What Happened?

Perhaps this question is redundant, but it keeps appearing for a reason: What exactly happened to the John McCain of the 2000 election? The veritable maverick who was the unpolitician of his time.

Once upon a time before this decade went down the commode, John McCain was described as a candidate who acted "somewhat in the ballpark of a real human being". Today we can say R.I.P. to David Foster Wallace, who wrote these words (an uncanny predicate to this blog) in his famous coverage of the old (as in, previous version of, not the, decrepit as we know him) McCain. We can, and have, said R.I.P. to the old McCain a long time ago. 

This is a funeral of sorts. The mourning of a politician who used to genuinely inspire and tell the truth. A man who did put his country first and himself last while suffering in a Hanoi prison. This was someone who pierced the cynical heart of Americans, especially after he was taken down by the political machine he set out to fight.

But now we have McCain 2.0. 

No longer spright, we have an aged McCain who has turned negative, smug, and uninspiring. A candidate who makes choices that appease and makes statements that are disconcerting.

No doubt this country is at a loss. Thankfully, there is someone else to fill McCain 1.0's shoes.