"of the military’s twenty-one gun salute"
Too bad those guns have been pointed the wrong way for decades.
Great article, Robert.

Me dino was almost halfway through the article when an epitaph sprang to mind and that said epitaph is: "He reached across the aisle."
Methinks Nutty Nancy would giddily applaud that by clapping a hand against her upraised other.
Obamacare Barry would surely smile.

I always admired John McCain's maverick attitude but it was a shallow observation. I rooted for the underdog without actually looking at what the underdog was fighting for.

I was wrong about him. This quote from the article says a lot:
"John McCain venerated the state, of which he was a product. His grandfather and father were admirals in the navy. He was a graduate of the Naval Academy and spent his entire career working for the government. His philosophy was consistent: there are no constraints on the state."

Its good to hear for once that McCain was not the "god" that he was portrayed to be. He was a master of self-sacrifice to gain sympathy, while at the same time a real believer in wars of any kind.

I am happy that we are rid of him, actually. I was tired of all the nonsense about how he was a war hero.

Heroes DO something other than just willingly sit in an enemy cell and be tortured. That was just STUPID. There are plenty of heroes out there, but McCain wasnt one of them. He was successful at milking the idea that sacrifice is the highest ideal.

I turned off all news while the McCain funeral nonsense controlled it. He should have resigned from the senate when he was diagnosed with the brain cancer, and just enjoyed the rest of his life without trying to make our president's life miserable.

Trumps crime was to expose the hollow nature of McCains sacrifice and how he milked it for years. For that, McCain HATED Trump to his core.

Trump ,in that simple sentence about preferring soldiers that didnt get captured, nailed the essence of McCain.

What really grinds my cognitive gears is that the hero of my younger years, my older brother, the one who introduced me to Ayn Rand and Hayek, has for decades regarded McCain as his hero. Life teaches that some equations can never be solved.
How can one be a hero in war who has never fully recognized the threat?
Great, well thought out and written article.

posted to facebook...the hatred was back today between the dems & repubs, on tx for all to see....my girlfriend was disgusted with ceremony around McCain, but could not vocalize it as you have so cleverly done...

"Many of the “mourners” are so warped, so corrupt, and so beyond redemption that they evoke profound despair among those who see them for what they are."

They have learned to imitate our sorrow well, abet for the wrong reasons and for the wrong person. Their imitations are not flattering...it was all so fake and disgusting as if Plato himself adorned him with a golden helmet made from the wrapper of a rolo.