No matter your party or profession in Washington, including most journalists I know, liking John McCain isn’t about politics. He’s fun, irreverent, and capable of bipartisanship. His prognosis appears dicey but here’s hoping.
It turns out, unfortunately, that his form of brain cancer is the same as what took the life of Ted Kennedy and also that of our Trail Mix pal Sean Holton, whose family has thankfully maintained his phenomenal and surprisingly uplifting online chronicle of his courageous battle: Same Time Tomorrow.
In one of Sean’s last entries on his blog he wrote about being able to foresee his own death: “I am not afraid. I still refuse to be afraid. That would be a fate much worse than just curling up to die. If there is any single thing anyone has learned from following my journey on this blog for these past two years, it is that. Do not be afraid. Fear is a waste of time, and a waste of life.”
Given what McCain overcame in early life, you know he knows what Sean was talking about.
What a beautiful Post about life & the courage in living.
All the best to the Senator & his family.
“He said, ‘I’m going to have to stay here a little bit longer and take some treatments, but I’ll be back,’ ” Graham said of McCain. “He said, ‘I’ve been through worse,’
on a different topic and about someone (or sometwo) whose terminal prognosis, political that is, looks even more imminent:
from politico:
….without seeking advice from his lawyers or his senior aides, Trump was in the Oval Office telling reporters from the New York Times that he regretted hiring Jeff Sessions as his attorney general and discussing a sensitive investigation his lawyers have told him to keep quiet about – a performance that once again left his most senior aides startled and scrambling to respond.
[….]
Trump has blamed Sessions for much of the mess he now finds himself in and sees the recusal as a pivotal moment in his presidency, advisers and aides say. And he thinks Sessions hasn’t always presented himself well in public. The top campaign adviser is no longer in the inner circle.
“His feelings are not new here. He just has never said it like this,” said the senior administration official said.
The official acknowledged that the statements could fuel questions about whether Sessions, one of Trump’s earliest backers in the campaign, will resign. While there seemed to be no immediate plans in place for that Wednesday night, administration officials said it was different for Trump to criticize Sessions publicly.
“If you’re Jeff you have to say, why am I sticking around and getting kicked like this?” the official said
and from the bbc:
The Times interview reflects the anger the president feels at this development.
He said: “A special counsel should never have been appointed in this case… Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and I would have picked somebody else.”
Mr Trump said Mr Sessions had given him “zero” notice of the recusal.
“How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, ‘Thanks, Jeff, but I can’t, you know, I’m not going to take you.’ It’s extremely unfair, and that’s a mild word, to the president.”
I wouldn’t wish gioblastoma on anyone. Here’s hoping John can beat the odds. I disagree with most of his political positions and considered him too old to be president when he ran, and I’ll never forgive his elevation of Palin to the national stage. All that said I hope his battle with this cancer has a good outcome for him. And I will never forget him correcting his addled supporter who attacked Obama. Good on you John
Very sad news about McCain indeed. I wish him and his family the best.
I’m pretty much in line with Pogo having followed McCain since the Keating Five scandal as I had worked in mortgage insurance business in the years prior. At the time his & John Glenn’s ethics were not questioned, but their judgment was. That was what you always knew about McCain. You might disagree with him strenuously, but you didn’t question his basic decency or honesty. Certainly his taking on of the political nut case was a highlight in his career and makes you sincerely wish for that old school style of politicians.
I wish him strength for the fight and extend best wishes to all of his family & friends.
exactly two years ago on this very day this was published in time :
Arizona Sen. John McCain said on Monday that Donald Trump does not owe him an apology for saying the Vietnam veteran is a war hero only “because he was captured”—but that he should apologize to other vets.
Asked whether Trump should apologize to him for the widely-criticized remarks, McCain said on MSNBC: “I don’t think so. I think he may owe an apology to the families of those who have sacrificed in conflict and those who have undergone the prison experience in serving their country.”
“The great honor of my life was to serve in the company of heroes,” McCain added. “I’m not a hero. but those who were my senior ranking officers, people that got the Congressional Medal of Honor winner, those that inspired us to do things we otherwise would not have been capable of doing—those are the people that I think he owes an apology to.”
but to this date as far as I can find, the twit never fully apologized either to the honorable senator or to other vets held captive.
