President Donald Trump said on Friday his administration will conduct a &#8220;major&#8221; tariff investigation on furniture entering the United States, a step toward imposing higher duties on a sector already seeing tariff-fueled price increases.
&#8220;Furniture coming from other Countries into the United States will be Tariffed at a Rate yet to be determined,&#8221; Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Furniture retailer RH &#8212; previously known as Restoration Hardware &#8212; shares fell 7.5% in after-hours trading on Trump&#8217;s announcement.
Trump said the investigation will be completed within the next 50 days but other national security probes have taken significantly longer than that. A White House official confirmed that it would be conducted under the Section 232 national security statute.
The probe could serve as a backstop legal basis for existing tariffs if a federal appeals court strikes down &#8220;reciprocal&#8221; duties that Trump imposed on a broad range of U.S. trading partners in April, as well as import taxes imposed in February against China, Canada and Mexico.
&#8220;This will bring the Furniture Business back to North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, and States all across the Union,&#8221; Trump said.
Furniture and wood products manufacturing &#8212; which employed 1.2 million people in 1979 &#8212; has fallen from 681,000 in 2000 to 340,000 today, according to government statistics.
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The United States imported about $25.5 billion in furniture in 2024, up 7% over 2023, with about 60% of those imports coming from Vietnam and China, according to Furniture Today, a trade publication.
New tariffs on imports from furniture-producing countries helped push up consumer prices for home furnishings by a steep 0.7% in July, according to Commerce Department data, though overall consumer price inflation was restrained by lower gasoline prices.
The American Home Furnishings Alliance, a trade group representing domestic furniture manufacturers and importers, including many companies that do both, had no immediate comment on Trump&#8217;s announcement.
But the High Point, North Carolina-based AHFA in April led an industry coalition in opposing new tariffs under Trump&#8217;s ongoing Section 232 investigation into lumber and wood products imports.
&#8220;As a strictly legal matter, there is no rational relationship between imports of wood products or furniture and the national security of the United States,&#8221; the group said in written comments to the Commerce Department.
&#8220;Second, no amount of tariffs will bring back American furniture manufacturing back to its prior levels. Tariffs will harm manufacturing still being done in the United States.&#8221;
Furniture would be the latest imported products targeted for a national security investigation by the Trump administration. On Thursday, it announced a national security probe into imported wind turbines and has previously targeted copper and other metals.
The department has opened numerous probes into the national security ramifications of imports of airplanes, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, heavy trucks, timber and lumber, critical minerals and drones.
The European Union won some relief from these potential new Section 232 tariffs as part of a joint statement on Thursday fleshing out their trade deal. The two sides agreed to limit any new U.S. tariffs on EU pharmaceuticals, lumber and semiconductors to the general 15% rate applied to most products from the bloc and will shield EU aircraft and parts, generic pharmaceuticals and drug chemical precursors from all new tariffs.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Bhargav Acharya; editing by Ryan Patrick Jones, Caitlin Webber and Diane Craft)

Carpenter

Trump On Tariff Investigation Into Furniture Imports: Bring ‘Business Back’ To U.S.

Communist China

Donald Trump

Global Politics

Politics

Tariffs

Vietnam

President Donald Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114784170652465525" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> on Truth Social Wednesday that the United States and Vietnam had struck a trade deal, opening the Vietnamese market to American producers while imposing hefty tariffs on Vietnamese goods.
&#8220;It is my Great Honor to announce that I have just made a Trade Deal with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,&#8221; Trump wrote.
The deal comes just days before Trump’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-issues-90-day-pause-on-most-tariffs-raises-chinas-to-125" target="_blank" rel="noopener">90-day pause</a> on foreign tariffs expires. If Vietnam did not come to an agreement with the United States by July 9, tariffs on Vietnam would have jumped 46%.
American producers will now have access to the Vietnamese market completely free from tariffs, Trump said. At the same time, all Vietnamese imports will carry a 20% tariff, and all &#8220;transshipped&#8221; goods — products that are channeled through Vietnam by countries like China to circumvent trade restrictions — will face a 40% tariff.
Trump is hoping, in particular, that American automakers will have success in the Vietnamese market.
&#8220;It is my opinion that the SUV &#8230; which does so well in the United States, will be a wonderful addition to the various product lines within Vietnam,&#8221; Trump said.
In 2024, American exports to Vietnam totaled $13.1 billion, while imports totaled $136.6 billion, <a href="https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/southeast-asia-pacific/vietnam" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
This is the latest deal Trump has struck since imposing the 90-day stay on tariffs. Early last month, the president secured a reduction in tariffs with China after waging a war of reciprocal tariffs. Through that trade deal, China <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-unveils-terms-of-done-trade-deal-with-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agreed</a> to pay a 55% tariff, compared to the 10% imposed on American goods.
The Chinese trade deal also allows Chinese students to study at American colleges and universities. Additionally, China will supply rare earth minerals that can be used for high-end technology production in the United States.
Trump also clinched a notable deal with the United Kingdom just a few weeks ago. In a comprehensive agreement with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fair-to-both-sides-trump-starmer-say-they-have-a-deal-on-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">secured</a> billions in market access for American firms as well as a 10% tariff on the first 10,000 UK-produced automobiles imported into the United States, with all subsequent imported automobiles receiving a 25% tariff.
The president recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-ends-u-s-trade-talks-with-canada-effective-immediately?author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Ends+Trade+Talks+With+Canada+%E2%80%98Effective+Immediately%E2%80%99" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ended talks</a> with Canada over a digital tax on American tech companies, which led Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to quickly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/canada-caves-digital-tax-on-u-s-tech-scrapped-after-trump-pressure">abandon</a> the tax in the hopes of repairing Canada&#8217;s relationship with the United States.

