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Fritz
Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 1, 2018 - 09:16am PT
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Meghan McCain rebukes Trump in emotional tribute to her father
Sen. John McCain's daughter mourns 'the passing of American greatness' at National Cathedral service marking the Arizonan's extraordinary life.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/01/john-mccain-memorial-service-washington-national-cathedral-806111
By NOLAN D. MCCASKILL 09/01/2018 10:32 AM EDT Updated 09/01/2018 11:14 AM EDT
An emotional Meghan McCain kicked off a series of tributes Saturday to the late Sen. John McCain, remembering the Arizona Republican as, more than anything, a loving father and everything President Donald Trump is not.
“I am here before you today saying the words I have never wanted to say giving the speech I have never wanted to give, feeling the loss I have never wanted to feel,” she began, sniffling before speaking her next words. “My father is gone.”
Meghan McCain acknowledged the many titles that have preceded her father’s name: Navy sailor, aviator, prisoner of war, war hero, congressman, senator and Republican presidential nominee.
“These are all of the titles and roles of a life that’s been well lived,” she said. But they pale in comparison to his role as a father.
Meghan McCain also issued an extraordinary rebuke of the president, who was not invited to any ceremonies commemorating John McCain this week.
“We gather to mourn the passing of American greatness — the real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice, those that live lives of comfort and privilege while he suffered and served,” she said.
Without making any mention of the president directly, she contrasted Trump’s America with that of her father’s. John McCain’s America, she said, is welcoming, it meets its responsibilities and speaks quietly because it’s strong.
McCain’s America, she continued, “does not boast because she has no need to. The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great.”
The line drew sustained applause from within the cathedral, including from many service members in uniform.
John McCain’s casket arrived at the Washington National Cathedral on Saturday morning, where family, friends, current and former government officials and international leaders will pay tribute to the Arizona Republican before he is laid to rest on Sunday.
McCain’s widow, Cindy, laid a wreath earlier Saturday at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial for her husband, who was captured and held as a prisoner of war.
Saturday’s service is the most high-profile event of a week-long series commemorating McCain’s storied life. McCain later served his country in the House and Senate and twice ran for president.
The senator lay in state in the Arizona Capitol on Wednesday and the U.S. Capitol on Friday. A memorial service was held in between at the North Phoenix Baptist Church on Thursday, featuring tributes from former Vice President Joe Biden and Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
Saturday’s memorial service at the National Cathedral will feature tributes from the two men who ended his 2000 and 2008 White House bids, former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) will also deliver tributes.
Power players from both parties, including former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Vice Presidents Al Gore and Dick Cheney were also in attendance.
Trump, who was not invited to any of McCain’s farewell events, spent his morning at the White House.
McCain discontinued treatment from brain cancer last Friday and died last Saturday. He was 81.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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apogee, good to see you around. 👍
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 1, 2018 - 09:35am PT
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A nice eulogy from former President George W. Bush:
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 1, 2018 - 01:39pm PT
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What We Can Learn about Partisanship from John McCain
By KATHERINE TIMPF
August 31, 2018 5:09 PM
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/08/john-mccain-powerful-lesson-about-partisanship-and-friendship/
By refusing to let politics dictate who his friends were, McCain set a powerful example we’d all do well to follow.
At a memorial service for John McCain in Phoenix on Thursday, former vice president Joe Biden spoke about McCain’s willingness to reach across party lines during his time as a senator:
During the long debates in the ’80s and ’90s, I would go sit next to John, next to his seat or he would come on the Democratic side and sit next to me. I’m not joking. We’d sit there and talk to each other. I can remember the day when I came out to see John, we were reminiscing around it. It was ’96, about to go to the caucus. We both went into our caucus and co-incidentally, we were approached by our caucus leaders with the same thing. Joe, it doesn’t look good, you sitting next to John all the time. I swear to god. Same thing was said to John in your caucus.
John McCain, of course, wouldn’t have cared about this. If he wanted to be friends with Joe Biden, he was going to be friends with Joe Biden. He certainly wouldn’t let a thing like partisanship get in the way of a friendship that he considered to be important to him. Unlike far too many people these days, McCain was able to put principle over party. He didn’t discount Democrats just for being Democrats; he evaluated every person and every issue independently.
McCain was willing to befriend Democrats even though they were Democrats, and as a proud Republican, he was also not afraid to criticize members of his own party. Far too many people seem unable or unwilling to follow his example in this regard. For example: When President Trump made those comments about the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville last year — saying there were “some very fine people on both sides,” even though one of those sides was a group of white nationalists — many Republicans hesitated to speak out against him. But not John McCain:
John McCain
@SenJohnMcCain
There's no moral equivalency between racists & Americans standing up to defy hate& bigotry. The President of the United States should say so
These days, it seems as though far too many people on both sides of the aisle decide there opinions about any given issue based solely on partisanship. Think about it: We have supposedly socially conservative Republicans — people who decried Bill Clinton’s infidelities in the ’90s, arguing that they made him unfit for office — now strongly supporting Trump in spite of his extramarital affairs. On the flip side, we have supposedly socially liberal Democrats — people who had defended Clinton, saying that what happens in a man’s sex life is his own business and should not impact his presidency — now saying that Trump’s affairs are grounds for impeachment. There is no consistency, there is no logic, there are no values; there is only partisanship.
