John McCain stopped by CNN on Sunday for the now-customary reverential interview. The celebrant this time around was Jake Tapper. McCain reported that his treatment for his deadly cancer was going as well as expected and then he said one of those John McCain things that drew so many people—including, admittedly, me—to him in the days before losing to Barack Obama sent him over the edge.

"Jake, every life has to end one way or another. I think it was a playwright — I'll think of his name in a minute — he said, 'I always knew that no one could live forever, but I thought there might be one exception. But you've got to have joy."

But the senator also said something else that should be remarked upon, if only to measure how far the maverick of 2000 is from the John McCain of 2017. (And, Chris Cillizza, the “happy warrior” has not been in conspicuous evidence the past eight years.) Tapper asked him why the Republican Party is so dead-set against confronting the climate crisis with anything resembling honesty. As video of Hurricane Irma raged on another part of the electric teevee screen, McCain said:

"I don't know because I can't define their motives. But I know that there are things happening with the climate in the world that is unprecedented.”

Oh, come on, senator. You know good and well what their motive is. Their motive is exactly what you (and Russ Feingold) targeted with the now-murdered law that bore your name. Their motive is exactly what you used to say about the role of money in politics, especially once you got caught flying to the Caribbean a few times with mega-crook Charlie Keating. Their motive is money, period—that sweet, sweet carbon industry money. On this issue, your colleagues and good friends in the Senate are bought and paid-for sublets.

Why at this point you would pretend you don’t know that is yet another reason why your political persona makes me have second thoughts about what I wrote almost 20 years ago.

Respond to this post on the Esquire Politics Facebook page.



Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io