In the wake of the passing of John McCain, the world has been alit with positive memorials of the man.  And those memorials are well deserved.  I would not say that I saw eye to eye with him politically.  Not even close, but I will say that I never doubted his integrity.  I don’t doubt that he believed he was always aiming for the greater good, and his ability to act in a bipartisan capacity was a unique talent in today’s political climate.  Indeed, he might be the last great statesman capable of that.  He wasn’t afraid to stand against his party when he thought partisanship was getting in the way of doing the right thing.  And that is admirable.  He was a true, blue American hero, and I feel like only a royal asshole would dispute that.

Donald Trump is a royal asshole.  Donald Trump, has, on multiple occasions, impugned McCain’s military service (in spite of never serving himself, and indeed being credibly accused of draft dodging), and blamed him for his poor policies not getting the traction they needed.  So it wasn’t a surprise to many when Trump actively didn’t talk up McCain upon news of his passing.  In fact, news coming from the West Wing, was that Trump actively shot down a memorial press release that would have praised McCain for his service, both as a war hero and a politician.

It’s pretty classless.

And to put into perspective how classless it is, let’s look at someone who DID memorialize John McCain.  His name is Tran Trong Duyet.  He was John McCain’s jailer when he was a Vietnam Prisoner of War.  After McCain’s passing, he talked at length about what a good, tough, and respectful man John McCain was.  This is a guy who could have, at one point, actually killed John McCain, and after his passing, told the world that he was something special.  So good on you Trump! You’re the one person who just doesn’t get it.