John Mccain made his mark on TV as a politician who didn’t speak like one
John Mccain was a perennial on Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show.”
And the Arizona senator often bragged that he held the record for the most appearances on “Meet the Press”: Mccain guested at least 70 times.
Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Macfarlane repeatedly joked and sparred with the cantankerous congressman as if he were an old friend or close relative with opposing political views.
And following his death Saturday at age 81, the memory of Mccain generated wall-to-wall news coverage. From “Good Morning America” to his familiar “Meet the Press” haunt, networks and cable covered his passing like that of a dignitary or president.
Veteran political reporter and MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell choked up when discussing Mccain’s legacy and “greater vision of America.” CNN’S Wolf Blitzer was uncharacteristically emotional as he interviewed guest after guest about the outspoken senator who publicly challenged the policies of three presidents and the recent direction of his own party.
Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume broke from his network’s usual support-trump-nomatter-what stance in response to a curt tweet from the president offering condolences to the late senator’s family. The brief post was in lieu of an official statement from the White House.
“Still not a kind word about Mccain himself,” Hume tweeted.
Donald Trump may be our first Tv-bred president, but Mccain – whose 30-years-plus U.S. senate run was filled with the dramatic twists and turns of an Emmy-winning drama series – cultivated a magnetic on-screen persona well before “The Apprentice” producer Mark Burnett painted Donald Trump as a competent leader. Sen. John Mccain is seen in 2017 at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C.
Viewers saw Mccain as a politician who didn’t speak like a politician. He was a D.C. anomaly who forged lasting relationships with anchors, reporters and Americans of all political persuasions. He was quick to anger, even on camera, dropped fourletter words in public that might have ended the careers of his conservative contemporaries and eviscerated unlucky reporters who dared to ask loaded questions when Mccain wasn’t in the mood.
But he always came back to the table to keep the discussion going, and that’s what viewers who fret for our democracy will miss most: a D.C. leader who put conviction above party.
Mccain was by no means perfect. He flip-flopped on issues when it suited him, was embroiled in a scandal that he barely survived
and made questionable decisions while running for office against Barack Obama in 2008 that he wasn’t proud of (running mate Sarah Palin was one of them).
His life played out on television, from his early introduction to a national audience as a captive POW in the 1970s to his early 1980s Senate win, to newscasts on the Keating Five scandal to his run for the Oval Office to a recent documentary on Mccain’s life, HBO’S “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” And when strung all together, these smallscreen moments chronicle the life of a public servant who, when swayed, returned to his own moral compass for guidance. Authenticity was his appeal.
He often deviated from talking points beneficial to him or the party in favor of speaking his own truth.
DETROIT – The line moved briskly outside the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Tuesday morning as hundreds of people filed inside to say their final farewells to Aretha Franklin.
The body of the Queen of Soul was laid out in a gold casket, wearing a red, lace-trimmed ruffled suit and crimson satin pumps on the first of two days of public visitation at the museum.
Embroidered in golden thread in the lining of the casket were the words “Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul.”
“She has a beautiful smile . ... She looks serene resting as a true queen,” said Charlotte Smith, 55, of northwest Detroit.
The body of the legendary singer was to lie in honor for public visitation Tuesday and today at the museum. The Wright museum, founded in 1965, was the largest African American museum in the country until the National Museum of African American History and Culture opened in Washington, D.C., in September 2016.
Aretha Franklin’s funeral is limited to invited guests – but the world will be able to watch.
The Friday service will be made available for viewing live online and on television, the Free Press has confirmed.
Franklin’s funeral will be livestreamed by the Associated Press, which means it’s likely to be picked up by online media outlets around the globe.
Nationally, Fox News and CNN plan to air portions of the service live, representatives of those networks confirmed.
The Queen of Soul’s funeral will start at 10 a.m. Eastern Friday at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit. Announced performers include Stevie Wonder, Faith Hill, Ronald Isley, Chaka Khan, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson and Yolanda Adams.
Speakers so far include former President Bill Clinton, Smokey Robinson, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Clive Davis.
No timeline for the service has been announced, but given the number of participants, it’s safe to expect it will run for many hours.