In the early morning hours of July 28, as I watched Arizona Senator John McCain cast one of the three earth-shaking votes against the “skinny repeal” of the Trumpcare bill, I came to the bittersweet realization that John McCain is making his last hurrah.

Ever the maverick who, to the dismay of senate Republicans, will still surprise by voting his conscience instead of the party line, McCain dealt the death blow to McConnell’s last hope of passing a disaster of a health care bill.

Why his last hurrah? Because John McCain has been diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer whose treatment is every bit as devastating as the disease itself. Still recovering from the surgery to remove a blood clot from over his left eye, McCain mustered the strength to pull himself from his sick bed in Arizona to make the 2,000 plus mile trip to Washington DC to cast that fateful vote and to spend a few days participating in other significant legislation before going home to further treatment.

John McCain is no stranger to adversity. Most of us are familiar with his heroic tale of being shot down over North Vietnam during the Vietnam War, being gravely injured when ejected from his plane, denied medical treatment by his captors, being confined to solitary for two years and being repeatedly tortured, then refusing repatriation to the United States so that he could remain in the normal rotation of returning prisoners to America. Initially McCain was not expected by his fellow prisoners to survive those first few days of captivity. But McCain endured, and came home to take his place as a contributing member of the House and then the Senate of the United States. He has served 30 years, all those years still afflicted with physical reminders of those years at the Hanoi Hilton.

Throughout this protracted battle over repeal and replace, Donald Trump, his administration and the Republicans themselves have made repeated, not-so-veiled threats against their own who have turned on the party line over health care. Right up to the fateful vote, I watched on C-Span the vain attempts by McConnell, Reince Prebus, Jeff Flake and other Republicans to cajole and coax McCain into “doing the right thing.” It was to no avail.

McCain appeared downright defiant when he turned his thumb down in opposition to McConnell’s ill-advised bill. McCain appeared almost liberated from party politics-as-usual.

“Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.” These words from Kris Kristofferson’s ’60s-era song “Me and Bobby McGee” offer an apt sentiment to describe John McCain’s unique position in Trump’s Congress. In voting his conscience, McCain had nothing left to lose. Because he is facing his mortality (he will likely be gone from us within the 14-month survival expectancy this disease imposes upon its victims), John McCain is embracing this freedom.  

McCain has lived an honorable life — not perfect, but honorable. He decided to meet his maker on his terms, in the knowledge that he did not sell out to the misguided promise of repeal and replace. To my mind, that is a freedom to be celebrated. Hurrah!