Nine years later, how things have changed.
On September 22nd, Senator John McCain traveled to California to speak at a funeral, a funeral of a man he never really knew, who had volunteered on his 2000 Presidential campaign. Here's what he had to say about Mark Bingham, who died on United Flight 93.
"I love my country, and I take pride in serving her. But I cannot say that I love her more or as well as Mark Bingham did, or the other heroes on United Flight 93 who gave their lives to prevent our enemies from inflicting an even greater injury on our country. It has been my fate to witness great courage and sacrifice for America's sake, but none greater than the selfless sacrifice of Mark Bingham and those good men who grasped the gravity of the moment, understood the threat, and decided to fight back at the cost of their lives.
"In the Gospel of John it is written "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Such was the love that Mark and his comrades possessed, as they laid down their lives for others. A love so sublime that only God's love surpasses it...
"I never knew Mark Bingham. But I wish I had. I know he was a good son and friend, a good rugby player, a good American, and an extraordinary human being. He supported me, and his support now ranks among the greatest honors of my life. I wish I had known before September 11th just how great an honor his trust in me was. I wish I could have thanked him for it more profusely than time and circumstances allowed. But I know it now. And I thank him with the only means I possess, by being as good an American as he was.
Mark Bingham was indeed one of those rare people who actually deserved that overused word, hero. He was a hero in more ways then one though, because Mark was also a proud, unapologetic gay man. He was not the type to hide who he was from anyone. He would tell you if you asked, and sometimes if you didn't.
Today, John McCain went against the overwhelming majority of Americans, against the civilian and uniform leadership in our military, against even himself, to kill the repeal of the failed Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, a policy that forces courageous men and women to choose which form of courage they value most: the courage of serving their country or the courage of being themselves. The John McCain who gave Mark's eulogy seems to have disappeared, erased as permanently as one can erase a once-promising personality through addiction or vice. The John McCain who gave that eulogy exists no more. Or maybe even more troubling, he never existed at all. Is a human being really capable of that kind of monstrous deception?
I'm not going to list why DADT is a horrible, failed, misguided policy that weakens our military. That argument is already made. I'm just going to remember that nine years ago tomorrow, a brave American who was also a gay American was eulogized by a politician who seemed not afraid of the worst instincts then brewing in his party. I'll always remember that John McCain fondly for his words, and wonder at the shell who stands today in the Senate. Is this really what our politics is now?
John McCain spent over five years as a prisoner of war in the Hanoi Hilton. Yet when you look at him today, when you see his face, his eyes, the tension and anger and unhappiness in him, you realize that he is still a prisoner. This time it's the radicals of his party that hold him hostage. And this time, tragically, criminally, and ironically, he holds the key to his escape, and he does not use it. Last time he stayed for honor, this time he stays for spite.
Update: Give to McCain's opponent here:
http://www.actblue.com/...