the reality of his past, of what he did as a prisoner of war. as david foster wallace wrote in his april 2007 rolling stone mag profile, quote, the fact john mccain is a genuine hero of the only kind vietnam now has to offer, a hero not because of what he did but because of what he suffered voluntarily for a code. this gives him the moral authority, both to utter lines about causes beyond self-interest and to expect us, even in this age of spin and lawyerly cunning, to believe he means them. mccain spent a lifetimes aspirig to show he meant it. as we say good-bye this week, many of us feel as if we have lost something other than just a man. that may be not only because he tried to encourage us all to serve a cause greater than ourselves, it may be because he never stopped trying to be a better man. he never stopped trying to