John McCain
The death of John McCain and his funeral have restored some dignity and depth to our government. The 6000 word obituary in the New York Times was overwhelming. I had not read about the severity of the torture McCain had undergone while a captive of the Vietcong. McCain's suffering as a prisoner certainly gave me respect for his strength of character. His service to America both in war and in peace have been lifelong. If anyone deserves to lie in state in our countries capital it is McCain.
Perhaps his death will change the dialogue in America. Perhaps now we will start to talk about how to solve some of the problems we have ignored in favor of focusing our attention on beating our adversaries, on holding on to power, and upholding our ideology. Perhaps the death of John McCain will remind everyone in congress, in the executive, and judicial branches of government that many people have dedicated their lives to making America the great country it is.
Just as I had written the above two paragraphs I received a text from my cousin asking if I was watching McCain's funeral. I wasn't, so I turned on the TV.
Joe Lieberman was speaking about his friend John McCain. Yesterday I had read that McCain regretted his choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate and wished he had stuck with his inclination to have picked Lieberman, an independent and previous Democrat. His willingness to have Lieberman, a non-Republican as his vice presidential running mate, describes the entire funeral service. The service had christians, jews, republicans, democrats, black people, white people, asian people, all types of Americans. It was a visual statement of the many faces of America. It was a statement of the power of diversity of opinion and of cultures.
Lieberman described McCain in terms of an energetic, humorous, friend. George Bush spoke of McCain as a tough, honest, high spirited politician. Obama spoke of McCain's friendly opposition. Obama said that occasionally McCain and he would sit alone together in the oval office and just talk about families, politics and personal issues. This wasn't publicized but it tells the story of how people with opposing views on politics can have a civil relationship, a civil dialogue. It made me wonder what the Republican leaders of the House and Senate thought when they introduced bills that had never been seen by their Democratic partners in legislation. It made me wonder why partisan ideology has stopped the bipartisan conversations in our legislature.
Henry Kissinger, at 95, told a moving story of deciding to refuse the early release of John McCain from the prisoner of war camp while Kissinger was negotiating the end of the war. McCain could have flown home with Kissinger on the private jet. Later McCain thanked him for 'saving his honor'. Kissinger went on to say that 'our country's honor is ours to sustain'.
McCain believed in keeping America strong and compassionate. He believed in the rule of law, spirited debate, honesty, and that service to America was a privilege. Perhaps this moving tribute to a man who dedicated his life to his family and his country, a man whose strength of character was demonstrated in his service to his country, a man who worked to keep America both strong and compassionate, will set a new tone of honor, honesty and cooperation in government.
After the ceremony, I watched Meghan McCain's speech which I had missed. It generated the only applause of the day when she powerfully said that John McCain knew there was no need to make America great again, because it was already great.
McCain's decision to not have Trump at his funeral was the correct decision. The funeral was about what has made America the greatest country in the world. Having Trump there would have polluted the atmosphere with hostility, lies and fear-mongering. Perhaps now we can go forward as the country we have worked so hard to become, a world leader in human dignity. Perhaps we can relight the torch of the Statue of Liberty and once again become a beacon of hope in the world.
Perhaps his death will change the dialogue in America. Perhaps now we will start to talk about how to solve some of the problems we have ignored in favor of focusing our attention on beating our adversaries, on holding on to power, and upholding our ideology. Perhaps the death of John McCain will remind everyone in congress, in the executive, and judicial branches of government that many people have dedicated their lives to making America the great country it is.
Just as I had written the above two paragraphs I received a text from my cousin asking if I was watching McCain's funeral. I wasn't, so I turned on the TV.
Joe Lieberman was speaking about his friend John McCain. Yesterday I had read that McCain regretted his choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate and wished he had stuck with his inclination to have picked Lieberman, an independent and previous Democrat. His willingness to have Lieberman, a non-Republican as his vice presidential running mate, describes the entire funeral service. The service had christians, jews, republicans, democrats, black people, white people, asian people, all types of Americans. It was a visual statement of the many faces of America. It was a statement of the power of diversity of opinion and of cultures.
Lieberman described McCain in terms of an energetic, humorous, friend. George Bush spoke of McCain as a tough, honest, high spirited politician. Obama spoke of McCain's friendly opposition. Obama said that occasionally McCain and he would sit alone together in the oval office and just talk about families, politics and personal issues. This wasn't publicized but it tells the story of how people with opposing views on politics can have a civil relationship, a civil dialogue. It made me wonder what the Republican leaders of the House and Senate thought when they introduced bills that had never been seen by their Democratic partners in legislation. It made me wonder why partisan ideology has stopped the bipartisan conversations in our legislature.
Henry Kissinger, at 95, told a moving story of deciding to refuse the early release of John McCain from the prisoner of war camp while Kissinger was negotiating the end of the war. McCain could have flown home with Kissinger on the private jet. Later McCain thanked him for 'saving his honor'. Kissinger went on to say that 'our country's honor is ours to sustain'.
McCain believed in keeping America strong and compassionate. He believed in the rule of law, spirited debate, honesty, and that service to America was a privilege. Perhaps this moving tribute to a man who dedicated his life to his family and his country, a man whose strength of character was demonstrated in his service to his country, a man who worked to keep America both strong and compassionate, will set a new tone of honor, honesty and cooperation in government.
After the ceremony, I watched Meghan McCain's speech which I had missed. It generated the only applause of the day when she powerfully said that John McCain knew there was no need to make America great again, because it was already great.
McCain's decision to not have Trump at his funeral was the correct decision. The funeral was about what has made America the greatest country in the world. Having Trump there would have polluted the atmosphere with hostility, lies and fear-mongering. Perhaps now we can go forward as the country we have worked so hard to become, a world leader in human dignity. Perhaps we can relight the torch of the Statue of Liberty and once again become a beacon of hope in the world.
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