Saturday, September 1, 2018

I Like People Who Are Welcome at Funerals

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Our nation's capital is awash in funeral activities today for Senator John McCain, an American patriot who passed away last weekend at his ranch in Arizona.   McCain, a former navy fighter pilot and the son and grandson of navy admirals, was shot down by the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War and served more than five years as a prisoner of war in the infamous prison that American captives referred to as the "Hanoi Hilton."

American political leaders, celebrities, service men and women, and throngs of ordinary citizens are in Washington, DC, today for the funeral and related activities celebrating the life of John McCain.  Two former presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, are in attendance and giving eulogies, and former vice-president Joe Biden gave a eulogy at a funeral service for McCain two days ago in Phoenix.  All told, it is a sendoff worthy of a world-class world leader.

One notable absentee from today's activities is our nation's current leader, Donald John Trump.   Donald John received a bunch of negative press during the 2016 campaign when he referred to John McCain as a "dummy."  Trump told one television news interviewer that he has supported McCain in 2008 and had raised a million dollars for his campaign.  But then Trump went on and criticized the Arizona senator for losing that presidential election and added, "I don't like losers.

When the television commentator pressed candidate Trump on his criticism of John McCain, noting that the senator was also a war hero, Donald John got even more explicit.  In further degrading the American statesman, he said:

"He's not a hero.  He's a war hero because he was captured.  I like people who weren't captured."
And, although John McCain probably didn't give a rat's ass about what Trump thought of him, nevertheless, it was a rebuke that McCain never forgot, nor forgave.

As John McCain lay dying, he made the decision that Donald Trump would not be invited to attend or speak at his funeral.

So today official Washington as well as goodly number of famous and not-so-famous Americans are gathering to say one last farewell to a person who did so much for America - a man who wanted his tombstone to read simply, "He served his country."  Donald John Trump, a man who avoided military service with "bone spurs" in his feet - a condition that never kept him off of any golf course - will not be there.  It's Saturday, so presumably he is somewhere playing golf - most likely on one of his own golf courses, and the American taxpayers are picking up the tab for Cadet Bone spurs and his entourage.

I like people who are welcome at funerals.

Rest in peace, Johnny Mac. 

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