Most of what I know about the John Mc Cain funeral's my mother told me. She is a 93-year old widow of a World War 2 and Korean War Veteran and she watched most of the Mc Cain funeral. To her Mc Cain represented the values of her generation. His war service was enough to gain her respect. She did not understand why I chose to ignore it.
Mc Cain suffered as a POW beyond human imagination. The funeral seemed to be center around recognizing what he had earned through his hardships as a Prisoner of War. Mc Cain got a Presidential funeral because he always thought he deserved to be President. The reports of Cindy McCain's, and other eulogistic soliloquies, seemed more like invective to those who had denied him what he had earned, than a memorial of what they had accomplished together. Iather than an expression of grief at a tragic loss, the Mc Cain funeral was more about grousing about an entitlement that was denied.
A person's true nature is revealed in the way they die more than in the way they live. Mc CAIN's final days seemed more about evening the score and finally getting in death what he had deserved in life. I found that strange. As a person who has been in Christian ministry in one form or another all of my adult like I have spent many hours consoling the grieving now as chaplain I have studied the subject academically. Mc Cain's funeral and his last days like much of his life was different. He took pride in being "a maverick" in life, but after his final days and his funeral one wonders whether "maverick" will characterize his life.
The dictionary defines maverick:
a person who shows independence of thought and action, especially by refusing to adhere
to the policies of a group to which he or she belongs.
For Mc Cain it was more than about policy. It was always personal. His last days on earth proved that.
It was no secret that McCain did not like, nor vote for Donald Trump. Yet when it came time to do what he had promised the people of Arizona he would do and what the country was seeking him to do he chose to vote against the Republican health care plan. There is little doubt that far from being a matter of disagreeing with policy, the vote was made out of spite for the current President. It wasn't his only display of vindictiveness that only hurt the people that he represented in Arizona. He asked Donald Trump to stay from his family. Trump honored that request, but sent representative, including his daughter and son-in-law to represent the nation. Mc Cain died harboring bitterness toward his opponents and even his supporters.
When John McCain chose then Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate in his failed 2008 Presidential bid. It was no secret that they did not agree on everything. The appointment was hailed as and example of Mc Cain willingness to cooperate with people with whom he differed. It appeared to be a good choice. Palin drew large enthusiastic crowds everywhere she went and praised and supported McCain never once publicly disagreeing with him. She offered to go to areas where no one in the campaign wanted to go and where Mc Cain's message was falling flat. She stood her ground and some even say won her debate against her democratic counter part then Senator Joe Biden. Palin was the star of the campaign a fact and Mc Cain resented her.
From the moment Mc Cain conceded his advisors began setting the narrative to scapegoat Palin for the loss. Because of her offer to campaign in Michigan where the campaign did not go she was accused of "going rouge." Her conservative views supposedly drove the independents away from Mc Cain and cost him the election despite the fact that she was chosen to get the Conservative vote for Mc Cain which he did not have before the election. Remember the prominent evangelical Dr. James Dobson, telling listeners on his radio program that "he would never vote for John Mc Cain." The selection of Sarah Palin cause him to reverse course and brought the evangelical votes to Mc Cain. Palin won a constituency Mc Cain would have undoubtedly lost without her, and there is no evidence that she alienated "independent voters." Had Lieberman or someone else been the nominee Mc Cain would have undoubtedly lost by an even greater number, yet Mc Cain never accepted responsibility for his loss.
From the day after the election Mc Cain's people blamed Palin. Several books and articles were written by Mc Cain operatives blaming Palin in the end Mc Cain himself disparage her.
Palin continued to praise Mc Cain on the announcement of his death she wrote:
I have never personally encounter nor read in the literature of terminally ill people who in their final hours have sought to "even the score." People who are healthy seek reconciliation when they come to the end of their life. Reconciliation with those whom they have hurt, who have hurt them, and with God. Mc Cain and his family did not seek to reconciliation his death and his funeral was a vituperation of all those who had denied him what he deserved, the Presidency. These are the attitudes of a bitter contemptuous person who last days are desperate and unhappy. Sadly, he did not seem to be a man who will rest in peace, and his funeral certainly offered little comfort for those who truly did grieve his passing.
