Free Republic

Appearing on MSNBC Monday morning, Senator John McCain gave an unlikely explanation for his comments calling those who were following Trump "crazy." "I thought it was a term of endearment," McCain said with a smile. "I meant it as a term of affection, I'll be honest with you." Honestly, Senator McCain, do you think we in the movement believe that you have affection for us? Maybe I missed HallmarkÂ’s new "Crazy Card" section or the President changing ValentineÂ’s Day into Crazy Day but I just don't believe you. It could also be because of Senator McCain's track record of insulting...

The Day John McCain Got Shot Down Did He Show the Right Stuff? By Zalin Grant John McCain received mixed reviews from fellow pilots when he arrived on the USS Oriskany in 1967, a month before he was shot down and captured. Cal Swanson, commander of fighter squadron VF-162, was enthusiastic. Swanson thought McCain proved he had the right stuff by getting himself assigned to the Oriskany, an aircraft carrier sailing off the coast of North Vietnam in the South China Sea. The Oriskany had seen more combat and suffered heavier casualties than any ship in the Vietnam War. McCain’s...

Let's put this all into perspective. I am a S.O.B.- son of a butcher. My butcher dad instilled me with common sense. His favorite saying was, "Don't watch what a man says, watch what he does." Never has that saying applied more than with Donald Trump's comments about John McCain this past weekend. Of course John McCain is a war hero. That is not up for debate. Trump was angry. He was responding to attacks by McCain. He let his anger get the best of him. Trump was offensive. Trump was wrong. He should have attacked McCain's politics, but clearly...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the running mate for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)43% ’s (R-AZ) 2008 presidential campaign, weighed in on the dispute between McCain and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, posting a message on her Facebook page calling both men heroes and encouraging them to “resolve the media-driven wedge between them.” As Breitbart News reported, Trump set off a media firestorm on Saturday when he said that McCain was a war hero only “because he was captured.” McCain, a Navy pilot who volunteered for service during the Vietnam War, was brutally tortured during his five-and-a-half years as a POW....

Asked about the dispute between Donald Trump and Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona -- the candidate at the top of the ticket when she was 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee -- former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin Monday afternoon called both men heroes. "I have the good fortune of knowing both John McCain and Donald Trump well," Palin told CNN in an email. "Both men have more in common than the today's media hype would have you believe. Both blazed trails in their careers and love our great nation."

We are cursed, as the Chinese say, to live in "interesting times", about which there is much to say - the Iran deal, for example, or the Allaku Akbar guy running amok in Chattanooga. Yet the dead sloth that is the Republican Party has finally roused itself to spend the last 48 hours hammering Donald Trump for impugning the honor of John McCain. As his criminal-immigrant surge demonstrates, Trump's support comes almost entirely from Americans who feel the political class passes its time talking about nothing that matters to them. So feel free to spend the weekend talking about John...

We are cursed, as the Chinese say, to live in "interesting times", about which there is much to say - the Iran deal, for example, or the Allaku Akbar guy running amok in Chattanooga. Yet the dead sloth that is the Republican Party has finally roused itself to spend the last 48 hours hammering Donald Trump for impugning the honor of John McCain. As his criminal-immigrant surge demonstrates, Trump's support comes almost entirely from Americans who feel the political class passes its time talking about nothing that matters to them. So feel free to spend the weekend talking about John...

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been the target of much criticism, most recently for inflammatory remarks he made about Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., at a forum Saturday in Ames, Iowa, hosted by pollster Frank Luntz. Speaking by phone Monday on NBC’s Today, Trump reiterated to host Matt Lauer that he’s “not a fan of John McCain,” asserting that “he’s done a terrible job for the vets.” The Today host steered Trump from McCain’s record to Saturday’s comments:

Why can't a caustic jackhole be a good president? Someone must have really said something horrible when a bunch of people who can’t stand John McCain are incensed over a purported insult of John McCain. Someone needs to explain the rules to Donald Trump: The senator from Arizona, who regularly refers to those who disagree with him as “crazies” and “wacko birds”, must always be acknowledged as a war hero. No exceptions. No room for discussion about whether the designation of “hero” should be limited to those who actually achieve something that furthers the war effort - as opposed to...

