I do find it interesting that John Kerry has come to
McCain's defense. Jeb Bush is supposedly upset that McCain's heroism has been questioned. But a quick look back
demonstrates how astonishingly hypocritical Bush's behavior is:
After the campaign Jeb Bush, then Governor of Florida, sent a letter to George Day — a member of the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth who appeared in television advertisements trashing Kerry. Day said Kerry, a recipient of the Silver Star and three Purple Hearts, would “go down in history sometime as the Benedict Arnold of 1971.” In his letter, Bush thanks Day and the “other Swifties” for their “support of my brother in his re-election.” “I simply cannot express in words how much I value their willingness to stand up against John Kerry,” Bush wrote.
Rick Perry, who is busy condemning Trump, also endorsed the swift boaters. The Republican Party refused to condemn them. To his credit, McCain defended Kerry, but still
campaigned with the swift boaters. He even praised the worst of the lot as an inspirational leader, when he was campaigning with that liar in Iowa. McCain's current denunciation of Trump for inciting the Republican Party "crazies" is laughable given his endorsement of Palin as part of a "good cop bad cop" 2008 campaign strategy, and the fact that, you know, Republicans can't actually win elections without the crazies.
Here he is in 2008, saying that some angry Wisconsin crazy is right to call the Democrats socialist (oh how I wish!) and calling for investigations into "voter fraud" allegations on the part of ACORN.
You know, like virtually all Americans, I had friends and family who served in these wars. They displayed acts of courage and heroism, sure, but by and large the were frightened teenagers or very young adults operating out a mixed sense of loyalty and recklessness that we cultivate and rely upon in foreign misadventures. So sure call them heroes when they do heroic things. But they're not perfect, and they are not gods. I think that McCain is an incredibly flawed human being quite apart from his war record.
As for your list, how brave and heroic was Washington, who knew that slavery was wrong and yet waited until he died to free the people he claimed were his to own? How brave were generals who were not on the front lines and faced no real risk of death? Or Chris Kyle, whose
dubious legacy languishes amid defamation lawsuits,
historical revisionism and profiteering?
Trump's idiocy speaks for itself. My grandfather was shot down in Yugoslavia; was he heroic because he wasn't caught, indeed was rescued by those communists Republicans hate, while others shot down with him were somehow less heroic? And on and on and on it goes.
Trump is a despicable and dishonest and dishonorable politician, along with everyone he will be sharing the stage with next month. What they did during wartime doesn't much concern me.
