At His Ranch, John McCain Shares Memories and Regrets With Friends
May 6, 2018 by admin
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And some of his associates, though not his family, have started to quietly put out word that they want a “McCain person” eventually appointed to fill his Senate seat, a roster that includes his wife, Cindy.
Mr. McCain, 81, is still in the fight, struggling with the grim diagnosis he received last summer: He has been leading conference calls with his staff in a strained voice, grinding out three-hour physical therapy sessions and rewarding himself most days with a tall glass of Absolut Elyx on ice.
But his health has become a matter of immediate political interest. Mr. McCain’s future may determine whether Republicans retain their single-seat Senate majority: Should the senator die or resign before the end of May, there will most likely be a special election for the seat this fall. But under Arizona law, if he remains in office into June, there will probably not be an election for the seat until 2020, which Republicans would prefer given Democratic enthusiasm this year.
The matter of succession for the McCain seat — a topic of such intense discussion that Republicans officials here joke that Washington lawyers know Arizona election law better than any attorney in the state — is officially verboten among party officials and the senator’s friends. They are determined to reward him with the same good ending that his friend Senator Edward M. Kennedy enjoyed before he succumbed to brain cancer in 2009.
Mr. McCain, who is not doing interviews, delights in sitting out on his deck where he once handled slabs of ribs on the grill, friends say. He and his wife listen to the hummingbirds and the burbling stream that runs through their 15-acre ranch, enjoy the verdant scenery in an otherwise arid region and divide their loyalties when the hawks start pestering Peanut, their Chihuahua mix. (Mrs. McCain sides with their dog, Mr. McCain the hawks.)
“He finds real solace there,” Mr. Biden said.
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David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images
A bout of diverticulitis temporarily landed him back in Phoenix’s Mayo Clinic last month. It caused him to miss seeing more than a hundred of his friends and colleagues, including the new secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, who came to Arizona to attend the annual meeting of his foreign policy think tank, the McCain Institute.
Mr. Lieberman filled in for Mr. McCain at the forum and visited the senator afterward at the hospital, mixing talk of North Korea and Iran with well-worn jokes, like the one about the difference between a lawyer and a catfish. (One is a bottom-feeding scum-sucker; the other is a fish.)
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“He was O.K., but he wanted to get out of the hospital,” recalled Mr. Lieberman, one of Mr. McCain’s closest friends. “Look, this is a man whose whole life has been active.”
Having spent over two years in solitary confinement while he was imprisoned in Vietnam, Mr. McCain has no use for being alone, whether it is in the intensive care unit or at his ranch. And his deck is where he receives a constant flow of friends — with visits that often end with Mr. McCain saying, “I love you” — and takes calls on the iPhone he just swapped for his tattered flip phone. (Mr. McCain finally made the switch to download the Major League Baseball app to better follow his Arizona Diamondbacks.)
Mr. Biden and his wife, Jill, were there last weekend; Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, a Republican, and his wife, Cheryl, visited Friday; other colleagues are set to come this week and his seven children are there as often as they can. The phone calls have been even more frequent: former President George W. Bush checked in last week, telling Mr. McCain the country is missing him.
In a visit on the deck earlier this year, Mr. Flake said he and Mr. McCain recalled how in the 1980s the legendary former Arizona congressman Morris Udall, a Democrat, had taken the newly elected Mr. McCain under his wing despite their differences in party.
“It was the two of us lamenting the loss of the politics of the past,” Mr. Flake said.
It was also at his Hidden Valley Ranch where the senator participated in a nearly two-hour HBO documentary and co-wrote what he acknowledges will be his last book, “The Restless Wave,” both of which are set to be released this month.
The film and the book, a copy of which The New York Times obtained independently of Mr. McCain, amount to the senator’s final say on his career and a concluding argument for a brand of pro-free trade and pro-immigration Republicanism that, along with his calls for preserving the American-led international order, have grown out of fashion under President Trump.
In the book, Mr. McCain scorns Mr. Trump’s seeming admiration for autocrats and disdain for refugees.
“He seems uninterested in the moral character of world leaders and their regimes,” he writes of the president. “The appearance of toughness or a reality show facsimile of toughness seems to matter more than any of our values. Flattery secures his friendship, criticism his enmity.”
Yet many in Mr. McCain’s own party believe that, by selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008, he bears at least a small measure of blame for unleashing the forces of grievance politics and nativism within the G.O.P.
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While he continues to defend Ms. Palin’s performance, Mr. McCain uses the documentary and the book to unburden himself about not selecting Mr. Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-independent, as his running mate.
He recalls that his advisers warned him that picking a vice-presidential candidate who caucused with Democrats and supported abortion rights would divide Republicans and doom his chances.
“It was sound advice that I could reason for myself,” he writes. “But my gut told me to ignore it and I wish I had.”
