Because everything today is cause for political dispute, the death of Senator John McCain on August 25 was as much a flashpoint for controversy as it was a time to take stock of a man who served his country for decades.

A focal point was the late senator’s icy relationship with our current President. McCain did not invite the President to his funeral. And the president went out of his way to downplay McCain, at first refusing to honor him by name and reportedly doing his best to keep the White House flag from flying at half-staff.

Perhaps the most memorable moment for the President was his sitting at the oval office with his arms crossed as he refused to acknowledge questions from the press about McCain.

Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson later defended the President’s demeanor and insisted that there was nothing inappropriate about his refusing to honor McCain. Why should the President honor someone he so clearly disliked? To do so would be, at best, disingenuous.

“McCain attacked Trump almost until his final day. After McCain died, Trump at first could barely bring himself to mourn,” Carlson said. “He sent a brief tweet and then raised the White House flags too soon for many critics.”

For Carlson, a critique of the President was yet more indication of media bias, a favorite talking point at Fox News. Why should the press dictate how the President should behave?

“More troubling, though, more interesting too, is the claim ... it’s ‘despicable’ not to mourn Senator McCain in a certain way,” Carlson said. “Not just impolite, but immoral and forbidden. When people in authority, people with TV shows, for example, decide that they can dictate what emotions you’re allowed to feel, you should worry.”

What was lost by Carlson, and also clearly by the President, was that the President’s personal opinions are irrelevant when it came time to honor McCain. The President of the United States is the nation’s chief executive, but he or she is also its head of state. The duty of a head of state is to represent the nation and if there is anyone who deserves significant recognition, it is John McCain, whose remarkable sacrifices in a Vietnam prison camp are well known.

You can say whatever you like about McCain’s politics, but you can’t at all question his patriotism. When the test was before him and he was faced with choosing between himself and his country, McCain chose his country.

The plot here, lost by Carlson, the President and others who have not found fault in the President’s actions, is that McCain’s death was not a time for an accounting of personal grievances. It was a time that required leadership – a leader who would have no problem putting personal opinions behind to perform the important work of the country in honoring those that served it selflessly.

It shouldn’t have taken much for the President to lead. Instead, like is so often the case, though, he chose not to.

Pete Mazzaccaro