This one isn't even hard. John McCain is an American hero. It's not up for debate. To say otherwise only proves what a cheesy coward you are, Mr. President.
I don't come to McCain's defense because I'm a fellow Republican; I'm not. Not only did I not vote for him in 2008, I had t-shirts made that say "John McCain is a Tool."
I don't agree with McCain on all sorts of things, especially how he got his start bombing poor people half a world away who posed no threat to the United States. And I still think it was reckless to thrust Sarah Palin into the would-be VP position. (She was the reason for the shirts.) You could easily argue that she led directly to the toxic situation we have now.
Nevertheless, I respect the hell out of Senator McCain. Here is a man. A real man. I've never served in the military and have no desire to. I've seen how it goes, I know my history and I'm not sacrificing my life for our dumbass government. Especially nowadays — I would never fight for a country that has lost its core identity, where football players are banned from peaceful, symbolic protest against police brutality and systemic racism.
That being said, I respect anyone who has signed up to make the ultimate sacrifice. I would never do that — I'm a coward when it comes to my physical safety. But at least I'm honest about it. The same can't be said for our tough-talking, never-serving President Bone Spurs who casually threatens to "bomb the Hell out of them."
It pisses me off that Trump was able to say "He's not a war hero" to a laughing crowd without anyone in the room having the balls to say, "What the hell do you know about service? You're a spoiled brat; your opinion on the topic is irrelevant. Keep Senator McCain's name out of your mouth, you disgraceful fool!"
It would have taken real courage for someone to do that. McCain-level courage. It's hard to speak up in a tough crowd, but that didn't stop McCain when a frazzled predecessor to today's MAGA creature addressed him at a town hall in 2008, regurgitating Fox News myths about Barack Obama's foreignness that Trump basically created and eventually rode all the way to the White House.
The disheveled old woman expressed concern about McCain's opponent, saying, "I can’t trust Obama. I have read about him, and he’s not, he’s not — He's an Arab." McCain instantly corrected her because he must have known that it's a slippery slope to where we are now. And where Germany went before.
"No ma’am," McCain said firmly. "He’s a decent family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that’s what this campaign is all about."
I also respect McCain's anti-torture stance, born as it is out of hellish firsthand experience that I readily admit I would never be able to endure. And just like how he addressed the anxious racist at his rally, he always took a stand on the torture issue. And being anti-torture isn't very popular among Republicans.
Not to mention, going against his entire party to vote against the repeal of Obamacare. But how could a guy with a terminal brain tumor vote to rip health care away from millions of Americans who are suffering just like him? (Well, I know of one Republican congressman who got shot by a homicidal maniac without changing his negative tune on gun control.) McCain's eleventh hour thumbs-down for repeal took courage and humanity.
And for this traitor president to publicly crap on this fine, principled American servant on his way out the door is just so disgraceful. It is wrong.
You can disagree with John McCain, but you can't deny he's a decent man and a true patriot. You can't say that about the president. Not even close. He's a bum.
Thank you for putting up with this shit, Senator McCain. You're tough as nails and America is lucky to have had you. You never lost sight of what America is and that's a trait that is quickly going extinct in the GOP these days. You will be missed. Rest in peace.
