its kind of confusing looking up info because john mccain was actuallly a john mccain the third his father and grandfather were also career killers his father (the middle mccain also known as jr) did great bombing cambodian civilians...operation menu if you want to look it up the third one was shot down on his 23rd bombing run during operation rolling thunder https://thevietnamwar.info/operation-rolling-thunder/ During the Operation Rolling Thunder, U.S. aircraft had flown more than 300,000 sorties and dropped about 643,000 tons of bombs on North Vietnam. Due to operational circumstances, more than 900 U.S. aircraft were lost, 745 crewmen was shot down. According to an estimate by CIA, damage inflicted by U.S. bombardment in North Vietnam was about $370 million in physical destruction and 90,000 casualties, including 72,000 civilians.
He gets my respect. Pastor at Aretha Franklin funeral stirs controversy with eulogy I suspect he will soon disappear from the black community and from CNN forever.
I see no reason to choose. But if I had to, definitely McCain. I loved Aretha as an entertainer, but McCain was a statesman in the true sense of the word--a man of honor,integrity, and courage. Like other humans, he wasn't flawless, and I disagreed with most of his policy positions. Like his friend Lindsay Graham, he never met a war he didn't like. But he always put his country first--a rare quality in a politician. In the relative scheme of things, that's a big plus in my book. May we have more like him, preferably without the militarism.
They perish. Let them perish, Prince! and fight! He who shall say, "Lo! I have slain a man!" He who shall think, "Lo! I am slain!" those both Know naught! Life cannot slay. Life is not slain! Never the spirit was born; the spirit shall cease to be never; Never was time it was not; End and Beginning are dreams! Birthless and deathless and changeless remaineth the spirit for ever;Death hath not touched it at all, dead though the house of it seems! ~ Krishna to Arjuna when he hesitated to fight in the war between the Pandavas and Kauravas. The mind of pure devotion--even here-- Casts equally aside good deeds and bad, Passing above them. Unto pure devotion Devote thyself: with perfect meditation Comes perfect act, and the right-hearted rise-- More certainly because they seek no gain-- Forth from the bands of body, step by step, To highest seats of bliss. When thy firm soul Hath shaken off those tangled oracles Which ignorantly guide, then shall it soar To high neglect of what's denied or said, This way or that way, in doctrinal writ. Troubled no longer by the priestly lore, Safe shall it live, and sure; steadfastly bent On meditation. This is Yog--and Peace! RIP John McCain
Aretha Franklin's father was the preacher with the "million-dollar voice", which allowed him to earn a healthy income and introduced Aretha to many gospel musicians. She released her first single at the age of 14. By the 1960's she was earning $100,000. She had a powerful voice and played the piano well, and I believe she wrote 14 songs. She supported civil rights, women's rights, and the rights of native Americans. RIP Aretha
There are sellouts in every race, but what wasn’t controversial was Rev Al Sharpton’s clarification that Aretha didn’t work for Trump, she performed for Trump.
Not only that, but China has been aggressively making moves trying to claim Vietnam's waters (and hence oil) for their own. Yup, South China Sea has always been drooled over by oil companies, but so far there hasn't been that much development for various reasons.
Let's give the man his true due... Yes, in the pocket of the Military Industrial Complex. Warmonger, murderer and Imperialist. Apologizing doesn't remove responsibility. And responsibility includes owning up to one's deeds after death, no? Isn't that what the whole Christian thing based on? So fine to recall the good things he did, but in balance one must weigh it all if one wants to sit in judgement, as Christians love to do. I just let karma do it's thing. Republican party has lotsa karma heading its way.
Right. Anyway, speaking of good men, here's a video I thought was pretty cool of Aretha performing and making ole Barack get emotional.
His foreign policy positions have been pretty consistently awful over the years Most recently he supported arming Saudi Arabia in their proxy war in Yemen and fought against the Stop Arming Terrorists Act, which was designed to prevent a huge arms deal from taking place between the Trump administration and Saudi Arabia His death shouldn't protect him from criticisms concerning his foreign policy positions. Anything that provokes discussion on something that is largely ignored in America (because we have the priviledge of ignoring it and not feeling its deleterious effects) but affects people's lives on such a massive scale in other parts of the world is a good thing. (Edit, just for clarity...i dont mean his death is a good thing, just the conversation it has provoked)
Of course you're absolutely right about all of that. I just think it's important to judge the man by his whole life... I think some folks are a bit too eager to disregard his many praiseworthy deeds because they don't like his voting record. I'm the first person to say I disagreed with his politics. I don't think that by itself merits the type of language being used against him post mortem; it's one thing to constructively criticize some of his decisions, it's quite another to bash his service record, which was impeccable and literally makes him a war hero. I'm not saying you're doing that though Mel, but clearly some folks are and it's pretty disgraceful.