What Donald Trump was up to while John McCain was suffering as a prisoner of war

Washington Post ^ | July 20, 2015 | By Michael E. Miller and Fred Barbash

[bert]

OOps....

Erratum

Go Scott

[ScottinVA]

Great comment. Trump could’ve served his country, but chose not to. He received four student deferments to avoid service. I’m not saying he broke the law, but the fact he avoided military service is unassailable.

[ScottinVA]

“Does anybody know Trump’s position on: abortion, gun rights, eminent domain, taxes, health care, defense, race, militarization of law enforcement, gay marriage, religious freedom, freedom of speech and association, etc.?”

Well, let’s see... We’re in the third week of July. What color is the chameleon sporting today?

[Burkean]

Trump stepped into this mess. There was no constructive point in dragging McCain’s POW status into the debate. This now distracts from highly important issues.

[samtheman]

Part of being a good candidate is not being drawn into negative territory by your opponent. Something very rookie has to learn. McCain is an evil old pro who was on a cage-rattling recon mission. He rattled Trump’s cage just the right way and drew him out into a 200Gev rookie mistake.

[Chainmail]

"I remember the 1960s. Avoiding VN and staying within the law was acceptable behavior."

According to whom?

[silverleaf]

In 1968 I was a democrat working as a McGovern volunteer

Then I grew up

[Old Sarge]

The most dangerous place in America is standing between John McCain and a microphone.

He was eager to get to the mike for the Cong, and he’s eager to get to a mike now.

There will ALWAYS be someone waving the bloody shirt - McCain, Kerry, Kerrey, Duckworth - Leftists who use mask of patriotism to insulate them from scrutiny.

[silverleaf]

Now there is a lot of scuttle on the Forrestal disaster and just because McCain was there doesn’t mean he started it

[Sherman Logan]

Yup. Just like saving Germany was the most important task for Germans in the 20s and 30s.

Didn’t make their way of going about it a good idea.

Not trying to compare Trump to you-know-who, just trying to point out that just because someone shares your sense of urgency about the situation doesn’t mean their approach to solving it will be a good one.

Though I must admit that those who don’t even see the problem are even less likely to solve it.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Does thinking Trump should not have made those remarks about McCain’s capture — since McCain suffered 5 years of beatings and torture — make me a bad person?

Disclaimer: usual boilerplate about not liking RINO McCain, blah blah blah.

[ballplayer]

What was their war hero Bill Clinton doing? Or that Hell on wheels,sniper fire eluding hero Hillary!
Lets get out what Trump actually said,not the twisted establishment’s version,put it all in context,the feud and what he actually said

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Great comment. Trump could’ve served his country, but chose not to. He received four student deferments to avoid service. I’m not saying he broke the law, but the fact he avoided military service is unassailable.

On the other hand, my Grandfather benefited from deferments in WWII, until he got word about what the Nazis were doing to the Jews. He forewent his latest deferment to sign up and go over there to fight. He was trained to be a scout in the upcoming invasion of Japan, but before he went over, the A-bombs were dropped, and Japan surrendered. Since V-E day had already happened, he went on to become a member of the Allied occupation forces in Germany for a year.

If Grandpa were alive today, Trump wouldn't be fit to shine his shoes.

[Flick Lives]

...from the comments in the WaPo article:

“Funny but I don’t recall the WaPo writing anything positive about McCain in 2008.”

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"I never believed his war hero story and am sure there is more to it. But, not interested."

The facts of his story are not in dispute. He is the son and grandson of Admirals. His father was an active duty Admiral at the time of his capture. Upon learning this, his Vietnamese captors were willing to let him go. He refused to leave until all of his fellow prisoners were allowed to go. This was at a time when he was on death's door and could have gone to an American hospital to save himself. Many of his fellow prisoners have stated they thought he would not live. In effect, by refusing to leave and set an example for his fellow prisoners, he was signing his own death warrant. It's a miracle that he lived.

I'm no fan of McCain the politician for many reasons, but his status as a true hero is not in dispute. This whole incident just shows how small minded Trump is. He disgusts me.

[ballplayer]

Have you ever seen Obama’s draft registration card?
The one Obama handlers have shown is as legitimate as his birth certificate they have shown

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

See #53.

[Magnatron]

Wait a minute, I’m confused...

In the 60s, the left was PRAISING anyone who skipped town and didn’t serve. Now they’re saying what Trump did was disgraceful???

...I really have a hard time keeping up.

[bmwcyle]

John McCain was selling out to North Korea and now he sells out to Soros. F McCain.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Not a word about helping push through legislation making it possible to hide info about prisoners left there."

He and Kerry should rightly be criticized about this. Criticize all you want about McCain the politician, but don't criticize MCain the POW. Trump should have attacked him for this. It would be fair game. As to your statements about making 30 videos dissing the U.S. do you have proof of this? I have never read this and if you have proof I would love to see it.