Susan Wright on the Right
I’ll begin this by saying that I’ve had my problems with Senator John McCain over the years. The man was maddeningly “squishy” on the issues where I felt Republicans needed more fierce conservative warriors.
He was not a conservative. I am.
Did I call him RiNO (Republican in Name Only)? Sure. Plenty of times.
That being said, I’ve evolved in my thinking on that subject considerably. I haven’t become less conservative, by any means. I just don’t see many actual conservatives within the Republican party, so the term “RiNO” really doesn’t mean anything, especially in the age of Trump.
One thing I never did was doubt that John McCain was a legitimate American hero. His service to his country in Vietnam, and then later the Senate is unmatched.
The phrase, “Some gave all” was meant for men like John McCain, who spent five years in a POW camp, enduring torture and abuse, when his dad’s stature could have gained him an early release.
He stayed because he didn’t want to give the enemy a propaganda win, nor was he going to leave his fellow captives behind.
No matter what Donald Trump – a man whose rich daddy got him four or five deferments from service for something as pathetic as bone spurs – says about McCain’s capture, he was a hero.
I could write volumes about Trump’s disrespect and lack of decorum, as it pertains to McCain. It suffices to say that Trump’s sense of inadequacy when he compares himself and his meager life to that of a real man is understandable.
No, for today, I want to highlight the disgusting behavior of Trump’s clingers and sycophants.
If you ventured on to social media on Saturday night, the trash atmosphere created by Trump worshipers, who have been emboldened to slither out of their sewers to gloat over the body of the fallen senator was grotesque.
As someone who lost my dad only a month ago, with the pain of loss still so fresh, the idea that there are keyboard warriors who only live to feed off the misery of others is enraging. Even as McCain’s family posted their heartfelt, pained, emotional tributes, the gutless, soulless trolls pounced.
Not all heartless creeps keep their noxious faces hidden, however.
I’ve called out Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kelli Ward before.
Ward, when John McCain first announced his brain cancer diagnosis, immediately responded with what amounted to, “Hey, can I have your stuff?”
She’s desperate to win a seat in the Senate, and she doesn’t care whose body she has to crawl over to get to it.
Ward is currently battling it out for the GOP nomination against Representative Martha McSally. Most polls have McSally leading, so Ward, who has fashioned herself to be a true Trump believer, is desperate.
The McCain family announced on Friday that they would be discontinuing treatment for Senator McCain’s aggressive brain cancer.
On Saturday, a staffer for Ward pondered the timing of the statement from the family, considering that Ward’s bus tour was set to begin that same day.
Ward’s staffer wondered if the statement released by the senator’s family was “just a coincidence” or “if it was a plan to take media attention off her campaign?”
In what was to be his final time on this earth, with his family and friends surrounding him, in what had to be such an emotional, gut-wrenching moment (I was with my dad in his final hours, watched him take his final, gasping breath of life, saw the light leave his eyes, so I know what his family was feeling), this staffer thinks they were thinking of ways to damage Ward’s campaign.
It’s a horrible, callous, despicable notion, so Ward stepped forward and set this staffer straight, right?
Yeah. Maybe not so much.
Ward chimed in on the Facebook post, with her usual charm:
“I think they wanted to have a particular narrative that they hope is negative to me,” Ward wrote.
That’s right. A family is losing their husband and father. A 106 year old woman is losing her son (Yes, it appears John McCain’s mother, Roberta, is still alive), but please, let’s make it about you, Kelli Ward. You’re the victim, here.
It was only a few hours after the post that it was announced that McCain had passed away.
Ward deleted her comment, but not before Aaron Borders, the former second-vice chairman of a Maricopa County Republican Party group managed to grab a screenshot and called her out on it.
“It’s wildly inappropriate,” Borders said.“It’s classless. It’s not decent … it’s very narcissistic. It’s a narcissist comment to sit there and think that the McCain family made this decision to interfere with your bus tour.”
You can say that again, but the quest for high position and authority does not fit everyone. Bad characters are always looking out for their own interests.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?@kelliwardaz staffer: I wonder if John McCain's trying to steal attention from Ward's bus tour by announcing his life is coming to an end.
Ward: Yup, it's all about me. #AZSEN pic.twitter.com/AXKAOhKYkU— Brahm Resnik (@brahmresnik) August 25, 2018
Ward later attempted to clean up her mess in a statement.
“The media loves a narrative. I’ve said again and again to pray for Senator McCain & his family,” Ward commented. “These decisions are terrible to have to make. I feel compassion for him and his family as they go through this. It’s not the McCains creating a narrative – it’s the media making something out of nothing. The media, the left, and the Establishment have the agenda.
“They’ve been attacking me over fake stories for a year on this issue. I ran against Mr. McCain. I don’t agree with his voting record and rhetoric. I pray for him as a man who is suffering,” she continued, according to the outlet.
So the media made you suggest that McCain’s family spent his last hours targeting you?
She apparently deleted that comment, as well.
After McCain’s death was announced, someone with an actual human conscience commandeered Ward’s Twitter account and released a statement of support for the family.
We are saddened to hear of the passing of @SenJohnMcCain. His decades of service will not be forgotten by the men & women of Arizona. May God grant the McCain family comfort and peace during this difficult time.
— Dr. Kelli Ward
Look, I get it. Politics is ugly and even ruthless, at times. I still believe, however, that if you put somebody in office, knowing they lack idealism and only pursue higher office with their ambitions as the driving factor, you court trouble for your nation.
With that said, R.I.P, Senator McCain and let’s go, Martha McSally!
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