Bombs Away

Donald Trump is currently taking flak from the media and politicians for deprecating John McCain’s status as a “war hero”. Trump’s rhetoric is typically bombastic, but this time he may have struck a nerve. Here is a piece that Cockburn and I wrote in 1999 about a psychiatric evaluation of McCain underwent while a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. The psychological portrait drawn by Spanish psychiatrist Fernando Barral is that of a deeply narcissistic personality, cold, hardened and largely devoid of human empathy, a man who seemed to view the bombing of civilian populations as a kind of sport. These aggressive personality traits have also characterized his nasty political career.–JSC

The 1999 piece by St. Clair and Cockburn on John McCain touches on some ignored areas of the McCain/Trump feud.

In other words this is a no-win situation for us mortals.  Both of these guys are bad news, but big media typically aren't going there.

The Washington Post tries to differentiate them based on career factors, over-baking the war hero myth surrounding McCain and the cut-throat business practices of Trump.  The truth is they're a lot more alike than we tend to realize or are willing to admit.


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