This is a hard time to be a true American. As I write this, a very large military appropriations bill was passed by Congress. The president of the United States signed the bill into law and held a press conference acknowledging some lawmakers in attendance.

What the president did not do is to acknowledge Sen. John McCain, for whom the bill was named. That was no inadvertent oversight.

Sen. McCain is now and always has been an American political and military hero in my book. Most know the story of his military career and years-long imprisonment in North Vietnam after his plane was shot down.

What many still may not know is that he could have been released years earlier. But he refused release until all those captured and imprisoned before him were set free.

He was tortured, beaten, deprived of food and medical care … and still he persisted.

Once he returned, he honorably served in the U.S. Senate from Arizona for many years right through today.

The good senator is dying from incurable brain cancer. When he was running against President Obama for the presidency, he displayed the kind of behavior that defines his admirable character. When an elderly woman at one of his rallies tried to attack Obama’s character, the senator stopped her dead in her tracks. He called his competitor “a good and decent family man.” He did the honorable thing: He set the lady straight in a calm, dignified manner.

It’s too bad that Trump learned nothing from McCain. Trump has no class. He has no filter. He’s like a baby chimpanzee who cries, pounds his fist, tweets and name-calls anyone who he deems to have offended him.

Your chances of being targeted by 45 are great if you are black — greater yet if you are a black woman or a black athlete. He has attacked people of color in whose shoes he could not stand, men and women who have contributed greatly to this country and their communities.

Back to Sen. McCain. Our shit-for-brains president (sorry if that offends you, but if you approve of his own language, don’t complain about mine) attacked the good senator by saying he’s no hero; he likes people who weren’t captured. And that comes from a serial draft dodger with bone spurs, apparently in head, not his feet — since he’s plenty able to play golf when he should be working.

Trump will never share the space for awesome that is defined by Sen. John McCain!

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Speaking of Trump, how many of you are feeling the benefit of his trickle-down economics? His great tax cuts helped those who didn’t need them at the expense of those who do.

How many people — like me — find that any small benefit they received was more than offset by the cost-of-living increases (gas, auto, home appliances, rent and so on) brought about by the great dealmaker’s thoughtless tariffs?

You can tell I did not vote for the windbag. He talked about all of his deals and his dealmaking abilities without providing one shred of evidence to support the claim. The only evidence you can find of Mr. Dealmaker is his multiple bankruptcies, where he gained at the expense of his vendors, suppliers and employees who believed his lies but learned the truth until they weren’t paid.

This is the same president, who while making millions in violation of the Emoluments Clause, also literally advertises his double standards. He wants to block immigrants from entering the country … “unless” they are to work at one of his properties, particularly Mar-a-Lago — where, it has been reported, he has undocumented workers around-the-clock.

While 45 is badmouthing our top intelligence agencies, including but not limited to the FBI, and slanders good and decent employees, they go about doing their jobs protecting our country, including this very president who demeans and insults them.

He still rants daily about the “fake news.” By his definition, that means any story about Trump that is factually accurate. Somehow he has organized the dumbest humans allowed to breath into supporting his every move and statement.

There is nothing dumb about supporting a candidate. But when racism, sexism, lying and downright stupidity are accepted as OK on a daily basis, then those who have a blind eye participate as if they had done the same things.

Congress — both senators and representatives — who used to have nationwide respect receive no such respect today. When our elected men and women allow the world’s biggest bully to get away with the things he says and does, it makes me wonder who is worse: Our Liar in Chief, or the cowards who remain silent.

In North Dakota’s upcoming Senate race, the president’s greatest cheerleader, Kevin Cramer, has pledged to support him 100 percent of the time. If you have the brains that God gave a goat, you can conclude no president is right 100 percent of the time — not ever, and surely not now.

Heidi Heitkamp, aka. my senator, has voted for the people of North Dakota. She works for consensus. Unlike her challenger Cramer, she does not now and never will kiss the ass of 45 to make political points. We elect people to represent us, not their party, and sure as hell not the president. When pushed, Sen. Heidi can nail the president where the sun doesn’t shine, as well she should. If our senator had ever said what Cramer continues to say about willingly wallowing in the muck that is Trump, I’d have no respect for her, either — but she didn’t , she won’t, and I for one appreciate her honesty and integrity.

Since I started this article talking about a veteran hero, let’s get one thing perfectly straight. When Cramer’s ads claim Sen. Heitkamp doesn’t support veterans — that’s a bald-faced lie. He owes her an apology.

Not so long ago, I made a private confession to my Creator where I apologized for being so nasty about Trump. The good Lord forgave me my sins. Not only that: He told me to keep up the good work. Amen.