Back when President Barack Obama had black hair (L) with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) during a meeting with a bipartisan group of Senators and members of Congress in the State Dining Room at the White House June 25, 2009, in Washington, D.C. Obama hosted the bipartisan group of Senate and House members to begin a dialogue on immigration with the hope of starting the debate later this year. Photo : Chip Somodevilla ( Getty Images )

I’m of the contention that we should generally be judged or even rated as humans by the best—and not worst— thing we’ve ever done. So I have no problems with the recently deceased Senator from Arizona, John McCain, a flawed, fallible white man from America, being assessed honestly.


But fr ankly, I’m having the biggest kiki over McCain giving President Petty Bonespurs a great big fat finger from the grave.

The Myth of John McCain John McCain is dead. How will he be remembered? How should he be remembered? These are two separate Read more


In life, McCain notoriously left his sick bed to help cast the death knell for the repeal of Obamacare; he also chose not to pander to his racist base when some questioned Obama’s allegiance to America. In this writer’s mind, that levels out his choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate, and voting against making Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday in his first term in Congress. In general, and despite his political party, McCain has, for the most part, acted with decency and integrity, attributes all but ghost from today’s Capitol Hill.

In that vein, CBS News reports that McCain requested that former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush deliver eulogies at his funeral. McCain died on Saturday at age 81.

Former President Obama, who defeated the six-term Senator in 2008 presidential race, issued a statement shortly after McCain’s death saying that he and his former rival shared “ a fidelity to something higher.” Obama continues:

We saw our political battles, even, as a privilege, something noble, an opportunity to serve as stewards of those high ideals at home, and to advance them around the world. We saw this country as a place where anything is possible – and citizenship as our patriotic obligation to ensure it forever remains that way. Few of us have been tested the way John once was, or required to show the kind of courage that he did. But all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own. At John’s best, he showed us what that means. And for that, we are all in his debt. Michelle and I send our most heartfelt condolences to Cindy and their family.”


George W. Bush, who defeated McCain for the GOP nomination in 2000, issued a statement also, hailing McCain as “a man of deep conviction and a patriot of the highest order.”



Former president Jimmy Carter said: “John McCain was a man of honor, a true patriot in the best sense of the word. Americans will be forever grateful for his heroic military service and for his steadfast integrity as a member of the United States Senate. Rosalynn and I extend our sincere condolences to Senator McCain’s family and to the people of Arizona whom he represented so forthrightly for so many years.”


The New York Times reports that McCain’s body will lie in state in both the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix and Capitol Rotunda in DC, receive a full dress service at the Washington National Cathedral and will be buried at Annapolis.

Donald Trump, McCain’s sometimes bitter rival, was not invited to McCain’s funeral, according to reports. Under previously announced plans, Vice President Mike Pence will attend instead.


In having at least two—and probably all living—presidents besides the sitting one, at his funeral, McCain remains “the maverick.”