Damn it, this isn’t the way John is supposed to go. He still has time to storm the White House in the name of the People, throwing the rascal out. I want to be at his side when he does it–armed with a stout Central American walking stick designed to fight malignant power. And, Senator, all those people who are suddenly siding up to you, give them your famous grin along with your single finger salute.
I wish McCain the best.
They are making great strides in the treatment of brain cancer.
3 years ago my cousin Doug was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. We all feared the worst but he was able to take a new treatment and he is now cancer free.
So here’s hoping
Jack
patd,
Senator McCain is BIG & #45 is small.
What ever happens, given his age this will sideline McCain for most of the next year. Good news for Trump as we will lose one of the few Republicans willing to stand up to Trump.
Jack
So as everybody is issuing platitudes, I wonder how many are working behind the scenes preparing for the special election in case he retires for health reasons. You know they are making calls.
Jack
Jack
Being evil to my core, that question about a special election and timing was probably thought number two. It would be a gubernatorial appointment and would have to be a Republican who would serve until the next general election (earliest would be 11/6/18) . Whoever was elected would then serve the remainder of McCain’s term of office (2022).
Toby’s official birthday (anniversary) portrait. We got her from shelter one year ago today.
Happy Birthday Toby!
#45 is targeting Jeff Flake too. Potentially two new Senators in his column.
Craig,
Great post and so true.
My political differences with John McCain are to numerous to mention, but his decency, patriotism and his commitment to service of his country have never been in question.
I wish him nothing but the best in what will undoubtedly prove to be his toughest battle.
The senator at Trump’s left hand at yesterday’s dinner was Tim Scott from SC. He is incredibly conservative. Absolutely refuses to consider humanistic healthcare options; believes Trump is the Second Coming. These characterizations I have garnered in response to my missives to him.
In a perfect world, Trump would have recused himself.
jack & Jamie, an emphatic “no way” on the possibility of voluntary retirement when it comes to McCain. imo, he will fight to his last breath to remain senator. a clarion call to duty.
Jamie,
You can bet that the political buzzards are circling the carcass in AZ.
Kelli Ward who lost in the primary to McCain is already making noises about challenging Jeff Flake. No doubt she will float her name as a possible replacement for McCain should that become necessary. The finger wagging Jan Brewer has also been mentioned. Ward and Brewer are as shallow as Trump and equally disingenuous.Governor Ducey has national ambitions perhaps he will appoint himself. Should be fun to watch.
No doubt, eProf will keep us posted.
My favorite oddball McCain issue – his support for ala cart pricing for cable television
Jamie
Thanks for the correct info.
So only Republicans are making calls, reminding the Governor and staff how loyal and electable Republicans they are.
Jack
pretty chilling story in time
Exclusive: Read the Previously Undisclosed Plan to Counter Russian Hacking on Election Day
If you haven’t yet gone over the Trump NY Times interview, it is an amazing conglomeration of egotism, self interest, possible criminality confession, and an unbelievable pile of ignorance. My favorite items so far are the descriptions of the Russian front in campaigns by both Napoleon and Hitler topped by giving credit where it wasn’t due to Napoleon for the design of Paris streets. That was done under Napoleon III (apparently the O’Reilly school of world history).
however, speaking of a very likely voluntary resignation
Published on Jul 19, 2017
In an astonishing interview with the New York Times, Trump said if knew Sessions would recuse himself in the Russia probe, he’d have picked a different Attorney General. Lawrence O’Donnell explains this is a “signal” from Trump about the unfolding investigation.
KGC
We are starting to head in the direction of Ala Cart with the various subscription services. Most of them run about $10/month each and many of the cable channels are putting the subscriptions in their channel lineups such as X-Finity carrying your NetFlix access. CBS all access now has original programming and ABC & NBC have on demand.
Broadway HD, BritBox and Acorn are niche market channels for on demand shows you wouldn’t see at all or only PBS or BBC.
The costs over commercial or cable don’t quite work out yet, but it is a direction.
