You know the world has turned upside down when a former president, who spent the best part of a decade helping fight a war with dubious legality, is now in the spotlight for handing some sweets to a former first lady at a funeral.
When I first saw the headline I read ‘George W. Bush Sneaks John Candy To Michelle Obama During John McCain’s Funeral’ and to be quite honest the misreading isn’t that far off the levels of implausibility of what actually happened in real life.
In case you’re unaware, John Candy was a much loved Canadian comedian who rose to prominence in the TV comedy show Second City before finding fame on the big screen in such classics as Splash, Spaceballs, Uncle Buck, Planes Trains and Automobiles and Cool Runnings. He died in 1994. There’s no chance George Bush sneaked him to Michelle Obama at John McCain’s funeral.
What he did sneak though, can be seen in the video below:
John McCain, the Republican senator, who ran unsuccessfully against Barrack Obama in 2008’s presidential race, died last week (August 25), and with the current president coming under lots of scrutiny for alleged Russian collusion, grabbing ‘them by the p*ssy’, financial misconduct and further sexual misconduct, the late war hero is being held in quite high regard in American politics.
Likewise Bush, who during his time in office led his nation into a war against a country that wasn’t responsible for the September 2001 terrorist attacks and spent decades evading claims he dodged turning up for business when he was in service during the Vietnam War, is now seen as a bastion of proper behaviour.
So when the 43rd President of the United States pulled off a sneaky ‘you wanna sweet, mate?’ move at McCain’s funeral yesterday social media went into meltdown.
Steady on now Amee Vanderpool. Did you not see England in Russia this summer? We got to the semi-bloody-finals. We won a penalty shoot-out.
Even Barack is in on the joke. Look at that grin.
It was revealed last Friday (August 24) that McCain had discontinued treatment against brain cancer. The following day his death was announced.
A statement released by McCain’s office which confirmed his death read:
Senator John Sidney McCain III died at 4:28 p.m. on August 25, 2018. With the Senator when he passed were his wife Cindy and their family. At his death, he had served the United States of America faithfully for sixty years.
McCain was perhaps best known for being the Republican presidential nominee in the 2008 presidential election. He was also known for time spent in a POW camp while serving the United States in Vietnam.
As a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, McCain’s plane was shot down over Hanoi and he was captured by North Vietnamese troops. For more than five years McCain was tortured and later became a decorated US war hero.
The dedicated congressman ran for presidency in 2000 and 2008 and it was in 2008 that he won the Republican nomination with an interesting choice of running mate, then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
McCain lost the election to Democrat Barack Obama. His choice of Palin is now being seen as a door-opener to far-right isolationist policies that the current president has won favour with.
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Tim Horner is a sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated with a BA Journalism from University College Falmouth before most his colleagues were born. A previous editor of adult mags, he now enjoys bringing the tone down in the viral news sector.