8.26.18: An American Hero Leaves Us With a Huge Void in Leadership

We'll stay out of the Trumpster fire this week except to say that in comparing President Trump and the late Senator John McCain, there is no comparison. Mr. Trump said that Mr. McCain wasn't a war hero because he got captured [by the North Vietnamese] and he thinks heroes don't get captured. You can imagine this column's feeling on that, even if you've only been reading for the past two weeks. Mr. McCain's response was that the president didn't owe him apology, but did owe an apology to every other POW who fought for this country. More recently, President Trump gave a speech at Fort Drum in New York and signed a new military authorization bill in front of the troops. The bill was purposely name after Senator John McCain and the president never once mentioned his name, a obvious slight to the late senator.

The reason that President Trump tries to tear down people with integrity is because he has none. This column over the years has both praised the late Arizona senator and denounced some of his political stances, but would not question the man's integrity. There's now a huge void in American political leadership that no one seems capable of stepping up to fill.

From today's "Meet The Press" and from other tributes every citizen of this country and others around the world should know that Senator John McCain (R-AZ) was:
self-knowingly flawed,
proud,
patriotic,
always thinking in terms of a cause bigger than himself,
egotistic,
forgiving,
hot-tempered,
a political maverick,
gracious in defeat,
able to issue an apology,
deeply committed to the notion that the U.S. as the exceptional nation,
willing to reach across the aisle,
a able to disagree with a fellow legislator yet call him or her friend,
a hero,
a true American.

He embodied all the traits that make us all Americans. It can't be overstated and his was a voice that we desperately need in these times with such a divisive president who has no inclination to lead all that call themselves Americans.

Here are a few examples to illustrate the larger-than-life legacy of John McCain.

At the Al Smith Dinner in 2008. Note his words about then-Senator Barack Obama (starting at 1:40)



Highlights of his best political moments, including when he corrected a woman on the campaign in 2008 about his president opponent Barack Obama



A New York Times Retrospective



Photos of an American Hero

Senator McCain, thank you for your service, sir.


Panel: Tom Brokaw, NBC News; Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Joshua Johnson, NPR; Hallie Jackson, NBC News; Susan Page, USA Today; David Brody, Christian Science Network