Posted on 08/28/2018 6:14:19 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
If you’re confused by President Trump’s reluctance to celebrate the life of Sen. John McCain, it’s because Trump knows something you don’t: his base.
The Red Hats And Talk Radio wing of American politics has long had a problematic relationship with the Arizona senator. And by “problematic,” I mean, they hated his guts. For years, McCain was the poster child of the kind of Republicanism they loathed, the kind of Republicanism that eventually led many of these voters to turn to Trump in the first place.
And if he were still with us, McCain would say “You’re damn right.”
New Hampshire political consultant Michael Dennehy, who worked extensively on McCain’s 2000 campaign, told me this weekend that, in his own way, McCain was the Donald Trump of his day. He sees a parallel in their willingness to ignore the party leaders, say what’s on their minds and give people straight talk.
He has a point. But McCain’s straight talk often involved insulting the base of his own party.
In McCain’s world, Trump voters were “wacko birds” and “crazies.” In “Game Change,” the much-praised (by the Left, anyway) book about the 2008 election, McCain is quoted as saying opponents of his amnesty solution for illegal immigration are “going to destroy the (expletive) party.”
“Listen to these people,” he reportedly said to fellow amnesty supporter Sen. Lindsey Graham. “Why would I want to be the leader of a party of such (expletives)?”
The point of bringing this up is not to speak ill of the dead, but to remind the media engaged in their hagiographic coverage that the dislike between McCain and the talk-radio base isn’t about allegiance to Trump. The two sides have been battling for years.
When McCain was losing badly to Barack Obama, he pulled Sarah Palin out of obscurity to rescue his failing campaign. It worked, in the short term. But when the media pile-on of Palin was complete, McCain threw her under the bus, saying later:
“I wish I’d picked Joe Lieberman instead.”
Nobody doubts that he meant it, either. And now, the same talk-radio Republicans McCain trashed are being trashed yet again for not fully celebrating the life of a guy who despised them.
Trump knows this, and I suspect that’s one reason why he’s reluctant to issue the sort of eulogy the media wants.
There’s also the fact that Trump hated the guy, and the feeling was mutual. Proactively disinviting the sitting president from your own funeral isn’t exactly “reaching across the political divide.”
Should the president be the bigger man? Should he celebrate the life of an American hero who suffered so much for our nation, its uniform and its flag?
I think so. But Trump knows his base. Trump knows the praise for McCain coming from Democrats and the media is praise for McCain’s willingness to support Democrats: their positions, their politics and their antipathy toward the Americans who made Trump president.
This is not an insult to Sen. McCain or his memory. He’s still a hero. People who deny that fact truly are crazies. And it’s true he was willing to tell people tough things they didn’t want to hear. But it’s hard not to notice that he reserved his toughest talk for his fellow Republicans.
I wish we had a better president. I wish we had more graciousness in American politics. I wish our political discourse could be elevated above current pettiness of “My team good, your team bad.” But it’s not. We’re here.
And one of the many people in American politics who helped us get here was Sen. John McCain.
I’ve been waiting for someone to explain who paid for the staffer to fly to London. Did this come out of McCain’s office budget, or private McCain money or what? Just buying the ticket and the two or three overnights...had to run $2,500 minimum. I’d also like for the guy to swear under oath that McCain didn’t pay for the dossier, which I doubt that the guy really wants to say that under oath.
What exactly did he do that was heroic? What have I missed?
“McCain was a tool of the Democrats”.
Seems like there were quite a few McCain supporters here not too long ago. I think they probably tilt heavily towards Jeff Sessions on the covert FR Impeachment Forum now.
He was a lowlife going back to his younger days. He would have never been allowed to fly planes if it wasn’t for his daddy and grandfather. The idiot caused many more deaths to happen on the aircraft carrier because he dropped a bomb from his plane and it exploded in the fire killing a bunch of people. Then he lied about it trying to make himself look good
. His service records wouldn’t be sealed if he wasn’t hiding something.
McCain had a Trump moment in 2008 when he picked Sarah Palin for VP.
By doing so, he raised a question in the minds of conservatives: “Is McCain only doing this to court conservatives, or is it possible McCain is signaling that he genuinely wishes to embrace conservatism?”
At the time, that was not as stupid a question as it is now, in retrospect. In retrospect, we know he doubled down on his amnesty rhetoric and failed to embrace Palin’s conservative positions, or allow them to shape his campaign - and then, in the face of a cruel Leftist media driven character assasination of her, he threw her under the bus - numerous times. In retrospect, he answered the question in no uncertain terms - “No, I am not genuinely embracing Palin’s brand of conservativism.”
