If someone else wrote this book, it would have been a fitting eulogy but the Senator did, and modestly. Yes, of course, I am a biased reader and it was my attempt to have a private wake.
I am at the point now where I think being a senator, but one of the better ones who have served well on several committees and had significant tenure, should be the qualification for President. The depth of Mc Cain's knowledge of foreign affairs and temperament would have resulted in an exceptional national leader.
The best way to review it, is to quote at length in his own words:
"In President Obama's last year in office, at his invitation, he and I spent a half hour or so alone, discussing very frankly what I considered his policy failures, and he believed had been sound and necessary decisions. Much of that conversation concerned Syria. No minds were changed in the encounter, but I appreciated his candor as I hoped he appreciated mine, and I respected the sincerity of his convictions. Yet I still believe his approach to world leadership, however, thoughtful and well intentioned, was negligent, and encouraged our allies to find ways to live without us, and our adversaries to try to fill the vacuums our negligence created. And those trends continue in reaction to the thoughtless America First ideology of his successor."
" I was a Republican, a Reagan Republican. Still am. Not a Tea Party Republican. Not a Britbart Republican. Not a talk radio or Fox News Republican. Not an isolationist, protectionist, immigrant-bashing, scapegoating, get-nothing-useful-done Republican."
"Here's one fact fools ignore. Our Constitution and closely divided polity don't allow for winner-take-all governance. You need the opposition's cooperation to get most big things done."
"... the formula for success for any major piece of legislation … Strike hardest when external events give you an advantage. Make necessary compromises to a bipartisan coalition in favor of it. Use your friendships to recruit as many influential members to your side as you can. Friends on both sides of the aisle will warn you about problems you might not be aware of, they'll tell you who you can count on and who's quietly working against you. Box in the cynics with public cand medicat attention, make sure the more transactional politicians know there's a cost to opposing the bill. Leave critical responsibilities to your hardest-nosed allies, and hope they'll stand up to threats and reprisals … A lot of momentum for an issue is illusory and based on excessive faith in the media's sustained attention to it and the potency of its public support … That's how the sausage gets made."
"There have been times in the past and there will be times in the future when America's conduct at home and in the world will fall short of our own high standards. That doesn't mean that our values are imperfect, only that we are. In those instances, our true friends will encourage us to change course, But we should never believe that our fallibility disqualifies us from supporting the rights of others. That isn't humility. It's an abdication of moral responsibility."
RIP, Mr. McCain
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
