JOHN McCAIN 1936-2018

     Senator John McCain died today of complications from a malignant brain tumor, just four days shy of his 82nd birthday. He was the last of the 1980's Young Turks---proteges of President Reagan elected during that era. McCain's nickname was 'Maverick' and to say that his political career was controversial would be an understatement. 

     McCain was a political presence during the entirety of my adult life. There were times that I supported him, campaigned for him, voted for him, and contributed for him. Then there were other times when I felt like charging his office with a pitch-fork and throwing him out in the street on his butt. In retrospect, that's the kind of reactions that real leaders with the confidence and courage of their convictions often receive. 

     It's rather pointless now to rehash McCain's politics. All we really need to do is to recall the elections of 2000 and 2008 and ask ourselves whether or not a McCain Administration would have been preferable to Bush/Cheney or Obama/Clinton. In that light, it can be seen that McCain's political influence was, overall, more positive than negative. 

     Despite the frequency with which our civic interests crossed, I never met Senator McCain in person. People who knew him well said that he used to host cookouts for his friends and was an above-average barbecuer. He was married twice; first to a Jantzen Swimwear model and then to the lovely daughter of America's largest beer distributor. He was a boxer in his youth and a boxing fan all his life. We all know of his adventures in Vietnam. He fathered six children and adopted another. It's hard to dislike a man like that, when all's said and done.

     In fact, those who actually hated McCain included: the Viet-Cong and other international Communists; the DNC; the Mainstream Media; Red Pills; the Gay Mafia; etc. A man with enemies like those can't be all bad, either. 

     McCain also wrote seven books in collaboration with his friend, author Mark Salter. Character is Destiny and Why Courage Matters were books for boys stressing the importance of character, with historical biographies as examples. Hard Call was a similar book stressing the importance of making decisions on principle. Faith of My Fathers, Worth the Fighting For, and Restless Wave were an autobiographical trilogy. 13 Soldiers was an anthology of war stories written by Salter, but produced as an audiobook by McCain. McCain also wrote a series of proposed reforms in the sport of boxing which were adopted into law. 

     Like all of us, Senator McCain was a fallible human being. He made some mistakes and bad decisions at times, but he always did what he thought was right and never wavered once he set out on course. He approached everything he did with enthusiasm and determination. He may not have been perfect, but we could use a few more men like him.