John McCain 8-28-2018

28, August 2018                           John McCain

John McCain has had a very checkered life. He began his decades long career as a naval pilot in Vietnam where he was shot down in Hanoi in 1967.He spent the next two years in solitary confinement and twice attempted suicide. In order to escape the harsh conditions of his confinement he signed a confession admitting to,  “crimes against the Vietnamese country and people.”

His harsh treatment made him a lifelong opponent of torture and as such he vigorously opposed the nomination of Gina Haspel as director of the CIA who favored “enhance interrogation of prisoners”.

Sadly, McCain was an unapologetic war hawk, supporting President Nixon’s bombing of Cambodia. He firmly believed all problems could be solved at the barrel of a gun and supported both the first Gulf War, the wars in Afghanistan , Iraq , and Libya and favored bombing Iran. These wars have plunged the Middle East in utter chaos and created a huge refugee crisis.  

He faced withering criticism for his choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008.

McCain deserves credit for reaching across the aisle helping normalize relations with Vietnam and voted “thumbs down” against the Republican-effort to repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

McCain’s hostility with Trump is legendary and his family specifically requested Trump not attend the eulogy services.

Media reports have omitted the darker aspects of McCain’s public life. For example, his involvement in a massive financial scandal in the late 1980s. He was part of the Keating Five, the savings-and-loan debacle.

He flew multiple combat missions in Vietnam killing tens of thousands of innocent men. women and children in, a war that is now considered immoral. He offered no contrition for his role.

He also was a good friend of Mohammad bin Salman and the Saudis, the architects of 9/11, who presented McCain with a special award for his support for the Saudi invasion of Yemen which has created the worst human crisis in the world.

John McCain was not the embodiment of civility in U.S. politics, nor was he the bastion of decency. He called war resisters “low life scum”. He mocked Chelsea Clinton as ugly. He made jokes about rape and spousal abuse. He famously called his Vietnamese captors “gooks” and said, “I won’t apologize for that.” He was cranky, rude and abusive and even used insulted his wife in public using the C-word.

According to Time, McCain campaign staffers in Virginia were teaching volunteers to see Barack Obama as having terrorist ‘friends,’ and then providing these volunteers with arguments for “persuading voters that Sen. Obama, like Osama Bin Laden, shares responsibility for bombings of the Pentagon. These “gutter” tactics were used effectively in Trump’s bid for the presidency in 2016.