Op-ed:
On John McCain's Passing
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots on American Political Radio
"My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!"
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2018
He's gone...it was just a matter of time as no one survives glioblastoma...no one.
Arizona Senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee John Sidney McCain passed away last Saturday at the age of 81. And while I admit that I have no political love for who this man became, I do hope his passing was peaceful for I sadly know first hand what glioblastoma does to the very essence of who one is...both in body and mind.
Yet, I still will always remember John McCain as a war hero, but a war hero who sadly turned into a political enemy of sorts for while he called himself a Republican it seemed to be in name only...one of the original Rinos if you will...for in his later years this man once revered as the Senate's
“maverick” did much to stab his supposed party in the back. And while many on the right actually consider John McCain to be a traitor to his Republican and conservative roots, know that this man was no traitor to America for he loved this country deeply.
The problem with John McCain was not in his personal political beliefs per se, but was in the fact that he was always calling for bi-partisan compromise...albeit compromise which more times than not aided the Democrat's leftist agenda.
John McCain, the son and grandson of four-star Navy admirals, was born on August 29, 1936 in the Panama Canal Zone, where his father was stationed at the time. Graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958, McCain volunteered to go to Vietnam where as a Navy fighter pilot on October 26, 1967, while flying his 23rd bombing mission this time over Hanoi, his A4 Skyhawk was hit by a surface-to-air missile...a missile he later described as a
“flying telephone pole.” Captured by the North Vietnamese and eventually sent to the notorious
“Hanoi Hilton,” John McCain was tortured in total for more than five years...with over two of those years spent in solitary confinement...yet he showed through it all what true courage, honor, and sacrifice looks like.
After his captors discovered that his father was the commander of American naval forces in the Pacific, John McCain turned down the North Vietnamese offer of an early release, recognizing that to do so would be used by the enemy solely as a propaganda tool to try and paint the communist regime as
being “merciful.” And in his refusing to break Article III of the Military Code of Conduct...to
“accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy”...because the offer was not extended to other POW's captured before him...McCain saw the enemy's so-called
“mercy” first hand as his torture became even more brutal than before.
To read the hell McCain went through as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese click here
: John McCain, Prisoner of War: A First-Person Account
Ultimately cracking under the weight of atrocities done both to his body and his mind, John McCain signed a
“confession” that no one ever believed he meant, yet he always carried within himself a small sense that he had betrayed his country.
But in no way was his signature a betrayal of country for John McCain the military man, no matter his political shortcomings, will always remain the personification of an American patriot and war hero...a permanently disabled American patriot who came home from war on March 14, 1973, less then two months after the Vietnam cease fire went into effect. Now earning the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and Distinguished Flying Cross, McCain, while broken in body but stronger in spirit, remained determined to serve the country he so loved this time via a political career after he retired from the Navy with the rank of Captain.
And it's McCain's political career...a career which lasted over four decades and started in 1976, when he was assigned as the Navy’s liaison to the U.S. Senate and ended with he being the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee....that very career sadly started to unravel in the years leading up to the end...turning itself into a mockery of what could have been a legacy of lasting greatness.
And this leaves a great many Republicans concerned that the balance of political power in the Senate will now be compromised with the passing of John McCain and with the losing of his Republican vote. But the fact is that a Republican vote was not lost but was actually gained, for during the last few years of his political career Senator McCain voted on key issues more times than not with the Democrats and against President Trump's agenda. Now leaving Arizona's Republican Governor Doug Ducey to appoint a true Republican to finish his term, John McCain's political legacy will always remain tarnished to some degree, which I think even he expected it to be, for McCain himself admitted that he was an
“imperfect man just striving to serve.”
