Over the weekend the biggest news was the passing of Senator John McCain. He’s been a fixture of the news for many years, becoming all the more well known during his failed campaign for the presidency against Barack Obama.
Like all too many, I personally never knew the man but his background and service during the Vietnam War, at which time he sustained considerable injuries and was captured and held prisoner for a number of years, refusing to be released early until his fellow prisoners were first released, is the stuff of legend.
His personal life afterwards and his political career, however, gives me pause. He proposed to his much younger current wife while still married. His ties to the Keating Five is worrisome and during his presidential run he ultimately chose Sarah Palin as his running mate, a decision which very likely hurt his campaign but which hinted -and perhaps encouraged- some of the same far right know-nothings to keep working at taking over the Republican party… which they essentially have today.
Worst still, even though he had painful first-hand experiences with war, when he became senator he was a strong proponent for war against Iraq (he would, practically on his deathbed, acknowledge it was a mistake). He was also infamously caught mock-singing “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb Iran” at a function…
Certainly these things, among others, disturbed me but even having listed these examples, one can’t help but admire him as well. One simply cannot sweep under the carpet the literal hell he went through in Vietnam. He also engendered considerable respect on both sides of the political aisle and, while many of his political leanings do not follow my own, he seemed respectful of others views and was willing to defend his opponents when he felt they were being maligned…
Hard to imagine Donald Trump would show a fraction of the decency of this moment. In fact, as I write this (at 8:40 am, the day after the announcement of Senator McCain’s passing), the flag over the White House is no longer flying at half-mast and Trump’s only reaction to the Senator’s death was a tweet directed at the family which -of course- never mentioned the Senator by name and -of course, part deux- showed a photograph of Donald Trump himself.
Mixed feelings though I have about the Senator, I respect his service and will miss his presence.
Rest In Peace, Senator.
*****
Senator McCain’s passing all but eclipsed the passing of another very prominent person: Playwright, screenwriter, and author Neil Simon.
Known for creating many memorable stories which made their way to Broadway, television, and film, perhaps his most famous work wound up being this one…
Famous as the movie was, the TV show based on it, featuring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman, was an incredibly big follow up hit.
The Odd Couple would be reworked many, many times in many other ways, including a recent TV series featured Thomas Lennon and Matthew Perry.
One of my personal favorite of his works was Murder By Death (1976). In some ways, this film predicted the arrival of Airplane! a few years later. While Airplane! was a hilarious take on the then popular airline disaster/general disaster movie genre, Murder By Death amusingly took on all the major crime/detective works released up to that point. It featured quite the cast, too!
Rest in Peace, fellows.
Rest in Peace.