The Donald

Donald Trump, like him or hate him, is a phenomenon.  Independently wealthy, he relies on no supporters and conducts his campaign for the American presidency as he sees fit.  One more thing; he clearly understands the media, having been a successful producer of highly popular TV shows.  It's his understanding of what interests Americans that has made him such a force.  Whether it's a force for good or not is yet to be decided.

The Donald has gotten himself, on what I consider to be the wrong side, involved in two major  issues.  Immigration and John McCain's heroism.  Describing illegal immigrants as murderers and rapists was wrong.  True, among the illegal population you will find murderers and rapists.  But, the same can be said of almost any population.  People familiar with Latino immigrants, legal or otherwise, know that they are among the kindest, nicest, most hardworking people one will ever encounter.

But, America does face a problem with unchecked, massive, illegal immigration.  And, the Donald has focused attention on this problem as has no other candidate.  He's largely escaped his come-uppance  for his wild remarks in two ways; first, the murder of a young lady on vacation in San Francisco by an illegal immigrant who also happened to be a felon who had been deported from the U.S. five times and who happened to be living in the amnesty city of San Francisco.

And, second, The Donald shifted over to his contention that he was the legal immigrants best friend by producing a great number of jobs.  This is what America needed -- jobs.  And, he was the jobs man.

This past weekend saw Donald's ship almost upended and perhaps sunk by the an even more serious gaffe; namely, challenging the heroism of John McCain.  That was not only dumb, it was wrong.

Donald's reason for saying what he did -- to the extent I can read the Donald's mind -- is not that he didn't appreciate McCain's remarkable bravery in time of war, or that he failed to respect McCain's service to his country but rather that he was now facing McCain in an entirely different context.

The McCain that now faced Donald Trump was a back-alley, political thug who had amassed enormous political power through his years in the Senate, but had never properly channeled that power.  McCain was someone who had undermined his own political candidacy for the presidency by choosing someone as inexperienced as Sarah Palin as his running mate. (Palin, to remind those who may have forgotten, had achieved some considerable accomplishments in her years as Alaska's governor, but clearly was unprepared for the national stage.)

Now, McCain was going after the Donald and referred to the people who attended a Trump rally as "crazies."  The Donald didn't like that and lashed out at McCain.  Unfortunately, the Donald was either unaware of, or had forgotten, certain basics in American politics; namely, you don't attack God, country, mom and apple pie.  He was apparently unaware that McCain had achieved a standing somewhere between God and apple pie.  To say this is not to disparage or impugn McCain's heroism.  It's simply to set forth a reality that seems to have escaped the Donald.

We'll now see whether Trump's ship sinks.  The political types are waiting for the latest poll results.  It's like the perils of Pauline.  It's grand theater.  It's operatic.  Will the Donald pull it off by shifting attention to the sorry state of the healthcare for veterans and the dysfunctional Veteran's Administration.  To be continued. . . . . . .