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At his ranch, in the sunset of his life, Senator John McCain is sharing memories and regrets with those close to him---among his greatest regrets is picking Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008---He says he wishes he would have gone with "his gut".
And "no," President Trump will not be invited to attend his funeral.
The New York Times published a feature article---one that has all the talking points they love to publish.
A former POW and longtime Republican Senator who wishes he would have chosen his friend Joe Lieberman, former Democrat now an Independent, instead of Palin as his running mate, will not invite President Trump to his funeral, and is encouraging Joe Biden to run for president---makes for a great feature in the NYT, formerly known as the Gray Lady of news in America and the world.
The Times says, "When former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., traveled to Senator John McCain's Arizona ranch last Sunday to spend a few hours with his ailing friend, the two reminisced...But the conversation on the sun-splashed deck off Mr. McCain's bedroom was not all nostalgia."
McCain is in the last stages of brain cancer.
Plans are underway for his funeral, and he says "no," President Trump will not be invited, but Vice-President Pence will be.
And he hopes to right some of his mistakes.
In an upcoming HBO documentary---and his soon to be published book, "Restless Wave", McCain says that choosing Palin over Joe Lieberman was "another mistake" that he made during his political career. He says his advisers warned him not to choose Lieberman because he is a former Democrat, now Independent, but still caucused with the Democrats, and is pro-abortion, so he chose Palin---even though his "gut" told him to go with Lieberman.
The reason McCain has such regret regarding Palin is that he believes she galvanized conservatives and working-class voters who were fed up with both political parties when she was put on the ticket. The establishment ruling class of Democrats and Republicans, in which McCain is deeply rooted, would later be rocked to its core in 2016.
The New York Times and McCain's book and documentary, I'm certain, miss the rest of this story, because they don't understand it. It is spiritual---not political.
The political story.
I was fairly close to parts of that presidential campaign, meeting privately with both Todd Palin and John McCain separately.
The only reason McCain had any chance of winning was because of the energy Sarah Palin brought to his campaign. All of us saw it.
I can tell you McCain's advisers gave him a lot of bad advice---I saw some of it first hand.
Tony Lee, writing about this yesterday, said: "The McCain-Palin ticket took a 2 point lead after the Republican National Convention."
Even then the Republican establishment sensed the existential threat that Palin brought to the forefront. Suddenly the commonsense, blue-collar working conservatives had a voice---one that they did not have in previous modern-day Republican presidents, and one they certainly would not have had in John McCain.
The establishment Republicans did everything in their power to undermine and discredit Palin---even at the ultimate expense of McCain's quest for the presidency.
Keeping the club intact seems to be more important to the so-called "moderate" Republicans than the good of the country or their political party.
I have seen the Washington State Republican Party take similar actions against highly qualified candidates that were "too conservative to win"...and also held social conservative beliefs that the State GOP didn't want to link up with.
So the moderates prevailed and chose a Rob McKenna type candidate, which causes them to continually handoff elections to the State Democrat Party. Maybe the Democrats would win anyway, but until a highly qualified true conservative Republican runs for statewide office with the full support of the Republican Party we'll never know.
However, McCain's loss, regardless of the reason, was, I believe, a step toward a providential moment in the history of our country.
The spiritual story.
Barack Obama, whom I have never viewed as a discerning spiritual leader, at least had enough political savvy to recognize the link between Palin and the emergence of a nonpolitician like Donald Trump.
He told New York Magazine, "I see a straight line from the announcement of Sarah Palin as the vice-president nominee to what we see today in Donald Trump, the emergence of the Freedom Caucus, the Tea Party, and the shift in the center of gravity for the Republican Party."
Last fall Tony Lee wrote an article highlighting 9 prominent ways in which Palin was a trailblazer for Donald Trump's rise. I won't summarize them but would encourage you to read them.
The thing they (the establishment GOP) feared most has come upon them. The same people who tried to destroy Palin, are the ones trying to destroy Trump---his presidency and even a number of his Cabinet nominees, and they're not all Democrats. Neil Gorsuch, Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court, experienced some resistance. Wait until the next nominee.
There is a Truth that is woven throughout Scripture: God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts, God's ways are higher than our ways.
God's thoughts and ways never quite match up with man's thoughts and ways---the methods are different, certainly the personalities are different, often unacceptable from man's perspective, and most often not qualified at least in the minds of men ---and the list goes on and on.
Throughout American history, there are countless, documented events that were precursors to a future victory in this nation's fight for freedom.
The Bible is filled with events that appeared irrelevant, untimely or even a defeat for God's purposes, yet in time God's will became more clear and people saw God's hand at work in the previous events. What looked unreasonable, became understood and reasonable.
One such event that most all of us know about: Joshua and the wall of Jericho.
To the man who was probably the greatest, most accomplished military general in the world at the time, God told Joshua to, rather than attack, walk around a city wall once every day for 7 days. Then, walk around 7 times on the 7th day and shout and blow horns.
Joshua was so set back by the directive, he asked the angel who delivered the message--- "Whose side are you on?"
We all know the results.
God is hearing and answering the prayers of His people in regard to restoring our nation.
For many Christians and conservatives President Trump would not have been their first choice, however, as history unfolds and is recorded, it is becoming more and more clear that God's ways are higher than our ways.
Out of 17 Republican candidates, all of whom professed to be a Christian, one unlikely candidate --who had no previous experience in politics---emerged from the field to defeat Hillary Clinton and become president---stunning the experts.
For the people concerned about a government that was masquerading as God and needed to be brought back under the control of "we the people," Trump became the answer to our prayers.
This story, as they say, is a "developing story"---but God is in control.
As for John McCain, we appreciate his service to our country, but perhaps he should find rest in the peace of God, rather than spending precious time trying to right what he considers the wrong of picking Palin.
And perhaps he can find rest in the fact that God used him in an important way.
Be Informed. Be Prayerful. Be Hopeful.