This image was removed due to legal reasons. As the stock market nosedives amidst President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war with China—to which China has responded in kind—Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton has some words of comfort for the farmers watching their financial futures swirl down a MAGA-branded toilet bowl: Hey, at least you aren’t a dead in a war! Advertisement Speaking with CBS This Morning about Trump’s tariffs, Cotton admitted that, yes, the president’s plan will actually end up hurting American consumers who will be forced to pay more for imported goods (something the president either doesn’t understand, or won’t admit). But, Cotton added: That sacrifice is pretty minimal compared to the sacrifices that our soldiers make overseas that are fallen heroes who are laid to rest in Arlington [national cemetery] make. What do the troops have to with Trump’s bass-ackward economic policy? Absolutely nothing—an inconvenient point Cotton awkwardly danced around after host Gayle King noted that the two types of sacrifices are completely unrelated. “[Voters in Arkansas] look at the sacrifices that soldiers, sailers, airmen and marines make around the world, and they’re willing to bear some of those [economic] sacrifices in the short term to hopefully in the long term ensure our longterm prosperity and security,” Cotton insisted. Advertisement What?? ? It’s almost as if Cotton’s brain short circuited at the thought of Trump’s market-killing tariffs, and in a moment of panicked desperation, he reflexively sought refuge with that tried and true GOP hobbyhorse—the troops!—in the hopes that no one would notice that this whole thing stinks. Advertisement Trump, meanwhile, continued to insist on Monday that everything is all going according to his economic master plan. The Dow is down 650 points right now, by the way.<doc-sep>Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) is here to offer some unsolicited perspective. The Arkansas senator thinks everyone needs to take a step back and look at the the bigger picture when it comes to President Trump's trade war with China — even if that bigger picture isn't exactly related to the issue at hand. Sure, Americans — particularly American farmers — will bear the economic brunt of Trump's decision to increase tariffs and China's own retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion worth of imported U.S. goods. But in the grand scheme of things, Cotton says, it's a small price to pay, especially compared to the sacrifices that the men and women in the U.S. military make. "There will be some sacrifice on the part of Americans, I grant you that. But also that sacrifice is pretty minimal compared to the sacrifices that our soldiers make overseas that are fallen heroes or laid to rest," @SenTomCotton on trade war with China pic.twitter.com/lqlEZtaeBs — CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) May 13, 2019 Cotton's comparison between American farmers and soldiers seemingly came out of the blue during his interview on CBS This Morning. Though CBS News' Gayle King pointed out that the tariffs really have nothing to do with the military, he made the argument that the farmers he's talked to in Arkansas know that their short-term pain is part of a larger plan to keep America prosperous and secure. He said the farmers look at the military and are "willing to bear some of those sacrifices themselves."<doc-sep>(Optional Musical Accompaniment To This Post) Believe it or not, El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago will not be the titular head of the Republican Party forever. His ideas will live on after him like pesticides in the groundwater, but he himself will be gone. Which is why it's important to consider who and what comes after him, which is why we keep an eye on folks like Senator Tom Cotton, the bobble-throated slapdick from Arkansas. Cotton is a complete product of the wingnut welfare candidate manufacturing plant. He is so firmly convinced of his own inherent genius that he kicked off his first term in the Senate by undermining an elected president's primary foreign policy initiative. Watch this guy. His ambition is a breeder reactor in him. He has a book now, evidently. It is a benign-sounding tome about the Old Guard, the Army unit responsible for the ceremonial duties at Arlington National Cemetery. (Politico calls it "apolitical," as if anything Cotton's done in the past decade has been apolitical.) But, judging by his early promotional efforts, it's also a vehicle for the elevation of Tom Cotton, presidential timber. In a long interview during a run on the National Mall in 2016, during which he discussed his service, future ambitions and time at Arlington National Cemetery, Cotton said that respect for veterans unites the country but also has a common thread with politics: “The American people have consistently elected veterans from foreign wars to serve at all levels." “From president down to local city council, I think most Americans respect the service and the sacrifice that veterans have made, the service and the skills they bring. The tangible skills are good, sometimes your tangible skills aren’t very marketable, like mine or most infantryman, but the intangible skills: mission focus, leadership, boys under fire, discipline, teamwork, are things that can apply to every setting," he said. Cotton, you will note, is not asked how many of these virtues have been displayed in his life by the president* Cotton has served so slavishly in the Senate. Anyway, Cotton kicked off his book tour on CBS by trotting out a straw man the size of an elephant on the CBS Morning News on Monday. "There will be some sacrifices on the part of Americans, I grant you that, but I also would say that sacrifice is pretty minimal compared to the sacrifices that our soldiers make overseas that are fallen heroes that are laid to rest in Arlington make," Cotton told "CBS This Morning" when asked about the impact of tariffs on farmers in his own state of Arkansas. Certainly sounds like he's putting his "apolitical" book to "apolitical" use there. What's he suggesting for the farmers who are getting screwed in Arkansas? "You're all going broke because the president* is a dunce, but that's OK because you're not being machine-gunned at Passchendaele?" He should be watched, especially if a Democratic candidate wins in 2020. This one has a lean and hungry look on him. Respond to this post on the Esquire Politics Facebook page here. Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io<doc-sep>
As the U.S. and China inch closer to an all-out trade war, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton says that the sacrifice Americans will pay for President Trump's tariffs are "minimal" compared to those serving overseas. President Trump has maintained that Americans would not be fronting the brunt of the cost for tariffs, but many, including the president's own economic adviser, say they will. "There will be some sacrifices on the part of Americans, I grant you that, but I also would say that sacrifice is pretty minimal compared to the sacrifices that our soldiers make overseas that are fallen heroes that are laid to rest in Arlington make," Cotton told "CBS This Morning" when asked about the impact of tariffs on farmers in his own state of Arkansas. Cotton, the author of "Sacred Duty: A Soldier's Tour at Arlington National Cemetery," said that in the long term, the goal is to make sure that the U.S. "remains preeminent as a global super power both in the economic and the security" worlds. The price tag for that "preeminence" on the average American family, according to trade experts falls between $700 to $1,000. "If we remain the world's largest economy and the world's largest economic super power in the short term, I say it is worth that cost," said Cotton. On Friday, the U.S. increased tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, escalating a prolonged trade feud between the world's largest economies. The tariff hike was announced by Mr. Trump last week after he accused China's trade representatives of backtracking on a potential agreement. Economic experts have warned, however, that trading tariffs with China could leave American consumers paying more at the register and farmers coping with a shrinking export market. Cotton said that when speaking to his own constituents in the agricultural field, farmers "understand China is a serious competitor to the United States and wants to displace us around the world and when you look at the sacrifices that soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines make around the world, they're willing to bear some of those sacrifices in the short term to hopefully in the long term ensure our long-term prosperity and security." He added that he doesn't know of many farmers or ranchers in Arkansas "who were confused about what was going to happen." "They from the very beginning...knew that overseas markets were vital to their prosperity," he said.