" How long will the America we grew up in remain good and great?" asked conservative commentator Michelle Malkin at CPAC 2019 on Friday.

Not that long, in my estimation, if Malkin and some of the attendees at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference set the nation's course. Because referring to conservatives who have supported immigration reforms she opposes, Malkin also said this during her speech:

Michelle Malkin points skyward and mocks "the ghost of John McCain" from the main stage at CPAC. Gets a standing ovation from some in the crowd. pic.twitter.com/9mqpkhFcR6 — Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) March 1, 2019

Ghosts cannot defend themselves. But the honored dead deserve better than those of weak wit seeking wallets of unrighteous fury.

Sen. John McCain was not simply a tireless public servant, he was an American patriot who gave everything for his nation in war and peace. The Arizona Republican's views on immigration reform were honestly and morally held, whether you agreed or disagreed. Either way, he, and American honor, deserves far better than this putrid insult.

And what timing in Malkin's words — just this week the American president was pursuing peace in that nation where McCain once fought, and then was tortured, and then forgave. Without McCain's leadership in putting the past into the past, Vietnam would never have hosted Trump's peace efforts. Fortunately, McCain put the nation first.

The American Conservative Union should condemn Malkin's words and the not insignificant number of fools in the crowd who actually stood up and saluted her for them, as seen below.