Senator and former POW John McCain died yesterday.
Scroling through social media, I’m dismayed. I keep seeing statements from people who have forgotten McCain was not a man of the people. And, me being me, I’m upset by that. McCain was not a good person, at least politically, and we need to remember that. He did a lot of harm to communities – that’s his legacy.
I don’t have to be sad that a person who spent his life harming communities I’m a part of or I support died. This man is not some amazing person to put up on a high pedestal… unless you want to praise the systematic oppression of anyone who isn’t white, cishet, rich, conservative, American-born, and the right kind of Christian.
It’s okay to speak that truth. In fact, I would say we have a duty to do so because the GOP sure as hell isn’t going to take a break from attacking marginalized communities. They’re still scheming while tweeting out their sympathies.
McCain was horribly racist. He used racial slurs and continued doing so, though less publicly. He played a major part in selling sacred indigenous land to mining companies and golf courses. He also voted against MLK day, later saying he wished he hadn’t. Of course, McCain also elevated Sarah Palin which essentially co-founded the birther and tea party movements. That led to the administration we see today, especially with prominent birther Trump in charge.
Don’t forget that this man thought the ACA repeal effort – the one disabled people put lives on the line to stop last year – didn’t go far enough. He fought like hell to stop the ACA from being put in place. Instead of working to fix it, he campaigned on repealing it after it became law. It floors me that someone who helped with the ADA and tried to pass a patient bill of rights could also be so cruel.
On a more personal note, I didn’t have insurance coverage as a child because my mother sucks. Because SJIA is a pre-existing condition, I couldn’t get insurance on my own covering my SJIA until the ACA passed. It took a few years for me to get a job with an insurance option. I can’t imagine having had to wait until then to get care.
I could have easily died if McCain got his way, either by defeating the ACA initially or repealing it. MANY people would have. I don’t have to applaud him for making it through unspeakable things when he would’ve forced many of us into not dissimilar situations.
He could have saved disabled people. We could have stayed on home instead of being arrested. We could’ve taken care of ourselves instead of spending energy on basic human rights. All he had to do was say he would vote against it. Instead he wanted to pull a publicity stunt at the last second, telling reporters to ‘wait for the show.’
While I cried in bed, wondering what the fuck me and my disabled siblings were going to do without the ACA, McCain sat grinning on the inside like a son of a bitch. He did not care that his cavalier attitude was harming people. We were confronted with losing lifelines and he treated it like a game.
I stopped seeking diagnoses for things going on. I was afraid that whatever is going on neurologically or with my heart would get diagnosed. Without protections from the ACA, I could easily lose the ability to get any current diagnoses treated. McCain literally played a part in my poor health last year.
I won’t do about McCain’s legacy. I also won’t pretend that being a POW means he was a good person. What he chose to do when he got home and involved in politics is important. He chose to harm. He was a good republican.
I won’t speak well of someone who took pride in being a selfish asshole. If you choose to do that, you should re-examine why whitewashing history is a hobby of yours.