Gonna be a hot one and we have a neighborhood cleanup planned for Saturday morning. The hottest day of the week. Forecast 100 degrees.
Other neighborhood updates
The grant interview I told you about a couple of weeks ago was really weird, they gave us a list of questions that we prepared for and they didn’t ask them but wondered over to subjects that had nothing to do with the grant. We assumed it was a no go and moved on.
We were very surprised when we got an email that we got the grant. It gives $14000 up front, then we have to do online fundraising and they will match dollar for dollar up to $3000 for a total of $20,000.
We are trying to create a special corner in our park, so the park can be a place where you can kick ideas around as well a ball. This grant will let us build a circular gathering/performance space that Mrs Jack is calling the reading room. We envision it as a gathering spot where you can do readings, music, poetry slams, art projects or just set on the benches and talk to a few friends.
We are meeting with the funders this afternoon and will know more about our timetable then. Mean while I need to update our blog and get more active on facebook.
Oh did I mention we have a cleanup, we are doing the school supply give away again in three weeks and …….. and …….. and ………
So if you don’t see me much it is not that I’m mad
Again thanks for all of your help.
Jack
Although it’s hard to succinctly summarize anything as daunting as drumpf’s lies, Glenn Kessler and Michelle Yee Hee Lee do a pretty good job of it. Plus there’s a link in the article to an interactive list of drumpf’s false claims. Now THAT should be fun to play with.
So if you don’t see me much it is not that I’m mad
jack, you mad? maybe as in hatter but most times on trail you have been the epitome of a statesman. 🙂
Is it just me or is Mitch McConnell just not all that good at what he does?
I am beginning to think that just like Paul Ryan, he has been vastly overrated.
Five Thirty Eight has taken a marvelous flight of fancy to the alternate universe of EARTH II
If Hillary Clinton Had Won
jace, never underestimate what lies beneath the tortoise shell nor let his tediously slow-movement fool you.
who knows this may be just what he planned for….
Jeff Sessions says he’ll keep job ‘as long as appropriate’ despite Trump’s criticism
Happy Anniversary Toby!
Jack… you and Mrs. Jack are an example of what Americans can accomplish despite SFB being in the WH. I applaud your efforts.
Should we take bets on when SFB will fire Sessions?… stay tuned… we’re gonna need buckets and buckets of popcorn… 🙂
Renee, August 4.
If the deadbeat fires sessions, will it signal that jeffbo is not party to the russian conspiracies, or merely an expendable soldier in the struggle to make putin the tsar of earth ?
Expendable soldier PG doesn’t like Sessions recusing himself – I’m sure PG views it as weasel behavior
The parole hearing is a pathetic example of bureaucratic square filling.
RR and Pogo
I’d like a piece of that action…could be soon if he really thinks the Trump empire is doubt or danger
I think as a tribute to history I will take 8/9
In an article i can’t find now, someone from the Atlantic interviewed Congressional Republicans, off the record, to hear their real opinions regarding the Putin-Trump affair. To be succinct, they DGAF and are only concerned with their own reelection. Why does our government attract such awful people?
Does SFB = “stupid fucking bastard”?
Even money, Sessions stays after he fires Mueller. Mueller is getting into dangerous territory for Trump, He could put the whole family behind bars.
Jack
just snapped this Cardinal, beating the heat in our birdbath.
looks more like a flamingo to me… oh, now I see it. fins, snorkel and all
the state:
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Illinois Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin plan to introduce a new version of the Dream Act, Thursday, which would allow young immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children to be put on a path toward citizenship.
The bipartisan bill is the latest attempt in a long-stalled legislative process to protect from deportation some 800,000 people who have registered as DREAMers – which stands for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors – since then-President Obama and the Department of Homeland Security began to implement Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) on Aug. 15, 2012.
The latest attempt comes as the governor of Idaho and attorneys general from 10 states, including South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, have issued a deadline calling for President Trump to rescind DACA and not issue any more permits by Sept. 5, or they will sue to end the program. DACA offers temporary relief from deportation for illegal immigrants who register with the government and allows them to get social security numbers so they can work, pay taxes and go to college.
