Opuscula Two famous Americans' Lives ended

OVER THE WEEKEND OF AUGUST 25 AND 26, 2018, America lost two famous men.
One wrote words that made Americans – and others – laugh and, maybe, occasionally shed a tear.
The other bombed people he couldn’t see, ended up as a POW, and later became a politician.

NEIL SIMON, according to Wikipedia¹, was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly adaptations of his plays. He received more combined Oscar and Tony nominations than any other writer. Born on Independence Day, 1927, Simon, at 17, briefly served in the post-war Army Air Force Reserve. He died of complications from pneumonia at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York on August 26, 2018. ²

A list of Neil Simon plays, musicals, and films is longer than this blog allows, but may be found online.³

JOHN SIDNEY MCCAIN III was the son and grandson of Navy admirals.⁴. According to Wikipedia, as a naval aviator, McCain flew attack aircraft from carriers. On his twenty-third bombing mission, in October 1967, he was shot down over Hanoi and badly injured. He subsequently endured five and a half years as a prisoner of war, including periods of torture. In 1968, he refused a North Vietnamese offer of early release, because it would have meant leaving before other prisoners who had been held longer. He was released in 1973 after the Paris Peace Accords.

Upon his return, McCain studied at the National War College, commanded a large training squadron in Florida, and was appointed the Navy liaison to the U.S. Senate. He retired from the Navy in 1981 as a captain (O-6).

While in the Navy, McCain earned a number of individual citations (medals) and an additional number of unit citations, e.g., Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation.

McCain’s last four years in the Navy saw him as the Navy's liaison to the United States Senate.⁵ He moved to Arizona and, aided by a job from his father-in-law and the contacts it gave him, soon began a new career in politics.

In 1982, he was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's 1st congressional district. After serving two terms there and making an impression as a rising political figure, he was elected U.S. Senator from Arizona in 1986. He became one of the senators entangled in the Keating Five⁶ scandal of the late 1980s, but survived it and was re-elected in 1992 and 1998.

While generally adhering to American conservatism, McCain established a reputation as a political maverick for his willingness to defy Republican orthodoxy on several issues. In reaction to his Keating Five experience, he made campaign finance reform one of his signature concerns. He was also a leader in normalizing diplomatic relations with Vietnam. His national visibility as a senator gave him the basis to begin a campaign for the 2000 Republican nomination for President of the United States.

Possibly because of “his willingness to defy Republican orthodoxy,” the traditional lowering of the U.S. capitol flag took place only on the day of McCain’s death. Lest anyone believe President Trump’s pique at McCain caused him to ignore protocol and, by executive order, have the flag lowered for a longer time, according to Wikipedia⁷ the flag is lowered “on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress.” McCain, although unable to serve, still was one of Arizona’s two senators.

If I were to editorialize, I would suggest the president was being petty. It was not his finest hour. He should have put personalities aside followed tradition.

On the other hand, McCain asked that Barack Obama and George W. Bush speak at this funeral. Perhaps Trump had reason for his apparent flag snub.

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Sources

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Simon

2. http://tinyurl.com/ya2f7x72

3. http://tinyurl.com/yajkelsr

4. http://tinyurl.com/odnqho2

5. http://tinyurl.com/ycze8sxv

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five

7. http://tinyurl.com/yb5jzu3l

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

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