Nickolas Silver
Jul 27, 2017 · 2 min read

Excerpts From A Remarkable Address


A week out from surgery to remove a blood clot over his left eye, the result of newly diagnosed brain cancer, Senator John McCain returned to Congress on Tuesday, principally to vote YES on a motion to debate the GOP-controlled Senate’s latest draconian proposal to repeal — and perhaps even replace — the Affordable Care Act.

One can certainly take issue with his vote for giving life to a proposal remarkable in its meanness, especially given his own prognosis. McCain, who’s been in the Senate for thirty years, has an especially aggressive form of brain cancer called a glioblastoma. The likelihood of one surviving such a cancer is quite low. (My own father died of the very same cancer less than two months after being diagnosed.)

In retrospect, one wonders if the nation didn’t catch a glimpse of the senator’s condition during his befuddled questioning of former FBI Director James Comey when the latter testified before Congress in June. Those watching probably thought McCain was showing signs of mental decline not unusual for someone his age. (McCain turns 81 next month.) McCain later blamed his confusion on staying up late the night before watching an Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game.

On Tuesday, however, McCain displayed no such sluggishness in a speech on the senate floor that was equal parts impassioned call to order, plea for bipartisanship, rebuke of the president’s fixation on winning, and eloquent valedictory. His speech should be required study in civics classes across the country. I include some choice examples below.

On bipartisanship:

“The most revered members of this institution accepted the necessity of compromise to make incremental progress to solve America’s problems and to defend her from her adversaries.”

On incrementalism:

“Incremental progress, compromises each side criticize but also accept…isn’t glamorous or exciting…But, it’s usually the most we can expect from our system of government, operating in a country as diverse and quarrelsome and free as ours.”

On republicanism (as distinct from the Republican Party):

“Our system doesn’t depend on our nobility. It accounts for our imperfections, and gives an order to our individual striving…”

I could cite still more examples of the depth of Senator McCain’s understanding of American governance and of the urgency of the present moment in American history, but one should read the speech in its entirety for oneself and perhaps be stirred, as I was, reading it.

https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/floor-statements?ID=0238777E-2D5C-4C47-8FF5-55D94C27E97F

Nickolas Silver

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