We don’t like team players.

That’s the American Way. We’re one of a kind mavericks who believe we can go our own way. Maybe that’s how we got into this mess. All this millennial hogwash about getting along, being a member of the group, staying silent rather than throwing a monkey wrench into the discussion.

Meanwhile, we laud the leaders, the entrepreneurs, those who are different.

That’s how Trump got elected in the first place.

Hillary, and I can’t believe they’re still talking about her, after all they won, was the best prepared and the best educated but she was so busy triangulating that she ended up inauthentic. And what we Americans crave most is authenticity.

We can debate all day long whether McCain’s reputation is deserved, whether he truly is a maverick, we can go through his history and find fault but one thing’s for sure, he gave the Republican Party the middle finger tonight.

Now this was not foreseeable. He flew back from surgery to put this process in action, to enable this vote. But it turned out that was just the first inning, the first round, it was a head fake.

And maybe it’s about being near death. When you just don’t give a fuck.

That’s what the young don’t understand about the old. They’ve seen the movie, they know it’s b.s., at some point they’re gonna do what they want as opposed to what they’re told to do.

And why is it Republicans recant on their death beds, remember Lee Atwater?, but the Democrats don’t. At this point both parties are beholden to corporations but when the grim reaper comes knocking at your door, no corporation is gonna save you, no big daddy, you’re on your own, you can kiss your ass goodbye.

That’s what America has turned into. Paying fealty. Giving to get back. Even though very few can win. And we’ve all become disillusioned, we don’t think great things can happen. Hell, that’s what Trump ran on, making America Great Again. Well, I’ve lived a few decades at this point and I don’t want to go back to the past whatsoever. I decry income inequality, I’ve got complaints, but it’s better than it’s ever been. Technology has made all of our lives better. Even though it’s hard to pay the rent for so many.

But the solution is not to jet back to the past.
And there’s no jetting back in health care.

Turns out people want to be taken care of. They want a level playing field. Just like everybody’s got a gay uncle or sister or cousin, everybody knows someone who’s gone bankrupt from health bills, or has fought the system unsuccessfully, or has been presented with a bill they cannot afford. Through no fault of their own! They’re just minding their own business and they get cancer, diseases they’ve never heard of before. They’re on the precipice of death.

And some don’t care.

But that’s not what they say.

They obfuscate. They say you should have taken responsibility. That everyone can get health care in the emergency room. That we’ve got to protect jobs, we’ve got to protect the corporations. They talk about small businesses, but that’s fallacious, the man, the company, is the big kahuna here, in terms of revenue and employment.

Slice and dice it however you want, I don’t care. I don’t even care what side you’re on.

All I know is we’ve got entertainers more sold out and more duplicitous than politicians. You might bop your head to the sound, but they live for sponsorship. They don’t stand for anything but money. And then tonight, just when we think we know who McCain is, that he cannot do the right thing…

He does.

That’s an American. That’s the American Way.

Doing the right thing as opposed to the expedient.

Not worrying about the team, but the game.

And the game is we’re a nation of individuals. We have to get along. We have to look after each other. Or else the whole thing fails.

Countries are fragile. Just look at Venezuela. Hell, the globe is different from the one I used to have in my childhood bedroom.

Who do we tell our kids to look up to? Who are their heroes? Who speaks the truth?

Tonight McCain did the right thing, damn the team, he was worried about the consequences.

Are you gonna follow in his footsteps?

We need people to point the way, otherwise we get lost.

Tonight we were found.

Amen.