GOP bad boy thinks Agema is the hero, not McCain

Darwin Jiles, right, and Dave Agema

Darwin Jiles, a Michigan Republican Party vice chair with a criminal past, apparently believes that controversial Republican National Committeeman Dave Agema is the real hero and that Sen. John McCain is a phony.

In fact, Jiles seems to admire Agema more for dodging the verbal flak aimed his way by critics than McCain for his service as a Navy pilot who dodged anti-aircraft missiles while flying 23 combat missions over North Vietnam.

To set the stage: Agema is a former Air Force pilot who served during the Vietnam war and still likes to refer to himself as a "Top Gun." McCain, widely regarded as a war hero after being shot down over Vietnam and held in a POW prison for 5 ½ years, is now the subject of vile conspiracy theories online that claim he was a traitor who collaborated with the enemy.

Last week on Facebook, Jiles praised an award given to Agema, the “Over The Target Award,” for withstanding the calls for his resignation from the RNC and MIGOP after making bigoted, gay-bashing and Islamophobic remarks. The award, presented by the Berrien County Tea Party, saluted the former state representative "since he is always feeling the heat." Jiles commented that the award was well-deserved as Agema is a “fiscal and moral conservative champion.”

 

A few days later, Jiles became engaged in an online discussion about Donald Trump and his ostracizing remark that McCain was not a war hero because he was captured by enemy forces.
One person on this Facebook thread claimed that McCain, while imprisoned, participated in 30 propaganda videos for the North Vietnamese and also wrote letters denouncing his country. The Navy aviator, after returning home, arranged a cover-up of his activities, according to this Facebook commentary. Now, the only adversaries denouncing Trump’s remark about McCain, this post concluded, are liberals and libertarians.
Jiles chimed in quickly with a one-word response: “Amen.”
Later, another participant in the thread accused McCain of being “in cahoots” with American sympathizers of North Vietnam such as Jane Fonda. Jiles did not respond.

Since he was elected GOP Vice Chair for ethnic matters at the February state convention, it has become clear that Jiles is a far-right conservative who mixes tea party politics with Religious Right purity.

Jiles, of Oakland County, supports Agema for governor in 2018 and state Rep. Gary Glenn, another outspoken homophobe, for lieutenant governor.
In fact, Jiles has drifted into the insurgency wing among the conservative Republicans by denouncing Gov. Rick Snyder, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley and Attorney General Bill Schuette, as well as Rand Paul and Ron Paul.

What’s next? Maybe he is angling for the job of Michigan campaign czar for Trump.