John Fund of National Review Online fills gaps within mainstream media obituaries of the late U.S. Sen. John McCain.
The past week has featured so much extravagant praise of John McCain that Jill Abramson, the former editor of the New York Times, had to admit “McCain would cringe over some of the glowing tributes pouring in.” …
… Yes, of course, John McCain was an American hero. But his sudden elevation to superhero status demonstrates one reason so many Americans view the media and the political establishment with skepticism. Many must have wondered whether they were getting the ‘real McCain’ story or being fed a thinly veiled political message. As Joe Concha of The Hill newspaper asked,
“If the senator had gotten along with Trump, perhaps voted for the ‘skinny repeal’ of Obamacare that he so famously shot down with one vote change at the 11th hour, hadn’t publicly called Trump ‘disgraceful,’ would we see this level of reverence?”
Many commenters rightly criticized President Trump’s churlishness toward John McCain. But when it was revealed that Sarah Palin, his 2008 vice-presidential running mate — who has never said a negative word about McCain and indeed expressed only gratitude toward him — was being excluded from his funeral and memorial services, the same pundits were silent. Noticing the public rebuke of Palin would have interrupted the narrative of John McCain as an example of what’s best and noble in our politics.
