A man who stands behind what he says but apologizes when he’s wrong sounds admirable and appealing. Trump doesn’t do that. After his weird attacks on John McCain’s service in Vietnam and suffering as a POW, Trump gave mealy-mouthed non-credible, quasi-defenses. As Rich Lowry wrote in National Review, “For someone who prides himself on being the bold truth-teller, Trump has a penchant for trying to litigate his way out of his controversial statements.”…

This rings familiar if you’ve followed Trump. He’s found success by gaming bankruptcy law, failing to repay debts, exploiting his crony connections, whining, and working the refs.

And so the picture of the man comes into focus: Trump is Victor Hugo’s Monsieur Thenardier: “We know where the wind is blowing. Money is the stuff we smell. And when we’re rich as Croesus, Jesus! Won’t we see you all in hell!”

Trump is another sewer rat in American industry. He wants to be another sewer rat of American politics. And he promises to make the U.S. the sewer rat of the world.