I agree with some of what you're saying, but what Trump said to begin with and what he's spinning now are two different things. Yes, McCain hasn't been the greatest politician of all time. Yes, he has made the most of his POW status. Why not? Yes, he ran a mindless campaign for president in 2008, not that it would have made any difference. Dubya was such a colossal screw up there wasn't a republican alive who would have had a chance in 2008. Finally, on his hero status. The word hero is thrown around loosely these days. Just doing military service doesn't make one a hero. However, the man had a chance to be released early from the POW camp and he turned it down. I don't know many guys who would have done that. Yeah, he's a shit politician, but that one thing gets him pretty high marks in my book and Trump is a complete asshole for saying anything disparaging about it.
CO, I wouldn't call it disparaging. More like dismissive. The thing is, there is context to his remarks that the media are ignoring. McCain started the whole thing by calling people who attended a Trump rally "crazies." To me that is a lot more offensive than splitting hairs about McCain's status as a hero or not. The fact is McCain is the asshole. Everyone has to go around pretending McCain is some military and foreign policy genius, when he is in fact the worst sort of entrenched political hack. He had a hand in fomenting the current Ukrainian mess. He backed unconstitutional limits on political speech criticizing incumbents. He has mastered the art of sucking up to the liberal media , so of course they return the favor by pretending he is some sort of republican leader. In fact, most of the party base can't tolerate him or his boy Lindsey Graham.
It's fun to watch someone not pander (unless he is pandering to the base that literally got thrown under the bus by the GOP leadership...not once, but twice in landslide victories that they couldn't have gotten without said base). Regardless, I have a nagging question. Even though it's extremely unlikely he could win, if he did, would he become status quo? I only ask because everyone else does. He loves money, just like the losers we elect now do. I do like the fact that he doesn't beg for it from constituents while lying to them trying to get elected (unless he is lying to us to get elected, but at least he's not asking us for money while lying, (again, if he is lying), which is still a +) [/ramble].
I don't disagree with your assessment of McCain's politics and yes he was off base calling the people at the Trump rally"crazies". Rather than sink to name calling and insulting remarks, the presidential thing to do would have been to say, John, you have no right to call people at a political rally crazies. The people of this country have the right and the freedom to choose whomever they want to. Perhaps you have forgotten that. Something along those lines would have been more appropriate and would have given him the same boost among his supporters.
I think it's OK to be critical of his service in the military (there are a lot of issues regarding his scores in schools, aircraft mishaps, and the fact that he was still even in a fighter pilot when he was shot down, all because of his father was a very high ranking officer), but NOT his internment in POW camp. I believe to stay imprisoned when offered freedom is a heroic act in it's own right. Politically? What do "Waco birds", "Hobbits", "Crazies", know about politics. Ask one of the Keating 5. Since this thread is Trump related: I laughed so hard when Trump retaliated against McCain's bud Lindsay for calling him a jackass, I had tears in eyes.
Trump needs to work on his filters. I'm sure he would phrase his comments differently if he had the chance. The one candidate who has avoided trashing Trump is Ted Cruz. Interesting.