September 1, 2018: Much of the nation mourns the passing of Sen. John McCain. Former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama attend the funeral and deliver eulogies. The Big Orange Buffoon is not welcome.
Trump heads off for one of his golf courses.
Meaghan McCain, the senator’s daughter, rebukes the president without naming him. “We gather to mourn the passing of American greatness – the real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly,” she says, “nor the opportunistic appropriation of those who lived lives of comfort and privilege [emphasis added, unless otherwise noted] while he suffered and served.”
Her implicit comparison of her father’s service to that of the sitting
president, a man who used five draft deferments to avoid putting himself in
harm’s way, could not be more pointed.
Politico describes the scene:
John McCain’s “America does not
boast because she has no need to,” [his daughter] said. “The America of John
McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great.”
The line drew sustained applause from within the cathedral, including from many service members in uniform.
____________________
“He was always honorable, recognizing that his opponents were still patriots and human beings.”
President George W. Bush
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President Bush speaks with equal clarity. Without mentioning the current occupant of the White House, Bush lays out the differences between McCain, the war hero, and Trump. “He was honest, no matter whom it offended. Presidents were not spared,” Bush says of McCain.
He was honorable, always
recognizing that his opponents were still patriots and human beings. He loved
freedom with the passion of a man who knew its absence. He respected the
dignity inherent in every life, a dignity that does not stop at borders and
cannot be erased by dictators.
Perhaps above all, John detested the abuse of power, could not
abide bigots and swaggering despots.
Obama admits he was surprised when McCain called him not long before he died and asked him to speak at the funeral service. Again, a former leader cut down Trump without spelling it out.
Said Obama:
So much of our politics, our
public life, our public discourse, can seem small and mean and petty.
Trafficking in bombast and insult and phony controversies and manufactured
outrage, it’s a politics that pretends to be brave and tough but in fact is
born of fear. John called on us to be bigger than that. He called on us to be
better than that.
…He understood that if we get in the habit of bending the truth
to suit political expediency or party orthodoxy, our democracy will not work.
No doubt, if President Trump was watching, he was seething.
Naturally, he spent a good part of his day tweeting.
