My son, Matthew and his wife Carol, were in Washington DC this last weekend and they participated in the public viewing of Senator John McCain lying in state in the Capital. They represented the family, so to speak, in honoring the great American. Matthew texted, “Waited in line two hours -very hot -people passing out…but it was a beautiful experience to be at the Capital Rotunda for this.”

The services were beautiful from our perspective too. It had to be rough on President Trump. No one paid any attention to his pathetic tweets which has to be painful for a narcissist. Trump’s words that, “McCain was only a hero because he was captured and he prefers those who were not captured” should have been disqualifying coming from someone who could not remember which foot he had purchased the diagnosis of bone spurs from a doctor in which to gain a deferment to avoid military service.

That is not hearsay. I watched him say that in public in a taped interview. Of course, all those interviews of him saying embarrassing or incriminating things have been doctored according to Trump as part of the fake news against him. . .one of the many BS things that he says. Some, uncomfortable in the proximity of integrity, may say that McCain’s funeral was not an appropriate place to air differences. Not only was John McCain not one of them but he preplanned the event to show the country the stark contrast between duty, honor, country and what we have in the White House now which is exploitation of divisive partisan tribal ideology.

John got the last word…literally with the who’s who in Washington DC power centers sitting stoically listening to it. He knows that the American people know what right is and that many caught up in the emotion are coming to their senses. What they do now will determine the degree of their patriotism or the level of their hypocrisy. Donald Trump offends men of integrity. He offended John McCain deeply to his core being. Same here.

I had a physical last week and the nurse did a required mental health screening asking a half dozen questions like… “Do you have suicidal thoughts?” No, I don’t. Then she asked if I had been depressed anytime over the last 3 months. To that, I looked at her out of the corner of my eye and answered… “Yes, all three months and before…the President.” We both laughed out loud. There is so much of that going around it is considered normal.

Polls showed that more Republicans favored Trump than McCain which meant that he had successfully taken the party to the dark side. The country is not there yet and I hope that the event of John’s death forced enough period of reflection for some people to realize that this is not “Saving the Country” or “Making America Great Again.” This is quite the opposite. This is a nation in the process of losing its soul.

Both former Presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama delivered amazing eulogies at the McCain service but after Meghan eulogized her father it took former Presidents to catch up with her. She was more than amazing. She says her father believed that “America has no need to be made great again because America was always great!” Amen.

The statement was met with applause which I expect galled Trump. Bush shared his belief that John McCain would tell us today that, “We are better than this. America is better than this.” Amen again. I noted that Barack Obama had a US flag lapel pin on his suit coat. That brought back a memory for me.

I was at a Memorial Day service in Royal, Iowa when a local speaker addressed the crowd denigrating then President Barrack Obama for his lack of patriotism for not wearing a U.S. flag lapel pin. I was admittedly taken back by the vitriol toward Obama that I believed was coming from something more than a lapel pin.

After the service I went immediately back to the office and went on line and goggled pictures of Obama. There were hundreds. I could rarely find one where he was not wearing a U.S. flag lapel pin. I have no idea where our local got the idea that Obama refused to wear the flag pin. I smiled when I could clearly see him wearing one at the McCain service. Former President George W Bush was wearing a lapel flag pin when he delivered his McCain eulogy too.

I was still curious. I went on U-tube and searched McCain videos. I noted that I didn’t find an instance in which he was wearing a lapel flag pin. In fact, when he told the crazy women during his 2008 campaign against Obama that Obama was not an Arab but a fine man with whom he had disagreements, John was not wearing a U.S. flag lapel pin. He was not wearing a U.S. flag pin when he gave his thumbs down vote because there was not a replacement for Obamacare with the repeal as Republicans had promised and failed to deliver.

I am sure that if you look hard enough that he wore one on some occasions but John McCain obviously did not measure patriotism in lapel pins. You would have to be a fool times 10 to question McCain’s patriotism. He hated lies…he hated bullies…he hated abuse of power. He saw them all in this White House and Trump knew it, which is why he had it in for McCain. That is why John requested that Trump not attend his funeral. McCain and Trump gave us the contrast of right and wrong…decency and indecency…honor and dishonor…integrity and lack of it.

I am sorry for the people who cannot see or cannot measure the worth of these attributes in an American leader. Or will sell them for a tax cut that is an act of generational greed, as it will be paid for by adding debt on future generations. I doubt very much that John McCain is resting in peace. The Lord is going to get an earful. One thought that I have had is that more than ever I want to go to heaven because I would like to meet John McCain there and I don’t want to be anywhere near where Donald Trump will spend eternity.

David Kruse is president of CommStock Investments Inc., author and producer of The CommStock Report, an ag commentary and market analysis available daily by radio and by subscription on DTN/FarmDayta and the Internet.