Some weeks ago I wrote on the topic of what I called “bold hypocrisy” and argued that too many of our national leaders – your own partisanship can help you decide which ones – are guilty of some pretty stunning levels of hypocrisy. And so it will likely come as no surprise, dear reader, when I state that the current administration has engaged in some of the most stunning hypocrisy since the days of Mr. Nixon.

Let’s look at a couple of examples, shall we? I’ll try not to use “alternative facts.”

I think of myself first and foremost as a father and a husband. But next, I consider myself a career military officer, having served over 25 years of active duty in the United States Air Force. And as a career military officer, I have certain core beliefs about service and country, and about the special bonds that connect those who served. Therefore I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of four U.S. Green Beret soldiers in the nation of Niger last month. I heard about their sacrifice on the news, but do you know where we didn’t hear anything about it? I’ll tell you: from the lips of our commander in chief.

Nearly a month after these brave men made the ultimate sacrifice, the White House has still issued no formal statement on the loss, though it has found the time to issue statements on the death of a former Iraqi president, a joint statement with the Kingdom of Thailand, and the president’s thoughts on NFL players. But no mention of the last full measure of devotion offered by these four valiant men. Only a brief mention by the president’s press secretary appears on the White House web site. I find that shameful. For a man who shouted “Benghazi” at the top of his lungs, his silence on Niger is both telling and upsetting. But there is more.

Recently our president was taking part in a puff piece interview on Fox News at a military facility, when, at the usual time, the installation’s loud speakers began to play “Retreat,” to mark the end-of-day lowering of the American flag. This is an important event for military folks. At every base I have been on, when the first sounds of that haunting and powerful music is heard, a military member comes to attention, turns toward the base flag pole, and salutes as the colors are retired until the next dawn.

Recall that this president has claimed that his few years in a quasi-military school gave him a robust and remarkable knowledge of military matters. Yet when those first notes sounded our president said, “What a nice sound that is, are they playing it for me?”

No, Sir, they were not. They were playing it for those who fought at Valley Forge. They were playing it for those who battled in the forests of Verdun, the beaches of Normandy, the frozen hills of Korea and the jungles of Vietnam. They were playing it for the men and women who fought in Kuwait and Iraq. And, Sir, they were playing it for the brave men and women serving in Niger. They were not playing it for you.

For a man who claims outrage when the flag is treated with what he thinks is disrespect at a football game, his own insult to both the flag and military traditions is, well, I was going to write “shocking,” but Mr. Trump can’t shock me anymore. But let’s say that his disrespect of the flag was insulting and worrying.

We have a president who ignores the ultimate sacrifice of four American heroes in Niger and who shows profound disrespect for the flag on a military base (likely out of ignorance and ego). We have a president who thinks he met with the president of the American Virgin Islands, and who didn’t know what the triad is. But don’t worry – he knows more than the generals.

I’m guessing some of you, my reader friends, will assume that this essay is liberal gibberish and is just more “lame stream fake news.” But given that I have 25 years more active duty military time than our POTUS, I’d gently offer that if you believe that Mr. Trump is, in fact, a brilliant military tactician and leader, the fault, dear Brutus, is not in the stars, but in ourselves, that we are the underlings.

And if you still think Mr. Trump is doing a wonderful job, I urge you to be sure to attend his next campaign rally in our state. Perhaps he’ll introduce you to the President of Colorado.