Did You Watch Denton's Funeral? Hai visto i funerali di Denton?

Well, when another Vietnam POW who went on to serve as a senator died, we didn’t exactly have the Capitol Rotunda affair that we had for “No Name”.

Six years before “No Name’s” election to the Senate, Alabama voters sent retired Rear Adm. Jeremiah Denton to Washington’s upper chamber.

Denton was in detention longer and had a more distinguished military career before his imprisonment in Vietnam after his A6A Intruder was shot down.

“After their release in 1973, Denton and “no Name” continued naval service. Denton was promoted to rear admiral and served as commandant of the Armed Services Staff College before retiring in 1977. “No Name” overcame catastrophic injuries and torture to return to the air pilot’s seat. In 1977, the Navy assigned him to Capitol Hill as its liaison (de facto lobbyist) to the Senate.”

“In civilian life, Denton found a place as one of the first Catholic intellectuals to make common cause with the populist, largely Evangelical Protestant ‘religious right’ of Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority and Pat Robertson’s movement. He moved to his native Mobile, where he turned down suggestions to run for the Senate in 1978 for the seat won that year by Democrat Howell Heflin.

“Two years later, Denton decided to run for the Senate as a Republican. Despite a huge disadvantage in fundraising, he stunned the GOP establishment by winning the primary against its anointed favorite, a former Democratic congressman who had switched parties after leaving office and as the conservative state gravitated towards the Republican column.”

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“The national mainstream media welcomed Sen. Denton to the capital with the same sort of respect and affection they always have shown to other Alabama social-issues conservatives such as Roy Moore or Jeff Sessions.”

Denton lost in 1986, the same year that “No Name” was elected to the Senate. The difference between Denton and “No Name” was their level of self-aggrandizement.

“Senators normally have very big egos, and Denton was normal in this sense.”  “McCain was an extraordinary egomaniac, even within a universe of enormous egos.”

Denton died in 2014 at the age of 89.

“He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. His funeral did not preempt television coverage of soap-operas, sitcoms, or sporting events. His pallbearers did not include Warren Beatty, but no one, obscure or famous, was told not to attend the ceremony.”

And that was the catch, that “No Name” was anti-Trump. Yes, he may have gotten his party’s nomination for president, but let’s see how much coverage Michael Dukakis’ death warrants.

“No Name” didn’t like the current president. Everything else was pretty much irrelevant, including (especially) his POW status. Just ask Jeremiah Denton’s family.