[….]
Trump extended DACA in June and has said he’d like to see comprehensive immigration reform but that the climate in Washington isn’t ready for it yet. He and Sessions have taken a hard line on immigration enforcement so far in his presidency.
Legislative action could thwart the attempts to have DACA rescinded and would offer the greatest protection for DREAMers already registered in the program. It offers the latest in a long string of bipartisan attempts to protect DREAMers since the first act was introduced in 2001. Graham and Durbin have been involved in a number of those attempts.
Graham and Durbin’s Dream Act of 2017 would be similar to earlier Dream Act guidelines, according to The Hill.
sessions firing Mueller would probably bring about the impeachment of sessions within a week. So, what the hell would a pos like sessions want to accomplish that for ? His tell-all bio contract ?
3 / 2 says that the idiot isn’t quite that idiotic.
Bloomberg:
Despite what President Donald Trump and his lawyers say, the U.S. special counsel investigating possible ties between the 2016 campaign and Russia appears to have ample authority to examine a broad range of activities involving Trump’s businesses.
This became newly relevant this morning when Bloomberg News reported that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation also encompasses dealings such as Russian purchases of apartments in Trump buildings, Trump’s involvement in a controversial downtown New York hotel development with Russian associates, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, and Trump’s sale of a Florida mansion to a Russian oligarch in 2008. The source was a person familiar with Mueller’s probe.
[….]
Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, calls the Rosenstein mandate “remarkably broad” and “surprisingly ambiguous,” giving Mueller plenty of latitude. Even very narrowly defined special-counsel probes “tend to broaden naturally with time,” he adds.
Unsurprisingly, Trump’s lawyers disagree. The business transactions in question “are in my view well beyond the mandate of the special counsel,” John Dowd says via email. Dowd adds that the financial dealings cited in the story are “unrelated to the election of 2016 or any alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.”
“Most importantly,” Dowd says, the transactions “are well beyond any statute of limitation imposed by the United States Code.”
[….]
Finally, let’s not forget false statements. It’s a federal felony to lie to a FBI agent or a grand jury—about virtually anything. That could lead to criminal liability if it were intended to cover up past business dealings that might themselves be beyond a prosecutor’s reach because of the statute of limitations.
So in the end, the false-statement statute could present the most peril to the president, his family members, and their associates. In Trump’s case, his freewheeling use of Twitter illustrates a tendency to shoot from the hip that can be dangerous in the middle of a federal investigation.
a preet tweet 🙂
Bharara, who posts frequently to Twitter, linked to the Times interview in one post and wrote “the President today effectively asked Sessions for his resignation. Will he resign or insist on being fired?” In another, he seemingly joked that he was looking “forward to having Jeff Sessions & [Deputy Attorney General] Rod Rosenstein as colleagues @nyulaw soon. Maybe we can teach employment law together.”
and on another issue dear to democracy’s heart…. voting or suppression thereof
Published on Jul 19, 2017
Discover how Kris Kobach turned his wet dream of ruining American democracy into a reality.
PatD, I’m pleased that you’re looking at the State newspaper. It is one of the benefits of living in a town with a major university (one of KumCho and my criterion for making a voluntary move.) GOPs position on the kids is disgraceful.
SFB = “horse apples” or “cow patties” or “outhouse contents” or other things or more specific such as shit for brains.
I wish and hope for McCain he is needed in the media for his words, even though his votes are not to my liking. Too bad he has spent his life being a conservative, he could have been a great fighter for all Americans.
Is McCain’s diagnosis the end? Considering how much great health care he has had, it appears his condition caught his docs off guard. Not good. I did look at the medical information on this serious cancer. It is not good. And, I am sure Senator McCain already knows the odds.
Arizona replacement for senators who leave early is the governor places a member of the same party in the position. That person is up for election in the next vote, this time 2018.
Yes, I do expect the good senator to not make it this time. His odds are very poor, 4.7%.
Today Gale became a full registered Service Dog. She has been a great resource, showing me everyday many facets of her skills as a PTSD service dog. Now she has a lot of work in front of her. At least I have multiple volunteers to take care of her in the office.
