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madamesilverspurs

(15,774 posts)
Mon Aug 27, 2018, 02:21 PM Aug 2018

John McCain, in final message before death, says 'do not despair of our present difficulties'



"My fellow Americans, whom I have gratefully served for sixty years, and especially my fellow Arizonans,

Thank you for the privilege of serving you and for the rewarding life that service in uniform and in public office has allowed me to lead. I have tried to serve our country honorably. I have made mistakes, but I hope my love for America will be weighed favorably against them.

I have often observed that I am the luckiest person on earth. I feel that way even now as I prepare for the end of my life. I have loved my life, all of it. I have had experiences, adventures and friendships enough for ten satisfying lives, and I am so thankful. Like most people, I have regrets. But I would not trade a day of my life, in good or bad times, for the best day of anyone else's.

I owe that satisfaction to the love of my family. No man ever had a more loving wife or children he was prouder of than I am of mine. And I owe it to America. To be connected to America's causes – liberty, equal justice, respect for the dignity of all people – brings happiness more sublime than life's fleeting pleasures. Our identities and sense of worth are not circumscribed but enlarged by serving good causes bigger than ourselves.

'Fellow Americans' – that association has meant more to me than any other. I lived and died a proud American. We are citizens of the world's greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil. We are blessed and are a blessing to humanity when we uphold and advance those ideals at home and in the world. We have helped liberate more people from tyranny and poverty than ever before in history. We have acquired great wealth and power in the process.

We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe. We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.

We are three-hundred-and-twenty-five million opinionated, vociferous individuals. We argue and compete and sometimes even vilify each other in our raucous public debates. But we have always had so much more in common with each other than in disagreement. If only we remember that and give each other the benefit of the presumption that we all love our country we will get through these challenging times. We will come through them stronger than before. We always do.

Ten years ago, I had the privilege to concede defeat in the election for president. I want to end my farewell to you with the heartfelt faith in Americans that I felt so powerfully that evening.
I feel it powerfully still.

Do not despair of our present difficulties but believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here. Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history.

Farewell, fellow Americans. God bless you, and God bless America."


https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/27/john-mccain-in-final-message-before-death-says-do-not-despair-of-our-present-difficulties.html

42 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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John McCain, in final message before death, says 'do not despair of our present difficulties' (Original Post) madamesilverspurs Aug 2018 OP
Powerful leftieNanner Aug 2018 #1
What a fine goodbye. nolabear Aug 2018 #2
+ 1 red dog 1 Aug 2018 #33
I don't care how one feels about McCain's politics, his grace and courage shines through... hlthe2b Aug 2018 #3
Hey Trump: "Rebut that, Butthead!" lagomorph777 Aug 2018 #4
Powerful words, just when saidsimplesimon Aug 2018 #5
... Tiggeroshii Aug 2018 #6
Me too. Very powerful backtoblue Aug 2018 #24
And there you have the measure of this man... CaliforniaPeggy Aug 2018 #7
This has brought me to tears. montana_hazeleyes Aug 2018 #8
In death he had great class, elegance, wisdom, compassion, circumspection. calimary Aug 2018 #9
But.... S. Palin.... or can we order off the a la carte menu ? magicarpet Aug 2018 #19
I was trying to accentuate the positive but YES your point is calimary Aug 2018 #42
A very fine statement. n/t MBS Aug 2018 #10
Now that is how you do it. Well done, Sir. Shaddox Aug 2018 #11
I love the line... Peachhead22 Aug 2018 #12
K and R Mosby Aug 2018 #13
What a fine message mcar Aug 2018 #14
"...Not of blood and soil... Do not despair of our present difficulties..." That brought me to tears Hekate Aug 2018 #15
Now that is a Hail and Fairwell sarge43 Aug 2018 #16
Now that is beautiful! Initech Aug 2018 #17
That was a wonderful message. Zing Zing Zingbah Aug 2018 #18
k&r DesertRat Aug 2018 #20
Very moving goodbye. gademocrat7 Aug 2018 #21
Wonderful. He led a wonderful life. A good guy. Farewell, Senator. Honeycombe8 Aug 2018 #22
Thank you for posting this... N_E_1 for Tennis Aug 2018 #23
And the Wheel turns. WheelWalker Aug 2018 #25
Final words of wisdom! 2naSalit Aug 2018 #26
... orangecrush Aug 2018 #27
I can just hear his warm, gravely voice in that letter. Thank you for posting this. sandensea Aug 2018 #28
That was a hell of a fuck you to Trump. sunonmars Aug 2018 #29
My eyes are sweating. Pacifist Patriot Aug 2018 #30
Mine too kpete Aug 2018 #31
+ 1 red dog 1 Aug 2018 #34
Hawkish to the end. joshcryer Aug 2018 #32
Yesterday's "Face the Nation" was entirely about John McCain red dog 1 Aug 2018 #35
That was beautiful. I normally don't cry. Az_lefty Aug 2018 #36
Heartfelt patriotism with a large perspective on life bucolic_frolic Aug 2018 #37
The difference being that... kentuck Aug 2018 #39
Goes without saying bucolic_frolic Aug 2018 #41
I'm definitely going to bookmark this one! kentuck Aug 2018 #38
kick kentuck Aug 2018 #40

nolabear

(41,902 posts)
2. What a fine goodbye.
Mon Aug 27, 2018, 02:29 PM
Aug 2018

It’s pretty damn courageous to look death in the eye and say what you want to say to the still living. Not to mention poking a stick in that s.o.b.’s eye from beyond the grave.

hlthe2b

(101,540 posts)
3. I don't care how one feels about McCain's politics, his grace and courage shines through...
Mon Aug 27, 2018, 02:29 PM
Aug 2018


I won't defend his politics, but I surely will defend the entirety of his life and the honor he has displayed.

saidsimplesimon

(7,888 posts)
5. Powerful words, just when
Mon Aug 27, 2018, 02:37 PM
Aug 2018

I thought I would not weep.