What’s more, it’s not as if people are sticking to their partisanship politely. As I wrote in a column after I had water thrown on me in a targeted attack before a speaking appearance last summer, it is now “all about ramped-up, hyper-partisan rhetoric, where you’re either on one side or the other, and must see the people on the other side as if they’re not ‘people’ at all. It’s all about either unconditionally hating or unconditionally supporting your side.”
If you’re a Republican, you’re supposed to unquestionably defend all Republicans — and, of course, to despise all Democrats. If you’re a conservative, and you happen to disagree with Trump on anything at all, you’re not just a person who disagrees, you’re a piece of cuckservative, traitorous trash. If you’re a Democrat, and you happen to agree with something that Trump said or did, you’re not just a person who agrees, you’re an evil, misogynistic racist. This approach to politics is not only infantile but damaging to our republic, because it prevents people from having to think critically about the important issues that affect us the most. Without the ability to think critically, or to have the kinds of open, respectful discussions that many complex issues deserve, we can never hope to find the best solutions to any of the problems that our country faces. (emphasis added)
And John McCain refused to subscribe to this kind of childish, simplistic thinking. He was his own man with his own values. Some people hated him, and wrote things about him that are too nasty for me to repeat here, simply because he happened to disagree with President Trump. But he would never have done the same in their shoes, as Biden pointed out so beautifully. He would never have discounted someone’s humanity over a political disagreement.
Although I only had the honor of spending time with McCain on a few occasions, I can say for a fact that he was always very kind to me . . . and this despite our own huge political differences. (I’m a libertarian dove, and he was the most hawkish of hawks.) We had great conversations, and a mutual respect. Most people can’t get along with their political opponents these days, but John McCain could. We should all be grateful for his example, and strive to live by it.
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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?
[Click to View YouTube Video]
...childish, simplistic and confused thinking, to speak the truth...
Confirmation bias to such a degree that it is tragicomedy...
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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I certainly was not a Bush fan, but thought he have a respectable eulogy.
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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Thanks, xCon, those words of truth were needed...
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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What ever respect McCain earned through his military service was squandered in spades by his service to the Republican Party.
I shed no tears for this fellow veteran.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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McCain was good bowler.....many strikes....
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Yury
Mountain climber
T.O.
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I am not sure whether this tweet was already shared here.
@mehdirhasan:
Condolences to the family of John McCain.
Condolences also to the families of thousands of American soldiers, and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis, Afghans, Yemenis, Syrians, Palestinians & others who might be alive today were it not for the votes, & actions, of John McCain.
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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nafod
Boulder climber
State college
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Condolences also to the families of thousands of American soldiers, and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis, Afghans, Yemenis, Syrians, Palestinians & others who might be alive today were it not for the votes, & actions, of John McCain.
Ever ponder on the tens of thousands who might be alive thanks to the votes, & actions, of John McCain? The Kurds probably appreciated his point of view.
You can't be a leader at the top level and not have thousands live or die based on your decisions. It is how our world works. Look the other way while the Myanmar leaders, NORKs, or Rwandans kill hundreds of thousands of their own? Intervene, resulting in deaths?
Just know that folks like Saddam Hussein, Dear Leader, Putin, the Myanmar leadership, and many, many others depend on and align their near-term goals with people that make your same argument, not to intervene. Look the other way.
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Yury
Mountain climber
T.O.
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nafod:
Just know that folks like Saddam Hussein, Dear Leader, Putin, the Myanmar leadership, and many, many others depend on and align their near-term goals with people that make your same argument, not to intervene. Look the other way. nafod, you memorized neocon/neoliberal slogans very well.
At the same time I am not sure whether you have noticed that after US interference more people were killed each year as compared to a time when Saddam, Assad, Gaddafi etc. ruled.
I understand that you are not comfortable discussing outcome of US interference and prefer looking the other way.
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nafod
Boulder climber
State college
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Yury, a million dead Rwandans appreciate your non-interventionism.
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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To get the whole picture of McCain, to appreciate the whole man as he was, the "grace under pressure" point must be seen in connection with the following documentation showing McCain as presidential candidate:
I don't remember much about the grace of his candidate for the wise presidency, but I believe the picture was complex...
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EdwardT
Trad climber
Retired
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Good post xcon. Most of the recent McCain adoration was based primarily on his adversarial relationship with Trump. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Many of the same people singing his praises were eviscerating him back in '08.
As far as allowing a grace period before trashing him, I say bullsh*t! His wishes were to exclude the POTUS, his '08 running mate and several of his '08 campaign staff from his funeral. You're unwelcome! In doing so, he made his passing a political weapon. People gush about his character and dignity. Bullsh*t.
The exploitation of his death is just another sign of the times. It ain't pretty.
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