Hopefully this is the last time I will ever have to write about this man. John McCain was the posterchild of what is wrong with members of Congress.
As you know, McCain was another Vietnam era veteran that capitalized on his experience in that conflict and turned it into a lifetime political career. McCain was the son of a high-ranking Navy Admiral. The story goes that daddy pulled some strings and got John into the military as a pilot. McCain flew planes off the carrier USS Forrestal. He was a crew member during the 1967 fire aboard the carrier. The fire left 134 men dead and 161 more injured. It was the worst loss of a life on a U.S. Navy ship since World War II.
McCain’s troubles did not end there, later the same year he was shot-down over Vietnam and captured. When he was shot-down, his rank was Lieutenant Commander. He remained a POW until 1973. McCain was always haunted by stories that he collaborated with the North Vietnamese. This in part was due to him being offered an early release from the POW camp and turning it down. He also made a propaganda film for the North. This was a result of torture. McCain retired from the military as a Captain in 1981.
(FYI give the number of years in service (1958 – 1981) and his background, this is not a very high rank.)
From 1973 to 1981, McCain advanced only two ranks
The following year, voters in Arizona elected him to the House of Representatives. After two terms he was elected to the Senate, replacing Barry Goldwater.
Sadly, McCain is best known for his grandstanding and obstructionism. He was a frequent foe of conservatives and like Goldwater, had an open hatred for Christians in the public square.
Shortly after his election to the Senate, McCain was part of the Keeting Five scandal that sank three of the five political careers of the participants. As was frequently the case, he was the only Republican involved.
McCain blocked immigration reforms and judicial appointments. At one point, he flirted with switching parties, but the Democrats didn’t make him a good enough offer.
In a year when Republicans offered their worst possible Presidential candidate and Democrats did likewise, McCain lost to Barack Obama in a landslide. It was his second and final time to run for the highest office. Like Bob Dole before him, Republican leadership cleared the decks of opposition because it was “his turn” to run.
McCain is best known for courting the Liberal media and thwarting Republican legislation.
Even after his diagnosis with terminal cancer, he refused to resign. His hatred of Donald Trump was so deep that he wouldn’t step aside. Much of this Russian election tampering attack on Trump over the last year and a half is the direct result of McCain’s hatred of Trump. He chose to team with Hillary Clinton and the Democrat’s proven fake dossier on Trump just, so he could hurt a person that he didn’t like.
But that has always been the case with McCain, he was so thin-skinned that every disagreement with him is personal; never policy. At his core, he was a selfish, petty, and vindictive man. Any time he could take someone or something down a few notches, he felt it elevated him.
He was a deplorable character on the national stage and I for one will not miss him. I hope Arizona can find a statesman to take his place and not another politician.