After all, we did not travel in the same social or political circles. I knew him only through the written correspondence over the years. He, or his staff, would responded when I disagreed with his reasoning for supporting another war, military spending or other positions. These letters were often 3 pages or more, were always respectful and well written.

CaliforniaPeggy

(149,181 posts)
7. And there you have the measure of this man...
Mon Aug 27, 2018, 02:44 PM
Aug 2018

Thoughtful, gracious, intelligent............

And to write this on the eve of his death! Most of us would not even think of doing such a thing.

He has left us this powerful message as his legacy.

I rejoice in it and in his being!

calimary

(80,522 posts)
9. In death he had great class, elegance, wisdom, compassion, circumspection.
Mon Aug 27, 2018, 03:09 PM
Aug 2018

And honesty. So rare nowadays a lot of people don't even recognize it anymore.

I wish HE were President now, and trump was some itty bitty footnote.

calimary

(80,522 posts)
42. I was trying to accentuate the positive but YES your point is
Wed Aug 29, 2018, 01:19 PM
Aug 2018

VERRY well-taken, magicarpet.

McCain was hardly perfect but sometimes a standout from his colleagues. But there were indeed many ways he failed to measure up. That made him a glaring contrast to most of his GOP colleagues. So then, what does that say about the rest of THEM?

I guess I sometimes fall toward the sunny side of someone who died. I don’t feel motivated to dance on his grave. Not like I bet I’ll do whoever it is that trump goes. Frankly, because of trump, I no longer see myself celebrating when dubya goes. And that’s merely because in comparison to trump, dubya looks somewhat decent! Now, cheney is another matter entirely!!

I did look up the USS Forrestal fire on Snopes.com to see if McCain’s piloting caused that horrible conflagration in which 134 sailors were killed and 161 injured. Nope. Debunked.

But I will always be bothered by the way he threw away his first wife for a younger, prettier, blonder, richer replacement. This, after Wife #1 waited patiently at home while he was in Vietnam and the Hanoi Hilton - but her “sin” was having been in a car accident which ruined her looks and her model-perfect legs.

I’ll always be bothered by his involvement with reckless wheeler-dealer Charles Keating.

And I will never forgive him for shoving Sarah Palin on the rest of America. That’s something NOT to forget. She wouldn’t have had a national profile OR platform if he hadn’t plucked her out of obscurity. You’re totally right about that!

Peachhead22

(1,077 posts)
12. I love the line...
Mon Aug 27, 2018, 03:18 PM
Aug 2018

"We are citizens of the world's greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil."

"Blood and soil" is one of the things the Charlottesville neo-nazis and alt-right rioters were chanting. I doubt the inclusion of that specific phrase was a coincidence.

mcar

(42,179 posts)
14. What a fine message
Mon Aug 27, 2018, 03:21 PM
Aug 2018
We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe. We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.


Hekate

(89,977 posts)
15. "...Not of blood and soil... Do not despair of our present difficulties..." That brought me to tears
Mon Aug 27, 2018, 03:26 PM
Aug 2018

You know what? This man's greatness *will* be remembered.

I'm with our Nance Greggs when she claimed him for our own, now that the GOP is too rotted at the core to even acknowledge his passing properly.

Zing Zing Zingbah

(6,496 posts)
18. That was a wonderful message.
Mon Aug 27, 2018, 03:44 PM
Aug 2018

Thinking of his country even on his death bed.... Far more honorable of a man than the current president.

N_E_1 for Tennis

(9,551 posts)
23. Thank you for posting this...
Mon Aug 27, 2018, 04:03 PM
Aug 2018

As a Vietnam vet his passing saddens me as a brother in arms, though at the same time gladdens me as we get to experience what a true patriot is supposed to be.

sandensea

(21,460 posts)
28. I can just hear his warm, gravely voice in that letter. Thank you for posting this.
Mon Aug 27, 2018, 04:10 PM
Aug 2018

He should have been the Majority Leader - not Mitch McCocaine.

But such are our times.

red dog 1

(27,575 posts)
35. Yesterday's "Face the Nation" was entirely about John McCain
Mon Aug 27, 2018, 07:18 PM
Aug 2018

The transcript is available here:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/full-transcript-face-the-nation-on-august-26-2018/



The transcript includes this:

BOB SCHIEFFER
"Americans were shocked during the 2016 campaign when Republican candidate Donald Trump attacked McCain, saying --"

TRUMP
"He's a war hero because he was captured..I like people who weren't captured."

bucolic_frolic

(42,481 posts)
37. Heartfelt patriotism with a large perspective on life
Tue Aug 28, 2018, 07:58 AM
Aug 2018

He almost sounds like Obama, and it is remarkable that those two saw some of the same things in America, an unbridled belief in the country's ability to triumph over adversity. We are too vast and diverse to succumb to autocrats.

RIP John McCain. A life well lived.

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