US-VOTE-TRUMP

Trump Announces Major Trade Deal With Vietnam Days Before Tariff Increases

trade

In an embarrassing moment for French President Emmanuel Macron, just before he and his wife Brigitte — who is 25 years his senior  — exited a plane in Vietnam, she shoved him directly in the face.
What made the moment hilarious was that Macron was facing his wife rather than the doorway off the plane and did not appear to know the doorway had opened. But when she shoved his face, it turned his head 90 degrees so he was facing out the door. He immediately realized he could be seen and waved and smiled before heading back toward his wife.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
French Pres. Emmanuel Macron appeared to be pushed in the face by his wife Brigitte Macron as they arrived in Vietnam, the first stop of a Southeast Asia tour. <a href="https://t.co/nqzICGPpeY">https://t.co/nqzICGPpeY</a> <a href="https://t.co/VQnNSpMm1K">pic.twitter.com/VQnNSpMm1K</a>
&mdash; ABC News (@ABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1926963047337246897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
On the one hand I feel bad for Macron. That’s humiliating to get attacked by your wife’s claws while the cameras are rolling.
But on the other hand, that terror-supporting brat deserves it…
As they say, couldn’t have happened to a better man, right?<a href="https://t.co/XRIF0OtSz3">pic.twitter.com/XRIF0OtSz3</a>
&mdash; Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarinaMedvin/status/1926966165298962815?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;
Macron <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/elysee-plays-down-apparent-shove-macron-wife-vietnam-2025-05-26/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismissed the incident</a>, telling reporters, &#8220;I was bickering, or rather joking, with my wife. It&#8217;s nothing.&#8221; An Elysee official echoed, “It was a moment when the president and his wife were relaxing one last time before the start of the trip by having a laugh.”
Visiting the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, “Macron emphasized the need for ‘an order based on law’ at a time of ‘both great imbalance and a return to power-driven rhetoric and intimidation,’” ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/frances-macron-visit-vietnam-urges-greater-cooperation-defense-122191313?cid=social_twitter_abcn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. France and Vietnam signed deals worth more than $10 billion after President Donald Trump threatened to impose 50% tariffs on European Union goods starting July 9.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Memorial Day Sale – Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
Macron joined the leaders of the United Kingdom and Canada on May 19 to demand that Israel stop the expansion of military operations in Gaza that are designed to eliminate the terrorist group Hamas. The <a href="https://www.elysee.fr/en/emmanuel-macron/2025/05/19/joint-statement-from-the-leaders-of-the-united-kingdom-france-and-canada-on-the-situation-in-gaza-and-the-west-bank" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> demanded that a cease-fire be implemented and a two-state solution created, saying, “We are committed to recognizing a Palestinian state.”
In April, Macron iterated that he wanted EU businesses to stop investing in America after President Trump imposed tariffs on the European Union. “It is important that future investments, the investments announced over the last few weeks, should be put on hold for some time until we have clarified things with the United States of America,” Macron <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/macron-eu-companies-should-freeze-investment-in-the-u-s-until-trump-calms-down/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “What message would we send by having major European players investing billions of euros in the American economy at a time when [the U.S.] are hitting us?”
French billionaire Bernard Arnault <a href="https://videos.senat.fr/video.5409997_682ddabf64695.aides-aux-grandes-entreprises--audition-de-bernard-arnault" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fired back</a>, “I think it&#8217;s very bad for the state to meddle in the management of private companies. It usually leads to disaster. I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s a good idea to take advice like that, wherever it comes from.”

VIETNAM-FRANCE-DIPLOMACY

French Kiss: Macron Gets Shoved In The Face By His Wife — On Camera

Brigitte Macron

Emmanuel Macron

France

World

A listener to my show asked me two questions regarding Trump’s tariffs.
First, why should he care about the stock market dropping? He added that, like the majority of the middle and lower class, he had no stocks whatsoever.
Second, I previously stated that if President Trump laid out exactly what his goals were with the tariffs, his strategy might work. The listener asked how that could be true since Trump would be telling everyone he was basically bluffing, thereby losing all leverage.
To begin with, 62% of Americans own stocks in some way, shape, or form. You may not be in the stock market or own stocks at all. The truth is, however, that there has never been a time in American history where there was a massive drop in the stock market that did not have a spillover effect on Main Street.
Why?
Because one of the ways that capital markets work is the issuing of new stock. If you can&#8217;t issue new stock because nobody is buying it, then no additional capital. The market is both a way to make money — because you can own a piece of a company — and also a good symptomatic examination of what&#8217;s happening.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2175-member-exclusive?row=0&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Carousel&amp;rowHeadline=The+Ben+Shapiro+Show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
The stock market is a bleeding edge indicator of what comes next in the economy. The stock market is a giant pool of capital that is deciding whether to invest or disinvest in business.
The stock market is like a scale. It&#8217;s like saying, “Well, you know, I don&#8217;t use scales, so whether I&#8217;m fat or whether I&#8217;m skinny doesn&#8217;t really matter because I don&#8217;t use scales.&#8221;
The scale is just a measurement technique.
As far as the second point, I don&#8217;t understand why. It doesn’t have to be a bluff. He could say, “Listen, I&#8217;m going to 25% tariffs on you unless you go to zero,” and then do it. Why does he have to bluff? We have the cards. Why do we have to bluff? You bluff when you don&#8217;t have the cards?
So why don&#8217;t you just say it? You can say to the Vietnamese, “Listen, we&#8217;re going to put a 15% tariff on your goods because we don&#8217;t like what you&#8217;re doing. Come to the table and deal or we’re doing it.” What&#8217;s Vietnam going to do? They&#8217;re trying to deal now. Why are you bluffing when you have four aces?
It makes no sense at all. Don&#8217;t bluff when you have four aces. Just say, “I have four aces. Let&#8217;s negotiate.” President Trump did this with Zelensky.
I don&#8217;t understand why we&#8217;re not doing it with everybody.

Traders On The Floor Of The NYSE As US Stocks Rally Most Since 2022 On Trade Deal Hopes

Two Questions On Tariffs

Ben Shapiro

Opinion

President Trump

Stock Market

Trade War

President Donald Trump said on Friday that he had a &#8220;productive call&#8221; with a key leader in Vietnam, adding that the country governed by communists wants to ink a deal with the United States and cut tariffs &#8220;down to ZERO.&#8221;
In a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114280292618523684" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> on Truth Social, Trump said a Vietnamese official told him the country was interested in slashing tariffs on U.S. goods after Trump announced his &#8220;Liberation Day&#8221; tariffs on Wednesday. As part of Trump&#8217;s announcement that affects nearly every country in the world, Vietnam was hit with one of the highest tariffs at 46%.
&#8220;Just had a very productive call with To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, who told me that Vietnam wants to cut their Tariffs down to ZERO if they are able to make an agreement with the U.S.,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;I thanked him on behalf of our Country, and said I look forward to a meeting in the near future.&#8221;
Vietnam is a major manufacturing hub for multiple large American companies, including Nike, Adidas, Patagonia, and The North Face. Companies expanded in Vietnam after trade tensions rose with Communist China. U.S. imports from Vietnam increased 19% from 2023 to 2024, growing to $136.6 billion, CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/02/trump-tariffs-on-vietnam-could-raise-prices-for-shoes-furniture-toys.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Vietnam&#8217;s exports to the United States account for around 30% of its gross domestic product, which is the highest share among America&#8217;s biggest trade partners, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/vietnams-us-exports-account-30-gdp-making-it-highly-vulnerable-tariffs-2025-02-25/#:~:text=Vietnam%20now%20directs%2029%25%20of,Nations%20commodity%20trade%20statistics%20show." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters</a>. Along with hurting Vietnam&#8217;s economy, Trump&#8217;s tariffs on the country could also raise costs for American companies, stoking concerns that the tax will be passed on to American consumers. The president argues that tariffs will force American companies that have moved production to countries such as Vietnam to bring back manufacturing and jobs to the United States.
Not every country is reacting to Trump&#8217;s tariffs with a willingness to come to the negotiating table. China announced on Friday that it would impose a 34% tariff on U.S. goods in response to Trump&#8217;s 34% tariff on the communist nation. Canada and the European Union have also vowed to retaliate with tariffs on U.S. products.

