Analysis: Donald Trump just savaged a(nother) American hero

Among the litany of abuse:

* Trump "made it possible for her father to have the world's longest funeral, designed and orchestrated by him, even though I was never, to put it mildly, a fan."

* Of McCain, Trump said: "In his own very special way, he was a RINO's RINO."

* Trump won Arizona in 2016 "despite [McCain] fighting against me."

* Trump noted that McCain "was close to last in his class at Annapolis."

Remember that Trump is talking about a man who spent years in a North Vietnamese prison camp where he was repeatedly tortured.

(Whether they honor the service of McCain and Powell despite their political disagreements remains an open question.)

But for the bulk of Republicans, they stay silent because, well, they're scared of getting on the wrong side of Trump -- and what that might mean for their political careers.

The practical effect of the avoidance of calling out Trump is that views like the ones he has put forward on McCain and Powell over the last week are seen as acceptable to the broad swath of Republican voters.

Which is a remarkable thing given that, for decades, the Republican Party has positioned itself as ardently pro-military and attacked Democrats when even a whiff of criticism about those who served emerges.

This is the Trump Republican Party circa 2021.