National Post (National Edition)
‘DO NOT DESPAIR’
MCCAIN SENDS A CLEAR FINAL MESSAGE TO AMERICANS
Sen. John Mccain, who died on Saturday of brain cancer at 81, appears, in death, to have taken a final parting shot at U.S. President Donald Trump.
‘PRESENT DIFFICULTIES’
In a final farewell letter, Mccain, a noted critic of Trump, touched on today’s politics. “Do not despair of our present difficulties but believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here,” Mccain wrote. “Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history.” In the letter, Mccain reflected on the privilege of serving his country and said he tried to do so honourably. He expressed his deep gratitude and love of country and implored Americans to put aside “tribal rivalries” and focus on what unites.
LOWERING THE FLAG
The White House lowered its flag to half-staff Monday afternoon following a barrage of criticism for ending the tribute to Mccain just one day after he died. Flags at the White House were lowered on Saturday night after Mccain’s death and raised again Sunday, the bare minimum required by law. Flags remained at half-staff along the National Mall, around the Washington Monument and at the Capitol on Monday. American Legion national commander Denise Rohan sent a letter to Trump urging the president on behalf of the organization’s “two million wartime veterans” to order flags lowered until Mccain’s burial to honour “an American hero.” Governors in at least nine states — Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania — ordered flags flown at half-staff for the period. One GOP congressional aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said their office received many calls Monday morning from constituents angered that Trump hadn’t ordered all flags lowered until Mccain was buried, which is scheduled for Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. On Monday afternoon, Trump ordered the White House flag lowered.
LONGTIME FEUD
Mccain had long feuded with Trump and two White House officials said Mccain’s family had asked, before the senator’s death, that Trump not attend the funeral services. Vice-president Mike Pence will attend. CNN reported that White House aides drafted a fulsome statement for Trump on the death of Mccain, but it was never sent out. Instead Trump tweeted that his “deepest sympathies and respect” went out to Mccain’s family. Trump refused to say a word about Mccain during events at the White House on Monday despite repeated requests. However, in a statement ordering flags to be lowered to half-staff at all government buildings, Trump said, “Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John Mccain’s service to our country and, in his honour, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment.”
PRESIDENTS TO HONOUR MCCAIN
Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, who blocked Mccain’s own White House ambitions, are among those expected to speak at Mccain’s funeral at Washington National Cathedral. “These were bitter contests, both of them,” said Sen. Jeff Flake and “to ask them to speak at your funeral, and for them to be honoured at the opportunity, that tells you all you need to know.”
TRIBUTES TO A PATRIOT
In statements, President George W. Bush said of Mccain, “Some lives are so vivid, it is difficult to imagine them ended. Some voices are so vibrant, it is hard to think of them stilled. John Mccain was a man of deep conviction and a patriot of the highest order.” Obama said, “Few of us have been tested the way John once was, or required to show the kind of courage that he did. But all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own.”
RESPECTS FROM AN ENEMY
Mccain’s Vietnamese jailer said he respected his former inmate and felt sad about his death, as others in Vietnam paid their respects to the former U.S. Navy pilot who became a prisoner of war and later was instrumental in bringing the wartime foes together. Mccain’s Skyhawk dive bomber was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 and he was taken prisoner and held in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” prison for more than five years. Former Col. Tran Trong Duyet, who ran the prison at the time, said he met with many times while he was confined there. “At that time I liked him personally for his toughness and strong stance,” he told the newspaper Vietnam News, published by the official Vietnam News Agency.