Donald Trump/To Lam

Trump Holds ‘Productive Call’ With Vietnam, Says Country ‘Wants To Cut Their Tariffs Down To ZERO’

Economy

Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who was famously accused years ago of lying by claiming he had served in Vietnam, implied <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pam-bondi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pam Bondi</a> was lying in some of her replies at her hearing for Attorney General, prompting her to directly confront the insinuation.
“I am really troubled, deeply disturbed and troubled by some of your responses and non-responses to the questions that you’ve been asked today,” Blumenthal stated. “You say the right things, that you’re going to be the people’s lawyer. That’s what you have to say to be here, but I believe being the people’s lawyer means you have to say no to the President of the United States; you have to speak truth to power; you have to be able to say Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.”
Bondi tersely responded, “Senator, first, I need to clarify something that you said, that I ‘have’ to sit up here and say these things. No, I don’t. I sit up here and speak the truth. I’m not going to sit up here and say anything that I need to say to get confirmed by this body. I don’t ‘have’ to say anything.”
As The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/nyregion/18blumenthal.html?pagewanted=all&amp;referer=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in 2010 of Blumenthal’s actions:
<blockquote>
“We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,” Mr. Blumenthal said to the group gathered in Norwalk in March 2008. “And you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it — Afghanistan or Iraq — we owe our military men and women unconditional support.” 
There was one problem: Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat <a style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/nyregion/15blumenthal.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">now running for the United States Senate</a>, never served in Vietnam. He obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war, according to records. &#8230;
Sometimes his remarks have been plainly untrue, as in his speech to the group in Norwalk. At other times, he has used more ambiguous language, but the impression left on audiences can be similar. &#8230; In at least eight newspaper articles published in Connecticut from 2003 to 2009, he is described as having served in Vietnam. &#8230; It does not appear that Mr. Blumenthal ever sought to correct those mistakes.
</blockquote>
Blumenthal once <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_MAB-bX7Ug" target="_blank" rel="noopener">admitted</a>, “Now, on a few occasions, I have misspoken about my service, and I regret that and I take full responsibility.”
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Richard Blumenthal

Blumenthal Implies Bondi Is Lying. He Was Accused of Lying About Serving In Vietnam.

