Natural and Probable Consequences
Originally written before polls closed on Arizona primary day, 08/28/2018. Arizona primary results generally discussed here and I did donate to Sinema, although I’m not hopping with joy about it.
John McCain voted for Neil Gorsuch. John McCain is dead, and his seat, as one of 100 very powerful politicians, is going to be filled with a Republican appointee. McCain’s AZ Senate colleague, Jeff Flake, has so little guts, spine, or brains, it’s a wonder you can see anything above his belt except a wagging tongue and rolling eyes. Accordingly, Flake has flaked, and At This Very Moment Arizona polls are in their last hours of the primary where the GOP contestants are vying to see who can prove they are farthest up 45’s sprayed-tanned arsehole. One contestant is convicted felon Joe Arpaio. The likely Dem opponent, Kyrsten Sinema looks like she’s frankly mediocre, but I have my ActBlue account ready to donate as soon as the polls are called. Why?
See above: John McCain voted for Neil Gorsuch. Gorsuch voted to undermine working conditions for public employees, voted in favor of an anti-immigration policy openly motivated by racism, and voted against the right of same sex parents to be identified on their children’s birth certificates. These votes of Gorsuch were no surprise.
John McCain voted to confirm Betsy DeVos, Ben Carson, and Rick Perry to cabinet level positions overseeing numerous critical executive functions that serve vulnerable people and manage vital public safety functions. All three were so underqualified that it would be comical if it weren’t humiliating and tragic. Their lack of qualification was not secret. DeVos affirmative animus to public education was well known.
John McCain voted to confirm Wilbur Ross, Ryan Zinke, Rex Tillerson, and Steven Mnuchin, all of whom were not only underqualified for their positions of vital public trust, but also clearly bound to corporate money, with conflicts of interests pouring from every orifice.
John McCain voted to confirm Jeff Sessions, a man whose racism is so well documented, public, and unashamed, that he could not be confirmed as a federal judge in 1986. It was not a mystery what Sessions’ job would be after his confirmation. He would be the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, charged with enforcing civil rights laws, among other things.
John McCain was a senator for just over thirty years. During that time the Senate confirmed Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, and Samuel Alito (among others). Their subsequent voting records were not a surprise.
Votes are facts. For me to point out how a Senator (an official elected for the purpose of casting votes and thus determining the direction of our government) votes isn’t inherently a criticism or a value judgment. However, there’s a legal concept that might play here: People are presumed to intend the logical and probable consequences of their actions.
John McCain cast thousands of votes in thirty years. Some were more significant than others. But it was his job to cast those votes and we can assume that he cast them deliberately, and with the benefit of his brains and experience. Right until the last months of his long life he *chose* to use his remarkable power and influence as one of 100 people with life or death voting power over the fate of our country to do things that predictably caused harm.
“Don’t speak ill of the dead”. Are we assuming they will come back and haunt us? Do we worry about speaking ill of Timothy McVeigh? Did we worry about it hours or days after his execution for terrorism? Timothy McVeigh was also an Army combat veteran, honorably discharged after serving his country. I’ve not heard it’s rude to say unkind things about Josef Stalin, although he is dead and was undoubtedly critical in defeating Hitler. Besides, is it rude to say that Stalin carried out policies that killed millions of Russians, and had his political opponents murdered, or is it just a statement of fact?
What about John McCain’s family? John McCain was a public figure. His family benefited from it, materially, socially, and politically, but I have no doubt they had moments they despised the limelight. So what. He was a politician. His purpose in life was to be accountable to and scrutinized by the public. His family cannot have failed to notice and adapt to that since 1983 (when he took office in the House, or 1987, when he took office as a Senator)
He was a politician at the most historic and rarified level: one of two viable candidates for the office of President of the United States. In that capacity he made the conscious decision to advance someone for high office who had neither the intellectual capacity, experience, temperament, or ethics for the job, thus insulting every citizen of the United States.
John McCain died of glioblastoma. My mother, who is approximately 2 years and 2 months younger than McCain is dying (albeit more slowly) of glioblastoma. In her life time, she exercised very little power, compared to John McCain. She was the center of the world and the source of life for her four children for a time. That’s a lot of power and influence for a very small number of people. She took care of my father in his last years. She earned the money that kept a roof over our heads and food in our mouths. She gave more money than one might say she could afford to our church. She influenced our education, encouraged appreciation and love for the written and spoken word, took us to concerts and plays, celebrated our achievements, drove hours and hours (with her children, without her spouse) to see her family. She taught me that voting was important. Even just my vote, or her vote. Even though our votes don’t have as much bang for the buck as John McCain’s votes. She taught me it’s important to give blood. I went with her to the voting booth and the blood bank for years, and I gave blood last week. Her life hasn’t been easy or fair, but she did her best and has cheered me on as I try to do the same.
Not everyone has choices that make as much of a difference as John McCain’s choices. But we have to make them. John McCain’s choices, and their *predictable*, probable consequences speak for themselves.
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Originally published at ragecreationjoy.wordpress.com on August 30, 2018.