The memorial displayed the true character of the man. What is Mc Cain's legacy? Mc Cain suffered beyond imagination at the hands of his Vietnamese captors, and he finally broke. Though Mc Cain can hardly be faulted for breaking, he was not the only POW who endured such treatment, and there were others who did not break. Yet Mc Cain seem patronizing toward his fellow POW's. What did Mc Cain do for them? Mc Cain sealed the records surrounding POW-MIA's left behind in Vietnam insuring they would never be found. Many still wonder exactly what the war-hero, maverick, advocate-for-the veteran was trying to hide from the families of his fellow sufferers? Was there any truth to those fellow prisoners in Hanoi Hilton who told a different story about Mc Cains time there? Mc Cain made sure the truth will never be known. What exactly did he seek to hide, and did his funeral memorialize a lie?
Mc Cain will be remembered for the Mc Cain Finegold campaign finance legislation, which the Supreme court overturned as a violation of the first amendment. Mc Cain will be remembered for contemplating a run for Vice President with democrat John Kerry. Mc Cain will be remembered for spoiling the Republican attempt to replace Obamacare after running for re-election in Arizona to do replace it. Can anyone think of any legislative or policy success Mc Cain that will be part of Mc Cain's legacy? Can anyone think of anything he did other than oppose and obstruct the people who voted for him and supported him his entire life. So what was the message of Mc Cain's funeral?
The funeral seemed to be about the unpaid debt that he was owed in life, the Presidency. Was the Presidential funeral supposed to assuage the guilt of his detractors? The funeral was a vitriolic denouncement of those people who had questioned him or stood in his way. Far from celebrating his life it diminished it. Past Presidential funeral have praised American values, honored the uniqueness of the Presidency and the constitution, but all Mc Cain's funeral did was complained and cajoled about his opponents. Mc Cain obviously died a very unhappy and disappointed man, and wants to be remember for a greatness he never attained.
That is why I did not watch the funeral. My mother, from greatest generation, will never understand my disregard of one who served faithfully. She will never understand that it is is not I who dishonored Mc Cain. It is his own diminutiveness that diminished him. The purpose of the funeral seemed not to be to remind the nations of all he had done, but to castigate the nation for what they had denied him. It seemed to be an occasion to demean and diminish people he did not like, and who probably did not like him. It was his and his family's last chance to tell those who had stood in his way what he really thought about them.
The sad thing is that they thought we cared. No I did not watch the Mc Cain funeral. I saw no benefit in wallowing in pity and disingenuous patriotism. I can get that from the opening ceremony of an NFL game I did not need it from the Mc Cain family. I appreciate the Mc Cain family's grief, but I wonder whether this event was really comforting to them. I hope so. It offered nothing of benefit the nation and merely etched Mc Cain's legacy of patronization toward the ordinary citizen forever in the annals of the nation. Senator Mc Cain may you find in death the peace you apparently never had in life.
The dictionary defines maverick:
a person who shows independence of thought and action, especially by refusing to adhere
to the policies of a group to which he or she belongs.
For Mc Cain it was more than about policy. It was always personal. His last days on earth proved that.
It was no secret that McCain did not like, nor vote for Donald Trump. Yet when it came time to do what he had promised the people of Arizona he would do and what the country was seeking him to do he chose to vote against the Republican health care plan. There is little doubt that far from being a matter of disagreeing with policy, the vote was made out of spite for the current President. It wasn't his only display of vindictiveness that only hurt the people that he represented in Arizona. He asked Donald Trump to stay from his family. Trump honored that request, but sent representative, including his daughter and son-in-law to represent the nation. Mc Cain died harboring bitterness toward his opponents and even his supporters.
When John McCain chose then Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate in his failed 2008 Presidential bid. It was no secret that they did not agree on everything. The appointment was hailed as and example of Mc Cain willingness to cooperate with people with whom he differed. It appeared to be a good choice. Palin drew large enthusiastic crowds everywhere she went and praised and supported McCain never once publicly disagreeing with him. She offered to go to areas where no one in the campaign wanted to go and where Mc Cain's message was falling flat. She stood her ground and some even say won her debate against her democratic counter part then Senator Joe Biden. Palin was the star of the campaign a fact and Mc Cain resented her.
From the moment Mc Cain conceded his advisors began setting the narrative to scapegoat Palin for the loss. Because of her offer to campaign in Michigan where the campaign did not go she was accused of "going rouge." Her conservative views supposedly drove the independents away from Mc Cain and cost him the election despite the fact that she was chosen to get the Conservative vote for Mc Cain which he did not have before the election. Remember the prominent evangelical Dr. James Dobson, telling listeners on his radio program that "he would never vote for John Mc Cain." The selection of Sarah Palin cause him to reverse course and brought the evangelical votes to Mc Cain. Palin won a constituency Mc Cain would have undoubtedly lost without her, and there is no evidence that she alienated "independent voters." Had Lieberman or someone else been the nominee Mc Cain would have undoubtedly lost by an even greater number, yet Mc Cain never accepted responsibility for his loss.
