The whole world is upside down, especially in the Republican Party. When a powerful United States Senator faces no Party repercussions after smearing everyday Americans, there is something horribly, terribly, and self-destructively wrong with the GOP.

There is no question that Donald Trump took a cheap shot at Republican Senator John McCain. It wasn’t as bad as some in the media and the GOP Establishment wanted it to be (the crusade was on to craft a silver bullet), but it was a cheap shot at a legitimate war hero’s record. Trump was out of line, no question.

At the very least, though, Trump aimed his cheap shot at Power — at a Powerful United States Senator perfectly capable of defending himself. At McCain’s command are the mighty powers of an American mainstream media that he can summon at any time. In a country of around 330 million, McCain is one of about 25 people with that kind of power.

Now let’s look at who One Of The Most Powerful Men In the Country took his cheap shot at:

“It’s very bad,” McCain, who was eager to talk about Trump, told me on Monday when I stopped by his Senate office. The Senator is up for reëlection in 2016, and he pays close attention to how the issue of immigration is playing in his state. He was particularly rankled by Trump’s rally. “This performance with our friend out in Phoenix is very hurtful to me,” McCain said. “Because what he did was he fired up the crazies.”

Who are the “crazies” McCain refers to? The 15,000 or so American citizens who showed up for a Donald Trump immigration rally in Arizona.

These aren’t just McCain’s fellow Americans he’s smearing (to the elite New Yorker, no less), these are McCain’s fellow Arizonans.

Worse still, these are GOP base voters. These are the very people the Republican Party needs to retake the White House.

The Republican Party made the correct decision to criticize Trump for mocking one of its own.

What I don’t understand is why the Republican party didn’t issue a statement criticizing The Powerful John McCain for smearing its own, in this case 15,000 everyday Americans.

The media, the Republican Party… they’re protecting Power and not the Powerless.

The whole world is upside down.

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC