Thanks to the grassroots American resistance, two strong Republican women and the clash of the Macs, Obamacare has lived to fight future battles.  And you can rest assured that there will be future battles.  Thank you grassroots American resistance; and thank you Republican Senator Susan Collins and Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski.  These two strong (emphasis on strong) Republican women are a key part of the reason why Obamacare has survived to fight another day.  Normally, I would think that no Republican, male or female, would want to be mentioned in a positive way in a liberal blog written by a liberal blogger even if they felt that they made a right decision based on principle.  They would be frightened, consider it a kiss of death and prefer to remain in the closet and keep their truth – in this particular case, that they are determined to put country and their constituents before party – anonymous.

But these are not two ordinary Republican women, they are two strong, principled and determined Republican women.  The majority leader, all of the Republican men (and women) in the senate, and even Mr. Trump himself were unable to intimidate them.  These two women were consistent and never wavered.  Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer, was right when he said that many times women are much stronger than men but they just don’t brag about it as much.  These two strong Republican women have received only a small fraction of the attention for their vote that Senator John McCain has received for his.  That is why I took this opportunity to mention them first and thank them for their contribution to keep millions of Americans from losing their insurance coverage.  Once again, thank you Senator Collins and Senator Murkowski!

Now, however, I would be remiss if I did not give Senator John McCain his well-deserved kudos and thank him as well for his vote; especially since I was so willing to express my disappointment in him when he voted to move Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s healthcare legislation forward.  So although I mentioned my great respect for you and the sacrifices that you have made for America and the American people before I expressed and harped on that disappointment, I want to take this opportunity to say thanks to you as well for your vote.

It was obviously you who cast the deciding vote to keep millions of Americans from losing their insurance coverage and that took courage.  Although I might disagree with you at times I am not in the least bit surprised at the courage that you exhibited in casting that decisive vote and then looking Senator McConnell directly in the eye after casting it.  You were a hero when you were in the Navy, have remained a hero since that time, and you added to that heroism during the clash of the Macs; that is, the clash between Senator Mitch McConnell and Senator John McCain.  So thank you Senator McCain for your vote.  Thank you for standing up for what you believe in, and for not cowering when you were faced with a great controversy; the clash of the Macs!

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line