Congress

Pam Bondi

For those who have either fought in war, or, as in my case, have had loved ones who have, Veterans Day is not just a date on the calendar. It is a reminder that survivors of the battlefield — the most taxing and traumatic of any environment — have given so much of themselves to defend the liberties we all too often take for granted.
During an election year, Veterans Day takes on special significance. When we step into the voting booth and draw the curtain, we are acting out the answer to a fundamental question so many of those returning home from duty must ask themselves: “What, exactly, did I fight for?” The answer is they fight so their fellow Americans are free to choose their leaders and to decide their own fate. It is cliché, but veterans have, indeed, fought for our most basic freedoms, and to exercise our God-given rights without fear of the midnight pounding on the door.
At times, as in my father’s case, our troops have fought not for our freedom per se, but those of others. Entire nations like South Korea, as well as post-war Western Europe, owe American veterans a debt that can never be fully repaid. Many of the men and women would return home maimed, or psychologically broken. Yet, the sublimity of their sacrifice remains. Unfortunately, so do the wounds, the memories, the terrors.
My Marine dad was a rare breed. Unlike many combat veterans, my father would talk about it. I gave him a sounding board, a release valve for the memories that I now understand were assaulting him for three decades since leaving the horrors of Korea behind. He was wounded by Chinese mortars and almost lost his foot. He would tell stories of how the Chinese attacked in human waves, blowing bugles and clanging gongs; how the enemy once splayed the body of a dead Marine across barbed wire between the lines, daring his men to come get their comrade. Marine tradition is to not leave the dead behind, if at all possible. They did retrieve the body. He would share how the North Koreans taught kids to throw grenades at them, and how they’d have to shoot them down; Or how he once identified a man in his platoon by his head, which the aid station attendees in a moment of macabre caprice had laid on the man’s chest.
No doubt what 2nd Lt. John M. Schaeffer, First Marine Division experienced in Korea were the same feelings, if under different circumstances and topographies, of every veteran on every battlefield. The blood, the shrieks, the pleas for water, the crying out for mothers, and the gore are universal no matter what side the combatants find themselves on. Indeed, Wellington famously <a href="https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/battle-waterloo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, “Believe me, nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.”
<div id="attachment_827165" style="width: 442px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-827165" class="size-large wp-image-827165" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/11/1Schaeffer-Korea-432x576.jpeg" alt="2nd Lt. John M. Schaeffer, First Marine Division, with Purple Heart. Credit: Brad Schaeffer" width="432" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/11/1Schaeffer-Korea-432x576.jpeg 432w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/11/1Schaeffer-Korea-225x300.jpeg 225w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/11/1Schaeffer-Korea-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/11/1Schaeffer-Korea-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/11/1Schaeffer-Korea-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/11/1Schaeffer-Korea.jpeg 1620w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 432px) 100vw, 432px" />2nd Lt. John M. Schaeffer, First Marine Division, with Purple Heart. Credit: Brad Schaeffer</div>
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), called “shell shock” in the First World War, and “battle fatigue” in the Second, is another consequence of the battlefield. As with any disorder of the mind, studies vary and exact figures are hard to come by as it manifests in so many different ways and to various degrees. <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2891773/#:~:text=The%20point%20prevalence%20of%20combat,returning%20UK%20Iraq%20War%20veterans.">One study</a> by the National Library of Medicine places combat-related PTSD in U.S. combat veterans to range from about 2–17%; and a lifetime prevalence of about 6–31%. These are broad ranges. And the low estimates seem just that. Even if we split the difference in a non-scientific way, almost one-in-five veterans are currently suffering from some form of PTSD. When you consider that <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2023/veterans-day.html#:~:text=16.2%20million,population%20age%2018%20and%20over." target="_blank" rel="noopener">16.2 million veterans</a> will be the subject of this month’s annual day of remembrance, then we may have some 3 million-plus veterans in need of counseling or medication/treatment out there.
These are not just statistics. These numbers represent veterans, our champions on the field of conflict, who struggle every day just to live normal lives while not dwelling too much upon all they have seen. But sometimes the horrors of battle can never be unseen. I remember looking at my dad and thinking: Do the ghosts return when you lie in bed at night? Can you compartmentalize it? How do you handle it?
Turns out, he couldn’t. After thirty years, he could no longer drink or talk away the war. The memories were assaulting him like those mass waves of Chinese soldiers long ago. His defenses crumbled. He was not alone. In 1990-2010 the national suicide rate among American males was 19.4 per 100,000, and 4.9 per 100,000 for females. According to the <a href="https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treat/cooccurring/suicide_ptsd.asp#:~:text=From%201999%2D2010%2C%20the%20suicide,12.8%20per%20100%2C000%20in%20females." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of Veterans Affairs</a>, however, in the same time period the ratios for veterans were double for men at 38.3 per 100,000 and almost triple for women at 12.8 per 100,000. Clearly, veterans are a high-risk group, and we must be vigilant and watch for suicidal ideations among those we love who wore the uniform.
Like many mental illnesses, PTSD is insidious. It comes from within. How do you fight an illness in which your thoughts are the illness? People who’ve never suffered the midnight of clinical depression, PTSD, or other mental illnesses, have difficulty grasping that you cannot reason your way back into the happy dawn. You can’t just “snap out of it.” You may tell yourself, “Nothing warrants these terrible thoughts.” You know it’s irrational and it doesn’t matter. That’s what depression is. It’s knowing you shouldn’t feel this way, but feel it anyway.
And that doesn’t even include a depression caused by something you saw or, worse, something you did. Under normal circumstances, far from the chaos and adrenaline of a battlefield, you would never encounter the raw emotion and bloodlust of war. You would be repulsed by your actions. How could I, for example, who was only 16 when my father eventually took his life, possibly relate to a man who fought Chinese troops armed with spades, picks, and even his bare hands as well as bullets and bayonets, in the middle of the night in minus twenty-degree weather under the eerie luminescence of star shells? How can anyone but other veterans truly relate to a combat experience?
It’s tragic, but if my veteran father were alive today, he would have more support, both within his own veterans community and the public at large. And certainly access to more effective medications, without any taboo. But we were just starting to recognize veterans’ emotional as well as physical anguish. Vietnam was barely decades in the past. And as for Korea? It was called “the Forgotten War” for a reason. Forgetting the war and getting on with their lives was what Korea’s veterans were supposed to do. But Dad couldn’t.
And that really is the point. This Veterans Day, let’s take time out of our busy day to pause and reflect and pray for all the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who have seen the worst of humanity up close and personal, to spare us the horrors of what they took upon themselves in our stead. As the saying goes, “Free people sleep peaceably in their beds because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” My father was just such a rough man. And, like so many vets today, he did unspeakable violence on our behalf. But that violence comes with a cost that we may not always appreciate or even see, let alone understand.
My thoughts this Veterans Day travel to our warriors returning home from their own combat zones, with their own demons picking away at their souls. How do they get through the black nights, with their spouses sleeping quietly next to them, their children dreaming in their beds, blissfully unaware of the struggle of the mind taking place in the darkness down the hall?
In July 1983, 30 years almost to the day after the last shot of the Korean War was fired, my father became another casualty of that war. Yet from his suffering, I have learned a vital lesson that I hope I can impart to any veteran reading this who may feel like he or she is losing the fight with PTSD: Don’t let the demons win. We’ll help you. Just please choose life.
To the families of veterans, you must be forceful in offering your help, your support, and love. Warriors are a stubborn and proud lot. And to all the veterans now engaged in their final tour of duty, this time in the combat zone of the spirit, I implore you. Choose life. Get help if you need it. It is there for you.
Remember you are not forgotten. We owe our freedom, like the freedoms we all exercised on November 5, to you. And, in return, you are unconditionally loved and appreciated by family, friends, and your nation. So always choose life. It is worth living.
* * *
If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or go to <a class="c-link" href="http://speakingofsuicide.com/resources" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources" data-sk="tooltip_parent">SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources</a> for a list of additional resources.
* * *
Brad Schaeffer is a fund manager and author of three books. His articles have appeared on the pages of Daily Wire, The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, New York Daily News, National Review, The Hill, The Federalist, The Blaze, Breitbart, Zerohedge and other outlets. His best-selling novel, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Extraordinary-Brad-Schaeffer/dp/1642939420" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Extraordinary</a>, tackles the subject of living with a veteran father with PTSD as told by his autistic teen son.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Happy Veterans Day concept. American flags against a dark stone  background. November 11.

