R.I.P. John McCain

John F. Kennedy once defined the national purpose as: "The combined purposefulness of each of us when we are at our moral best: striving, risking, choosing, making decisions, engaging in a pursuit of happiness that is strenuous, heroic, exciting, and exalted."

Immediately after the death of John McCain was announced, President Barack Obama wrote: “Few of us have been tested the way John once was, or required to show the kind of courage that he did. But all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own.  At John’s best, he showed us what that means. And for that, we are all in his debt."

President Obama will deliver one of two eulogies at McCain's funeral.  The current resident of the White House won't attend.  He was specifically disinvited by McCain.

John McCain was not always at his best, but it is fitting that he is praised for his courage when he was at his best, when he made a difference, and when, by his life, he helped define our national purpose.  May he rest in peace.