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Sen. John McCain, who faced down his captors in a Vietnam prisoner of war camp with jut-jawed defiance and later turned his rebellious streak into a 35-year political career that took him to Congress and the Republican presidential nomination, died Saturday after battling brain cancer for more than a year. He was 81.
McCain, with his irascible grin and fighter-pilot moxie, was a fearless and outspoken voice on policy and politics to the end, unswerving in his defense of democratic values and unflinching in his criticism of his fellow Republican, President Donald Trump. He was elected to the Senate from Arizona six times but twice thwarted in seeking the presidency.
An upstart presidential bid in 2000 didn't last long. Eight years later, he fought back from the brink of defeat to win the GOP nomination, only to be overpowered by Democrat Barack Obama. McCain chose a little-known Alaska governor as his running mate in that race, and turned Sarah Palin into a national political figure.
After losing to Obama in an electoral landslide, McCain returned to the Senate determined not to be defined by a failed presidential campaign in which his reputation as a maverick had faded. In the politics of the moment and in national political debate over the decades, McCain energetically advanced his ideas and punched back hard at critics — Trump not least among them.
The scion of a decorated military family, McCain embraced his role as chairman of the Armed Services Committee, pushing for aggressive U.S. military intervention overseas and eager to contribute to "defeating the forces of radical Islam that want to destroy America."
Asked how he wanted to be remembered, McCain said simply: "That I made a major contribution to the defense of the nation."
Also at The New York Timesand c|net.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @09:46AM (22 children)
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 26 2018, @11:02AM (21 children)
That's close to my feelings. There is good and bad to be said about McCain. He's not the douchebag that Ted Kennedy was, but he comes close on some counts.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @11:24AM (1 child)
If SN had a dollar for every time that was said about you they wouldn't need to ask for donations.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @11:56AM
Almost no one is as big a douche as Kennedy - but you're getting close.
(Score: 2, Troll) by VLM on Sunday August 26 2018, @12:44PM (2 children)
(crickets...)
He might have been a nice guy personally (or I have no evidence to the contrary) and he did have a sense of humor... here's a hilarious response to a journalist calling him out (rightly) for being a carpetbagger when he moved to the easiest senate seat to live when he entered politics, which randomly happened to be Arizona at that time:
The guy was kinda great-great-grandpa shitposter, in his own ancient way.
As for politics the guy was a fairly respectable example of a Democrat; admittedly he ran as a RINO which was required to win his senate seat, but in the set of politicians supporting the "ideals" of the Democrat Party, he was hardly the worst.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @02:14PM (1 child)
He voted against the dismantling of Obamacare, that hugely good.
(grin)
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday August 27 2018, @07:59AM
He didn't just toe the Republican Party line. Often, but not always.
I don't agree with a lot of his ideas, but I gave him credit for having more balls than pretty much all other R senators combined.
This democracy is based on having elected officials acting as individuals representing their constituents. We need more people ready to step out of party line for their principles.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @01:00PM (14 children)
"He's not the douchebag that Ted Kennedy was"
Drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident vs. treason.
I think your douchebag meter might be broken.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 26 2018, @02:34PM (13 children)
Alright - citations for treason. In the POW camp? FFS, man, there is no man alive who can resist ongoing interrogation for years, especially when various forms of torture are put to use. It is my impression that McCain resisted interrogation until his information was far less valuable, than when he was first captured.
The single worst incident of his military career for which you can find fault, is the Forrestal fire. You can put the deaths of all those US Sailors at his feet. But, treason? Forget it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @02:42PM
He did not agree 100 % with what El Comandante Orangue said!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @03:18PM (7 children)
The fuck? [hotair.com] For an example of duplicity, note that McShitStain and Al-Qaeda support [fox19.com] was mutual. [telegraph.co.uk]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 26 2018, @04:31PM (6 children)
The hotair link is pretty good. What is left out of that account is, grabassery. Skylarking. Fucking off. Young John McCain started that conflagration when he gunned his engines. His exhaust is what set that Zuni rocket off. If you should watch the movie of the Forrestal fire, you'll want to rewind and watch that initial rocket launch a couple of times. That rocket was bathed in fire and exhaust from McCain's engines, causing the rocket propellant to ignite. It needs to be noted that John was evacuated from the carrier, while other, seriously wounded men, were left at the mercies of the ship's doctors and corpsmen. Why was John singled out for evacuation? Politics. Johnny's daddy had him evacuated.
