Three Things I Know About Trump and McCain

7/19/2015

1. A friend of mine grew up in Jamaica Estates, Queens, right behind the Trump house. They were mostly nice people, my friend said, but when a ball went over their fence one young Trump would grab it and say, nyah-nyah, you can’t have it back and scurry into the house. My friend says Donald Trump was always a nasty little kid.

2. When John McCain came back from Hanoi with broken arms and unbroken spirit, he and some other vets organized a pipeline for sending goods to the poor people of Vietnam. My wife sat next to one of McCain’s guys on a flight out east; he said the senator did not like publicity about the operation. I once interviewed him in his office (about Olympic business) and asked him about the pipeline and he shrugged, eloquently, as if to say, it’s the right thing to do. I sometimes scream at the tube at the loopy things he says, but I really like him and have not the slightest doubt that he is an American hero.

3. Make no mistake about it, the Republicans have made this an easier world for Donald Trump to spread his foolishness. For over six years they have run a campaign of ignorance and malice and, yes, prejudice about the twice-elected President. McConnell and Boehner and Graham have questioned Obama's motives, his actions, and, with their silence, even his birthplace in Hawaii. I think it is because they cannot handle having a moral and educated man of African and American descent, as the smartest man in their room. Their behavior has created a monster. Donald Trump is their golem.

Pokemon Version of Golem: Willed Into Existence

Altenir Silva

7/19/2015 06:07:37 am

Dear George,

I think Mr. Trump remembers more a political of Latin America like Nicolás Maduro, Evo Morales and others. On this game, he has more of three strikes, so he's out. I hope.

Best wishes - Altenir Silva

Ed Martin

7/19/2015 02:08:15 pm

GV. Peggy and I just read your column and send your our admiration and respect. I shared it on my Facebook page and my friend Glenn Goldberg, who worked at the Center with us, wrote: "Mr. Vecsey once again captures the moment better than anyone I know." As Quakers say, "Glenn Goldberg speaks my mind."

George Vecsey

7/19/2015 02:59:36 pm

Muito obrigado to both postings above. GV

John McDermott

7/20/2015 05:56:09 am

Friends of mine who were POW's in Hanoi together with John McCain revere him. He was singled out for "special treatment" by his captors because he was the son of Admiral McCain, then the Commander-in Chief of the Pacific Fleet. I have always thought Trump was an obnoxious self-promoter, not as interested in holding any public office as he is in hearing the sound of his own voice and promoting his "brand". To be blunt, I think he's a complete asshole and his remarks about John McCain are unpardonable. I agree with John Kerry who asked, "Where was Trump when John McCain was shot down over North Vietnam? In school, at a party? Where was he?

John McDermott

7/20/2015 06:00:42 am

P.S.-I think you are correct when you speak about the Republican leaders biggest problem with Obama being the color of his skin and his being a lot smarter than they are. These so-called leaders have created a climate in which it is now acceptable to say all manner of outrageously stupid things in the pursuit of political goals. Democrats seem afraid to stand up to them and the media is not much better.

George Vecsey

7/20/2015 06:50:34 am

John, I respect people who served over there. Time to separate the mission from the 99 percent who were honorable. You and others who were there have every right to hound Trump, as Kerry is doing. This is way beyond politics. This is about honor. Thank you again, GV

John McDermott

7/20/2015 07:54:06 am

Informative comparison of the careers of John McCain and Donald Trump: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/07/20/what-donald-trump-was-up-to-while-john-mccain-was-suffering-as-a-prisoner-of-war/

Brian Savin

7/21/2015 01:56:08 pm

I'll give George fair comment but let's move on. Mc Cain called Trump supporters "crazies" and Trump was outraged as he should be. But the way he retaliated was just like the boy in GV's post who took the ball away from the neighborhood kids. Inappropriate. i don't agree that Democrats are any better. In very important ways their candidates can be much worse.

Gene Palumbo

7/23/2015 02:09:48 am

Brian, I'd say two things: 1) it's true that there is a measure of craziness in some of Trump's positions, and 2) while he may not like it, he has no right to be outraged when the truth is pointed out.. How do you see it?

Alan Rubin link

7/23/2015 07:00:41 am

I had liked the John McCain of 2000, but he was not the candidate who showed up for the 2008 presidential election. The earlier version might have won.

I was pleased to see from the many favorable comments about him that the 2000 version was the real McCain.

It is unfortunate when politicians, as well as far too my people, forgo their principles for expediency.

I've been a Democrat since I began voting in 1952. However, I've voted for several principled (this is in the relative sense) Republicans when they were the best candidate.

This would be impossible today as almost all the candidates have pandered to the Tea Party at the expense of good governance.

