John McCain:Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, a former Navy pilot who spent 5 ½ years in a North Vietnamese prison and 32 years in the Senate, died yesterday of a brain tumor at age 81. The end came quickly after his family announced he had stopped treatment.

McCain’s daughter Meghan wrote, “He taught me how to live. His love and his care, ever present, always unfailing, took me from a girl to a woman – and he showed me what it is to be a man.”

A tough and mercurial politician who ran for president twice, McCain’s last major political act was to dramatically turn his thumb down and vote “no” on the long-promised Republican repeal of Obamacare, killing the bill.

McCain was both beloved and feared. He was a gentle man who could lose control of a ferocious temper.

He was shot down over Hanoi and broke both arms and a leg. As the son and grandson of admirals, he was targeted for torture and propaganda, frequently beaten and hung by his arms behind his back. Twice, he tried to kill himself.

For the rest of his life McCain couldn’t raise his arms high enough to comb his hair. Because of his standing in a military family, McCain was offered release ahead of prisoners captured before him, but refused as a matter of honor.

As a politician, McCain read the wind and shifted with it. He was commonly described as a “maverick.” He turned to the right to survive the wave of the Tea Party and became a power broker during the presidency of Barack Obama, who trounced him in his own bid for the White House. McCain, out of frustration and a restless pique, had chosen Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for his running mate, creating a political monster who dragged down his campaign.

McCain was loved and respected, even by opponents, with the exception of Donald Trump, who insulted McCain for having been captured in the war. Trump once said in a speech, “He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”

McCain wrote of the President, “The appearance of toughness or a reality show facsimile of toughness seems to matter more than any of our values. Flattery secures his friendship, criticism his enmity.” He directed that Trump must not be invited to his funeral.

Not many people had tougher fights with McCain than President Obama, who graciously said yesterday, “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.”

The Trumpster Fire:As John McCain lay dying, the President of the United States was all thumbs on Twitter attacking former associates, the FBI, his attorney general, and Hillary Clinton as though he’s still running against her.

Picking up on a story he saw on Fox News, Trump said, “The FBI only looked at 3000 of 675,000 Crooked Hillary Clinton Emails. They purposely didn’t look at the disasters. This news is just out.” He said, “I feel sure that we will soon be getting to the bottom of all of this corruption. At some point I may have to get involved!”

He has not condemned the criminality of his convicted associates.

Not Fired:Federal employee unions rejoiced yesterday after a US District judge in Washington struck down a Trump executive order that would have made it easier to fire federal employees. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ruled that the President doesn’t have the authority to just cancel elements of union contracts he doesn’t like.

Gates of Heaven:The last time a pope visited Ireland homosexuality was illegal but today the prime minister is openly gay and abortion is legal. The Catholic church has lost its dominance and in large part because of priests sexually abusing children.

Pope Francis was in Ireland yesterday doing penitence. He said, “The failure of ecclesiastical authorities – bishops, religious superiors, priests and others – adequately to address these repellent crimes has rightly given rise to outrage and remains a source of pain and shame for the Catholic community.”

Small Screen:ESPN host Jemele Hill, who once called President Trump a “white supremacist” and has barely been on screen since, is leaving the network. Although Hill had violated a network rule about staying out of politics, she was not suspended. The White House called for her to be fired.

Hill describes her departure as amicable and says she wants to become more involved in politics.

Aloha:As Tropical Storm Lane crawls away from the Hawaiian islands, there are flash flood warnings on Maui and around Hilo on the big island of Hawaii. Rivers are roaring. As much as 50 inches of rain have fallen on parts of Hawaii.

Tennis Whites:The French tennis Federation has voted to impose a dress code for next year’s French Open.

In particular what will not be allowed is the skintight black catsuit worn by Serena Williams in June.

Williams said at the time, “I feel like a warrior in it, a warrior princess … from Wakanda, maybe,” referring to the movie Black Panther.

The French forget that Wakanda has never been conquered.

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