Even more striking is how Mr. McCain expresses his sorrow in the documentary. He calls the decision not to pick Mr. Lieberman “another mistake that I made” in his political career, a self-indictment that includes his involvement in the Keating Five savings and loan scandal and his reluctance to speak out during his 2000 presidential bid about the Confederate battle flag flying above the South Carolina Capitol.
Mr. Lieberman said he didn’t know Mr. McCain felt that regret until he watched the film. “It touched me greatly,” he said.
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Damon Winter/The New York Times
Here in his adopted state, he has been immortalized as an icon. “John McCain is a giant in Arizona,” said Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, expressing sentiments that were echoed by the teachers protesting at the state Capitol last week.
Erik Gillman, a math instructor, said Mr. McCain had become the new Barry Goldwater, a figure as inextricably identified with the desert as cactus.
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“It’s what people think about when they think about the state: the Grand Canyon and John McCain,” Mr. Gillman said.
But Mr. McCain’s conservative detractors have not forgiven his maverick tendencies simply because he is ill.
When Mr. Pence addressed a hard-right audience gathered in Tempe last week to promote the administration’s tax cuts, he said that “people all across America are praying for Senator John McCain” — and one woman yelled out, “to retire.”
Mr. McCain has long been both a flawed politician and a larger figure of history, by virtue of his refusal to be released early from Vietnamese captivity. Former Senator Robert J. Dole, for example, wore Mr. McCain’s P.O.W. bracelet while his future colleague was in the Hanoi Hilton prison camp.
Mr. Dole, now 94, said he planned to tell Mr. McCain in a coming phone call, “You’re a tough guy and you can overcome this.”
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Meghan McCain, via Associated Press
In Washington, Mr. McCain’s admirers believe the Senate and the G.O.P. lack a needed counterbalance to Mr. Trump and worry that his absence only presages a larger decline in the country’s politics. With Mr. Kennedy gone and Mr. McCain ailing, Representative John Lewis of Georgia, the civil rights legend, is one of the few figures left in Washington who evoke a bigness at a moment in history that can seem all too small.
“The Senate is changing just like the country is changing,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican, who is Mr. McCain’s closest friend in the chamber. “But Washington now reflects what’s going on in the country, rather than leading it.”
Another McCain protégée, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, a Democrat, said she treasured how Mr. McCain treated her when they went on the congressional delegation trips he loves and foreign leaders would attempt to recognize the male lawmakers before her.
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“They’d always look to Lindsey next,” Ms. Klobuchar said of the heads of state, referring to Mr. Graham, a frequent travel companion of Mr. McCain. “But he’d always say, ‘Senator Klobuchar is the Democratic lead and she’ll be going next.’”
Mr. McCain’s has been a lifetime of restlessness, beginning with the childhood relocations of his Navy family and evolving into unceasing demands of “what else?” aimed at his Senate staff. But the man whose political career took flight after he fended off charges of carpetbagging — by noting the longest he had lived in one place was as a prisoner of war — has found a measure of contentment on his ranch.
Mr. Biden said he was struck by how solicitous Mr. McCain was of him, inquiring about how he coped with the loss of his son Beau to brain cancer. Yet the former vice president said he was the one who hoped to impart a message.
“I wanted to let him know how much I love him and how much he matters to me and how much I admire his integrity and his courage,” Mr. Biden said.
Then he became more succinct. “I wanted to see my friend,” he said.
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New lava vent opens overnight in Leilani Estates
May 6, 2018 by admin
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UPDATE 7:20 a.m.
Staff at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory confirm the current Kilauea eruption continues in the Leilani Esates subdivision in Puna, with active vents on Makamae St., Kaupili St. and Mohala St.
In addition, a new vent opened overnight near the intersection of Leilani Avenue and Kahukai Road. Hawaii County officials report no activity at nearby Puna Geothermal Venture.
An evacuation notice remains in effect for all residents of Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens, with various government agencies and the National Guard assisting those still in the area. The Pahoa Community Center and the Keaau Community Center are currently open to shelter evacuees.
Hawaii County Dept. of Water Supply officials say an emergency water restriction remains in place for Leilani Estates, Nanawale Estates, Kapoho and Lanipuna Gardens. Water should be used for health and safety needs only.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE
PAHOA, Hawaii In the span of less than 24 hours, Hawaii island shook from the state’s strongest earthquake since 1975, evacuated roughly 1,800 people from lower Puna, and witnessed six new Kilauea volcano lava fissures burn into the small rural community of Leilani Estates.
The volcano, which had been threatening a new lava outbreak for days, opened up the first fissure shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday in the eastern end of the subdivision. The first outbreak was short-lived, lasting only a few hours and causing no known structure damage.
But by Friday afternoon there were at least six active fissures in the community, destroying a home and two other buildings, sending dangerous gas into the air, and forcing the evacuation of the entire subdivision.
Further, the ground shook steadily throughout the last two days, with hundreds of tremors of magnitude 2.5 or higher, with the strongest quake measuring magnitude 6.9 at 12:32 p.m. and centered in Leilani Estates, followed by countless aftershocks. The largest quake knocked out power to thousands, caused slight sea-level fluctuations and scared residents throughout the islands. It did not generate a tsunami.
