Motown Strong: Flavor of the Month

Yesterday, I defended Donald Trump over the Huffington Post's less-than-stelar decision to relegate him to the entertainment section as opposed to "legitimate" news, despite Trump being a major player in the 2016 presidential campaign. The most important line, I think was when I wrote,

It isn't the job of a news service to decide who is, and who is not, a candidate. Whether you like it or not, Trump is officially a candidate (and is the front-runner, at that).

I stand by that statement, and what I wrote yesterday.

But today is a new day, and Trump has managed to put his rather large foot into his even larger mouth yet again. And this is definitely not "entertainment."

Some background: Trump’s been feuding with McCain for about a week, ever since McCain said Trump is “firing up the crazies” with his outlandish rhetoric, and with Trump firing back by calling McCain a “dummy.” Basically, we have a political pissing match going on between two GOP notables - one a former presidential contender, the other a current candidate. Which is probably why what happened today was inevitable.

This morning, Trump was participating in a question-and-answer session at the the 2015 Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa. He was challenged by host Frank Luntz about criticism Trump had fired at McCain's political career, specifically Trump’s verbal attacks given McCain is a “war hero” who spent six years as a POW during the Vietnam War. At one point in the Q&A, Trump said he supported McCain in his previous presidential campaign (in 2008, Trump donated $28,450 to McCain’s Victory Committee and endorsed him on Larry King Live), but doesn’t like him very much now. Luntz pointed out that McCain’s a war hero, and that’s when Trump said this:

“He’s a war hero ’cause he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”

And then he doubled down.

“He’s a war hero because he was captured! OK? I believe, perhaps, he’s a war hero. But right now? He’s said some very bad things about a lot of people.”

At that point, the Internet exploded.

During a news conference after his appearance, Trump did not apologize (did anyone really expect him to?); instead, he tried to clarify his remarks:

"If a person is captured, they're a hero as far as I'm concerned. I don't like the job John McCain is doing in the Senate because he is not taking care of our veterans. And he should know better than anybody what the Veterans need, especially in regards to the VA. He is yet another all talk, no action politician who spends too much time on television and not enough time doing his job and helping vets.”

Methinks Trump needs better fact-checkers; McCain (along with Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the Democratic Party presidential candidates) last year pushed for and passed legislation to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs and improve veterans’ access to health care, among other things.

Being captured is a risk every soldier takes; it's not a failure or weakness. It's a miserable part of war. And it is something every soldier fears. I don't agree with most of McCain's politics (although I did consider him, strongly, in 2000), but I would never disrespect his military service. Or anyone else's military service, for that matter.

The American people aren't going to remember Trump's "clarification;" all they will remember is that Trump took a very large pot-shot at a Vietnam veteran who survived six years of hell most of the nation collectively could never truly fathom. And they'll remember Trump not only never served in the military, he received five student deferments while the Vietnam War was raging.

Predictably, a firestorm of McCain support/Trump attack ensued, with other presidential candidates and politicians ripping Trump up one side and down the other. Some of this is self-serving; if Lindsey Graham, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, Carly Fiorina, Bobby Jindal, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, Chris Christie, George Pataki, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Rick Perry, Scott Walker, et al, can use this as a battering ram and destroy Trump's political credibility, then it's one less fly in the collective ointment of their own 2016 campaigns. Trump's comments were nothing less than an open invitation for the rest of the Republican Party to begin a full-blown offensive attack.

(And yes, comedians and humorists got in on the act as well.)

So, what now? Is this a death knell for Trump? Has he shot himself down in flames? The New York Times seems to think so, indicating the relationship between the Republican candidate and the masses who have found his candid, direct, hard-line approach refreshing and to their liking has hit its high-water mark. It might take a few more weeks, but Trump might actually end up on the entertainment pages after all. Because basically, as with the 2012 campaign, the GOP appears to have enjoyed its flavor of the month, and now will see another of its 31 Baskin-Robbins options take the lead.

THE FINE FIVE:

(1) Today would have been gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson's 77th birthday. Wonder what he'd think of the latest Trump news?

(2) Had Stanley Steemer come to the condo today to do a major cleanup of the carpeting in the bedroom, dining room, living room, and bathroom. After seven years of living at the same address, it was much needed. (It was probably "much needed" a few years ago, to be honest.) They arrived on time, spent just over an hour doing the deed, and the carpeting looks much better. It's still a bit damp; that will be resolved by tomorrow evening.

(3) A sidebar that was part of the carpet cleaning: I needed to actually put things away in advance. And throw things away. And I donated things to Goodwill. And I reorganized things after Stanley Steemer left, to make the condo a bit nicer than how it had been arranged. One of my neighbors commented that I was doing a spring cleaning; I think what I did the past few days was definitely comparable.

(4) Boy, the U.S. Men's National Team really took it to Cuba today. 6-0? A hat trick for Clint Dempsey? So much for normalized relations between the two countries.

(5) Houston Texans defensive god J.J. Watt has advised high school athletes to "read each Tweet about 95 times before sending it." I think these words of wisdom apply to all high school students. And college students. And adults.

FACEPALM NEWS OF THE DAY:

From The Washington Post: "Judge rejects defense argument in Jewish site shootings case" - The defense's rambling presentation touched on Caitlyn Jenner, AIDS, Israel, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, British wartime leader Winston Churchill, the Rev. Billy Graham and a Jewish conspiracy he alleged was behind the sitcom All in the Family.

FLORIDA NEWS OF THE DAY:

From The Sun-Sentinel: "Thieves think big in Dania Beach boat heist" - "You can't hide a 70-footer," said Rich Hagen, a retired Broward Sheriff's marine unit detective who owns International Maritime Consultants, and who apparently hasn't heard about Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

WEIRD NEWS OF THE DAY:

From Newsworks: "After demonstrations outside Sweeney home, West Deptford restricts protests" - Limiting protest groups to no more than 10 people and demonstrating only one hour every two weeks? Cue the ACLU in 3, 2, 1 ...

SPORTS NEWS OF THE DAY:

From Motor Sports Talk: "Jules Bianchi dies at age 25, his family confirms" - :(

VIDEO OF THE DAY:

Count along, if you're able to do so ...