Sen. Tom Cotton
has made his public reputation with tough talk. To site one example, Cotton complained of having to listen to the “bitter, vulgar, incoherent ramblings” of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid

Sometimes, I think it’s fair to say, the current Republican nominee for president indulges in rambling more bitter, more vulgar, and more incoherent than any major national politician in recent history. For whatever reason, however, Cotton treats Donald Trump ever so gently. Asked about Trump’s latest unconscionable outrage, Cotton will politely suggest that Trump might be better served with a different approach, and then change the subject. 

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Via Politico, here’s Cotton on tetchy Trump’s bizarre, petty, perverse choice to pick a fight with the Gold Star Khan family: 


Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton offered a gentle reproach of Donald Trump on Tuesday for his series of recent comments about the Gold Star parents of a fallen U.S. Army captain who have spoken out against the Republican nominee for his rhetoric against Muslims, recommending that he focus his energy in more productive ways for the party.

Offering his advice to Trump, Cotton told radio host Hugh Hewitt that he would say the businessman “should focus on what’s going to keep this country safe, which in my opinion is Republican plans for our national security and our foreign policy and intelligence policy for the very reason that we don’t want to have to create more Gold Star families in the future.”

“We want to be able to deter more from happening in the first place while keeping this country safe,” Cotton added.

The freshman Arkansas senator, a veteran of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, also said he would “suggest that every American speak to Gold Star families tenderly and with respect and even love.”

“There’s almost 7,000 Gold Star families from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They’re a diverse group, and they deserve our respect, and they deserve to be heard,” Cotton explained. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that they agree on every question. Some, like the Khans, obviously support Hillary Clinton. Others support Donald Trump and Republicans, but they certainly deserve to be heard because no one has given a greater sacrifice than have they and their sons and daughters to defend our freedoms.”

What with Trump’s delicate thin skin, Cotton doesn’t want to slap his wrist too hard. 

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Meanwhile, Cotton, a nationalist war hawk who frames national security issues in stark, unbending moral terms, continues to peddle the fantasy that Trump will suddenly become a remotely qualified commander in chief at some later date. In addition to the Kahn kerfuffle, in addition to the Putin coziness, Trump this week displayed laughably disqualifying ignorance of foreign affairs and current events. What could be a greater risk to national security and world peace than the election of Trump, an erratic and spiteful actor who displays no more engagement with or interest in geography or global politics than a bored teenager sleeping through class? Can you imagine the heat of righteous indignation from Cotton if a politician on the other team showed this level of ignorance, laziness, and crass disrespect for all that Cotton holds dear?

But when it comes to Trump? What, Tom worry? 

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When I reported on Cotton during the 2014 campaign, I heard a lot about honor. 

Is there anything — anything — that Trump could do or say that would compel Cotton to speak out more forcefully against this monster? As a matter of honor? 

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