MCCAIN EULOGISTS REMIND AMERICA OF VALUES BEING LOST

Listen to the engine, listen to the bell

As the last fire truck from hell

Goes rolling by

All good people are praying

It’s the last temptation, the last account

The last time you might hear the sermon on the mount

The last radio is playing

"Shooting Star"

by

Bob Dylan

During his last year of life, battling cancer, John McCain orchestrated a master class in American values, carefully selecting the instructors, making every aspect of his funeral services bipartisan, even the presenting of wreaths to the casket.

After all, that was the whole point of his dramatic "thumbs down" at 2:00 AM July 28, 2017, not a vote FOR the Affordable Care Act, but a vote AGAINST forcing a hastily crafted replacement plan, concocted by one party in secrecy, ignoring the long-held tradition of "normal order," both parties working together.

As former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, now 94, reminded us:

Honor, it is an intangible quality, not obligatory. It has no code. It reflects an inward compulsion, free of self interest.

Former President George W. Bush, while remembering his political skirmishes with McCain, described him this way:

He was honorable, always that recognizing his opponents were still patriots and human beings. He loved freedom, with a passion of a man who knew its absence. He respected the dignity inherent in every life, a dignity that does not stop at borders and cannot be erased by dictators. Perhaps above all, John detested the abuse of power. He could not abide bigots and swaggering despots.

Another former president, Barack Obama, visibly tearing up, reminded us of the American values so treasured, so fiercely fought for by McCain:

John believed in honest argument and hearing other views. He understood that if we get in the habit of bending the truth to suit political expediency or party orthodoxy, our democracy will not work. That’s why he was willing to buck his own party at times, occasionally work across the aisle on campaign finance reform and immigration reform. That’s why he championed a free and independent press as vital to our democratic debate. And the fact that it earned him some good coverage didn’t hurt, either.
John understood, as JFK understood, as Ronald Reagan understood, that part of what makes our country great is that our membership is based not on our bloodline; not on what we look like, what our last names are. It’s not based on where our parents or grandparents came from, or how recently they arrived, but on adherence to a common creed: That all of us are created equal. Endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights.

The profound sadness emanating from the series of McCain remembrances in recent days is not the departure of the senator, but the trend in recent years to move away from our country's values, freedoms, rights and historical leadership role in the world.