Is it possible to be a hero and a goat at the same time?

Is it possible to be a hero and a goat at the same time? With the recognition that I’m walking on thin ice here, I’m going to now be critical of a war hero that currently has terminal cancer. I’m talking of course about Senator John McCain.

RELATED: The health care fallacy that politicians don’t consider

Since McCain hails from the state of Arizona, I thought it would be appropriate to use a western metaphor. Let’s go with the famous movie “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly.”

First the good. There is no doubt that John McCain was heroic during his military service to the United States. I’m 100 percent certain of this as fact. There have been books written on the subject, and John McCain deserves the gratitude of every patriotic American.

Now here’s where it gets tricky. If a person performs a heroic feat, especially during wartime, does that mean that they are heroic for the rest of their life? Does it give them some kind of special force field against criticism? I believe that multiple things can be true at the same time.

That brings us to the bad.

The fact that John McCain was summoned from the operating table to show up in Washington D.C. to cast a deciding vote is putrid. He even said during his remarks that he was not in favor the health care bill as it stood. Then why be the linchpin vote to resuscitate this flaming dumpster fire of a bill? You’d think that McCain of all people would be keenly aware of how important good health insurance is after the week that he had.

And now for the ugly.

This bill is now hanging on by a thread. John McCain’s cohorts are hell bent on getting it through. And that means that somewhere between 24 and 36 million people will be left on the outside looking in with their own health care. Some American that John McCain so bravely defended will get the same brain cancer that he has, but will have no insurance. That American will die a horrible death.

People are bad with large numbers. So let’s stop and think about that for a second. If this bill goes through, that is the same as every person in Washington state losing their health care, and let’s throw in everyone in Oregon, too. Since McCain is from Arizona, add them to the list. We’re still not even close. Add all the families from Idaho, Wyoming, and Alaska. Still not done. Combine all the people in the bottom 10 states, and we’re right at about 36 million Americans.

That’s mighty ugly Mr. McCain.

What are we talking about here? We’re talking about the shameful final chapter to a hero’s legacy.

“What Are We Talking About Here” can be heard every weekday at 4:50 p.m. and 6:50 p.m. on the Ron & Don Show on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM.