JOHN MCCAIN

I was no fan of John McCain's politics. His gift of Sarah Palin to the country undoubtedly strengthened the hand of the Tea Party and the emergent extreme right wing, and he toed the party line on almost every pro-Trump vote. To call him a "maverick" seems a misuse of that word.

But I have no doubt but that he was an honorable man, a man of courage and integrity, a man of service, the like of whom we no longer see among this country's governing elite. For this reason alone, I respected him and wished him well.

He will be missed. But I'm wondering, now, if he will prove of even greater service to his country in his death. Is it possible that his shining example of integrity and service will highlight the venality and self-promotion of the man who occupies (I use that word advisedly, because I question his legitimacy) the Oval Office? Will McCain veneration be accompanied, in the comparison, by Trump abhorrence?

And will those Republican senators who claimed to be his friends and admirers now seek to emulate that which they claimed to admire in their hero? Or is this too much to hope?

In any event, I would like to believe that the hearts and minds of American voters everywhere will be moved, if only by a fraction, by this man's death; and that his inherent decency will remind us all of the decency we too often sacrifice in favor of our self-oriented impulses and desires.

In which context, may I remind you to VOTE DEMOCRAT in November? And between now and then, to do everything in your power to persuade others to do the same?