From the day after the election Mc Cain's people blamed Palin. Several books and articles were written by Mc Cain operatives blaming Palin in the end Mc Cain himself disparage her.
Palin continued to praise Mc Cain on the announcement of his death she wrote:
Today we lost an American original.Sen. John McCain was a maverick and a fighter, never afraid to stand for his beliefs. John never took the easy path in life – and through sacrifice and suffering he inspired others to serve something greater than self.The reaction of the Mc Cain family was to disinvite her from his funeral. Hardly a typical reaction from a person who bereaved, but not out of character for Mc Cain.
John McCain was my friend. I will remember the good times.My family and I send prayers for Cindy and the McCain family.
I have never personally encounter nor read in the literature of terminally ill people who in their final hours have sought to "even the score." People who are healthy seek reconciliation when they come to the end of their life. Reconciliation with those whom they have hurt, who have hurt them, and with God. Mc Cain and his family did not seek to reconciliation his death and his funeral was a vituperation of all those who had denied him what he deserved, the Presidency. These are the attitudes of a bitter contemptuous person who last days are desperate and unhappy. Sadly, he did not seem to be a man who will rest in peace, and his funeral certainly offered little comfort for those who truly did grieve his passing.
The memorial displayed the true character of the man. What is Mc Cain's legacy? Mc Cain suffered beyond imagination at the hands of his Vietnamese captors, and he finally broke. Though Mc Cain can hardly be faulted for breaking, he was not the only POW who endured such treatment, and there were others who did not break. Yet Mc Cain seem patronizing toward his fellow POW's. What did Mc Cain do for them? Mc Cain sealed the records surrounding POW-MIA's left behind in Vietnam insuring they would never be found. Many still wonder exactly what the war-hero, maverick, advocate-for-the veteran was trying to hide from the families of his fellow sufferers? Was there any truth to those fellow prisoners in Hanoi Hilton who told a different story about Mc Cains time there? Mc Cain made sure the truth will never be known. What exactly did he seek to hide, and did his funeral memorialize a lie?
Mc Cain will be remembered for the Mc Cain Finegold campaign finance legislation, which the Supreme court overturned as a violation of the first amendment. Mc Cain will be remembered for contemplating a run for Vice President with democrat John Kerry. Mc Cain will be remembered for spoiling the Republican attempt to replace Obamacare after running for re-election in Arizona to do replace it. Can anyone think of any legislative or policy success Mc Cain that will be part of Mc Cain's legacy? Can anyone think of anything he did other than oppose and obstruct the people who voted for him and supported him his entire life. So what was the message of Mc Cain's funeral?
The funeral seemed to be about the unpaid debt that he was owed in life, the Presidency. Was the Presidential funeral supposed to assuage the guilt of his detractors? The funeral was a vitriolic denouncement of those people who had questioned him or stood in his way. Far from celebrating his life it diminished it. Past Presidential funeral have praised American values, honored the uniqueness of the Presidency and the constitution, but all Mc Cain's funeral did was complained and cajoled about his opponents. Mc Cain obviously died a very unhappy and disappointed man, and wants to be remember for a greatness he never attained.
That is why I did not watch the funeral. My mother, from greatest generation, will never understand my disregard of one who served faithfully. She will never understand that it is is not I who dishonored Mc Cain. It is his own diminutiveness that diminished him. The purpose of the funeral seemed not to be to remind the nations of all he had done, but to castigate the nation for what they had denied him. It seemed to be an occasion to demean and diminish people he did not like, and who probably did not like him. It was his and his family's last chance to tell those who had stood in his way what he really thought about them.
The sad thing is that they thought we cared. No I did not watch the Mc Cain funeral. I saw no benefit in wallowing in pity and disingenuous patriotism. I can get that from the opening ceremony of an NFL game I did not need it from the Mc Cain family. I appreciate the Mc Cain family's grief, but I wonder whether this event was really comforting to them. I hope so. It offered nothing of benefit the nation and merely etched Mc Cain's legacy of patronization toward the ordinary citizen forever in the annals of the nation. Senator Mc Cain may you find in death the peace you apparently never had in life.
