It's too painful to watch. Sure, we all smirk and sneer and ridicule McCain for what he has become rather than what he used to be. He once was a man who valued personal honesty and integrity above all else. He was spoon-fed the notion of service to one's country by his grandfather and father, both USN admirals. And unlike the current occupant of the White House, he didn't run and hide during the Viet Nam war. He did his duty as he saw fit and paid a heavy price both physically and mentally.
And he carried that inbred sense of duty and honor with him into his political life. He was never an easy person to get along with. His inability to suffer fools gladly was often expressed in his infamous angry outbursts. You can like or dislike him as you please but it would be difficult to call him inauthentic. At least it used to be.
It's almost tragic seeing what McCain has morphed into in his head-long pursuit of the presidency. And the thing that is both impelling and compelling him is...time. Trust me. As an aging baby-boomer, every new decade you enter into only serves to remind you of that ticking clock. In your forties and even your fifties, your mortality is only a fleeting thought. But as you enter your sixties and more so your seventies (if your lucky) that quiet ticking of the wristwatch becomes the giant grandfather clock in the living room loudly pealing out the passing quarters, halves,and hours of your life.
And each of deals with the passing of time in different ways. How often have we seen a woman of "certain age" wearing clothes and makeup appropriate for someone 20 or 30 years younger? How often have we heard of the aging prize fighter who's going for one more shot at the title? How often have we seen aging actors or other performers who refuse to acknowledge that they're no longer on the A-list? And when we do, we turn away in embarrassment.
And that seems to be how we are responding to McCain's bizarre behaviour on the campaign trail. He desperately wants us to see him as still relevant. That he still has some good years left in him. But he's trying to hard. He wants us to see him as the younger version of himself. He tries to come across as being "with it" and "hip" when all he succeeds in doing is proving how out of touch he is. It is not a good thing in today's world, for example, to admit to being ignorant of even the basics of computer use or the Internet. His handlers think that with just enough stage-craft and just enough one-liners maybe they can still sell him to the American people.
But sadly, it is not to be. A younger, smarter, hipper, brighter version is also on display. And in the youth-centric culture of 21st century America, it's going to be a very hard sell.
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