This Veterans Day, Choose Life

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There&#8217;s a big question that arises in the aftermath of Memorial Day, the day when we pay tribute to the Americans who have fallen on behalf of America, on behalf of our defense, on behalf of freedom. 
That question is: Is the West generally geared toward winning wars anymore? Will we ever win another war? 
When it comes to military conflict, the only thing that justifies an evil as great as war is victory. If you fight a war and lose, then all of the sacrifices that are made on behalf of that war are treated as disposable and dispensable. If you fight a war and find a way not to win, then you have spent blood, you&#8217;ve spent treasure, and you&#8217;ve made human beings sacrifice their lives for something that has not actually been effectuated.
Where is the virtue in that? The first rule of war is: Win. So the question for the West is, can we win wars anymore? Because it&#8217;s been a long time since the West actually won a war. 
You can&#8217;t really say that the West won the Afghanistan war. We didn&#8217;t. We didn&#8217;t win the Iraq War. That place is now a sectarian hellhole. The United States didn&#8217;t win the Vietnam War. 
Obviously, the United States won the first Gulf War in the sense that Kuwait was no longer dominated by Iraq. That did not end with the death of Saddam Hussein. He retained his power. But that led to the second Gulf War. The United States really has not won any major war in any serious fashion since the Korean War, and even that ended with an armistice. With that said, at least South Korea exists as a thriving independent state in the modern world, but that was fully three generations ago.
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So why don’t the West and America win wars anymore? 
There are three conditions to winning wars — three preconditions that have to be fulfilled to win a war. 
First, there must be an actual end goal. There must be an answer to, “What is the goal of the war?” We have not really defined our goals in any war that we have entered in recent years, other than generalized victory, nor have we specified what exactly that victory would look like or what we sought to achieve in attaining that victory.
Second, there must be military capacity to achieve that end goal, which means building a military that is capable of actually attaining that goal. It doesn&#8217;t always work that way. Sometimes the United States military is stretched too thin. Virtually all Western militaries have spent an extraordinary amount of time and money in the post-Cold War era trying to shrink the size of the military: light footprint militaries. That means, sometimes military ability is not up to what is necessary in order to achieve the end goal. 
But the third, final, and biggest obstacle to winning a war that currently exists for the West is not lack of end goals, or even lack of military ability to achieve the end goals.
It is the political willingness to take the measures necessary to obtain the end goals. 
Of course, there are some military means that a country is unwilling to undertake in favor of victory, such as, for example, dropping a nuke on a country to get them to decrease oil prices. 
The real problem is that the West is no longer in favor of victory because political leadership and public support for victory in war is totally and utterly lacking.
Even in places where the West isn&#8217;t directly involved — meaning America and Europe aren&#8217;t directly involved, or we&#8217;re just funding other people to fight wars — public support can no longer be maintained, even for the most anodyne political issues. That&#8217;s a result of the public not understanding why we fight particular wars and not understanding the nature of war itself. That combination is absolutely toxic. 
The lack of understanding as to why we fight particular wars stems from havingemptied the rhetorical barrel over and over again without actually explaining America&#8217;s interest in particular conflicts. Politicians cite bumper stickers like “Democracy” or “Our Way of Life.” While the American people want to feel ideologically motivated if they&#8217;re going to war, that’s necessary, but not sufficient.
We have to feel that we&#8217;re right in a conflict, but there actually have to be real interests at stake. If there are not, the American people rapidly tire. That is why it was so overwhelmingly damaging to American foreign policy when the originally expressed motivation for the Iraq War — which was to end the threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq — was one of the main motivations. When that turned out to be false, it undercut Americans’ sense of why we were there in the first place. 
Fighting for democracy can have two different meanings. First, we can mean that America&#8217;s interest, as the world&#8217;s largest and oldest democracy, is in preserving itself and our interests. But the other way that we generally use it is that we&#8217;re supporting “democracies against dictatorships.” The problem is, that&#8217;s inconsistent because the United States upholds a lot of dictatorships. For example, we actually don&#8217;t want voting in Saudi Arabia because the population would likely vote for a terrorist government, as the Palestinian population did in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank.
It&#8217;s very easy for critics to point out that many of the flaws that we sense in other countries are also present in watered-down form here at home. So when we say “democracy against dictatorship,” you&#8217;ll hear critics on the far Right and the far Left say those things exist in the United States.
Quite often, that&#8217;s not honest. They’re comparing the Gulaging of opponents to the political prosecution of Donald Trump, for example. That&#8217;s really bad. What&#8217;s happening here at home is not the same as somebody being forcibly jailed in Gulags and then dying in mysterious circumstances in Russia. 
But that is an argument that is brought to bear when you use empty bumper sticker slogans like “Democracy” or “Our Way of Life” without filling in the gaps.
All of this means that if upholding public support for a war is wanted, real American interests must be defended and explained. Yes, there must be an ideological interest in any sort of conflict, but those interests can&#8217;t be purely ideological. They need to be material and practical. They involve things that require explanation, like supply chains, freedom of the seas, spheres of influence, and resource allocation. 
These things are complex, and they require explanations to the American public. The reality is that America is very powerful, particularly when it comes to freedom of the seas and trade. But in order to defend American interests in a muscular world, we must defend America&#8217;s place in the world. That means, we have to understand America is an awesome place that ought to be defended.
We used to understand, on a general level, that America&#8217;s place in the world was not only morally defensible, but we also used to understand it was good, as seen particularly in the context of the Cold War binary between the Soviet Union — which was, in fact, a truly evil empire — and the United States and its allies. That was an easy case to make in the post-Cold War era, but that has been radically undermined by several generations of indoctrination from a Marxist-led educational system teaching America is actually a nefarious force in the world.
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We in the United States are the luckiest people in history. Few of us have served in the military of the United States. The percentage of Americans who currently serve in the United States military is vanishingly small, which means the vast majority of Americans don&#8217;t know people currently serving.
Further, the vast majority of people in the military have not fought in a major combat operation. Only about 15% of members of the military have been in active combat. 
For the American public, this means our vision of war is typically World War II movies or video games in which there are no costs. Further, because we&#8217;re so powerful and overwhelmingly hegemonic, there&#8217;s very little cost to Americans in losing wars. 
That&#8217;s also true on a personal level. It turns out that if your friends or family members are serving in the line of duty or have been killed in a war, you are much more likely to be invested in winning that war.
But most Americans haven&#8217;t sunk costs into a war other than money, so it seems much easier to get out of a war. It&#8217;s also easier to say to get into a war when no one you know has actually spilled blood on behalf of that war. 
Then, add to that our legacy media, which are hell-bent on the Left-wing perspective that our enemies are justified.
When covering wars, the media in the West always start off on a justified quest for democracy. Then within months, the entire media have swiveled. They start talking about a Vietnam-like quagmire in which the truly morally righteous are the anti-war Left who are seeking to pull the West out of the death spiral of war.
They keep replaying the Vietnam narrative, but instead of stretching it out over 12 years, they stretch it out over 12 months. For example: When Ukraine defends itself, that is democracy defending itself. But within months, it is a “quagmire.” The media begin saying the West needs an exit plan, asking, “How do we get out of this?”
The media start pumping out images of war, which are always hideous because war is truly hideous. Then public support collapses because we don&#8217;t like ugly pictures on our television. 
So the result of that for America and the West more generally is small, bloody, ugly little wars that stay under the radar, the kind in which Barack Obama uses thousands of drones.
Those sorts of wars are fought because they are anodyne and don&#8217;t require justification, and we don&#8217;t even know about them. Then suddenly they explode onto the radar, at which point the media move to their scripts: “Oh my God, it&#8217;s a quagmire. Why are we even there? Here&#8217;s an ugly picture on your TV.”
At that point, the West cuts and runs, leaving billions in equipment to our enemies.
Something ugly happens when we run or attempt to conciliate evil so as to forestall war entirely. 
Right now, America is not in a position to win another war. The best we can hope for is the status quo. That is a dangerous thing. 
And that&#8217;s not because of the members of our military. The members of our military are amazing and heroic, and they kick a** at their jobs. They&#8217;re the finest fighting force in the history of humanity. 
We&#8217;re not losing wars because of them. We are losing wars because of our politicians; because of a media that hates the country; because of our educational system, which is also training people to hate the country; and in the end, because we, the American public, don&#8217;t have the stomach for this stuff. 
There are further problems because our inability to win a war at home is symptomatic of something even more serious at home. If we can&#8217;t win a war, that says something about what we think of ourselves.
The real reason America can&#8217;t win a war is because much of America, in its bones, does not think we should win a war because to win a war would mean we are imperialistic and dominating. It would mean we are spreading our values elsewhere, which is supposedly bad.
And that’s the problem. Once you, as a country, make the decision that your values are so bad they cannot justify winning a war, once you start believing that you as a country are so corrupt that you are a negative force on the world stage, the rest is a really short run.

