Currently settling into his new digs in the 7thcircle of Hell, John McCain is already angling for a spot near Beelzebub’s horny elbow.
Always a partisan of bipartisanship, our heroic servant has made clear to the Lower Powers that he will not, in fact vacate his position amidst Eternities’ most violent and unrepentant sociopaths until ALL 7th Circle denizens are allowed to migrate to less fiery environs, suffer lesser torments, enjoy the prospects of a pit with a nice view in Purgatory, a swing through Limbo, and eventual re-release upon the Earths’ surface as dark angels, to continue their depredations, at some (near) future time.
Meanwhile, he extends overtures to His Beelzebub-ness, counseling how to inject subtler, more insidious aspects to the structural mayhem already in play throughout the upper world, so it’s an easier, more satisfyingly vicious sell. He probably has some good advice. After all, it’s not every unrepentant war monger who can suffer self-righteously while totally ignoring his legacy of death and terror dealing, and still in death, bask in the accolades of, well practically all his contemporaries. I mean, who needs empathy or compassion in this or any world?
In fact, while you nervously contemplate his re-release, do not forget: the fires of Hel already literally spring up around us all, erupting from the surface of Gaia in mordant waves, consuming vast swathes of her face in a choking stink. Maybe, long ago, John checked in temporarily downstairs (playing a false Dante?), got his marching orders, and his real work is just now coming into view. Yet think of how much more good there is to undo!
The spirits of our indiscriminate legion dead are restless: one McCain, millions of “others”, and we feel them all, despite our best distractions and feeble protestations, here in the First Circle. Their rustling urgencies will not easily be stilled as we rush to join them.