I haven't written much about Donald Trump lately, because there's not much more to say. I think he's a stalking horse for Jeb Bush, the media's officially designated "conservative," Hillary Clinton's designated Ross Perot next year. Three quarters of the American people don't take his candidacy seriously - a figure unchanged from 1999 - but most, if not all, of the Tea Party are in that other twenty-five percent. He's pro-abortion, pro-ObamaCare, pro-Obama, pro-Clinton, pro-comprehensive immigration reform, but he mendatiously throws TPers the red meat they want to hear and they snarf it right down. And one thing I learned a long time ago is that you can't argue with emotion, because emotion, by definition, will not listen to reason.
So I've been casually watching the Trump stories stream across the wires, just waiting for his flavor-of-the-month boomlet to reach its point of diminishing returns.
How ironic that it should come as a result of a pissing match with a man who's scarcely any less of a caricaturable buffoon:
Donald Trump left no doubts at Saturday's Iowa Family Leadership Summit: He was there to speak his mind on immigration, Barack Obama, Senator John McCain, and many other topics, politically correct or not.
He used the forum to escalate his feud with McCain, denying that the former prisoner of war should be considered a hero and referred to McCain as a 'loser."
"He’s not a war hero," Trump said. "He’s a war hero because he was captured? I like people who weren’t captured. ... Perhaps he is a war hero, but right now, he said some very bad things about a lot of people."
This tete-a-tete started earlier in the week when Maverick cracked that Trump's appearance in Arizona last weekend "sure brought out the crazies". So, yes, McCain started it. So then Trump fired back by calling the Arizona senior senator a "dummy," and then Sailor retaliated (I don't recall what he said, but it hardly matters), leading to something that isn't so much something you DON'T say as something that doesn't NEED to be said.
"He's a war hero because he was captured?" isn't a question I wasn't publicly posing myself back in the 2008 GOP primaries, or the 2000 GOP primaries before that. But surviving seven years of torture in the Hanoi Hilton without breaking is certainly describable as ballsy as hell. Certainly McCain sacrificed greatly for his country, and he most definitely parleyed that into a generally successful political career. If he subsequently became a corrupt, turncoat, quisling skunk, that doesn't change the facts of his military service.
But rather than focusing his bombastic barbs at that target-rich policy record/position environment, Trump aimed below the belt where he had nothing to gain from doing so.
Unless he's still trying to play to his sucker Tea Party target audience, which certainly has no love lost for the Ultimate RINO or the "establishment," whose candidates lined up to ritualistically denounce him:
Reaction was swift as rivals who had thus far failed to take on Trump blasted the real estate mogul on Twitter. In an even more unusual move, the Republican National Committee weighed in with a statement condemning Trump.
RNC Chief Strategist and Communications Director Sean Spicer released a statement hours later:
"Senator McCain is an American hero because he served his country and sacrificed more than most can imagine. Period. There is no place in our party or our country for comments that disparage those who have served honorably.”
His fellow candidates and the Republican National Committee quickly moved to isolate Trump for his attacks on McCain, the party's 2008 presidential nominee.
"His comments have reached a new low in American politics," said former Texas Governor Rick Perry in a statement calling for Trump to "apologize immediately."
If there was ever any doubt that he should not be #GOP standard bearer, his growing mountain of stupid statements should end all doubt.
Enough with the slanderous attacks. @SenJohnMcCain and all our veterans - particularly POWs have earned our respect and admiration.
Except....it isn't just the "establishment" that called Trump out in McCain's defense:
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal: "John McCain is an American hero. I have nothing but respect for his service to our country. After Donald Trump spends six years in a POW camp, he can weigh in on John McCain's service."
Florida Senator Marco Rubio: "America’s POWs deserve much better than to have their service questioned by the offensive rantings of Donald Trump."
Ohio Governor John Kasich: "John McCain is a friend of mine. I served with him in Congress and it's an insult to every veteran to even try to debate his status as an American hero."
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie: "I know @SenJohnMcCain. Senator John McCain is an American hero. Period. Stop."
Senator Ted Cruz: "John McCain is an American hero. Although we have some policy disagreements, I'm proud to serve alongside him."
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker: "@SenJohnMcCain is an American hero, period. I’ll denounce any attack against his service and anyone else who wears the uniform. -SW"
I don't always see eye to eye with @SenJohnMcCain. But I honor his service and the sacrifices he made for our country.
This leaves one question for TPers who are still all the way with The Donald to ask themselves: Why are you still following this guy?
Leadership is about more than having a big mouth. If Trump was slurring Senator Cruz, say, as a "Mexican jumping bean" (He's of Cuban heritage, but I don't think Trump would bother with such distinctions), you'd all be ripping him from rectum to belly button, but because he's - for now - pissing in the faces of people you don't like - Jeb Bush, John McCain - and telling you what you want to hear on illegal immigration, and justifying all his, shall we say, "unpresidential" conduct in the name of "political incorrectness," suddenly you all think he's the twenty-first century Andrew Jackson.
Remember, Andrew Jackson was the father of American "democracy". He was the first president of the mobs. Problem was, America wasn't founded as or to be a "democracy" but a constitutional federal republic. And in much the same way, Donald Trump is strewing rhetorical bombs in every which direction, sewing chaos, and calling that a presidential campaign. And too many Tea Partiers, so hopelessly subsumed in their "Fight! Fight! Fight!" mantra, are being bilked by his con artistry.
And now he has taken it too far, which you can tell by the fact that the entire rest of the GOP field, Tea Party and "establishment" alike, has unified against him. Which suits The Donald just fine, but accomplishes little outside of slaking his own insatiable thirst for attention.
And maybe, just maybe, getting some TPers to wake up from the spell under which Trump has put them.
I like Mitt Romney's tweet so much I saved it for last.
The difference between @SenJohnMcCain and @realDonaldTrump: Trump shot himself down. McCain and American veterans are true heroes.
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