A perfect weekend to read USMC vet @DoctorFaz's new memoir. 19 yrs on, are those who served post-9/11 "suckers" or "losers"? There's much to take heart in Teresa's story that shows such dignity & honesty in sharing the deeply moral convictions of her service in "Fidelis." 1/6
Many who served in Iraq & Afghanistan never left their bases, but war nevertheless found them inside base walls. Teresa paints beautiful & frighteningly vivid scenes of daily life in Iraq where she did maybe one of the most critical jobs of our digitally-connected wars. 2/6
All while navigating her identity as a young woman striving to give her best as a warrior & leader of mostly male troops in tight quarters amid raging battles. Teaching Marines to wrestle by night & do their best by day—as she wrestles with her worthiness to feel loved. 3/6
"Fidelis" is brutally honest about Teresa's emotional experience of deployment via a relationship even more haunting than her nightmares. Teresa is among the best of us. Diligently doing her part. Always seeking to do more. Always feeling she’s never doing enough. 4/6
Teresa chose to spend four years in the Marine Corps despite having a world of other options as a brilliant student at MIT & later earning a PhD in materials science. She's smarter than most of us. Yet also far more humble than most of us. An exemplary leader & person. 5/6
America is fortunate to have Teresa still serving as a veteran, writing with honesty & openness about her own experiences—and amplifying the voices & experiences of others. Thank you for a great book @DoctorFaz. Everyone go read it. 6/6
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I read this yesterday. I keep wanting to scream. This is an important piece. But it is nowhere damning enough. A few thoughts: 1/ theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
First, it is surprising to notice someone who ran relentless cover for the Biden withdrawal last August seems to feel bad about it now & is made out to be someone of conscience here. It's puzzling, but not the point of the piece. 2/
Also, let it be known that Mission Essential Personnel has told more lies about our #AfghanAllies than the Taliban. This was systemic betrayal of loyal Afghans. They fired our friends for "security reasons" time & again. It seems directed at SIV denial.
Rush Limbaugh's legacy of stoking hate, bigotry, insults & lies will sadly live on. Remembering today the bile he spewed at veterans. Like when he called veterans wounded in Iraq "phony soldiers" for speaking up about the lies that started the war: abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2…
On transgender military service, Rush Limbaugh offered this "support" for the troops: "So the Trannies Could Now Get Into The Military Along With Everybody Else. Of Course, What Could Go Wrong?" mediamatters.org/rush-limbaugh/…
At one point, women veterans demanded Rush Limbaugh be taken off of Armed Forces Network because of the misogynist hatred he spewed. He was never taken off the programming. stripes.com/blogs/stripes-…
A few years ago @CapitolPolice arrested more than 150 peaceful protesters, many of them sexual assault survivors, using their 1st amendment right to protest the Kavanaugh nomination. I haven't been able to find one report or photo of any marauders or looters arrested today.
When disability rights protesters peacefully objected to cuts in Medicaid, more than 180 were arrested. @CapitolPolice took down people with physical disabilities. I have not yet found even one marauder or looter handled like these disabled heroes were.
When disabled people peacefully protested the harm legislators wanted to inflict upon them - @CapitolPolice literally flipped people out of their wheelchairs. I've seen no such aggression toward those who looted our Capitol today.
I don't wish COVID-19 or any illness on anyone. But like countless others, I'm enraged it took this long for the WH to put on masks. To treat this as the crisis it is. 210k dead. Mourning families. Unpayable medical debts. Lost jobs & businesses. This global tragedy is unending.
Seeing discussions of helicopter vs. ground travel from WH to Walter Reed - which is well and interesting - got me thinking of March-May in NYC when ambulances were constant, EMS & ER staff were overwhelmed & hospitals had morgue trailers filling with our neighbors & loved ones.
Wishing New Yorkers had options then - or that other Americans have options now. In early months, folks were told to stay home unless they couldn't breathe. Hospital hall space was taken up with critical patients, many of whom died from lack of staffing & equipment.
That "308,000 deaths in the military" number is very specific, so I did a simple search. Appears that 308,000 is the number of civilian casualties in Iraq. Real numbers, real lives - zero context here in #Debates2020. statista.com/chart/20699/es…
More than 20k people died of COVID-19 in my city. Healthcare workers had no PPE. NYC begged for supplies & equipment as morgue trailers filled. Deceased people were carried away in rental vans. We were failed by our federal govt profoundly. politico.com/news/2020/03/2…
NYC saved lives by limiting social contact and mandating masks. We do not want to go back to the mass-death we experienced in terrifying early months of this pandemic. This isn't a game, this isn't a political football. Americans are dying. #Debates2020