July 19^th

Hold the presses! Donald Trump may be in the process of self-destructing. It’s too early to tell because his recent gaffs haven’t had time to affect his polls. I’m sure there are pollsters all over this so we’ll soon know how much “oomph” The Donald has lost.

Here’s what happened (In case your TV has blown a fuse). Trump was asked about John McCain’s negative comments concerning him and him and his enthusiastic Arizona audience. He replied that he didn’t think McCain was a hero because his (Trump’s) heroes were those who didn’t get captured. The real heroes were the guys who fought and came home without all the publicity.

I am no great fan of John McCain’s; he certainly was a war hero but when he came back he quickly used up the good will he had accumulated in service. Then he picked a certifiable air-head, Sarah Palin, as his running mate for the Presidency. That demonstrated for many of us that his ego was stronger than his concern for his country. Even so McCain is a military hero to the far right and that is Trump’s primary constituency. They won’t be happy with his comments.

When commentators asked Trump if he planned to apologize to McCain he did what any good narcissist would do; he not only said, “No,” he said that McCain should apologize to him!  McCain has five serious military medals and Trump has five happy deferrals from service in Viet Nam, and Trump wants an apology from McCain? Trump claims the apology is because McCain called the people who turned out to hear Trump in Arizona “Crazies.” That’s what McCain should apologize for.

The Republican Party has been waiting for an excuse to hammer Trump and now they have it. All the candidates were quick to support and praise McCain and denounce Trump, all but one. Ted Cruz praised McCain but refused to condemn Trump and so he tries to have it both ways. The Republican central command commented that no Republican will tolerate the denouncing of any of our military heroes. They have forgotten the swift-boating of John Kerry when he ran for President. I think they meant that they wouldn’t tolerate the denouncing of any Republican war hero.

Not content with putting one boot deep in the muck with his McCain comment, Trump went on to insert the other one. He was addressing the Iowa Family Leadership Conference, a very serious religious group of evangelicals. He was asked if he ever sought forgiveness from God. Trump, said that he “Wasn’t sure;” that if he had done something that needed forgiveness he would try to make it right himself and not bring God into it. Then he said that in church he has his “little wine” and his “little cracker” and does that as often as he can.  No word has emerged from this group about Trumps description of the Sacraments. Stay tuned!