He Who Spits on the Grave of John McCain

I doubt I’ll ever understand how damaged one’s soul must be to spit on the grave of anyone, let alone John McCain. Nonetheless, our current President has proven time and again that he’s a damaged, soulless character who picks on the weakest, the dead, the powerless, and anyone standing firmly in, or seeking truth. His actions epitomize cowardliness and render transparent his thin skin and fragile self-image. So assuming we remain a free and civilized society, history will most certainly document this truth. It’s a truth apparent for anyone not blinded by ideological myopia or stuck in a quagmire of beltway politics. It’s a truth so raw that to repent must require sweeping away the debris of self deception so deep, that while liberating for some,  I suspect most will be more willing to take up a gun in defense of this bad investment or take their shame to their graves defending the indefensible to their last breath. In my opinion, these are undeniable truths to the sane among us. What’s not apparent is what in the course of life would cause a draft-dodging, self-serving, philandering narcissist’s synapses to fire in such a way that he would think he’s on solid ground to attack a dead war hero that not only spent his life, but risked it, serving his nation.  Is there even a template to compare a man that chose to endure further torture and imprisonment rather than accept freedom due to his privileged status, to a man that has indulged in such endowed status in service only to himself?
The scientific community, I suspect, will autopsy his every action and debate for decades how such a compromised character could capture the minds of the sleeping, the downtrodden, and those looking to point fingers at others rather than accept their own personal shortcomings. They’ll debate for centuries nature vs. nurture, blaming Trump’s parents, his silver-spoon upbringing, the nepotistic nest to which his parents gave him the keys. While I don’t think I’ll add much to the scientific debate I do understand that we seek to interpret the world around us by relating to our own experience. Given Trump’s history, Tweets, and actions, I can only speculate what the synapses in this man’s brain might be telling him when he sets his crosshairs on a guy like John McCain. Perhaps he compares John McCain’s stay in the Hanoi Hilton to staying in one of his own resorts, and being served a cold steak and soggy fries with A1 Sauce instead of his preferred Ketchup? I mean, when has this man ever known service, sacrifice or suffering? He is so off the rails when he pretends to be of higher character than anyone else in the room, or your average adolescent for that matter, that I must conclude he’s equally devoid of any grasp on reality when he pontificates on any particular subject that impacts average people.  How could he know what it’s like to go without healthcare, or to work your entire life only to have your employer and pension go bankrupt? How would he know what it’s like to have to choose between saving for a kid’s college and eating well, or simply eating? I would imagine when he envisions refugee families fleeing narco-terrorism, he can relate to it to when he and his family jump on a jet and fly to his Florida resort for the weekend because New York’s forecast calls for rain. He was born into a soulless life and will die a soulless man.
Fortunately, when the perpetual pendulum swings back in the direction of everything he’s not, we’ll pick up the debris of this political typhoon and get back on course. It will again one day be unacceptable to deny science, express hate, practice willful ignorance, and be a bigot in public. We’ll resume the discussion of the merits of universal health care and address injustice of all kinds—student debt, climate change and violence of every origin. For the LGBTQ(and other letters this straight white guy wants to learn more about), African, Latino communities, and the rest of the rainbow I am not, it will likely feel painstakingly slow and at times going in reverse. But I believe the playing field of civil society will be re-chalked and we can once again resume a more civil discourse as we move from the dark to the light, from ignorant to the enlightened, from hate to love. For time is always progressive. Younger generations are always more enlightened, more open-minded. Many of us older folks, thankfully, will die and get out of their way. We must, in order for society to recover and move ahead. Embrace the pendulum and do the work. Be patient, but hold ground, and call out the hate, ignorance, and the self-serving.   This, too, shall pass.  As shall we.