The week of farewells to John McCain unspooled in a thread running from Sedona, AZ to Annapolis MD. My foreign friends had little (well, really, nothing) to say. I get that; I’m woefully ignorant about political figures in Spain and Mexico these days. At the same time, some of my friends here in the U.S. tended to dismiss the senator without much regret. As one woman put it, “Perhaps he should have realized his mistakes sooner.” I think that saddened me as much as anything I heard during the week of remembrances.
McCain called himself a “maverick.” Technically—and hardly remembered now—that word refers to an unbranded cow found on the open range. It derived from the practice of one rancher, Samuel Maverick (1803-1870), who didn’t brand his cattle though everyone else did. With time, the term circled back to its beginnings, so to speak: it now refers to a person who, like ole Sam, goes his/her own way despite custom or label.McCain’s claim to being a maverick derives essentially from the fact that he thought for himself. This isn’t to say he wasn’t a good conservative Republican. He was (though today, he passes for a centrist; more on that in a minute). But he wasn’t a docile party sycophant, nor was he an ideologue. By and large, he’d forge his own path if he thought that was right. Sometimes it got him into trouble. As far as I’m concerned, one of his best maverick moments was his desire to name Joe Lieberman, a Democrat, as his running mate when he ran for president in 2008. One of his worst was allowing himself to be talked out of it and naming Sarah Palin—who also styled herself a maverick—instead. I think she opened the way for our current president, but that’s another tale.
Senator McCain planned his memorial services. It was clear that he was trying to convey a very specific message. It’s noteworthy that Ms. Palin was not invited to participate. It’s also telling that the current president was expressly asked to stay away. Instead, former President George W. Bush was invited to deliver a eulogy, as was former President Barack Obama. Both had defeated McCain: Bush for the GOP nomination in 2000, benefiting from an ugly negative contest against McCain in South Carolina with racial undertones and scurrilous rumors; Obama, then a quite newly minted senator from Illinois, for the presidency itself in 2008.Listening to these two men, along with the Senator’s daughter, Meghan McCain, it became clear to me why I felt such a profound sense of loss at the Senator’s passing.
I return to the woman who faulted him for not recognizing his mistakes soon enough. I reply: in a diverse polity, we don’t all agree; indeed, we may disagree fiercely. That does NOT mean we aren’t equally concerned for the welfare of our country. While I might share this woman’s general political positions, I will not denigrate someone who in good faith disagrees with me, and will applaud that person if they are persuaded they’re wrong and admit it, or (equally important), if they agree that positions need to be modified in order to reach an acceptable outcome.
McCain understood that political and philosophical differences were healthy. They’re how we learn. Debating them clarifies both the issues and their possible ramifications. Achieving consensus after heated (but fair! That’s critical!) discussion goes a long way toward solving difficult problems, to the extent solution is possible.
President Obama disclosed in his eulogy that John McCain and he sometimes met in the Oval Office of the White House and just talked: about family, about politics, about policy. They might fiercely disagree, but they did not insult each other by ascribing anything except genuine concern for the public interest to any given position. Nor did they sugar coat or bend the facts, as they understood them, to bolster an argument.
John McCain might have held conservative positions, but he was not a racist or a bigot; he did not hold grudges without cause. In 2008, he stopped claims by his supporters based on false rumors (Obama was Muslim; Obama was Arab; Obama was born in Kenya…), stopped such claims in his Town Halls cold. Some of his advisors wanted to use ads against Obama stressing strident speeches by his church minister. McCain refused. His running mate, Palin, wasn’t above such tactics, but he never agreed to or supported them.
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| from Maya Kathryn Bohnhoff blog |
The way we do politics is as important as what we are trying to achieve. The ends truly do not justify the means, as we now see every day in our national political life. Senator McCain tried to live faithfully in accord with his principles, to listen to opposing opinions, to treat his opponents with respect, and to practice civility in the public square. He truly did dedicate his life to public service, and was genuine in his efforts to make our nation a better place for everyone according to his beliefs.