And while
“striving to serve” John McCain's legacy did indeed become tarnished via the late 1980's Keating Five political corruption scandal...tarnished via his defending the Vietnam War record of lying John 'Swiftboat' Kerry... tarnished via his dismal voting record regarding veterans issues including that McCain was one of only 13 senators to vote against an amendment to add $430 million for the Department of Veteran Affairs for medical services for outpatient care and treatment for veterans...tarnished via his leadership of the thankfully failed Gang of Eight amnesty and Dreamers nonsense...tarnished via his being the cause of ObamaCare still being the law of our land with his giving the Republican's 'Repeal and Replace' health care bill the 'thumb's down' on the Senate floor while casting the crucial 51st vote against it...tarnished via John McCain himself admitted that it was he alone who passed the infamous Steele dossier to the F.B.I. saying that,
“I did what any citizen should do. I received sensitive information and handed it to the FBI.”...need I say more.
But John McCain...the son, the brother, the husband, the father, and the grandfather...is still in my thoughts and prayers no matter that soon after Donald Trump was sworn in as America's 45th president he became one of the most, if not the most, critic of our new president and his 'America and Americans First' agenda. Saying that it was a departure from the values and traditions of global leadership that he saw epitomized in the United States, John McCain exposed himself to be a true globalist, something some of us have suspected for quite a long time. And in McCain's calling out President Trump every time he dared to tweet or speak about anything he did not agree with, McCain especially derived pleasure in countering Trump with tweets of his own for not only what he felt were the president's isolationist foreign policy stances, but for what he called Trump's
“affection” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Sad that this military hero never grasped the difference between
“affection” and respect.
And so John McCain...whose persona over the years became larger-than-life and who even as the end was drawing near still commanded the attention of both sides of the political aisle as well as the nation...knew from the day he was first diagnosed with glio-stage 4 that this cancer would in a fairly short period of time kill him. And to his credit John McCain finally surrendered...he fought for life as hard as any man could but he always knew in his heart that this was one battle he could not and would not win.*
And now as the tributes and accolades come in...again from both sides of the political aisle...when Senator John McCain's name is added to the annals of American history hopefully he will be remembered as both a decent man and a warrior right up until the end. His good friend former Connecticut Senator Joe Liberman (one of the so-called 'Three Amigos' along with North Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham) said of McCain,
“For a quarter of a century, I served with John in the Senate, working for bipartisan legislation to improve our country at home, and to make America a powerful force for freedom throughout the world. Getting to know John McCain was one of the greatest blessings of my time in the Senate. He was a great person, a superior public servant, and a trusted friend and colleague.” And Senator Lindsey Graham (R-NC) said on Twitter,
“America and Freedom have lost one of her greatest champions... And I've lost one of my dearest friends and mentor."
Former Vice-President Joe Biden...whose elder son also succumbed to glioblastoma he at age 46...said of McCain on Twitter,
"John McCain was many things – a proud graduate of the Naval Academy, a Senate colleague, a political opponent...but, to me, more than anything, John was a friend. He will be missed dearly"...while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that he will soon be introducing a resolution to rename the Senate's Russell office building after the late Senator John McCain,
"so that (future) generations remember him."
And Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), another veteran permanently injured in service to this nation issued this statement:
“My heart is heavy today as I join countless Americans across our country in mourning the loss of one of our nation’s greatest leaders and statesmen, one of my personal heroes, Senator John McCain. Throughout his life – as a Naval Aviator, a Prisoner of War who endured years of torture, a Congressman, and a six-term Senator – John repeatedly showed how anything is possible when armed with determination, a deep sense of patriotism and an unbreakable will..."
And so John McCain who long ago showed a level of bravery, courage, and honor few of us will ever know was also the man who broadly smiled while taking pictures with ISIS and anything but Syrian rebel fighters. And this man of stark political contradictions now stands before his God...as we all must...awaiting the only judgment that in the end truly matters.
God's speed John McCain...Rest in Peace...the battle is over...eternity and what will be your final legacy awaits.
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* Click to read: John McCain's farewell statement.
Copyright @ 2018 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All Rights Reserved.
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For more political commentary please visit my
RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog
The National Patriot to read his latest article
It Will Happen Again.
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RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss 'On John McCain's Passing'; 'It Will Happen Again'; and important news of the day.
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