The Superbowl of Superholes

[Machiavelli]

Mark Steyn
SteynOnline
July 20, 2015

We are cursed, as the Chinese say, to live in "interesting times", about which there is much to say - the Iran deal, for example, or the Allaku Akbar guy running amok in Chattanooga. Yet the dead sloth that is the Republican Party has finally roused itself to spend the last 48 hours hammering Donald Trump for impugning the honor of John McCain.

As his criminal-immigrant surge demonstrates, Trump's support comes almost entirely from Americans who feel the political class passes its time talking about nothing that matters to them. So feel free to spend the weekend talking about John McCain. QED, as Trump is unlikely to say.

On the matter of McCain, in June 1998 the Senator stood up to address a Republican fundraising meeting: "You think that was a tasteless joke?" he began, referring to the previous speaker's closing Viagra gag. "Listen to this one." He then told the following side-splitter:

"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? ...

More

[aligncare]

From the Mark Steyn article:

The media blackout of 1998 [when McCain told a tasteless joke involving Chelsea Clinton] is in striking contrast to the wall-to-wall coverage of Trump's "gaffe". Two decades back, the media loved McCain because he was their kind of Republican: that's to say, he spent more time attacking other Republicans than he ever did Democrats. And they wanted him to keep on doing that, so they closed ranks around him. Whereas no one wants what Trump wants to talk about to be part of the 2016 election conversation, so anything must be seized on to disqualify him from participation. And, if nothing else is to hand, a sneer at John McCain will have to do.

[jmyrlefuller]

Two decades back, the media loved McCain because he was their kind of Republican: that's to say, he spent more time attacking other Republicans than he ever did Democrats. And they wanted him to keep on doing that, so they closed ranks around him. Whereas no one wants what Trump wants to talk about to be part of the 2016 election conversation, so anything must be seized on to disqualify him from participation. And, if nothing else is to hand, a sneer at John McCain will have to do.

There are reasons why "no one wants what Trump wants to talk about to be part of the 2016 election conversation." It's not just us being a bunch of left-wing pacifists. Our country is going down the pooper and this guy's going on about Mexican rapists, insulting his fellow Republicans and leaking their unlisted phone numbers. Hunter and Tancredo tried the anti-amnesty message eight years ago and got a combined 1% of the vote. And Hunter was a far more genuine and credible guy on those issues than Trump will ever be.

But Trump has billions of dollars and name recognition. That's the ONLY reason he's considered a credible candidate at this point. Any other candidate who tried these stunts would be consigned to the dustbin of wannabe candidates. If conservatives are going to win the 2016 elections, a charlatan like Trump is not the way to do it. We need proven, battle-tested leadership.