My temper lies dormant. I’m like a fighter who knows his fists are lethal weapons, so it’s best to keep them hidden.
In my case, my tongue will get me into trouble if I’m not careful.
In AA they warn you…restraint of pen and tongue…pause before you take someone’s head off. Thomas Jefferson said, when angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred.
Arizona Senator John McCain passed away as the world knows, and as they said when Alexander Hamilton died in 1804, even his enemies mourned him, as many of the tributes to him prove.
When I was speaking to my neighbor about how sad his passing was, a man I didn’t know, overhearing said, “He was a schmuck, and thank God never president.”
So stunned, I swear you could see my heart pound right through my shirt, like in a Disney cartoon.
My neighbor, also thunderstruck said, “The man is dead. Have you no respect?”
And he without pause, said, “No, not for him.”
I managed to say nothing, comforting my floor mate the best I could, saying, hey, McCain would say, it’s America after all, we are allowed to state our views.
John McCain was the quintessential American who served his country both in war and peacetime, always standing up for what he believed.
He was a Vietnam prisoner of war who, after being tortured and tormented, when told he could go home, refused because he wouldn’t leave his men. As long as I live, this will never cease to touch and impress me.
Like John Quincy Adams who served 17 years in Congress, dying at 80, a year younger than our John, when asked what party he belonged to, said…
“I belong to no party…I serve the people.”
So did John McCain.
1936-2018