An Open Letter to Senator John McCain

This post is an open letter to John McCain—usually this blog is dedicated to the “Writer’s Life.” To an extent it still is since writers are people and, so I tend to write about my experiences, even those unrelated to writing because those experiences are a part of this writer’s life and often influence my writing which though I write fiction, that fiction is, more often than not, informed by reality. So here goes.

Dear Senator McCain:

I am begging—yes begging, and normally I’m too proud, too arrogant to beg but in this instance, there is too much at stake, too many people at risk to stand on pride—John McCain to change his mind and vote against Trump's tax bill. As Mr. Spock said in one of the Star Trek movies, “The needs of the many outweighs the needs of the one.”

We lost our father, a veteran, and a good man to cancer on November 8. He had access to healthcare. And, we did not have to worry about the cost of his care—even if we had to pay out of pocket, we had him covered. That is not true of a lot of hard-working Americans, I know. So, I am grateful for that. And that is the underlying reason for me writing this blog post—I hope to make you realize the egregious, and, ultimately unforgivable error, of your deciding to support Trump’s horrible tax bill, which will raise the deficit, cause the collapse of our social safety networks and cause untold millions to suffer and die from their inability to access healthcare. You’ve said the bill is “imperfect,” but stopped shy of speaking the truth: that it will destroy the financial stability of the poor and middle class and cause many to die from inaccessibility to healthcare. Can you really die with that on your conscience?

My dad was a quiet, humble man, and I would never exploit his memory. But he was a veteran who fought in Korea for all Americans—so I think he would forgive me for this. I’ve attached pictures of him here because I think it’s harder to make a wrong decision when you see the faces of the people your vote could negatively impact for decades to come. I’m sure it’s hard to face the end of your life, but you have an opportunity to improve the lives of many others by voting no on this tax bill. That is a legacy. Surely, a better legacy that dying knowing you condemned countless millions of hardworking Americans to death to further line the pockets of the richest 1 percent.

Senator McCain, I ask—no, I beg—you to do the right thing and vote against the tax bill being pushed by Trump and his corrupt administration.