The Last of "Country First"

By Bill Maher


John McCain is close to the end, and it feels like the end of an era where Republicans had what James Comey called “A Higher Loyalty.”

I didn’t always agree with John McCain, but I always knew he was someone who thought seriously about the country, and about service, and basically wasn’t all the things we hate about Ted Cruz. There was always a man in there.




When the yahoos got up at his rally and said Obama wasn’t an American, McCain took the mic and said, “No ma’am. He's a decent family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues.”


When the Republicans put out a health care plan that was a total joke, he voted it down.

In both an upcoming HBO documentary, as well is in his own memoir, McCain says he regrets not going with his gut and choosing Democrat Joe Lieberman instead of Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008 – or as historians refer to it: the beginning of the end of vetting.




In the book, McCain disses Trump. He writes: Trump “has declined to distinguish the actions of our government from the crimes of despotic ones,” and that “the appearance of toughness, or a reality show facsimile of toughness, seems to matter more than any of our values.” Trump fired back saying that he prefers people who don’t get sick.


McCain also wrote: “I’m freer than colleagues who will face the voters again. I can speak my mind without fearing the consequences much. And I can vote my conscience without worry.” Why does a politician have to retire or die before they can speak their mind? Doesn’t the true maverick speak his mind when it’s difficult or unpopular?

There were clearly things that mattered to John McCain more than himself and his Party. And when I watch this disgusting conglomerate of crooks, hacks, and fools that is the modern day Republican Party, I know we’re going to miss the type of guy who wants Obama speak at his funeral, but not Trump.

Is this the death of the last bipartisan Republican and the pre-Trump GOP?