I watched Senator JOHN McCain’s funeral, from start to finish.
It was inspiring.
I was especially moved by the spirit of shared values. The missing goon was at his private golf club, tweeting furiously about our enemy, Canada.
For a few hours today, it seemed that sanity and comity had returned. The madman was not invited, even though his daughter and son-in-law and his chief of staff were.
Mercedes Schneider watched too.
She too felt the whiff of a better world, a normal world, a world not run by an angry bitter fool.
For a few precious hours, we could pretend he did not exist.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Yes, I watched the funeral in its entirety too and felt the same way. For a couple of hours, we were a united people again praising a decent human being who put his country first. It gave me hope that we will be united again and will appreciate the fact that we ARE a great country (Canada too) and need to show gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy.
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How do the legends of Congress regardless of party or conservatism and the aspiring young trump-puppets watch the funeral and not feel GUILT?
I would love to know what the majority of Congress and Congressional candidates (white male republicans) were thinking and FEELING?
The funeral was a mirror. Should be a mirror. Who do they want to see and be: Principled, conservative, cooperative McCain or egoist, serve the highest-bidder, self-serving president?
If there is an ounce of wanting to serve and lead as should anyone who runs for office – any office – how can they be oblivious to how they have sold their souls to this despicable president.
How can they watch the funeral of a man who was a POW, conservative, Republican and not aspire to lead and want to leave a legacy as he?
How can they and veterans and just about anyone except the white supremecists and uber-wealthy (the odd couple of “the base”) possibly openly admit they like, admire, and will follow anywhere this president – a president who demeaned Senator McCain service and being a POW?
And anyone who might read my responses periodically are tired of reading this – – – but will someone – anyone – ask these candidates questions about their absolutism of devotion and agreement with anything the president does – YES or NO – do you agree with him – a position – a policy – nor not.
In every debate the Democratic candidate’s first question should be, “What were you feeling when you watched Senator McCain’s funeral?”
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My reaction, too.
I wonder if Trump watched.
Probably not because it wasn’t about him.
He takes narcissism to a new level.
Politico ran an article about “Trump’s Funeral Problem.” When his father died, various family members got up and talked about Fred (one-time member of KKK). Donald got up and talked about Donald. How happy I was that he was not there today.
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Thanks for your comment. So true.
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USA Today offered a timeline of noting each stage of the funeral ceremony that corresponded to one of Trump’s tweets during that ceremony. That journalistic exercise suggests Trump was trying his best not to watch, and certainly not to watch the whole ceremony.
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It is an absolute must that control of Congress and Senate be wrested from the GOP on Nov. 6. There is no other way to show Republicans that sticking to Trump is not in their self-interest….and self-interest is all every one of them cares about with the exception of McCain’s fellow Arizona Senator Jeff Flake (and he’s not running for re-election).
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McCain planned the entire funeral himself. It was clear that his message was that both sides must work together, show respect and civility towards each other. He also was telling us that our country is more important than either party. Even in death McCain was trying to build bridges.
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McCain’s final parting gesture was excluding Trump from the hottest show in DC. Trump was furious, not only because he was excluded, but because he was told by whoever he listens to that he couldn’t play golf during the funeral ceremonies. I still remember that he criticized Obama for playing too much golf. Has anyone been keeping count of the days Trump golfed vs. Obama?
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McCain was a great man. The funeral was moving. If Democrats want to win, they will find the direction by moving towards the bi-partisan McCain/Lieberman center, not the pseudo-socialist left.
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A resounding NO, bxny. The middle staked out by the DINO team of the Center for American Progress/DFER, whose masters are tech tyrants and hedge funders and the Third Way, whose driving force is investment bankers, led to the loss of 1000 Dem. legislative seats, loss of a substantial number of governorships, the loss of the Presidency and as a result of all of the above, the loss of the courts.
I recognize you either earn your income as an intellectual prostitute, as a Republican operative or you are advocating insanity- keep doing the same thing and expect a different outcome. I refer acquaintances to the Inequality.org website. They can see what “moving to the center” cost America and its people who contribute to GDP, and how it has benefitted the Wall Street leeches who drag down GDP by 2%.