But at the time, when he first picked Palin, it was not such a stupid question. Remember, in the not so distant past, Trump raised s similar question: “Is Trump just courting conservatives or is he signaling that he genuinely wants to be one?” After all, it was hard at the time to judge from Trump’s political campaign contribution history whether he was even a Republican, much less a conservative.
Unlike McCain, Trump wound up giving us the right answer - Trump has proven to be a genuine conservative - he saw the light. I’m not sure when he first saw it - maybe he saw it long ago and just stayed below the radar - or maybe he “evolved” in 2016. Either way, he chose right and McCain chose wrong.
McCain had the opportunity to choose right in 2008. If he had, I really believe he could have beaten Obama soundly. But his liberal side won out and instead of being proud of his VP pick, he treated her (and us) like she was an embarrassment. Conservatism was an embarrassment. He betrayed her and in so doing squandered a political opportunity every bit as ripe as the one Trump harvested in 2016.
In 2008, the Left’s cruel and disgusting hate-fest of a woman VP candidate revealed just how empty their “diversity” rhetoric was, how hypocritical was their claim to be the defenders of womenkind, and how unhinged and unattractive they were at their core. If McCain had seized on that opportunity the way Trump seized on his - he coulda been a contender.
But McCain failed to defend Sarah Palin. He failed to admire and emulate her principled courage. He failed to call out the Left for their vile behavior, and thus relegated himself to the dustbin of history.
And that’s what I think of John McCain.
I’m not sure that “hated his guts” is an accurate enough phrase to describe my loathing and contempt for this man.
Can someone poke him with a stick ...just to be sure.
That’s why the media loved him.
Good riddance-—
“Trump knows something you don’t: his base”
He knows, or knew :), who Mc was.
Bullshit.
Jeremiah Denton was a hero. He certainly didn’t get all the accolades when he passed away that McCain is getting.
Sarah energized this crowd around here for the first time in months, and all the misogyny of the left just made us dig in our heels, golly-gee-willikers!!
I actually agree with McCain on that.
Had he not chosen Sarah, she would have served multiple terms as Alaska governor, and would have wound up becoming an unstoppable force in American politics.
Who knows, maybe Trump would have tapped her to be his running mate in 2016. She would be his VP today, and would be well poised to become President in 2024.
I was thinking rather than being in 'repose'; maybe they could stick him on a pike with it shoved up his ass all the way to the inner skull. It would also be a fitting honor for a man of his stature and life.
I’m reminded of Thumper from Bambi, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.”
rwood
The modern day ‘Manchurian Candidate” find it odd how he and his head captor got along famously. He was not an ace as a pilot as he crashed into a carrier killing many sailors. He was very disloyal as a Senator, and counted among his buddies, Obama, Schumer, Pelosi and their ilk. Did he accomplish any good thing as a Senator? We know he was responsible for keeping Obamacare. We all have to go sometime and there is no remorse on his passing from this side.
Well, then call me “crazy”, because I don’t see McCain as a hero.
He was a flawed human, sure, but a hero? Nope.
Instead of a hero’s character, what McCain had/has is good PR people maintaining his character’s image as a “war hero”, which he then rode into office and often used as a prop or as a shield.
As it was, his own character’s character was remarkably consistent at being AWOL from his youth until his death.
I think it’s interesting that he was called ‘Songbird’ and that he showed a similar character and behavior with his demonrat colleagues against his own party as a Senator, as he did with his captors against his country as a POW.
Same as he ever was. Same as he always was.
You can see the same with Hillary. Just look at why she was fired from the Watergate commission and you’ll see that same “Hillary” at any point in her timeline from then until now.
May their truths come out into the light for all to see and understand.
Today, most Republican voters will tell you, "I voted for Sarah."
I don't remember a single voice of enthusiasm for McCain, when he won the 2008 Republican primary. Not one.
I remember that Freepers were universally gobsmacked that the worst possible outcome had come to pass, and that we were going to be forced to vote for that quisling weasel.
No doubt, the strategists in the RNC also saw this, and realized that they were headed for a shelacking of historic proportions, if they didn't quickly add a running mate to the ticket who could inspire and energize the base.
Enter Sarah Palin. Not only did she inspire and energize the base, she practically caused a second American revolution on the right. Her impact was so powerful, it threatened to radically alter the balance of power between the people and their government.
She rocked the left-liberal ruling class so hard, they were speechless for nearly a week, before gathering their wits. Only then, did they begin returning fire with ridicule and nastiness.
She had to be destroyed, and she was. Even after her election loss, the left continued to attack her and her family throughout the Obama years. They were (and still are) that afraid of her.
Ditto for Romney.
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