John McCain is OK by Me
The guy can take a punch.
I’m not being facetious about the horrors McCain experienced as a prisoner of war for five and a half years in North Vietnam. Everyone is familiar with this true American hero’s ordeal when his A-4 Skyhawk was shot down during a bombing mission over Hanoi in 1967. He was seriously wounded, captured, beaten, interrogated, bayoneted, his shoulder crushed with a rifle butt. He was denied treatment for his wounds and not expected to live. But he survived. He refused early release when his North Vietnamese captors discovered he was the the son of John S. McCain, Jr., the Commander of all U.S. forces in Vietnam, and wanted to use his release for propaganda purposes. McCain refused go unless all his fellow prisoners before him were released also.
He’s a stand-up guy and can take a punch, and would continue to prove this time and again throughout his life and career.
The punch I’m talking about, however, is the punch he took from Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign when Trump essentially called him a loser saying, “He’s not a war hero, he’s a hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” By this, Trump implies that all the soldiers killed in all the wars were not heros, because they were killed. He likes the ones who weren’t killed.
What a rude, mean-spirited, ridiculous thing to say about this fighter pilot warrior, especially, from a privileged socialite who only drives golf carts and avoided serving his country ...then becomes America’s president under what now seems to be questionable circumstances.
The irony is almost unbearable.
While the general public was aghast at Trump’s comment, McCain blew it off, took it in stride, and considered the source.
No matter what your politics are or your position on the absurd healthcare bill fiasco going on right now in congress, McCain continues to fight by voting to continue to work out the issues, while Trump wants to just let Obamacare fail creating even greater havoc.
Right or wrong, McCain is a stand-up guy, and all while he is fighting for his life with diagnosed brain cancer. So, don’t think he isn’t sensitive to the essential need and right for healthcare for all Americans.
I’ll never forget the character he displayed during the 2008 presidential campaign when, at a rally, he was confronted by one of his supporters who said that Barack Obama was a “terrorist” and an “Arab.” McCain stopped her in mid sentence and unflinchingly said, “No ma’am. No ma’am. He’s a decent family man, a citizen who I just happen to have serious differences with on fundamental issues ...he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States.”
There were boos and groans from his supporters, but he spoke from from both his heart and his head and he said exactly the right thing. That’s a stand-up guy.
Yes, he’s kind of hawkish. Yes, he’s put his foot in his mouth on numerous occasions, and, yes, he gave us Sarah Palin (I’m not sure I’m willing to forgive him for that) ..and yes, he’s probably fallen asleep at his desk a few times, and maybe even on the senate floor (let’s give him that one). He may be cranky old Senator John McCain, but he’s our cranky old John McCain, and he can take a punch. You gotta respect that.
McCain was a strong supporter of the Magnitsky Act. In fact he was a key element in getting it through congress and passed into law in 2012. Sergei Magnitsky was a Russian tax lawyer who, working with a capital management investment fund specializing in Russian markets, exposed fraud within the Russian government. He was imprisoned, beaten and killed for his involvement in uncovering the truth about a scheme by corrupt Russian government officials and oligarchs to steal over $230 million from the Russian people through tax refunds and then launder the money through New York banks. Under extreme pressure and torture he wouldn’t rescind his allegation and it cost him his life.
The Magnitsky Act is a U.S. law which intends to punish Russian officials for the death of Sergei Magnitsky by revoking the visas of the corrupt officials and oligarchs from entering and doing business in the United States.
When the situation was brought to the attention of Senator McCain and he was asked for help in getting the law passed, he wholeheartedly supported the proposition. I can only imagine the empathy McCain must have felt for Magnitsky and his family, knowing what it feels like to be imprisoned and tortured for a cause in which you believed.
This is all detailed in a book by William Browder, ‘Red Notice‘, a chilling look inside the Russian experience after the break up of the Soviet Union, focusing on government corruption and high finance. It is also a good insight into the current situation regarding the Trump presidency and Russian involvement.
I have no allegiance to any particular political party, just to America. So, this opinion piece is an accidental tribute to John McCain. It’s certainly not a memorial as I hope he recovers from his health problem soon and completely, and serves for many more years.
McCain has written several books, but for a good background into his American experience and who he is, his ‘Faith of My Fathers’ looks at his Navy lineage and military roots, and his strong desire to serve his country.
The guy’s okay by me, and he knows how to take a punch. He knows how to give one as well.
John Kushma is a communication consultant and lives in Logan, Utah.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-george-kushma-379a5762
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