Posted on 05/13/2018 5:23:14 AM PDT by Kaslin
This is one of those columns that runs the risk of ticking off everyone. Whenever you combine politics and death, especially when using a political lightning rod to do it, people on both sides tend to get upset. But I don’t care, it has to be said – John McCain needs to retire from the Senate.
With that being said, this column is not really about Senator McCain, per se, it’s about the fact that far too many career politicians, as they approach their sunset years, stay in office longer than they are able to do the job. McCain just happens to be the current, and one of the most visible, examples.
This is where I insert the obligatory disclaimer about McCain being a hero and praise his military service and sacrifice. It is not just a formality, it is actually true. And anyone who writes anything about him that is even remotely negative has to preface what they with this disclaimer. But again, this is not about him.
McCain’s brain cancer is horrible, and likely terminal. Just how long he has to live is unknown, hopefully, for the sake of his family and friends, he responds to treatment and lives a long time. Being 81 years old, that seems unlikely. Still, you never know.
But that has nothing to do with why he should resign. Nor does any of the problems I and other conservatives have had with McCain over the years, including his deciding vote against Obamacare repeal.
No, he should resign because he physically cannot do the job anymore.
It is an open question as to when, if at all, McCain will return to the Senate. His staff is still handling constituent services, but he is missing votes, hearings, and all other obligations. He is not doing the job. He cannot do the job. And the people of Arizona deserve better.
Like I said, it is not just McCain. Former Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran retired on April 1st, but he was not well for years. Stories circulated on the Hill for years of Cochran getting lost walking to his office, staff writing out his questions for hearings, and guiding him around the Capitol.
Robert Byrd, Senator from West Virginia, was voting while essentially being pushed around the Capitol by staffers. Former Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy stopped showing up the months before his death, staying home with family, but still technically a Member of the Senate till his death.
There are current Senators and Congressmen who, if you listen closely at televised hearings, are going through what we all (hopefully) will – the end stages of the aging process. But they are not all there. It is an open secret in Washington that some people stay longer than they should because they simply do not3 know what else to do with themselves or they think the republic wo will not survive without them. It will.
John McCain is just the latest example and it happens to be playing out in public. Most of the other’s final years played out in private, and the phony politeness of politics caused it to remain unspoken and only whispered about by journalists.
Believe me, I am not comfortable pointing this out, how someone handles their sunset is up to them. But when they are an elected official they also have responsibilities to more than just the people they love – they have obligations to represent their constituents. If they find themselves in a position where they can no longer do that, they should step down for the good of the people who entrusted them with that position.
The 25th Amendment to the Constitution provides government with the tools necessary to remove a president, should we find ourselves with an Oval Office occupant unable to perform their duties. But no such Constitutional remedy for the same the removal of Members of Congress should any find themselves unable to perform their job.
If the President falls ill, he can be relieved until he is able to resume his duties. When Senator Tim Johnson suffered a stroke, he missed nearly a year of work. While it is wonderful that he survived and was able to return, the full responsibilities of his job were not done for that time.
We elect people, not gods, and we elect them to do a job – represent us. If they cannot do it, they should gracefully exit the stage and allow someone else to. I would rather John McCain not run last time, I would rather have a solidly conservative Senator from Arizona, but this has nothing to do with any of that. This has do with the fact that there is a job that needs to get done and it is not being accomplished.
Senator McCain, and all Members of Congress, currently hold their office, but they are not their jobs. Those jobs existed before they held them, they will exist after they do not hold them. When our representatives find themselves no longer able to perform their duties, it is time for them to step down…even if they are a hero.
McCain won’t retire because he knows Kelli Ward would be appointed in the interim, and then she would have an advantage in the election.
Pure spite.
That is however just speculation.
In Missouri judges must retire at age 70. Actually, their pay stops at 70. They can continue to serve in a “volunteer” status. Most retire. SCOTUS/Senators/House members, etc need to follow suit. 75 max.
Good article. And I’m reminded of the one about the Congressional pharmacy. Biz must be booming.
Schteichmerambugglnaufundrutschwidderrunder
Nobody has made any acknowledgement that a brain tumor can affect your cognition, personality, etc.
I don’t know where his tumor is, and his doctors do, so maybe it’s in an
area the doesn’t affect him in this way.
I have MS, I have MS lesions in my brain (not a tumor...just lesions) but I know my cognition is affected, and hundreds, maybe thousands of MSers, are forced to leave their job each year due to loss of cognitive abilities.
Just saying’ I don’t know why someone hasn’t brought up the effect brain tumors can have on individuals.
It’s a sad reality, and if his tumor is in a place that doesn’t affect the cognition issues, just say it and put the matter to rest.
McCain should have retired 2 years ago, when he first knew of his terminal cancer.
Now McCain has a mole on the White House staff.That’s where the apology should be, to the white House and to the president.
And what of McCain’s sordid history?
The Gang of 14,The Keating 5, the continuous ruination of conservative policy legislation in the Senate etc...
The final straw for me was McCain’s vote against the repeal of Obama care, cast out of spite, not because he cared anything about the bogus replacement bill drafted by Ryan and his cronies..
Then there was the boondoggle million dollar arms fiasco through Obama in Syria where a cadre of men of this bogus Syrian “resistance” made themselves rich selling the McCain armaments on the black market to ISIS.
The list goes on and on.
McCain’s disrespectful comments from his bitter death bed about Sarah Palin assure McCain will go down in history as a POS with a POS legacy......a loser.Retiring is now moot. The damage to himself is done.
And no one did it to him, not Donald Trump for sure.
John McCain did it to himself.
He “retired” the day he was elected!
I’m still ticked he wasn’t sent to prison over his membership in the Keating Five.
The people of Arizona should rise up. But after Gabby Giffords holding office for over a year after being shot so she would qualify for a federal pension, I am not holding my breath.
It has to do with special election laws.
Exactly right, all it requires is for people to stop voting for traitors.
How dare he keep cashing his paycheck from the taxpayers. He’s not been on the job for months.
It’s not going to happen. McStain wants the full send off.
That is however just speculation.
*****************
Some have speculated that if he died before May 31 an election could be held this year in Nov.
Otherwise the appointee would serve until the 2020 election cycle. Apparently he isn’t
going to resign regardless of his health situation.
I don’t disagree with your point, but balance that with the veteran status of every victim’s of a crime reported here.
“Ww2 vet victim of robbery.”
“Vietnam vet hit by car.”
There is respect, and that is deserved. But veteran status is also used liberally to exacerbate the crime. Like hitting someone with a 2x4 is bad enough...but it is often described as “vet hit with 2x4.”
It has become part of our culture where “what” someone is makes what happens to them more dramatic.
The senators he cites weren't men who just happened to face a sudden health crisis while they were in office. They were useless old bastards for years before they retired. If their constituents were dumb enough to vote for them in that condition, then I think it's only fair that their constituents should deal with the consequences of losing their representation in the U.S. Senate when their senators fail to show up for the job.
John McCain is the equivalent of a 50 year-old man who played college baseball in his younger years. If a major league team signs him to a multi-year guaranteed contract at the age of 50, they have no business complaining when the guy shows up at spring training and can't play baseball to save his life.
John McCain was reelected in 2016.
Term limits is an absolute must
That would be a special election. Of course I have no idea if Arizona has this, or not
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