John McCain died yesterday at the age of 81 years. Fifty-one years ago, John McCain, a young Navy fighter pilot, was captured and held a prisoner of war in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” where he was brutally tortured for five and a half years. I remember his homecoming, along with other POW’s, in 1973. John McCain was a hero then, and remained a hero for me throughout his 36 years of public service in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. I disagreed with Senator McCain on almost every political issue, but I respected and honored him as patriot and an American hero.
He took on even more “hero” status in my thinking during his presidential bid in 2008 when he was confronted by a woman in a town hall meeting in Minnesota saying, “I can’t trust Obama. I have read about him, and he’s not, um, he’s an Arab.” McCain grabbed the microphone from her and said: “No, ma’m. He’s a decent family man and citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that’s what this campaign’s all about. He’s not [an Arab].” Later in that same meeting where he was jeered and booed for his defense of his rival, he said, “I want to fight, and I will fight. But I will be respectful. I admire Senator Obama and his accomplishments, and I will respect him.” John McCain was a hero again, my hero; a man of politeness and character.
John McCain became a hero again in July 2017 when he delivered a dramatic vote against the so-called skinny repeal bill (Obamacare Repeal Bill). Do you remember that moment? Everyone was watching McCain—his vote counted, his vote would make the difference. He walked to the front of the chamber, raised his right arm and held it up in the air as far as he could until he had the attention of the clerk. “No,” he said, and gave his thumbs-down. His courage to oppose his own party, to stand on his own two feet, and to act on his own thinking, made him a “hero” all over again in my book. He was called a “maverick” within an increasingly right-wing Republican Party. Insane conspiracy theories about him have been floated by “right wing nut jobs,” but they will not endure. John McCain was an American hero and a man of integrity.
It seems that Mr. Trump, however, disagrees with my assessment of Senator McCain. His fixation on John McCain has been intense, cruel and vicious. “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured,” said Trump in 2015. Mr. Trump received at least one deferment from the draft during the Vietnam conflict because of a doctor’s letter citing bone spurs, an ailment he later described as “not a big problem, but it was enough of a problem.”
Mr. Trump recently signed the John McCain National Defense Bill at Camp Drum, New York, in front of thousands of soldiers and never once mentioned the name, John McCain. Just five days ago, at a West Virginia rally Trump said, “I will tell you (Obamacare) is being chipped away. We had it beaten, but one man, I’m sure nobody knows who I’m talking about, voted no…”
So, who are your heroes? John McCain will be sorely missed—few men of his caliber come our way!
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