this ideal of selfless service something that parents, religious leaders and teachers work to instill in all our children?
Lara Trump and other members of the Trump family deserve praise for their dedication to good causes. Yet incredibly, the leftist media mocks the Trumps and heinously twists their efforts on behalf of others to make it seem like they are some sort of crime family scheming to enrich themselves and harm our nation. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Media whining about this and other volunteer and charitable work by the Trump family has already forced some family members to give up this work.
For example, thanks to the media watchdogs, no longer is President Trump’s son (and Lara’s husband) Eric raising money to help children with cancer.
The anti-Trump media have also “saved” women from Ivanka Trump’s female empowerment fund. That's got to be a relief to feminists everywhere!
Now the liberal media finds nobility in precluding veterans from having a loving companion animal to accompany them? Thousands of dogs will instead be killed or used for research. The dogs can’t protest this injustice – but the rest of us should.
The leftist media wear the label "hypocrite" like a badge, and they only deepen the divide between the rational and irrational in America.
While they talk about unity and tolerance, members of the liberal media go out of their way to divide and mock. While they talk about liberalism, the only thing they do liberally is pass out hate for the Trump family, and their supporters (roughly half of voters). While they deem themselves "progressive," the only thing progressive about them is that they are progressively ensuring a conservative landslide in 2018 and 2020.
President Trump may not need Lara Trump on the campaign side, or really need any of us (I serve on his Campaign Media Advisory Board, for full disclosure). He has the entire leftist regressive media campaigning non-stop for his re-election.
Maybe the media are right! Lara can just take a much-needed vacation. The media have this. They will assure a Trump a re-election victory in 2020.
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