The Nation Mourns Two Heros

John McCain- On Saturday, August 25^th Senator and war hero John McCain passed away after an extended fight with a type of brain cancer known as glioblastoma.

Often known as a simple man, McCain garnered respect from both sides of the isle throughout his career, shown at his funeral with speakers such as Joe Biden, George Bush, and Barack Obama. Both Obama and Bush remarked how McCain made them better presidents. McCain notably omitted Donald Trump from his final statements, not allowing him to come to his funeral. The White House had a sizable delay in releasing a statement regarding McCain’s death and caused even more outrage by only lowering the flag to half-mast for one day, instead of the traditional five. Many people saw this as a sign of disrespect and the public imposed it’s will to force The White House to put the flag at half-mast for the full five days.

McCain will be missed as many fear it is an “end of an Era” in the age of politics. McCain’s passing symbolizes the end of an age of politicians who had “actually been shot at” during wars. McCain was also head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he often questioned Trump on his relationship with Russia as well as well as the president’s stance on immigrations and torture methods.  The new head of the Armed Services Committee is Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe.

McCain will be remembered as a war hero, a loyal and long serving congressman, and an outstanding citizen.

Aretha Franklin – Famous singer and icon Aretha Franklin passed away August 16^th from pancreatic cancer at 76 years old.

Franklin’s cultural impact cannot be understated. She constantly broke gender and racial barriers while inspiring generations after her. Black or white, rich or poor, everyone enjoyed Franklin’s music such as R.E.S.P.E.C.T. She was the Queen of Soul and won countless Grammy nominations and top 100 chart hits.

Franklin’s music greatly inspired many of today’s top artist’s including Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Arianna Grande, and so many more. Franklin’s funeral ran over 8 hours long with flocks of people coming up to pay their respects to the queen of soul.  Even the Buckingham Palace honored her with a playing of R.E.S.P.E.C.T. by the Welsh honor guard.

Franklin’s influence cannot be understated and she will live on forever through her music and the people she inspired.