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However John McCain orchestrated his funeral services, the ultimate effect was remarkable, powerful. Admire him or detest him, McCain left his mark on the world. His final mark was on the countrys consciousness, a poignant reminder regarding our responsibility to one another and to America, a nation weve frequently taken for granted.
He chose his orators/chorus with care and purpose to actively demonstrate, I think, what it looks like, sounds like, feels like to come together despite our differences. It was a clarion call to regain our footing, get back on the path, take up the burden of citizenship, statesmanship, common decency.
McCain's memorial has underscored a change in the wind, a true weariness, even disgust with the bombastic strutting, the endless lies coming out of Trump and his zombie supporters. In comparison to what we've witnessed this past week, the Trumpsters churlish clan looks small, even more crass than before. Trump's early morning tweets/complaints yesterday were pathetic, hardly a blip on the radar.
Something has started to shift after months of revelations and investigations. The sheer cruelty, the petty meanness, the disloyalty, the greed, the gross incompetence have piled up and are now being exposed. Maybe not as quickly as we want. Yet the lid to Pandoras box is sliding open.
In contrast, we have McCain speaking from the grave demanding that we be better, are better, must be far better for our children and grandchildren and the future of the Republic.
I listened to an old man down in Texas the other night. He'd put together a meet&greet for Beto O'Rourke. He said, "Listen, I'm a conservative. But I'm not so conservative that I think being inhumane is okay. We need to treat one another better. We need to get back to being generous and big-hearted."
Now, that's what I call a shift! One for the greater good.
John McCain managed to pull this final performance together from his death bed. With a little help from his friends, of course. But still, I think this was his last gift to his family, his colleagues and countrymen. I wonder if he regarded the effort as a leaning-in to Lincolns line in the Gettysburg Address:
. . . the last full measure of devotion.
Dont know why but those words have been tumbling inside my head all week.
The Russians, I understand, were very happy, even giddy to hear about McCains passing. They considered him an arch-enemy, a constant thorn in their side. On their version of 60 minutes, they purportedly said, Good, hes gone. There wont be another like him because the United States is over, done.
I wouldnt place bets on that statement. In fact, I predict those Russian broadcasters will rue the day they said it. As Trump et al will rue the many days ahead.
I never voted for John McCain. His political positions often left me bewildered and angry. But this week he earned my respect. So . . .
Godspeed, Senator. Godspeed.
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)obamanut2012
(25,911 posts)CaliforniaPeggy
(149,307 posts)Eloquently said!
I feel the same.
Fair winds and following seas, Senator...........
erronis
(14,955 posts)peggysue2
(10,811 posts)for the read and comments. I know opinions are split over the week-long memorial. But I was genuinely moved by the proceedings. Surprisingly so.
Glad to see there were others similarly impressed.
BigmanPigman
(51,432 posts)on the fucking moron and the GOP!
peggysue2
(10,811 posts)WheelWalker
(8,943 posts)Demovictory9
(32,324 posts)cp
(6,543 posts)Yes. Beautiful post, thank you.
flying rabbit
(4,612 posts)world wide wally
(21,719 posts)Marthe48
(16,692 posts)John Donne
handmade34
(22,755 posts)I want to believe that John McCain's death will be the extra push we need to change direction...
RIP John McCain
peggysue2
(10,811 posts)Guess we'll both find out shortly.
BadGimp
(4,009 posts)re: Good, hes gone. There wont be another like him because the United States is over, done.
Right there is why the American people need to be told how important voting for Dems in the upcoming midterms is.
#PutinWinsAgain and the GOP is now #ThePartyOfPutin
The campaign messaging strategy writes itself imo.
peggysue2
(10,811 posts)Putin's Russia is a very bad actor at the moment. They mean us nothing but harm.
I read that quote from the Russian 60 minutes episode right before watching 'Active Measures" last night. The double combo was chilling, even though I've been reading the background material on the Trumpster and his financial shenanigans for 2+ years. When you see it all spread out, there's no denying we're at war with Putin. He and his mobster buddies are fighting for keeps, and they're getting plenty of help from inside the country. Which is sickening.
So yes, November is not just another election. It is truly the election of our lifetimes.
Hekate
(90,202 posts)...this morning -- the neighbor grudgingly admitted that no matter what you thought of McCain, the guy was a hero, he supposed, and suddenly my husband said, "I served in the same war, and we are the same age." And choked up.
It has to be said that my husband joined the Air Force when he was about to be drafted, and had very mixed feelings about that war. But he never had mixed feelings about John McCain.
Godspeed, Senator. Godspeed indeed.
