Is Donald really doing it his way?
“Regrets, I’ve had a few; But then again, too few to mention. I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption.”
Frank Sinatra, the song My Way
The Earth nearly fell off of its axis during a recent Donald Trump rally by telling the crowd, “Sometimes in the heat of debate, and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words. Or you say the wrong thing. I have done that”
Then came the bombshell.
“I regret it. Particularly when it may have caused personal pain,” he added.
My thought at the time was what would Frank Sinatra think?
Sinatra admitted he’d had his regrets along the way, but he’d had the guts to still do it His Way.
Trump did his best Sinatra impression back in May, when, during an interview with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, he balked at admitting he had a single regret.
“To look back and say, gee whiz, I wish I didn’t do this or that, I don’t think that’s good, I don’t even think, in a certain way, that’s healthy,” Trump told Kelly.
It’s amazing what sagging poll numbers can do for your bravado.
He now regrets something or other.
I really wonder if he regrets claiming President Obama isn’t an American?
Does he regret聽making a big deal about the president’s college transcripts?
Does he regret making veiled references to Megyn Kelly’s menstrual cycle, after she asked him a tough question during a debate?
Does he regret questioning Ted Cruz’s citizenship?
Does he regret聽implying that Cruz’s father had been involved in the Kennedy assassination?
Does he regret聽retweeting an unflattering picture of Cruz’s wife to contrast how she looks beside Melania Trump?
Does he regret聽claiming John McCain hadn’t been a hero, because heroes don’t get caught?
Does he regret聽taking out a full-page ad proclaiming “Bring the death penalty, bring back our police” – in major New York City newspapers back in 1989 after five black and Hispanic youngsters known as “The Central Park Five” were arrested and charged with rape?
Does he regret聽never acknowledging the fact that, after the many years they spent in prison, those youngsters were completely exonerated – thanks to DNA testing?
Does he regret聽tweeting completely fabricated crime statistics in a graphic that falsely indicated “black people kill 81 percent of white homicide victims?”
Does he regret聽openly mocking a handicapped journalist to make some sick point at one of his rallies?
Does he regret claiming that he’d ban Muslims from entering the country?
Does he regret聽claiming that Mexican immigrants are bringing drugs and crime into the country, and that they’re rapists?
Does he regret聽calling for 11 million undocumented immigrants to be forcibly rounded-up and kicked out of the country?
Does he regret聽claiming that a Gold Star mother had been silent at the Democratic National Convention, because she was under the influence of her Muslim religion, when that was completely false?
Does he regret聽answering that Gold Star mother and her husband’s sincere anger, by claiming he, too, had experienced “sacrifices.” He’d built a business empire, and he compared that sacrifice to the tragic loss of their son.
Does he regret聽claiming that a federal judge hearing two of his Trump University fraud cases can’t do his job, because he’s Mexican – even though he’s an American?
Does he regret聽claiming he’s seen video of “thousands of Muslims” celebrating after 9/11, or a video of millions of dollars being loaded onto an aircraft heading for Iran, when neither video exists?
Does he regret getting into a tiff with Pope Francis by calling him a “pawn” of the Mexican government?
Does he regret聽claiming that women who get abortions have to have “some form of punishment?”
Does he regret聽claiming that President Obama and Hillary Clinton “founded” ISIS?
Does he regret聽making fun of Carly Fiorina’s looks when he said, “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that”?
He doesn’t regret any of those things.
And that’s truly regrettable!
Edward A. Owens is a three-time Emmy Award winner and 20-year veteran of television news. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net