John McCain has passed away today, according to CNN. McCain was diagnosed with glioblastoma last Summer, an extremely aggressive brain cancer. He decided to stop medical treatment for the disease earlier this month. The Arizona Senator spent the last few months of his life breaking from the Republican party, and causing a stir on Capitol Hill. As many already know, McCain was a prisoner of war. He joined the Navy in the 60's, but his bomber was hit my a missile in October 1967 and he was captured soon after. He broke both arms and his leg in the explosion. McCain spent 5½ years in captivity as a POW in North Vietnam, where he was brutally tortured regularly. He also never received proper medical treatment for his broken bones, causing him to lose the ability to lift his arms above his shoulders and to walk with a limp all of his life. He turned down an opportunity to be released as a solo prisoner, a preferential action that he may have gotten due to his connections in the miltary. Still, he refused to come home until all the men that were captured with him also came home. When he was finally released back to the US, McCain served in the Navy until the early 80's. He then transitioned into politics.
McCain was one of the few Republicans that distanced himself from Trump, and he infamously cast the vote that destroyed Trump's Obama-Care repeal. Expected to side with his own party, McCain voted to keep Obama-Care in place instead, sending a shockwave through the GOP. According to reports, Trump will not be invited to the funeral. McCain did not want the president there, but Barack Obama and George W. Bush were asked to give eulogies earlier this year when McCain was diagnosed with cancer. McCain ran against Obama in the 2008 presidential election and lost to Bush in the 2000 Republican primary.