Will SFB survive the next six months? Yes. There is no need to dump the honey wagon – yet. At some point in the future there will be a tipping point and the r’s with the R’s will finally pull the plug. Their problem is that Pence is almost as dirty as SFB and he will face impeachment too. Non- of them want Ryan to lead the place. So….
Come 2018, the D’s will finally come up with a win and take over the House and Senate. Then there will be the fight to impeach the floater.
The Mueller investigation should be showing results just in time for 2018 —
Even very narrowly defined special-counsel probes “tend to broaden naturally with time,”
Yes, just ask Ken Starr.
Even very narrowly defined special-counsel probes “tend to broaden naturally with time,”
Broad enough to include Trump’s tax returns?
Bink….. I think of it as Stupid Fat Bastard…. But,I like your version better.
Interesting question making the rounds on Twitter: What is the first major news stories you can remember from your childhood?
Not counting film coverage of QE II Coronation when I was 9
Age 10 – McCarthy Hearings
Nothing more registered until 1956 Democratic Convention
Since you asked, my earliest memories of sensational news stories start at age 2, probably due to the proliferation of cheap TVs and the popularity of network-news, during that time.
Bink,
Just how young are you? lol
Jamie, mine was watching Oswald murdered live on our TV — age 7
…older than i look, younger than i feel 🙁
You ever do reports from WH lawn, CC? I might remember that, also.
Kennedy inaugurated.
Obviously we are way too politically aware from way too early an age … lol
Craig,
To this day that chain of events seems almost surreal.
Contribution from my son about his earliest events (that he doesn’t remember at all without research) from 2007. It is really interesting that EProf was one of the commenters nine years ago.
It Seems Like Yesterday.
Playing outside with other kids–plotting how to burn Hirohito’s house down
John Glenn’s space flight, feb 1962.
We had just gotten a tv a few months earlier. So there are no early impressions.
Jack
Funeral procession of Dr Martin Luther King.
whskyjack,
If you have any more fundraisers for your projects please let us know. Would love to help.
Greetings from the desert: I don’t wish anyone a hellish end of life experience. Heaven knows I am closer to end of life than I want to admit just a few years younger than McCain. I am in agreement with Pogo regarding my almost universal disagreements with McCain’s political philosophy. He was up for reelection in 2016 and he didn’t get my vote for sure. In my opinion, McCain should work on his rehab and forget about politics for awhile. No one here in AZ wants to really talk about a possible replacement for him just yet. It’s like the body is still warm syndrome. If I had to chose a Republican replacement, I would chose Meghan McCain. Her tweet made me want to support her father and she, like him, can really surprise you with her straight talk and independent views. I will stay on the “trail” for updates when they occur.
Thx for the Navy hymn. I have instructed my wife to play the entire three stanzas at my funeral whenever that occurs. Once Navy always Navy!
Jamie, watching the town elders dunk the witches in the pond… no, not the huac hearings…
or, maybe it was the Hindenburg’s “oh the humanity!”… like tempus does fugit, you know
nbc:
….if he were to leave office before the midterms, Arizona would have two simultaneous Senate elections in 2018 — which is extremely rare — and Democrats would likely contest both seats aggressively.
Pardon me! A shout-out to McCain, he did give one of the finest speeches on torture in 2014….stirring. He has had a good run and he is more of a public servant than the current repugs. Service unto themselves. The times they are a changing. The new generation will have to clean-up this mess in DC.
In the news, the mastadon find in Las Cruces. The area is rife with fossils, mostly on the west mesa where the fossil remains are from before the ‘great die-off.’ The quarry for the rock for our famous rockwalls is from the west mesa and I have bivalves, petrified wood, fauna and more flora, etc. in the rock of the rockwalls. The kid found the skull on private land and we are tying to figure-out the exact location of the find. I am sure it will stay private to keep treasure hunters out-of-the area.
from the article —
“To be quite honest, all these fossils from this area are radioactive and especially for children, not something you would want in your home.”
Hey, eProf, if you lay the groundwork, the Navy might scatter your and your Mrs’ ashes at sea