Where is the courage to do what is right and to stand up for your beliefs? Where are the republican moderates, and those who would have been considered mainstream conservatives?

Polls have shown that the Tea Party draws its support from the religious conservatives, which is a minority of the republican voters.

Since candidates who do not walk the tea party line usually do not get elected, then they have nothing to loose if they speak up for their true beliefs and act independently.

They would probably lose for awhile, but the message will get out and support to oppose the tea party's agenda would grow.

Once you stand up to the bullies, things begin to change. Responsible Republican candidates should be able to run free of intimidation.

I met Donald Trump twice at several Westside Camber of Commerce meetings to pitch his Trump Towers proposal for support. He oozed hypocrisy, arrogance and sleaze from every pore.

He is not worth any additional comment.

George Vecsey

7/23/2015 08:58:53 am

I wish.

bruce

8/3/2015 06:11:55 am

George,

about #3..i'm still waiting for the 'birthers' to attack my fellow Canadian mr cruz. circumstances are identical to Obama'--American mother, non american father--except cruz really WAS born in a foreign country. just turned the Toronto/twins game. atmosphere is electric with price starting for the first time plus the rather controversial game yesterday vs the royals.

hope you're well.

bruce

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1/21/2016 02:57:09 am

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Comments are closed.

QUOTES

Measuring Covid Deaths, by David Leonhardt. July 17, 2023. NYT online.
The United States has reached a milestone in the long struggle against Covid: The total number of Americans dying each day — from any cause — is no longer historically abnormal….

After three horrific years, in which Covid has killed more than one million Americans and transformed parts of daily life, the virus has turned into an ordinary illness.

The progress stems mostly from three factors:
First, about three-quarters of U.S. adults have received at least one vaccine shot.
Second, more than three-quarters of Americans have been infected with Covid, providing natural immunity from future symptoms. (About 97 percent of adults fall into at least one of those first two categories.)
Third, post-infection treatments like Paxlovid, which can reduce the severity of symptoms, became widely available last year.
“Nearly every death is preventable,” Dr. Ashish Jha, who was until recently President Biden’s top Covid adviser, told me. “We are at a point where almost everybody who’s up to date on their vaccines and gets treated if they have Covid, they rarely end up in the hospital, they almost never die.”

That is also true for most high-risk people, Jha pointed out, including older adults — like his parents, who are in their 80s — and people whose immune systems are compromised. “Even for most — not all but most —immuno-compromised people, vaccines are actually still quite effective at preventing against serious illness,” he said. “There has been a lot of bad information out there that somehow if you’re immuno-compromised that vaccines don’t work.”

That excess deaths have fallen close to zero helps make this point: If Covid were still a dire threat to large numbers of people, that would show up in the data.

One point of confusion, I think, has been the way that many Americans — including we in the media — have talked about the immuno-compromised. They are a more diverse group than casual discussion often imagines.

Most immuno-compromised people are at little additional risk from Covid — even people with serious conditions, such as multiple sclerosis or a history of many cancers. A much smaller group, such as people who have received kidney transplants or are undergoing active chemotherapy, face higher risks.

Covid’s toll, to be clear, has not fallen to zero. The C.D.C.’s main Covid webpage estimates that about 80 people per day have been dying from the virus in recent weeks, which is equal to about 1 percent of overall daily deaths.

The official number is probably an exaggeration because it includes some people who had virus when they died even though it was not the underlying cause of death. Other C.D.C. data suggests that almost one-third of official recent Covid deaths have fallen into this category. A study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases came to similar conclusions.

Dr. Shira Doron, the chief infection control officer at Tufts Medicine in Massachusetts, told me that “age is clearly the most substantial risk factor.” Covid’s victims are both older and disproportionately unvaccinated. Given the politics of vaccination, the recent victims are also disproportionately
Republican and white.

Each of these deaths is a tragedy. The deaths that were preventable — because somebody had not received available vaccines and treatments — seem particularly tragic. (Here’s a Times guide to help you think about when to get your next booster shot.)
***

From the great Maureen Dowd:

As I write this, I’m in a deserted newsroom in The Times’s D.C. office. After working at home for two years during Covid, I was elated to get back, so I could wander around and pick up the latest scoop.
But in the last year, there has been only a smattering of people whenever I’m here, with row upon row of empty desks. Sometimes a larger group gets lured in for a meeting with a platter of bagels."

--- Dowd writes about the lost world of journalists clustered in newsrooms at all hours, smoking, drinking, gossipping, making phone calls, typing, editing.
***
"Putting out the paper," we called it.
Much more than nostalgia.
---https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/29/opinion/journalism-newsroom.html

Three Things I Know About Trump and McCain

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