John McCain should be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom before he passes.

[RDANGELO]

I know that some on the board would disagree with me on this, but I think that for what he has sacrificed for his country, he has deserved it. I know that the current occupant of the White House is too petty to ever bestow it on him.

He spent six years as a POW in Vietnam where he was exposed to torture. He refused a to be released earlier that others because his father was an admiral in the navy. I remember during the 2000 campaign when he was confronted by the women who stated that she thought that then candidate Obama was a Muslim. The easiest thing in the world would have been to be agreeable to her , but he didn't . He stated that he was a good American, and that is disagreements with him were on policies. After Christopher Steele had assembled the dossier on Trump's visits to Russia ,and it did not seem to be getting adequate attention, it was John McCain who brought it to Comey's attention, even though him and Trump were of the same party. I think that, from the beginning that McCain realized that Trump was not fit to be president, and never completely fell in line like the others in his party.

[JI7]

1. not with Trump in office

[LuvNewcastle]

3. Trump will probably give McCain's medal to Sarah Palin.

[JI7]

6. no, he is more likely to give it to Putin .

[Rhiannon12866]

2. I'm surprised this hasn't happened before now

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

4. Trump won't award it to McCain because the Senator is snubbing him at his funeral.

If you look in the dictionary, a picture of IQ45 is next to the word "petty."

It's also next to the words, "narcissistic," "egomaniac," "adulterer," "self-centered," "daughter-lover," "dishonest," "con man," and my personal favorite, "loser."

[BlueTsunami2018]

5. I admire his courage in wartime. The rest? Not so much.

I pretty much hold him directly responsible for Тяцмрisм and the completely unhinged direction of the right by foisting that absolute disgusting imbecile Palin on the country in 2008.

The Republicans were bad before she came about but she brought back proud open racism and a reveling in stupidity, conspiracy and lies that only existed on the outer fringes of the right until that point. John McCain is at fault for this.

And his politics are garbage. Some “maverick” he is, voting hardline with every bad idea the gop has had both before and since.

Тяцмр will never give him that medal as he hates McCain’s guts and vice versa. Madam President might have but we all know how that went.

[grantcart]

8. He did 2 other things that were admirable

Last edited Tue May 8, 2018, 11:28 AM - Edit history (1)

1) he made it possible for the US to re establish relations with Vietnam and normalize relations.

2) He and his wife adopted a baby that was dying in Bengladesh.

[BlueTsunami2018]

9. Fair enough.

It’s not tipping the scales much but it is something more.

[grantcart]

10. The second one cost him SC and the nominationon 2000

He probably would have lost but if he had won Cheney wouldn't be VP and the Iraq war probably wouldn't have happened.

[JI7]

11. not so sure about that. mccain is a hawk but i think he might have been more likely to work with

other countries and more honest about cost of war and putting more into humanitarian assistance .

[StevieM]

22. I think you meant to write "admirable." (eom)

[SharonClark]

29. McCain is sometimes a contrarian, but mostly he is a rightish Republican.

And also a member of the Keating Five.

[JI7]

7. GW bush should have gave it to him .

Hillary probably would have given it to him if she was in office.

[Mike Nelson]

12. I'm surprised...

...he hasn't received this award. Is it possible the award was discussed with McCain by Obama and the Bushes, at least - maybe even other Presidents - and McCain declined? I think he would decline one now, obviously.

[Byronic]

13. The difference is striking.

The response by posters here on DU to John McCain's illness has mostly been compassionate and, although noting political differences, mostly respectful. By sharp contradistinction, FreeRepublic, perhaps unsurprisingly, is an absolute sewer. They are wishing him ill, with many comments peppered with what they would like to do on his grave, and that how McCain is destined to burn in a fiery place well known to Dante.

He is clearly their most loathed Republican, just because he dared to have independent thought on a few issues, and voted his conscience occasionally. Very revealing.

[SkatmanRoth]

14. Just because McCain opposes Trump does not make him our friend

McCain is a rich, 1%, right wing jerk. McCain's primary objective is the advancement of John McCain.

McCain should get off the stage, stop running his mouth, and go die like a man. Of course we know he is incapable of doing this.

[Pope George Ringo II]

15. I'm not sure that's appropriate, though

Most of the bigger "He loves his country" arguments center on his naval service, and I understand that medal to be for civilians. Campaign ribbons aside, I don't know of an appropriate military lifetime achievement award.

[MFM008]

16. Like maggot winning a nobel prize

Not gonna happen.

[NCTraveler]

17. No. Not a chance.

Decades worth of inherently racist policies, a passion to increase the divide between the rich and the poor, and an opposition to letting women make their own choices.

Sick and tired of watching people on the “left” swing on this guys dick.

