John McCain

[carpedm9587]

I did a search on "McCain" and found that the only reference to him since his passing was in "Memorial Garden" and the number of people who memorialized him in that thread can be counted on one hand.

This is a man who was the Republican banner-carrier only a few years ago. I find myself wondering why he is so little honored on this forum. He was a veteran - a prisoner of war - and gave more for this country than most of us have. Lately, his biggest "sin" was to call Trump to account and call for a return to "normal order" in our Congress. Why is he so ignored?

[Cow Poke]

I did a search on "McCain" and found that the only reference to him since his passing was in "Memorial Garden" and the number of people who memorialized him in that thread can be counted on one hand.

This is a man who was the Republican banner-carrier only a few years ago. I find myself wondering why he is so little honored on this forum. He was a veteran - a prisoner of war - and gave more for this country than most of us have. Lately, his biggest "sin" was to call Trump to account and call for a return to "normal order" in our Congress. Why is he so ignored?

So, you haven't found any of us attacking him either, right?

[carpedm9587]

So, you haven't found any of us attacking him either, right?

Dead silence... except the 4 or so people who "memorialized" him, with such pithy comments as "may god have pity on his soul."

[Cow Poke]

Dead silence... except the 4 or so people who "memorialized" him, with such pithy comments as "may god have pity on his soul."

May War Hero and political maverick John McCain rest in peace.

[Mountain Man]

Let's just put it this way: There's a reason John McCain was a Republican that Democrats loved.

And if you know anything about his military history, you'll know that he wasn't exactly the "war hero" that some -- including McCain himself -- made him out to be. It's worth noting that he had his service records sealed when he entered politics, so what we know about him is based largely on reports of others who served with him. It's certainly worth asking why McCain would declare his service record off-limits. What was he trying to hide?

In the interest of not turning this into a thread criticizing a dead man, I'll say no more. I don't know who he was spiritually, but I hope he is now walking with his Savior in paradise.

[KingsGambit]

A co-worker of mine who is a combat veteran called him a traitor to America a couple days after he died so MM's take is certainly not unique.

(Well, former co-worker. He has since been fired. Not for that.)

[One Bad Pig]

I respected McCain for his service, and enjoyed reading his autobiography. As a politician, I found few reasons to like him, though I reluctantly voted for him in the 2008 general election. I try not to speak ill of the recently dead, so I'll say no more.

[One Bad Pig]

Dead silence... except the 4 or so people who "memorialized" him, with such pithy comments as "may god have pity on his soul."

I was entirely serious about that, by the way.

[Cow Poke]

I respected McCain for his service, and enjoyed reading his autobiography. As a politician, I found few reasons to like him, though I reluctantly voted for him in the 2008 general election. I try not to speak ill of the recently dead, so I'll say no more.

Eggzackly.

[Starlight]

He lost a Presidential election. There's a certain stigma associated with that for people on your own side of the political aisle. And, I suspect, even more among Republican voters who have a tendency to love the "strong" and "winners" and hate "weak losers", and, I suspect, even more because his opponent was Obama. The right-wing posters here are not going to be particularly interested in praising someone they see as a loser.

Among Progressives, McCain was long a laughingstock for strong words and lack of action. So, for example, under Trump he would speak out about how the Trump nominee was unfit for the role and then immediately vote to confirm them. McCain's votes almost never matched his rhetoric. So the very term "maverick" was mocked in progressive circles because of how much McCain unfailingly towed the line when it came to voting. The one, single, vote I will give him credit for is saving the ACA last year when he had the pivotal vote.

At risk of ever agreeing with any of MM's conspiracy theories, I will content myself with saying that everything about the Vietnam War was politically controversial, and especially in the US the issue of how the Vietnamese had treated the prisoners there was extremely politically divisive and actual facts were hard to determine. Immediately after that war, McCain had a lead role in the propaganda and politicization surrounding this, and so I treat McCain's own accounts with a high level of skepticism.

McCain was the darling of the hoity-toity snobbish centrists of the kind who have cocktail parties and write for the New York Times and Politico. He was the sort of politician they loved, who had the background, did civil discourse, pretended to be reaching across the aisle at least in his words. They happily ignored the fact that he was a reliable vote for all Republican agendas, and instead swooned and got out their snuff boxes whenever he gave a rousing speech saying the president was going too far. A politician of a different era really... I don't think I've encountered a single person under 40 who didn't just roll their eyes at the mention of John McCain.

[One Bad Pig]

He lost a Presidential election. There's a certain stigma associated with that for people on your own side of the political aisle. And, I suspect, even more among Republican voters who have a tendency to love the "strong" and "winners" and hate "weak losers", and, I suspect, even more because his opponent was Obama. The right-wing posters here are not going to be particularly interested in praising someone they see as a loser.

FWIW, this is wholly irrelevant to why I don't find much to praise about him. In fact, it's wholly irrelevant to why I like or dislike any Republican presidential nominee, win or lose.

[Zymologist]

There could be few comments on him around here for any of a number of reasons...I don't know why the negative speculation is called for.

Here's a question: how many people typically post in the Memorial Garden threads? Just at a glance, the only thread in the first page of Memorial Garden threads that goes for more than a page is for Billy Graham.

Here's another question: why didn't you comment, carpe? Other than to speculate on why nobody else did.

[Cow Poke]

There could be few comments on him around here for any of a number of reasons...I don't know why the negative speculation is called for.

Here's a question: how many people typically post in the Memorial Garden threads? Just at a glance, the only thread in the first page of Memorial Garden threads that goes for more than a page is for Billy Graham.

Here's another question: why didn't you comment, carpe? Other than to speculate on why nobody else did.

I'm not wild about posting in Memorial Garden threads unless I'm fairly certain the person is a Christian.

[Zymologist]

I'm not wild about posting in Memorial Garden threads unless I'm fairly certain the person is a Christian.

I think I've only posted in them, with rare exceptions, when they're personal. I just find that I have nothing of any import to say.

[Mountain Man]

McCain's votes almost never matched his rhetoric.

For example, saving Obamacare -- twice! -- after promising to repeal it