Trump – silent but deadly

Trump administration lifts silencer sales ban meant to protect our troops from ambush

Aldous J Pennyfarthing

By Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune

Could Donald J. Trump hate our troops any more than he already does? No. No, he couldn’t.

Apparently it wasn’t enough for Trump to ignore bounties placed on the heads of our soldiers in Afghanistan (yeah, remember that one?) simply because he has a dictator-man-crush on Vladimir Putin. 

Now Trump has caved (again) to the NRA and firearms industry because, well, he’s as weak as they come.

The New York Times:

Michael B. Williams spent nearly two years helping to run a trade group focused on expanding sales of firearm silencers by American manufacturers.

But try as he might, he could not achieve one of the industry’s main goals: overturning a ban on sales to private foreign buyers enacted by the State Department to protect American troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Then Mr. Williams joined the Trump administration.

As a White House lawyer, he pushed to overturn the prohibition, raising the issue with influential administration officials and creating pressure within the State Department, according to current and former government officials.

And how did Williams do? 


He accomplished his mission, of course. On Friday, the State Department revoked the ban, which will, it turns out, “pave[...] the way for as much as $250 million a year in possible new overseas sales for companies that Mr. Williams had championed as general counsel of the American Suppressor Association.”

Hey, thanks for draining the deep-state swamp and replacing it with a swamp that’s more to your liking!

Oh, and because the asshole doesn’t fall far from the tree, Donald Trump Jr. had a tangential role in this, too:

Mr. Williams’s work, though lower-profile, has nevertheless been a boon to another crucial political constituency: the gun lobby, which plays a leading role in Republican get-out-the-vote efforts and views eliminating silencer restrictions as an emerging issue. 

It’s a subject that has been embraced by the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. — an ally of Mr. Williams’s former trade group — as well as by other powerful gun industry groups.

Is there no one Donald Trump wouldn’t betray for a buck? When will military personnel notice that Trump doesn’t have their back — or any other part of their body, mind, or soul, for that matter? 

He can lie all he wants about the Veterans Choice Act, but I can only assume soldiers will know when they’ve been shot.

Of course, this decision has not come without controversy. According to The Times, “Pentagon officials had warned against lifting [the ban]. The officials feared that American troops who came under silenced gunfire might struggle to locate their attackers and return fire.”

Ah, but that’s their problem, isn’t it? After all, Trumps don’t do combat. They sneak up on defenseless animals with their rifles — and wouldn’t it be cool if Don Jr. and Eric could cap an elephant without the poor, dumb animal ever knowing they’re coming?