[PJMcK]

18. Fuck him

McCain never supported the policies that I believe in as a Democrat. His wartime service notwithstanding, McCain was a selfish and nasty piece of work his whole life.

In another thread, I wrote this:

Most distinctively, by legitimizing the crazies of the right wing of the GOP with his naming of Sarah Palin as his running mate, he opened the door to the Tea Party/Freedom Caucus/RWNJs, etc. with which we got Trump. Perhaps Trump was inevitable in a celebrity-driven society, but McCain deserves his share of responsibility.

Thanks, McCain.

Yeah, he deserves a medal... right up his ass.

[Exotica]

19. Hell no

This is gaslighting in favour of a war mongering RW rotter. Fuck McCain.

[PDittie]

20. I'll take a hard pass, thanks

[IluvPitties]

21. Agreed, but won't happen.

[Tarc]

23. McCain, Graham, Collins, etc...are admired when they stand up to bad Republicans

But when the Rs don't own the WH, they fall into near-lockstep with their party lien on condemning the president for every transgression, no manner how slight or imagined.

But McCain held to his convictions, despite party pressure, on the use of torture all through Junior's tenure. He came to Kerry's defense against some of the most despicable pieces of human swill in my lifetime, Jerome Corsi and Ted Sampley. And I certainly wish him comfort in what appear to be his final days/weeks/months.

[Bucky]

24. Part of me wants to see the look on his face when Trump hangs it on his neck

McCain, like many vets (and especially like the many vets who had to endure the hell of being a NVN POW) suffered valiantly for his country. But the thing that makes the case for his winning the award is his post-service notoriety. He became famous, married into money, and ran for president a couple of times. That's mostly how we know about his torture. His service was noble. I can't argue that it's unique. In the years since, in his time in office, he's been less than a partisan hack. He's had moments of sparkling honesty. But also in his years in office, he's never met a war he didn't want to drop US troops into. I'm not impressed with the man's judgment. Had he been president when 9/11 happened (as nearly happened) I can't imagine all the places we'd be entangled in today.

[Orsino]

25. His political life has literally been dedicated to the eradication of freedom. n/t

[Va Lefty]

28. And redistribution of wealth to the 1%

we now have two classes: the truly needy and the truly greedy

[jberryhill]

26. He was highly decorated for his military service

So, you can't double count that.

[lame54]

27. And Sarah Palin deserves the Pulitzer...

For her eloquent speeches

[mountain grammy]

30. That's a no from me

For so many of the reasons posted here.

[avebury]

31. While he served his country so have thousands

and thousands of other Americans. My Dad's oldest brother was in the Philippines and participated in the Bataan Death March and spent all of WWII in a Japanese POW camp. Many Americans throughout many wars have been injured and or held captive in one war or another. Military record alone would not suffice to grant McCain a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

While he may have had his moments, far too often he has followed the Republican path, even when he had to have known that it was not the right thing to do.

Many may like his current wife, Cindy, but he did cheat on wife No. 1 and eventually hooked up with wife No. 2. I imagine that Cindy's being young, attractive and from a wealthy family was a factor in hooking up with her. He had not even separated from wife no. 1 when he decided to marry Cindy.

https://www.factcheck.org/2008/09/mccains-first-marriage/

I feel sorry for him and his family over his illness but he is by no way a Saint.

If he wants to earn brownie points, he should quit the Senate so that his seat can be put up for election. If he lets it go to the point where Arizona doesn't have to put it up for election until 2020, then a pox on him.

[Mike Rows His Boat]

32. Thanks. I needed more gas for my light.

[malchickiwick]

33. My Three-Word Rebuttal: Sarah Fucking Palin

McCain should be held accountable for unleashing the wave of racism and hate we all deal with today.

[PDittie]

34. "Why You Should Celebrate..."

... Loudly and Unapologetically When John McCain Dies".

http://theantimedia.com/celebrate-when-john-mccain-dies/

In a healthy world, war-peddling neoconservatives like John McCain would be treated with the same social stigma as child molesters and serial killers. So let’s create that world.

Abnormalize war. Abnormalize the campaigns of mass slaughter for power and profit by the US-centralized war machine. Abnormalize the system which tries to normalize John McCain.

Normalize peace. Normalize an expectation that leaders will not advocate war at every opportunity. Normalize an environment where someone seeking out opportunities to push for war will be recoiled from in horror like the demonic freaks that they are. Normalize a world with no John McCains.

[Power 2 the People]

35. War hero but political coward

He deserves our respect and admiration for his military service.

He deserves our scorn for Palin, Keating 5 and always taking a moral stand on TV and then immediately back-tracking and falling in line with the radical right-wing party line.

He was always willing to sell out the vulnerable to prolong his political career. Remember his Pre-Trump "build the dang wall" commercial?

He is the reason we are a divided nation and was the one who planted the seeds of Trumpism.