An incidental - McCain's daddy was one of the admirals who made the decision to use that old ordnance. John McCain Senior figures into a lot of history in both Vietnam and the Med/Mideast in the '60's and '70's.
And, back to my original post. I can't like McCain, I can't even respect him a helluva lot. But - he's family. He did go out there, he did put his life on the line. He's far more of a brother than that asshole George Dubya Bush ever was.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @04:58PM (2 children)
Huh? [youtu.be]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @05:16PM (1 child)
Okay, one of the comments explains...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 27 2018, @04:52PM
I spent several minutes looking for that footage on Youtube. The movie we watched in boot camp is not what Youtube has available. I did find several videos explaining how "Wetstart McCain" caused the fire, but none of them (that I found) actually shows the real video.
Memory fades, and memory plays tricks, and it's been decades since I watched that movie. But, we were required to watch it many times, and we discussed the movie many times. I clearly remember seeing one jet fire up it's engines, and bathe the jet behind it with fire and hot exhaust. The Zuni isn't visible, until AFTER it has ignited, then it comes out of the wall of hot gasses, creating it's own ball of fire. In eight years of service, I watched that movie at least eight times, as part of fire fighting and damage control training. It was also available from time to time on our CCTV, as "entertainment". We didn't watch an edited version - or more precisely, we didn't watch such a heavily edited version.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 27 2018, @05:52PM (2 children)
Do tell. [snopes.com] Please find me a better source than that which pretty much rips up what you said to shreds. And when I say "good source" let's see actual names of actual sailors who were present and able to confirm that McCain started it. Let's see properly cited sources. We can discuss why you think an individual knocked unconscious by a concussive explosion should simply stay with the treatment available aboard an aircraft carrier, and whether or not McCain was the only evacuated person, at another time.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 27 2018, @06:55PM
Wetstart McCain.
Perhaps you're not aware how real life works. A cop isn't really supposed to work a case that involves close acquaintances. An EMT or paremedic, ditto. A judge is supposed to recuse himself from a case he is party to, or overly familiar with. And, a fleet admiral probably shouldn't be investigating a major incident which his son is involved in.
McCain's daddy ran this investigation. That's really not different from some old redneck judge in the "Old South" investigating his own son's involvement in a lynching of a black man.
I have often discounted Snopes in the past. I don't trust them. You trust them if you want.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday August 28 2018, @01:40AM
http://www.monomakhos.com/johnny-wet-start/ [monomakhos.com]
What authority is most likely to know what happened on that fateful day? Maybe the commanding officer of the ship in question?
(Score: 5, Informative) by Arik on Sunday August 26 2018, @04:25PM (3 children)
Admiral James Stockdale was by all accounts tortured far more heavily and for far longer. He was crippled by the mistreatment he received but he never broke. When he was finally released, he was given the Medal of Honor - and a pink slip.
McCain, a junior pilot who had been shot down after around 20 hours of combat, who broke and cooperated both by giving military information and by making propaganda recordings, he received a whopping 28 medals. And years of physical therapy instead of a pink slip.
If his father hadn't been Admiral John Sidney McCain Jr, CINCPAC, I can't imagine this would have turned out the way it did for him. I don't know if a fair court would determine his actions amounted to treason or not - because no fair court was ever allowed to consider the question. It was just too dangerous, politically.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 26 2018, @04:38PM
I was busy typing, and didn't see your post. Please scroll up a tiny bit, to see my reply to AC. I concur with your conclusion - if Daddy wasn't an admiral, everything about Little Johnny's career would have gone differently.
And, I appreciate your lead in. Interesting allegations, is precisely right. Nothing provable, nothing proven - but others who made as great, or greater sacrifices, were neglected. Kinda reminds you of John Kerry, except John McCain didn't write his own recommendations for awards - his daddy did.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 27 2018, @05:56PM (1 child)
Sounds like somebody doesn't know the difference between allegation, facts, and what builds credible statements. [politifact.com]
(Score: 2) by Arik on Tuesday August 28 2018, @06:47PM
The link you provided actually confirms most of the allegations made against McCain, while spinning each and every paragraph just as hard as they can in his favor nonetheless.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by DavePolaschek on Monday August 27 2018, @04:35PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five [wikipedia.org]
Just wish he'd gotten booted from the Senate earlier.