The news of Arizona Senator John McCain having brain cancer, with a low rate of survival long term, is a great tragedy.
Senator McCain is a courageous war hero; an outstanding figure in Senate history; a man with true principles and dignity; and in a party with so few people to admire, he stands out as a man who would not allow a nutty woman at a campaign rally to call his opponent, Barack Obama, an Arab and not a true American.
That moment in 2008 was a great example of the true John McCain, a man to respect and wish the best for his recovery.
At times, this author has been exasperated with John McCain, as at time, he waxes hot and cold, but at all times, there has been an acknowledgement of how he stands way above the norm of the Republican Party, and the fact that the right wing has always been a bitter critic, adds to his stature.
The only time when many could not tolerate McCain at all was when he allowed himself to be pushed into selecting Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his Vice Presidential running mate in 2008.
This was a total nightmare, but of course, McCain would not admit the error at any time since, but the thought of the moronic Palin being a heartbeat away, and having to listen to her outrageous public statements and actions over the past nine years, is enough to make one go insane!
This blogger always had the worry what if McCain had been elected, and had died in office, since he had numerous problems with skin cancer over the years, and had suffered mightily in injuries as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam from 1967-1973.
Once the eight years passed, we could sigh relief that McCain had made it through those eight years after Obama was elected.
But here we are in the first year since, and we have to say, thank goodness that McCain’s serious illness, if it had to happen, occurred now, not back then, which would have created a constitutional crisis only a bit less horrible than the present one with Donald Trump.
And McCain has redeemed himself on Palin by being a harsh critic of Trump, and warning against his excesses, and the idea that Trump would say McCain was not a hero because he was a prisoner of war, is one of the most egregious of a multitude of sins that Trump has said and done, and with no apology.
So McCain remains an American hero, and someone worthy to be praying for a recovery from his cancer diagnosis!