John McCain just systematically dismantled Donald Trump entire worldview at Munich.

[elleng]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/17/john-mccain-just-systematically-dismantled-donald-trumps-entire-worldview/?utm_term=.8846a3b4e007

[GeoWilliam750]

1. Well spoken

Articulate and statemanlike

[Honeycombe8]

2. I love the guy.

I don't agree with his positions on some things, but I think he's honest, honorable, plain spoken, and means well. He's Republican, though, and votes along those lines, so.... But as a person, he's a standup guy.

[BlueMTexpat]

7. One would think, however,

that McCain should put his actions where his mouth is.

He has voted to confirm ALL Trump Cabinet nominees so far. As always, he wants to have it both ways.

[Dustlawyer]

12. Exactly +1!!!

Do as I say, not as I do!

[Honeycombe8]

13. Yes....disturbing.

That's what I mean by disagreeing with his positions. On the one hand, I think he's an honorable person. On the other, I've seen that he falls in line, as far as votes go, with the Republicans, even when I think he might disagree. Of course, that could be called playing the game. He supports others, so that they'll support him for things he sponsors.

He did not vote for them all, though. He skipped the EPA nominee vote, & he voted no on the budget director. He did vote yes for DeVos and Sessions, two disturbing votes.

McCain is also faced with a lot of constituents who were Trump voters, so he has to consider that. He was elected to represent AZ.

He doesn't do the personal attacks, though. He didn't go low in the campaign against Obama. Best of all...he hates Trump. If there's an opportunity to oust him, I think McCain will jump on board. He has stated he things the Russia connection is very serious and is pushing for an investigation into the Flynn matter.

[BlueMTexpat]

14. You are more optimistic than I

but I'll believe it when I see it.

[KT2000]

3. Very Good

some sanity and it is good to hear - values!

[OnDoutside]

4. The other face of John McCain.

One would have thought that this will be his last 6 years in politics, will he have the cojones to continue to stand up, or will he slink back to the shadows as he usually does ?

[NBachers]

5. McCain rises once after spending 8 years sabotaging Obama and paving the way for Trump.

He could have been the man delivering this speech all along. He chose a lower road.

I love the speech, but remain quite underwhelmed by McCain himself.

[FarPoint]

6. He's not actually rising in my opinion.

He's in a lift chair at best. He indeed could be a true leader but he hasn't done so yet...Just talk with out any action steps... McCain makes no sacrifice... Don't hold your breath....

[BlueMTexpat]

8. +1! eom

[Sherman A1]

10. Agreed

It was a good speech, but I agree that he has missed many opportunities to make contributions that simply made common sense.

[Honeycombe8]

15. He did defend Obama against one of those crazy alt-righters...

during his campaign against Obama. Remember the older woman in a townhall stood up and said she was afraid of Obama because he's an arab and might do this or that. McCain shook his head and took the mic from her and said "No, ma'am. Obama and I have policy differences, but he's a fine man, a family man, a decent person."

Not many Republicans would have done the same. That lady was a McCain voter.

[DetlefK]

9. That was really good. Can you imagine Palin or Romney or Trump holding such a speech?

[tomp]

11. that is a load of horseshit.

the last ten decades or more have been have been characterized by u.s. imperialism attempting to gain supremacy over the rest of the world at any cost: assassinations, overthrow of governments, cold wars, hot wars, etc. There is no other way to reconcile the facts.

[markpkessinger]

16. I have very mixed reactions to this . . .

Last edited Sat Feb 18, 2017, 10:51 PM - Edit history (2)

, , , I mean, I appreciate that it is a refutation of Trump's dangerous and delusional worldview, and if I had to choose, I'd certainly pick a president with McCain's worldview over a president with Trump's. But there is no small amount of self-delusion and, yes, danger, in the kind of wide-eyed idealism McCain expresses here, a naive belief that the nations of the West, including and especially the U.S., act purely in the interest of preserving human rights around the world. They (and we) have not and do not. And it is that kind of naivete that leads far too many Americans to cheerlead for every war effort, however dubious, that comes down the pike.

I am pretty sure we will not find answers to the problems we face in the continued economic and military dominance of the West -- a kind of Pax Occidentalis, if you will. The worldview that McCain is promoting here is but an idealized version of the very kind of thinking that led this country to 45 to start with, and indeed bears an enormous share of responsibility in creating those very problems.

"Imperialism by any other name . . ."