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Several veterans currently serving in Congress — from both sides of the aisle — joined together to wash the Vietnam War Memorial ahead of the Memorial Day holiday honoring fallen service-members.
CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face the Nation&#8221; shared video of the project on Sunday, showing several members of Congress who served in different branches of the military as they hand-washed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
&#8220;Democrat, Republican, black, white, brown, none of that matters,&#8221; Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) said. &#8220;It just matters that we&#8217;re all Americans.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This Memorial Day weekend, a bipartisan group of veterans who serve in Congress hand-washed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial together.
“Democrat, Republican, Black, White, Brown, none of that matters. It just matters that we’re all Americans,” Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) said. <a href="https://t.co/TmMLGrGbd3">pic.twitter.com/TmMLGrGbd3</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1794813253345845415?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Waltz and Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) also spoke with &#8220;Face the Nation&#8221; host Margaret Brennan about the &#8220;divide&#8221; between the 99% of Americans who have never served in the military and the 1% who have. Calling that chasm &#8220;deeply problematic as a democracy,&#8221; they told Brennan that they have been working together to find better ways to recruit more young Americans to serve.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
With less than 1% of the American population serving in the military, the &#8220;divide&#8221; between the other 99% is &#8220;deeply problematic as a democracy,&#8221; says <a href="https://twitter.com/RepPatRyanNY?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepPatRyanNY</a>, who is working with another veteran in Congress, Rep. <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelgwaltz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@michaelgwaltz</a>, on ways to recruit more service members. <a href="https://t.co/DPEiYsdJfm">pic.twitter.com/DPEiYsdJfm</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1794742391477243917?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Waltz suggested that especially in light of President Joe Biden&#8217;s recent unilateral moves to cancel student debt, perhaps some sort of civil or military service could be expected of those whose debts were forgiven.
&#8220;Service doesn&#8217;t just have to be in the military. People here are talking about just giving away college or just eliminating debt. Well, how about the American taxpayer gets something in exchange for that in terms of service?&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8220;Service doesn&#8217;t just have to be in the military,&#8221; Rep. <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelgwaltz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@michaelgwaltz</a> says. &#8220;People here are talking about just giving away college or just eliminating debt. Well, how about the American taxpayer gets something in exchange for that in terms of service?&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/xeX4w1PzDQ">pic.twitter.com/xeX4w1PzDQ</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1794742641818751243?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Waltz and Ryan are also working together to combat the very real problem of suicide among military veterans, saying that the federal government needed to be ready to do more. &#8220;We don&#8217;t have the urgency. It needs to be a problem that every American recognizes as theirs,&#8221; Ryan said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The U.S. government is &#8220;not doing enough&#8221; to address the number of veterans who succumb to suicide after serving, says <a href="https://twitter.com/RepPatRyanNY?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepPatRyanNY</a>, an Army veteran.
&#8220;We don&#8217;t have the urgency,&#8221; he tells <a href="https://twitter.com/margbrennan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@margbrennan</a>. &#8220;It needs to be a problem that every American recognizes as theirs.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/TTvDUvHJCC">pic.twitter.com/TTvDUvHJCC</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1794740563415294326?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2024</a></blockquote>
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US-MEMORIAL DAY