(And now we will resume our regularly scheduled programming at DU, tho admittedly some of us will remain thoughtful.)
peggysue2
(10,811 posts)My husband had/has very mixed feelings about the war, and he joined the Navy for the same reason--in his case the lottery, deciding he'd rather be on a ship than in a trench. As it turned out he was never sent to 'Nam but served his time on an aircraft carrier in the Med. But he shares a deep respect for McCain and his POW experience. It was one of the reasons I felt compelled to write the OP-ed. Plus, I was genuinely moved by what I saw and heard.
Definitely something to think about.
maddiemom
(5,106 posts)serve a third year, but have some choice in your training and assignment ( all did end up in Viet Nam, but, thankfully all survived). Their third year was spent stateside, and they had a fairly loose rein, finishing out their time. "Chicken Hawks" were very different types from those with "mixed feelings" and outright draft resisters. I think you had to be a young person in that era to understand that the blanket term, "draft dodger," as applied today, wasn't how most of us who were young in that era felt. Even those who went in "gung ho" returned with different feelings. Ron Kovic's story ("Born on the Fourth of July" is an excellent example. Now it often seems that anyone who avoided the draft in those days (many more college degrees for young men resulted) is being labeled as a draft dodger now when the entire situation was far more complicated at that time. Dubya Bush, much redeemed in this Trump era, was a perfect example of one who avoided Viet Nam, Yet had no problem sending a younger generation to a needless war. Catch my drift???
peggysue2
(10,811 posts)For my husband, running to Canada was never an option; it just wasn't in his DNA. The Med assignment came out of the blue, seemingly based on a junior officer finding out he could . . . type. LOL. I didn't read Kovic's book but did catch the movie. Horrifying. Tom Cruise, wasn't it? Even in the movie those 'complicated' feelings towards the war were underscored, particularly the gulf between our generation and our WWII parents.
Whole different mindset back in the day.
maddiemom
(5,106 posts)He was in a "vital job" immediately after college and so never had to worry about the draft. There were a number of such professions, my own, teaching, being one. It became too complicated to make judgements these days. The WWII and Korean veterans could get very judgemental (actual Korea was pretty unnecessary, as well) early on. Later it became amazing how many "old timers" turned against "Nam." Yes, Tom Cruise played Kovic, I too, only saw the movie, but my brother had read the book and thought it very true.
kooth
(217 posts)I agree with your points about McCain's politics; however, your points about his earning our respect is even more poignant! I had really started respecting him during the town hall where a voter said disparaging words against President OBama and he would have none of it!
Thanks for your post! You're also right about the Russian Russians and the American Russians ruing the day.
peggysue2
(10,811 posts)McCain proved himself a man of moral fiber in that moment during the campaign. And that's no small thing when there was so much at stake and it would have been so-o-o easy to slide into that whole smear routine.
Did he slip and slide on other things? Yes. Did he take positions I could not accept? Yes. But you have to give a man props when he hits the mark squarely. He did it during his military service, he did it during that townhall and strangely enough, he did it through his own death.
No small task.
maddiemom
(5,106 posts)neglecting to add "Not that there's anything wrong with being a Muslim." I disagreed with him politically, but I respected him in a way few Republican politicians in the Trump era deserve.
Silver Gaia
(4,514 posts)You've echoed and given clarity to my own inner jumble of thoughts about this. I concur. May his death mark the point in history where the America he so loved WOKE UP, and began to clean up the mess and heal the rift. Thank you.
peggysue2
(10,811 posts)I share that hope and vision. I really feel something has shifted in the ether. But we'll find out soon whether I'm right or wrong.
orangecrush
(19,236 posts)maddiemom
(5,106 posts)You speak for me, as well.
peggysue2
(10,811 posts)I'm glad to find out a number of us sensed and felt the same thing. I couldn't sleep last night, so I sat at the keyboard and wrote a rough up, then hesitated about posting it. But I watched that final fly over this afternoon and felt a lump forming in my throat. That motivated me.
mobeau69
(11,079 posts)That's the one, mobeau.
Gave me chills watching it a second time, too.
MustLoveBeagles
(11,563 posts)NNadir
(33,368 posts)Thank you. You have expressed my thoughts exactly and more beautifully than I might have done myself.
"Last full measure..." Indeed!
Nothing becomes the Senator's life so well as his design in leaving it.
peggysue2
(10,811 posts)But then, I'm guessing when our life is clearly ending, the superficial begins to fall away, leaving the important elements of our life, our passions in full relief. McCain had the time to consider what he wanted others to remember.
That being said I, too, think it was a job well done.
JHan
(10,173 posts)peggysue2
(10,811 posts)This was the product of staying up too late, and then not being able to sleep at all. As is my habit, I hit the keyboard. Didn't help my insomnia but at least I managed to get my thoughts and feelings down.