John McCain

In another bit of obituary kismet (Aretha Franklin dying on the same day as Elvis), John McCain died on the same day as Ted Kennedy. Both were legendary, long-time members of the Senate who never achieved the presidency. Right now social media is full of tributes to McCain, who was the Democrat's favorite Republican, or the Republican's least favorite senator, most of the time. He, like Kennedy, made friends with members on the other side of the aisle, which doesn't happen so much anymore, and he hated Donald Trump.

So what's not to like? I chose the picture at left because the one thing I hope we can all agree on was that he was an American hero. He was shot down during the Vietnam War and spent five years in a prison camp, his wounds untreated. Because his father was an admiral, the Viet Cong offered to release him, but he refused, insisting that other POWs be let go before him. His courage and fortitude are greater than most of us have. To use Tom Wolfe's phrase, he had the right stuff.

But his legacy is a senator is more complicated. He liked to embrace the term maverick, because he did not always vote the party line. The memorable way he strode onto the Senate floor and voted thumbs down on killing the Affordable Health Care Act, with Mitch McConnell looking on in dismay, is great theater. But he waffled on that issue, and many others. In other areas he was firmly in the far-right camp, such as on abortion, gun control, and defense spending. SANE, a group that worked for a "sane nuclear policy," gave him a zero rating.

Many LGBT groups are pooh-poohing the encomiums, but I did see he voted against a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, saying it should be left to the states (which was kind of a cowardly way of riding the fence). He also voted to extend the Patriot Act. McCain was no liberal.

Even some of the tributes he receives are double-edged swords. During the 2008 election campaign he famously told a troubled woman that Obama was a "good family man." But the woman accused Obama of being an Arab, as if that were an insult. McCain's response indicated that Arabs are not good family men. He also told a nasty joke about Chelsea Clinton, which he did apologize for, but it's easy to apologize, and tougher not to tell jokes like that at all.

McCain served for thirty years, succeeding Barry Goldwater who, except for a four-year period after he ran for president, served for 32 years. Before him was Carl Hayden, who joined the Senate in 1927. So there have been only three senators in that seat for 96 of the last 100 years. This creates interesting dynamics in Arizona politics. There is a normally scheduled election this year to replace retiring Jeff Flake. Arizona governor Doug Ducey will name a replacement, who will serve until a special election in 2020, and then there will be another regular election in 2022. Will Ducey nominate a place-holder? If he doesn't, that person will have to win two election in three years. Given the political climate these days, there's a good chance that by 2020 there will be two Democratic senators on Arizona.

Finally, if we forgive those who have perished, and fought for our country, and did what they thought was right, we can not forgive one thing McCain did--he lifted the rock under which Sarah Palin crawled, and made her a celebrity. As Marlon Brando said in The Godfather, "That I do not forgive."