In a forthcoming book, The Restless Wave, Arizona Senator John McCain is quoted as talking of a contest “between the high moral and the gutter.”

These and other ideas are discussed by Frank Bruni in “John McCain Battles Donald Trump with His Dying Breath.” (New York Times, May 5, 2018).

Says Bruni, “McCain’s final battle came straight to him. . . . not the one against brain cancer . . . the one against Donald Trump.”

McCain, Bruni writes, believes in “sacrifice, honor, and allegiance to something larger than oneself. Trump believes in Trump, and whatever wreckage he causes in deference to that god is of no concern.”

McCain, a Navy pilot, suffered torture after being captured by communist forces in Vietnam. Trump derides McCain for being captured. This absurdity comes from one who avoided any military service because of a “bone spur.”

When McCain and Barrack Obama ran against each other for president in 2008, McCain rejected the racial slurs against Obama. Trump participated in those slurs.

It’s hard to find a clearer example of patriotism versus selfish egotism.