Monday Musings -- Too Soon?

When a public figure dies, the hearts and flowers pour out of the woodwork in praise.  It's understandable, if not truthful.  The same is happening now, for Sen. John McCain.  Given the current political climate, the man does look like a paragon of virtue, but he was decidedly not.  I'll never get over his choice of Sarah Palin as his VP running mate.  A man of virtue, of integrity, would never have foisted that crazy person upon the American people.  I can't help but wonder if that act set the stage for the Orange Menace, and the unleashing of the dark psyche of the disaffected citizens.

The blog Lawyers, Guns and Money has an honest piece on Senator John McCain.  Link to it here.  Here is an excerpt.

“Do you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly?”
“Because Janet Reno is her father.”

Ha ha ha. What mavericktude! Making fun of the looks of both a teenage girl and a pioneering Cabinet official. This is a good summary of that joke:

“The remark packed into its 15 words several layers of misogyny. It disparaged the looks of Chelsea, then 18 and barely out of high school; it portrayed Reno as a man at a time when she was serving as the first female US attorney general; and it implied that Hillary Clinton was engaged in a lesbian affair while the Monica Lewinsky scandal was blazing. Not bad going, Senator McCain.”

I recognize that many 'great' public figures have dark and unsavory aspects to their lives.  He is not unusual in this regard.  I acknowledge that during these times of corruption and ineptitude we long for men and women of courage -- we need our heroes in order to keep hope alive.  I also know that they are many true heroes out there, and we do not need to invent fake ones.  It may upset some to hear of McCain's shortcomings at this time, but it is equally upsetting for those in the know to see him lauded so.

As Doris Lessing said,  "I am, to be quite honest, sick of hero stories."

My heroes?  The mothers and fathers who flee torture and war with their children in tow, to save their babies from the horror.  The teachers in America who work tirelessly for little pay to educate our children and give them a chance to participate in life.  The people who donate a kidney to a stranger.  People who carry donor ID cards in their wallets every day.  People who serve food in a shelter. and  Doctors Without Borders.  Men and women war correspondents who voluntarily place themselves in the most dangerous places on earth so they we may know the truth.  And so many more.

I am glad that the Senator's suffering is over.  No one should have to die like that.  Despite his POW status, he lived a life of privilege and power.  My sympathies to his family.  Full stop.

I am, to be quite honest, sick of hero stories. Julie Taymor
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/heroI

I am, to be quite honest, sick of hero stories. Julie Taymor
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/hero

*****
P.S. I've already received shit on Facebook.  You know, "This is not the time...." kind of stuff.  Oh well.  I say, there's never a wrong time for the truth.  Something that's in short supply in national politics right now.  That's okay.  People can mourn.  I don't want to take that away from them.  And they can't take the truth away from me.  That's just how it goes down, folks.

I was contrary in 1974; I'm contrary in 2018.  >>>>>>