Veterans In Congress Wash Vietnam War Wall For Memorial Day

Veterans In Congress Wash Vietnam Wall For Memorial Day

memorial

Memorial Day

Mike Waltz

Americans are keenly aware of Hollywood greats who not only entertained us but served in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Jimmy Stewart. Paul Newman. Charles Bronson. Humphrey Bogart. Charlton Heston.
Some became American institutions. Others portrayed tough-guy heroes for decades.
The following stars aren’t necessarily known for their on-screen bravado. Others routinely make us laugh for a living.
They served, too, and on Veterans Day it’s worth noting their contributions.
<h2>Rob Riggle</h2>
The veteran SNL funnyman has become a constant comedy presence on shows like “Modern Family,” and movies like “Step Brothers” and “The Hangover.” He’s constantly working, but before diving into that breakneck pace he served 23 years, in total, with the U.S. Marines.
Riggle’s service included nine active-duty years in Liberia, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Albania. The retired <a href="https://people.com/tv/rob-riggle-military-service-hollywood-bet-on-myself/#:~:text=Riggle%20served%2023%20years%20total,to%20serve%20in%20some%20capacity.%22" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lieutenant Colonel told People magazine</a> how invaluable his time in the military was to his personal improvement.
&#8220;They pushed me beyond my perceived limits… so whatever I thought I was capable of, the Marines said, &#8216;Actually, you can do a whole lot more when pushed.’ And they were right.” 
<div id="attachment_651375" style="width: 849px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651375" class="size-large wp-image-651375" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1775381859-839x576.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 04: (L to R) Word War II and Korean War veterans Pat Finn, Melvin Hurwitz, Johnny Johnson and Mel Jenner join actor and host Rob Riggle (C) at the 2023 American Valor: A Salute to Our Heroes event at Omni Shoreham Hotel on November 04, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images)" width="839" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1775381859-839x576.jpg 839w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1775381859-300x206.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1775381859-768x527.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1775381859.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 839px) 100vw, 839px" />WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; NOVEMBER 04: (L to R) Word War II and Korean War veterans Pat Finn, Melvin Hurwitz, Johnny Johnson and Mel Jenner join actor and host Rob Riggle (C) at the 2023 American Valor: A Salute to Our Heroes event at Omni Shoreham Hotel on November 04, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images)</div>
<h2>Adam Driver</h2>
Han Solo’s on-screen son is one of Hollywood’s most respected actors, including his work in the upcoming Michael Mann drama “Ferrari.”
Driver’s intensity is a calling card, which helps explain why he signed up to defend his country shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. 
He said during a 2015 TED Talk that his military time was “one of the things I’m most proud of having done in my life.”
He served nearly three years before a mountain bike injury forced him to accept a medical discharge. The future star tried to work through the injury, but his body wouldn’t have it. That prevented him from serving overseas in Iraq, <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/2813966/adam-driver-draws-parallels-between-acting-military-careers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he told NPR’s “Fresh Air.”</a>
&#8220;I wanted to go so much. I mean, you were training to do this job for two years with these people. The idea of not going, someone else going in your place or not being there, is not really an easy thing to sit with.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_651379" style="width: 787px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651379" class="size-large wp-image-651379" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-180216884-777x576.jpg" alt="TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 10: Actor Adam Driver of 'Tracks' poses at the Guess Portrait Studio during 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images)" width="777" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-180216884-777x576.jpg 777w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-180216884-300x222.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-180216884-768x569.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-180216884.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 777px) 100vw, 777px" />TORONTO, ON &#8211; SEPTEMBER 10: Actor Adam Driver of &#8216;Tracks&#8217; poses at the Guess Portrait Studio during 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images)</div>
<h2>Drew Carey</h2>
The “Price Is Right” wisecracker routinely supports the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces. He’s deployed his wit to make soldiers smile during multiple USO outings. 
He knew exactly how they felt.
Carey signed up with the U.S. Marines in 1980 where he served his country for six years as a field radio operator with the 25th Marine Regiment in Ohio. He eventually attained the rank of sergeant, exploring his gift for gab along the way.
He began penning jokes for military stand-up performances, paving the way for his post-Marine life.
Joining the military had a <a href="https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/cleveland/drew-carey-cleveland-ohio-marine-corps-history-lone-sailor-statue-great-lakes-science-center/95-941db02d-2a8a-4c78-adb6-e7930a4806df" target="_blank" rel="noopener">profound effect</a> on the future funnyman.
“I went from not being able to afford to eat or clothe myself to getting three meals a day. I had an instant family. I had something to be proud of every day.”
<div id="attachment_651387" style="width: 880px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651387" class="size-large wp-image-651387" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1190047851-870x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 25: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Actor Drew Carey visits SiriusXM Studios on November 25, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)" width="870" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1190047851-870x576.jpg 870w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1190047851-300x199.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1190047851-768x509.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1190047851.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px" />NEW YORK, NEW YORK &#8211; NOVEMBER 25: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Actor Drew Carey visits SiriusXM Studios on November 25, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)</div>
<h2>Ice-T</h2>
The veteran rapper was once best known for his incendiary songs targeting crooked cops. Today, he’s a long-standing member of “Law &amp; Order: Special Victims Unit,” the literal face of hard-working police officers.
As a young man, he <a href="https://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/career-advice/military-transition/famous-veteran-ice-t.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joined the Army</a> to get his life in order.
Then-Tracy Marrow had a wife and daughter, so the move gave him structure along with financial security. He briefly misbehaved during his four-year stint in the 25th Infantry Division, but was able to bounce back and complete his service.
He also used that time to plot his future. Marrow picked up music equipment he’d later use in the early stages of his rap career during his military service.
<div id="attachment_651389" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651389" class="size-large wp-image-651389" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1773441395-864x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 03: Ice-T attends the 38th Annual Rock &amp; Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Barclays Center on November 03, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame )" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1773441395-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1773441395-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1773441395-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1773441395.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />NEW YORK, NEW YORK &#8211; NOVEMBER 03: Ice-T attends the 38th Annual Rock &amp; Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Barclays Center on November 03, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame )</div>
<h2>Pat Sajak</h2>
The future game show host shouted, “Good Morning, Vietnam,” into a mic long before Robin Williams made the phrase famous. Sajak didn’t come up with the catchphrase – Williams’ real-life inspiration for the 1987 film of the same name came courtesy of DJ Adrian Cronauer.
Sajak kept that irreverent spirit alive during his days in the U.S. Military.
The future “Wheel of Fortune” star initially trained as a finance clerk but later found his calling as a DJ for the American Forces Vietnam Network. 
Sajak lamented that his service didn’t include life on the battlefield. He called his service “soft,” and felt some shame attached to it. He took solace in the reaction to his broadcasts from fellow soldiers who cheered him for <a href="https://www.uso.org/stories/283-wheel-of-fortune-host-pat-sajak-recounts-his-days-as-an-army-dj">making them feel closer to home</a> with every show.
<div id="attachment_651397" style="width: 801px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651397" class="size-large wp-image-651397" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-859977418-1-791x576.jpg" alt="ORLANDO, FL - OCTOBER 10: 'Wheel of Fortune' host Pat Sajak attends a taping of the Wheel of Fortune's 35th Anniversary Season at Epcot Center at Walt Disney World on October 10, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)" width="791" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-859977418-1-791x576.jpg 791w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-859977418-1-300x219.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-859977418-1-768x559.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-859977418-1-1536x1119.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-859977418-1-2048x1492.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 791px) 100vw, 791px" />ORLANDO, FL &#8211; OCTOBER 10: &#8216;Wheel of Fortune&#8217; host Pat Sajak attends a taping of the Wheel of Fortune&#8217;s 35th Anniversary Season at Epcot Center at Walt Disney World on October 10, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)</div>
<h2>Mel Brooks</h2>
One of the funniest men alive <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/2882521/actor-comedian-mel-brooks-served-in-army-in-world-war-ii/#:~:text=In%201944%2C%20he%20was%20drafted,training%20at%20Fort%20Sill%2C%20Oklahoma.">lived through the Battle of the Bulge</a>.
Brooks was drafted into the Army in 1944 and brushed up on combat engineering at Virginia Military Institute. By November he was in France and later Belgium as part of the 78th Infantry Division.
He helped clear the battlefield of land mines to allow Allied soldiers to push forward in the Battle of the Bulge. He even saw combat during his service.
The future legend could find something funny about anything, even the horrors of war. He would go on to savage the Third Reich in his 1967 comedy classic, “The Producers,” featuring the loopy tune “Springtime for Hitler.”
<div id="attachment_651399" style="width: 876px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651399" class="size-large wp-image-651399" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-666006012-866x576.jpg" alt="LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 07: Director Mel Brooks speaks onstage at the screening of 'High Anxiety' during the 2017 TCM Classic Film Festival on April 7, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. 26657_004 (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for TCM)" width="866" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-666006012-866x576.jpg 866w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-666006012-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-666006012-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-666006012.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px" />LOS ANGELES, CA &#8211; APRIL 07: Director Mel Brooks speaks onstage at the screening of &#8216;High Anxiety&#8217; during the 2017 TCM Classic Film Festival on April 7, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. 26657_004 (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for TCM)</div>
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="http://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@HollywoodInToto</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

