This is an opinion column.
Please read Sen. John McCain's last words. Or, as his family described it, his final statement.
We all should read it.
No matter our politics. No matter our geography. No matter.
McCain--the senior Senator from Arizona and two-time Republican presidential nominee--died on Saturday after a long, proud battle with brain cancer.
Then, on Monday, he dropped the mic.
Last words. They're important. They're vital. They're definitive. Especially when one has the time, and the faculties to craft them.
No one can argue with you. No one can debate you. They're definitive. Boom. Bye.
Not everyone is as fortunate. Sometimes, death comes fast. Unexpectedly. In those tragic times, last words tend to be very real. Very emotional.
Oh. Damn.
John McCain had time.
"My fellow Americans," he began, sounding more Presidential already than the current Oval Office occupant has ever, "whom I have gratefully served for 60 years, and especially my fellow Arizonians, 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've tried to serve our country honorably...."
...gratefully served...
...privilege of serving...
...service in uniform...
...serve... honorably...
Do I really need to point out a theme here?
McCain was not just speaking to his colleagues in the U.S. Congress, too many of whom appear to have forgotten whom they serve. He was speaking to each of us, for whom service, in some capacity, should be part of the daily bread we regularly share with others.
I do not believe John McCain was a perfect politician. There is no such thing. Not on either side of the aisle.
In 1983, as a U.S. Congressman, he voted against establishing a national holiday to honor Rev. Martin Luther King. Thankfully, his vote was on the losing side--383-to-90.
Twenty-five years later, exactly 40th after King's assassination, McCain, in Memphis, said he regretted the vote. "I was wrong," he said that day, adding, "we can all be a little late sometimes in doing the right thing."
I still squirm, too. at his selection of Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate in 2008. As many have pointed out, Donald Trump later stormed through the door that was cracked opened by her nomination. She made it okay to be irrefutably unqualified for the highest offices in the land.
Now, look where we are.
"I've made mistakes...," McCain told us.
Lord knows he did--we all have.
McCain also mentioned "experiences, adventures, friendships enough for ten satisfying lives," then said: "I have regrets," which he did not detail but conveying that he would not trade even the "bad times" for "the best day of anyone else's"
May we all be so blessed.
Last words are the final word, no matter what anyone says or doesn't say, does or doesn't do in response, even if they are the President of the United States.
No President on our lifetime has perhaps ever looked so petty as when on Monday Trump--trying to wield yet another deflection in touting a trade deal with Mexico-- bounced around, uncomfortably folding and refolding his arms at his desk in the Oval, refusing to utter a word about McCain.
At the time, had quashed issuing a statement about the deceased Senator and the flag over the White House was still flying high--in contrast to flags on Capitol Hill.
A few hours later, Trump acquiesced to the storm of criticism from all corners and agreed to lower the White House flag. Later that the evening, he actually said a few kind words about McCain.
He may have been the last person in America to do so.
McCain clearly had no love for Trump and he used his last words to remind us, using some of the President's own jargon against him.
"We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with 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..."
Then, he reminded us we have "so much more in common with each other than in disagreement" and gave us the roadmap through this storm of tension that now divides us.
"If only we remember that," he wrote, "and give each other the benefit of the presumption that we all love our country, we'll get through these challenging times. We will come through them stronger than before. We always do."
May these last words live on with the dignity of the man who left them with us.
Roy S. Johnson's column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register and AL.com. Hit me up at rjohnson@al.com or/and follow me at twitter.com/roysj.
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