Which Foot Was It, Donald?

Which Foot Was It, Donald? July 26, 2015

Donald Trump keeps sticking his great big foot in his very loud mouth. Which foot? I don’t know, and neither does he.

Donald Trump is now running for the Republican nomination for U.S. president. This week, he attacked Senator John McCain of my home state, Arizona, who is not even in this race. McCain is a Vietnam War veteran. He flew 23 bombing missions over North Vietnam. On his last mission he was flying an airplane, shot down over Hanoi, injured so that he could not escape, captured, and suffered the next five and a half years as a prisoner-of-war under brutal conditions that involved periods of torture. Multiple times North Vietnamese doctors determined John McCain was on the verge of death. Later recovered, he spent two years in solitary confinement. He refused early release because other prisoners would have remained. that was a noble act.

John McCain acheived the rank of captain before his discharge from the Navy. The U.S. government afterwards awarded John McCain with the Distinguished Flying Cross. John McCain’s father and grandfather had been admirals in the U.S. Navy. It was only after the North Vietnamese learned this that they gave John medical attention.

John McCain then went on to serve five terms of six years each as a U.S. Senator from Arizona. He also was the 2008 Republican nominee for U.S. president. Donald Trump said Senator John McCain was “a war hero because he was captured. I hate to tell you. I like people who weren’t captured. OK.”

No, that’s not OK, Trump! That irritated a lot of Americans, especially veterans. Trump owes them an apology. Plus, Trump said McCain is no friend to veterans due to his voting record in Congress. I think that is bogus, too.

By the way Mr. Trumpet-Yourself-The Donald, it appears you didn’t even know, and if you did know you are a worse louse than I thought! When John McCain was shot down out of the sky, he hit the North Vietnam ground and suffered two broken arms, one with three breaks, and a broken leg at the knee. Plus, he was knocked unconscious for a time. And in case you haven’t noticed, Donald, John has got rather deformed arms to prove it. Donald Trump–how the hell do you think such an injured John McCain could have escaped capture?

Boisterus and arrogant Donald Trump typically speaks in brash generalities without backing it up with facts. For instance, he recently has said he would build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to keep out illegal immigrants, which I do not oppose although it would be expensive. He also said, “I will make Mexico pay for it.” Oh, yeah! How are you going to do that, Donald? The man never said.

In a recent interview, John McCain said of Trump’s many criticisms of other Republican political candidates for president, most of whom are senators or state governors, “So he makes these statements and does not have any solutions for them other than to criticize those of us who are trying to find solutions.”

Donald Trump also says the U.S. has lost its good reputation in the world, and he would restore it. Baloney! I shudder to think of how foreign governments would shun the U.S. for having such an ego-maniac as Donald Trump for its president. Polls show that when people in other countries are asked what is the main thing they don’t like about Americans, it’s always that they’re “arrogant.” Well, let’s try Donald Trump on them! Of course, there would be those who think he’s that way but wouldn’t say so because they financially benefit from the Trump commerce.

Trump’s comment about McCain was provoked by an appearance Trump had made in Phoenix, near where I live. Trump gave a speech on immigration and appeared with our very controversial and polically conservative Sheriff Joe Arpaio who has been under federal investigation for some time for illegally profiling Hispanic immigrants. In response to Trump’s speech, McCain had said that Trump was “stirring up the crazies” in Arizona. He meant the politically far-righters. Heh, we’ve some, believe me. This state can be so politically conservative that it falls off the way-far-right desert cliff. I had no problem with McCain’s remark.

For any others running for president, that statement by Trump would have sunk their ship in this boat race for the presidency and thus ended their chances of a successful bid. But not The Donald. He is provocative and draws lots of American supporters who are so totally fed up with American politics. Despite that gaff, polls still show Mr. Trump leading among the now sixteen Republicans running for their party’s nomination for the presidency.

I find it obnoxious when an elderly American man–especially a very wealthy one who never served in the U.S. military–criticizing a man who did serve in our military and criticizing him for such service even though he served with distinction and honor. Soon after Donald Trump made this criticism of McCain, a journalist asked him why he never served in the military. Remember, folks, in those days we had the draft, so that just about all young American men had to serve in our military unless they got a medical exemption. I served.

Mr. Trump answered by saying he indeed had a medical exemption. The journalist then asked what the exemption was for. Trump answered that he had a “bad foot.” The journalist then asked The Donald which foot it was. He replied, “I don’t remember.”

What! I’ll bet that 99% of American men who were exempted from the U.S. military draft due to having a medical exemption for a lame foot would remember which foot it was. Mr. Trump, do you have Alzheimer’s? I don’t think so. Maybe instead of the crazies like Donald Trump calling for Barak Obama to produce his birth certificate, some sound-minded Republicans ought to call for Donald Trump to produce reliable medical evidence that he really had a bum foot. At least it would inform The Donald which foot it was.

(See also my post on July 9, 2015, “Trump Trumpets Himself.”


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