2019 American Valor: A Salute To Our Heroes Veterans Day Special

‘They Pushed Me Beyond My Perceived Limits’: Hollywood Stars Who Served

'They Pushed Me Beyond My Perceived Limits': Hollywood Stars Who Served

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Entertainment

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U.S. Army

In 1968, at the beginning of the Tet Lunar New Year, the Viet Cong violated a temporary ceasefire by launching a major invasion across South Vietnam. The offensive was a military catastrophe for the Viet Cong; it essentially defenestrated them as a serious fighting force in South Vietnam and ended with them retreating from all captured territory.
The military loss, however, wasn’t the real story.
The real story was America’s media. Walter Cronkite, America’s most trusted news anchor, was in actuality a partisan Leftist — but he masqueraded as an objective journalist. And so, on receiving news of the Tet Offensive, Cronkite went on the air and proceeded to inform the American people that the war in Vietnam was being lost. He flew to Vietnam to investigate the situation himself. Upon his return, he said this:
<blockquote>For it seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate. This summer’s almost certain standoff will either end in real give-and-take negotiations or terrible escalation; and for every means we have to escalate, the enemy can match us, and that applies to invasion of the North, the use of nuclear weapons, or the mere commitment of one hundred, or two hundred, or three hundred thousand more American troops to the battle. And with each escalation, the world comes closer to the brink of cosmic disaster.</blockquote>
The Vietnam War wasn’t lost on the battlefield. It was lost in the hearts and minds of the American people, and it was lost in large part because of the American news media.
The American news media has rarely covered itself in glory in covering foreign policy. The New York Times famously covered for Stalin’s Holodomor, his starvation of millions of his own citizens, deploying corrupt and venal Walter Duranty to cover for the evil dictator. The New York Times largely back-paged the Holocaust.
The world’s most evil regimes have routinely relied on America’s media to provide them cover.
Today is no different.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1841-hamas-fifth-column-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h4>
Hamas is an evil, genocidal terrorist group. Yet they receive widespread sympathy because the media create that sympathy. They do so through a variety of methods.
First, and most obviously, they draw moral equivalence between Hamas, which targets civilians for death — both Israeli and its own — and Israel, which seeks to avoid killing civilians when targeting members of Hamas.
Take, for example, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer questioning an IDF commander yesterday after Israel hit a Hamas command tunnel network in Jabalia, a major city in the Gaza Strip often characterized by the media as a “refugee camp.” 
Blitzer repeatedly blamed Israel for the fact that Hamas hides beneath civilian areas. If this were truly a civilian center alone, massive tunnel craters simply wouldn’t be there.
The craters are there. So are the dead fighters.
But according to Wolf Blitzer, Israel’s legitimate military actions are apparently morally equivalent to Hamas’ slaughter of babies in their cribs.
This, of course, follows hard on the New York Times accepting the word of Hamas about military strikes and casualties resulting in a major blood libel in which the entire legacy media parroted that Israel had struck a hospital, killing 500 people. In reality, a misfired Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket hit a parking lot near the hospital.
Too late. The damage was done.
Then there’s the second media strategy: misdirection.
Comedian Norm Macdonald <a href="https://twitter.com/normmacdonald/status/809637479674281984?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> in December 2016, “What terrifies me is if ISIS were to detonate a nuclear device and kill 50 million Americans. Imagine the backlash against peaceful Muslims?”
Macdonald’s joke is actually the media’s strategy for moral equivalence. As anti-Semitism around the world rises — as millions of radical Muslims around the globe, including in the West, march in favor of Hamas — the media are treating Muslims as a victim group. 
Thus, the New York Times ran an op-ed yesterday, in the midst of the widest global increase in anti-Semitism of my lifetime, decrying the supposed rise in “Islamophobia.” The author was one Rozina Ali, “a journalist who covers war, Islamophobia and the Middle East.” Her article explained, “For those who experienced waves of harassment and government surveillance in the years after Sept. 11, the president’s pledge of ’unwavering’ support for Israel set off alarm bells.” 
Yes, according to this Times columnist, support for Israel is cover for Islamophobia. She also insists, “From college campuses to places of work, people are facing retribution for expressing support for Palestinians that is being misconstrued as anti-Israel or pro-Hamas.” 
That is a lie, given protests against Israel began before Israeli counterstrikes and routinely chant for the destruction of the state of Israel. As for Ali herself, her Twitter feed shows on October 7, she did not tweet — but she did retweet a post complaining that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was telling civilians to leave potential war zones. In fact, Ali has posted precisely zero times decrying Hamas’ brutality. But she did find time to retweet posts calling Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide.”
Finally, there’s the third strategy: pretending anti-Semitism isn’t a major problem; it’s actually just a side effect of political contentiousness, which really means it’s springing from Israeli policy.
The media are in the business of downplaying Muslim and Left-wing anti-Semitism, treating it as mere opposition to Israeli policy (the policy being Israeli survival) or as a ruse. Today’s example comes courtesy of the New York Times.
Pro-Israel and pro-Jewish activists around the nation have been putting up posters of men, women, and children kidnapped by Hamas. And anti-Semites have been ripping them down. 
Pretty clear evidence of widespread anti-Semitism, no? Well, not according to the New York Times:
<blockquote>Displaying the posters has become a form of activism, keeping the more than 200 hostages seized by Hamas in full view of the public. But removing the posters has quickly emerged as its own form of protest — a release valve and also a provocation by those anguished by what they say was the Israeli government’s mistreatment of Palestinians in the years before Oct. 7 and since the bombing of Gaza began. … The battle has inflamed already tense emotions. And it captures one of the most fervently debated questions of the war: Whose suffering should command public attention and sympathy? … In fact, the motivations of those removing signs take a variety of forms. And as unnerving as the removal of the posters has been for some Jews and supporters of Israel, at least some of the people tearing them down are Jewish themselves.</blockquote>
Hamas and its allies are relying utterly on the legacy media both in America and in Europe to cover for them — and to provide political pressure on politicians to cut their support to Israel. That’s precisely why Hamas is planting civilians in harm’s way, to maximize the casualties for the cameras, to blame Israel.
And the media blame along.
We have to ask why.
The answer is that the legacy media are salted with members of an international Left dedicated to the proposition that the West is itself fatally flawed and colonialist. All the college radicals grew up and went into journalism. They hire local partisan activists to “freelance” for them, including Hitler supporters to cover the Gaza Strip. They see their mission as the restoration of justice in the universe — justice, of course, meaning the destruction of the West’s power, in the name of the supposedly oppressed of the earth.
If the legacy media get their way, the West will fall into disarray. 
So far, they’re succeeding admirably.
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Hamas’ Fifth Column

Hamas' Fifth Column

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