John McCain and the death of perspective

[Pacifist Patriot]

Matt Bai - National Political Columnist

...I also had a hard time seeing McCain as an uncomplicated hero. While I respected his tenacity in passing his signature law, the reform of campaign finance in 2002, I came to believe over the years that McCain-Feingold, as it was known, did more harm than good to a functioning political system.

And choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008 was easily the least patriotic thing McCain ever did. By cynically exploiting the extremism in his own party and further conflating celebrity with service, McCain cracked open the door through which Trump would eventually burst.

But all that said, I think I understand why the nation mourns McCain as we would a Roosevelt or an Eisenhower. It’s not because he was always right (he wasn’t), or because he was the last of the war heroes (he isn’t), or because he was such a warm-hearted and decent character (he could be, but he could also be petty and erratic).

It’s because he so embodied the one thing we miss most in our politics right now, which is a sense of perspective....

https://www.yahoo.com/news/john-mccain-death-perspective-090057476.html

I found this a thought-provoking article.

[GeorgeGist]

1. The headline provoked me not to read ...

[Pacifist Patriot]

5. That's a shame.

[kentuck]

2. That's quite thought-provoking.

I think the celebration of his life is connected somehow to the way people would prefer their leaders to speak and act, rather than like our present leaders.

[bigtree]

3. he actually had a very flawed perspective

...anything centering on the republican party is wrongheaded from the start.

Trying to lionize his politics is no guide for anyone looking to find conviction. Saying all the right things, but failing to act on those beliefs is the hallmark of McCain politics.

I'm more comfortable acknowledging his Americanisms, than I am his tepid, but consistent republicanism.

[FM123]

4. Interesting article.

I found the part about Trumpy's jealousy of McCain spot on....

"Throughout his life, despite all the wealth and fame that came his way, all Trump ever wanted was some validation from the country’s cultured, moneyed establishment — people with class, to use the president’s vernacular.

It doesn’t take Jung to see that all of this raging against the machine, all these rallies meant to incite resentment and elicit deafening roars of adulation, are really just Trump’s way of handling rejection.ut even now, at the pinnacle of Trump’s unimaginable success, with all his money and generals and armored cars and all the rest, it’s the grizzled old warrior, a man for whom Trump harbored nothing but jealousy and contempt, whose death somehow unites the elite of both parties.

So intolerable is this for Trump, so stinging an indignity, that he was willing to hurriedly throw half of NAFTA back together and call it by another name just to give himself something to talk about."

[Pacifist Patriot]

6. I agreed with that too. The man is so insecure it would be tragic if he weren't so powerful.