"If you listen the comments in total, he's not critical of John McCain the war hero, he's critical of his Senate record," co-host Steve Doocy said. Responding and agreeing was co-host Geraldo Rivera, who was not as enthusiastic as Doocy, but did say that Trump would need to at least clarify his remarks. Later in the show, co-host Brian Kilmeade interviewed former Ronald Reagan advisor, agreeing that the situation was "blown out of proportion." Kilmeade continued to defend Trump, saying that "he went on to say 4 more times that he was a war hero." This statement was looked into...

The summer Trump polling spurt has nonetheless been instructive in exposing a growing problem on the political right. All too many conservatives, including some magazine editors, have been willing to overlook his hucksterism as he’s risen in the polls. They pretend that he deserves respect because he’s giving voice to some deep disquiet or anger in the American electorate. But America has rarely lacked for demagogues willing to exploit public discontents. William Jennings Bryan won three Democratic presidential nominations running against eastern elites. In 1948 Henry Wallace ran as a Soviet sympathizer while Strom Thurmond won 39 electoral votes running...

Trump literally said McCain "is a war hero" five times, but always with strings attached. Twice, he was interrupted by Luntz before he could finish his sentence. Once, the statement was preceded by "I believe, perhaps." And the last two times, Trump added "because he was captured." He also, of course, started all this by saying McCain is "not a war hero." Experts told us these caveats change the meaning of the sentence entirely. " ‘He’s a war hero because he was captured’ implies that anybody who is captured is called a war hero, but there’s really nothing special about...

Donald Trump finally said something that shook the Republican establishment out of its self-induced stupor over his presidential candidacy. “He’s a war hero because he was captured,” the loudmouth from New York said about Sen. John McCain, Vietnam War veteran and prisoner of war, at a GOP cattle call in Iowa on Saturday. “I like people that weren’t captured.” That’s rich coming from a billionaire who received five deferments from military service during the Vietnam War. Meanwhile, McCain, who refused early release, was held captive and tortured in a North Vietnam prison for five-and-a-half years. Anyone who aspires to be...

Sen. Ted Cruz insists he won’t wage “violence” on Republicans–which is part of the reason why he won’t condemn Donald Trump’s comments about immigrants and prisoners of war. The Wall Street Journal isn’t holding back, though. The paper’s conservative editorial board slammed Cruz and praised former Gov. Rick Perry for their starkly different responses to Trump’s claim that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., “is only a war hero because he got captured. I like people who weren’t captured better.” Perry, an Air Force veteran, had one of the quickest and most forceful condemnations of Trump, insisting the real estate mogul wasn’t...

Uploaded on Jul 16, 2008 Al Santoli -- combat vet of the Vietnam War and former Congressional investigator Carol Hrdlicka --wife of a Vietnam War pilot shot down, captured, yet never returned Mike Benge -- returned POW of the Vietnam War andEleanor Apodaca -- sister of a Vietnam War MIA explain some of the reasons that: Disabled American Veterans (DAV) rates John McCain's voting record as only 20% in support of veterans, the lowest in Congress; Iraq and Afghanistan American Veterans give McCain a grade of "D"; and Vietnam Veterans of America rate McCain's voting record on veterans' issues at...

Link only due to copyright issues: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2015/07/19/donald-trump-john-mccain--politics--self-destruction/30384747/

Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) said Monday that real-estate developer Donald Trump should apologize for comments he made over the weekend — but not to him. "I think he may owe an apology to the families of those who have sacrificed in conflict and those who have undergone the prison experience in serving our country," McCain said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." McCain was responding to Trump, a GOP presidential candidate who panned his war record over the weekend. Trump ignited a media firestorm by saying McCain was a war hero only because he was captured during the Vietnam War. "He's not...

The media hates Donald Trump for many reasons. Originally it was, allegedly, because of his stand on Illegal Immigrants, but now, they have a new reason to hate him. No, it's not because he dissed one of their favorite RINOs, John McCain; it's because the media bullies have met their match. Unlike Herman Cain, who ran around the "ring" a couple of times and then fell down and cried don't hit me anymore, Trump is currently winning this boxing match. Why the comparison to Cain? The media's research teams apparently came up with a way to destroy a Black man,...

No political nice speak here, and it drives the establishment insane It started with presidential candidate Donald Trump’s comments on illegal immigration, which drew huge criticism from the Republican establishment and the media. The unfortunate murder of Kate Steinle recently by an illegal in San Francisco quieted some of the criticism, but the debate then shifted to the legality of sanctuary cities to avoid acknowledging that there was some merit to Trump’s comments. And now Donald Trump has challenged the “war hero” designation of Arizona Senator John McCain just because he was a prisoner of war. Aside from the fact...