“Things started shaking side to side. That was huge, the longest I ever felt,” said Hilo resident Bobbie Stivers-Apiki.
Hilo Hawaiian Hotel bellman Alan Shinkai said he was in the elevator during the quake. “I wanted to reach the ground as fast as possible,” he said.
The seismic and volcanic hyperactivity led to numerous closures and disruptions across the Big Island.
All residents in Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens Subdivisions are required to evacuate.
The American Red Cross opened two shelters at the Pahoa and Keaau community centers. The Pahoa center had 200 residents by this afternoon while the Keaau center had 2 residents.
The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was closed in the afternoon “for the safety of our visitors and employees” after the violent shaking from the 12:32 p.m. quake. Park officials evacuated 2,600 visitors, relocated guests at Volcano House hotel and Kilauea Military Camp, and sent home all non-emergency park employees. “Safety is our main priority at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, and it is currently not safe to be here,” said Park Superintendent Cindy Orlando. “We will monitor the situation closely, and reopen when it is safe to do so.”
Park officials said the quake triggered rock slides on trails, crater walls, and along Chain of Craters Road, while an earlier magnitude-5.4 quake caused a coastal cliff to collapse into the ocean near the Holei Sea Arch. The quake also caused narrow fissures in the ground at an overlook near Jaggar Museum, and rock falls into the lava lake within Halemaumau Crater, sending up dark clouds of ash.
The largest quake cut power to 14,400 Hawaii Electric Light Co. customers. By 2:25 p.m., service had been restored to all customers, the company reported.
Kua O Ka La Charter School, Hawaii Academy of Arts and Science, Keonepoko Elementary and Pahoa High, Intermediate, and Elementary were closed today.
About 70 members of the Hawaii National Guard were deployed to the island to help with evacuation and other efforts. Those citizen-soldiers include six from the Guard’s 93rd Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team who will help the county with air quality tests. Hawaii National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Charles Anthony said the team will bring equipment to help detect sulfur dioxide in Puna and provide air samples to the county.
Hawaii Fire Department reports extremely high levels of dangerous sulfur dioxide gas detected in the evacuation area. Elderly, young, and people with respiratory issues need to comply with the mandatory evacuation order and leave the area.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued temporary flight restrictions for the area above lower Puna until 11:59 p.m. Monday, due to the volcanic activity. The restrictions cover a five-nautical-miles radius of Pahoa, from the surface up to 3,000 feet above sea level. No pilots may operate an aircraft — including drones — in the area. Relief aircraft operations under the direction of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency are authorized in the airspace.
The county Department of Water Supply issued an emergency water restriction for Leilani Estates, Nanawale Estates, Kapoho and Lanipuna Gardens, telling all water customers to immediately restrict water use to health and safety needs only.
On Thursday, Puna Geothermal Venture operations have shut down indefinitely until further notice. County officials said the facility is secure.
All the volcanic activity in Puna — and its dramatic images — have grabbed the attention of national and international media, prompting the Hawaii Tourism Authority to remind the traveling public that most of the action is in a remote, sparsely populated area, and that most of the state is unaffected by earthquakes and molten lava.
George D. Szigeti, HTA’s president and chief executive, reassured travelers that flights haven’t been affected by the Kilauea volcano and the “area where lava is coming to the surface is very far from resort areas throughout the Hawaiian Islands where visitor accommodations are located.”
Gov. David Ige said in a statement, “We have heard from people around the world concerned about Hawaii’s welfare and want to reassure everyone that this is limited to a remote region on the slopes of Kilauea volcano. Everywhere else in the Hawaiian islands is not affected.”
Still, the quakes and flowing lava has unnerved many on the Big Isle.
State Sen. Russell Ruderman, of Keaau, said items were falling off the shelf while he was at Island Naturals, his Hilo natural food store, when the magnitude-6.9 quake struck.
“This last one was scary,” he said, adding that he lived in San Francisco for 10 years and experienced some there. “It starts rocking and keeps on going. It’s very frightening. We’re rattled.”
Evacuated Puna residents Henry and Stella Caleo, 64, said they don’t know if their home would still be standing.
“We don’t know anything,” Stella Caleo said. “We don’t know if we’re going to lose our house. We know nothing.”
The uncertainty extends to what Kilauea volcano will do next.
Late this afternoon, Hawaii County Civil Defense officials said that active volcanic vents continue on Makamae, Kaupili and Mohala streets, and near the intersection of Leilani Avenue and Kahukai Road.
They warn of “extremely dangerous conditions” due to sulfur dioxide in the evacuation area. “The high levels detected are an immediate threat to life for all who become exposed. First responders may not be able to come to the aid of residents who refuse to evacuate,” they said.
They also caution that more lava vents and more powerful earthquakes are possible in the days and weeks ahead.
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For more information: http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/active-alerts