Trump rose to power in part, courting unions and Social Security/ Medicare recipients, segments that John Podesto abandoned in favor of the Republican crossover vote.
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Agree, thank you.
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Trump rose to power because. Dems were too busy pandering to every group, mandating gender neutral bathrooms in schools, and opening up our borders to those willing to work for third world underground wages while American poor folk and workers lose their Increasingly hard to find jobs. Let’s mandate some more $17 McDonalds wages while we give our orders to an iPad and have our meal prepared by a robot burger flipper.
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BX NY, so many right wing memes, bumper stickers, myths and shibboleths in such a small space. Wages and salaries are low not because of illegal immigrants but because of corporate greed. Blame the illegal American businesses that hire the undocumented immigrants in the first place. Does anybody put a gun to the head of these business and corporations to hire undocumented immigrants? About 43 million Americans live in poverty, millions more are near the poverty level and about 21% of children live in poverty. This has nothing to do with undocumented immigrants; it has everything to do with income inequality and all the profits going to the top 1%. The 99% be damned.
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You’re right Joe.
bxny doesn’t say businesses pay immigrants less. bxny should tell us why Podesto/CAP didn’t give Hillary talking points like, no cuts to S.S. and Medicare, why they were too stupid to make the same compelling case to Dems, that evangelicals made, they were going to lose the courts. OMG, neo-libs had already lost the Senate and House for the Dems. Where are their talking points that inform voters that Trump’s first commutation of sentence was for a guy who had 400 illegal immigrants in his plant?
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McCain/Lieberman center? Nothing centrist about their political views; they were/are both very right wing, hyper arch conservative. They would never even contemplate universal health care and bargaining with the drug companies for cheaper prices. We need more people in office like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, we need more true progressives. The so called centrists have gotten us no where. The people who call themselves centrists today are actually leaning hard right.
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“The center” is staked out by colonialists who include investment bankers from the Third Way, hedge funders from DFER and tech tyrants like Zuckerberg, Andreesen, Reed Hastings, and Gates and the Waltons who fund the falsely named Center for American Progress.
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Really? McCain was right of center. We have been there and done that.
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McCain’s funeral was inspiring. It was a huge relief.
Thanks, Mercedes and Diane.
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Trump supporters are furious at Meghan McCain and Obama for their swipes at Trump. They are also angry because Jared and Ivanka did not get the best seats.
https://apple.news/A1AaF9Kx9Sl-R9g0YqQ1yiQ
https://apple.news/ABp9Io1BDRIa2_Ts3CF3lwA
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It’s much easier to whine, shift the message, and claim “poor me” (how ironic) than admit you’re wrong.
How they watch and listen to Mr. McCain and others talk about leadership and country before party (even if it’s on 12% of thee time) and still sleep at night is beyond me.
“Oh, I am running because I want to serve the good people of ______ (fill in blank with red state / district name).” Bring in the Crap Detector, please, Mr. Hemingway.
We know and they know we know they want to stay out of the sickman’s tweets or fill their pockets with tax breaks.
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Off topic but, since Mercedes writes about Louisiana, some data about Arnold spending-$10,700,000, 2016-2019, for New Schools for Baton Rouge, Inc., and, up to $18.6 mil. for New Schools of New Orleans, Inc., 2012-2019. The Louisiana Association of Charter Schools got $1.15 mil., 2012-2015 and BAEO got more than $4 mil., 2012-2015. Louisiana ranks 2nd among states in terms of percentage of Black population. New Orleans and Baton Rouge are among the top 10 cities for percentage of Black population. Baltimore which has a 29% Black population was the city where Arnold funded police aerial surveillance of neighborhoods, a project about which elected leaders had no knowledge (Baltimore Sun).
Arnold’s school privatization and pension attacks- altruism? The Black population is heavily represented among public jobs (and pensions) because the public sector is less discriminatory than the private sector.
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It was touching to watch the oldest representative in Congress, leave his wheel chair to touch the casket: Rep Sam Johnson (Col USAF ret), a POW for 7 years.
How many of us know that Sen Jeremiah Dent (R Adm USN Ret) POW for 7 years and James Stockdale (Adm USN) running mate for Ross Perot also a 7 yr POW also quietly suffered with injuries and served?
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