John McCain

John McCain should never have become a politician.  He was a commendable, honorable, brave naval aviator who suffered for his country like few ever have.  But for his injuries as a POW, he might have followed his father and grandfather to become a navy admiral.  Instead, he ran for office.  McCain was an uneasy Republican, famously called a maverick thanks to his frequent clashes with his fellow Republicans.  He was beloved by the media while he trashed his fellow party members but, when it came time to run for president, the media that had so loved him turned on him; why vote Democrat-lite when you could get the real thing with Obama?  So long as he opposed Trump, the media loved him again.

 

RIP

The Establishment Protests

George W Bush has once again spoken his mind on the state of affairs.  Amazing that he was able to hold his tongue for 8 years while Barack Obama hammered him on everything from the state of US foreign policy to the state of the economy.  No more!  He needs to speak.  According to Bush, the forces of bigotry have been emboldened of late and he fears that the US is slipping toward white supremacy.  No names are mentioned but it's pretty clear who he is blaming.  Just the other day, John McCain criticized spurious nationalism.  Yes, the establishment is furious.

 

The source of all this nationalism and white supremacy nonsense is that Trump has instructed ICE, the Border Patrol, et al. to enforce the laws that Congress had passed and his predecessors had signed.  No new laws have been passed.  After decades of neglect, those laws appear draconian.  Amazingly, enforcing immigrations laws has long been a winning issue that neither party was interested in pursuing.  Bush sought to pass an amnesty - Path to Citizenship - and was shot down.  Bush's brother, JEB, described illegal immigration as an 'act of love.'  McCain is a big amnesty proponent except when he is running for re-election every 6 years.  Obama didn't even bother with Congress and enacted a limited amnesty via executive order: DACA.  The establishment doesn't like the voters and is importing new voters.

 

Bush is part of the establishment, a true believer in big government, which he termed 'compassionate' conservatism.  Moreover, he has personal reasons to dislike Trump, the man who easily squashed his brother's presidential run.  These are not the wise musings of a dispassionate statesman.  This is a member of the establishment trying to damage an outsider lest that outsider derail the deep state.

 

The rebellion against the establishment is a global phenomenon.  Brexit?  Catalonia?  The rise of the right in France, Germany, Austria, Hungary?  Trump is just the American version of this rebellion.  Remember, the establishment with all their Ivy League degrees managed to estrange the electorate to such a degree that the electorate voted for Trump!  Bush and his fellow scolds need to take a long look in the mirror to discover how we came to this point.

Chuck Schumer Support

In the last week, Senator Chuck Schumer has defended Attorney General Sessions for having recused himself and declared John McCain to be a hero for preserving Obamacare.  This is a clear sign that a Republican has gone astray.  Much like scientists need to reassess their positions when the Pope agrees with them, Republicans need to readjust their actions so that Chuck Schumer denounces them.

The Interventionist

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has blasted the Trump Administration for not hard charging into Syria in the wake of the latest chemical weapons attacks.  According to McCain, Russia, Iran, ISIS, and Syrian Dictator Assad all need to pay a price for war crimes that rival those of Pol Pot or Nazi Germany.  He is particularly annoyed that Secretary Tillerson voiced a policy that sounds like disengagement, leaving Syria and the Syrians to fend for themselves.

 

First, Trump has exactly one appointee in the Pentagon, Secretary of State Mattis.  As far as the military is concerned, Trump has hardly even begun to take the reins.  In the wake of 9/11, it took a month before Bush acted militarily but McCain is seething that Trump isn't sending weapons to the Syrian rebels tonight.

 

Second, the window for acting in Syria has come and gone.  At this point, it is a disaster.  The competing interests are so numerous that any action will create more problems.  Do we side with the Kurds or the Turks?  The Turks have been US allies for decades and the Kurds were our best allies during the Iraq War but the two absolutely hate each other and are butting heads in Syria.  Who do we pick?  With the Russians already participating on the side of Assad, how can the Syrian rebels hope to unseat him without significant American support?  Air support will lead to an air war with Russia.  At best, this is like the Korean War where we dare not cross the Yalu River lest we expand the war.  Tackling ISIS on the Iraqi side of the border is relatively safe but will be inconclusive, just like the Korean War, and have little impact on the Assad Regime.

 

Third, what is the US national interest here?  US fracking has been so successful that Middle East oil holds far less importance in American foreign policy.  Where a sudden decrease in the oil output of the Middle East could once crash our economy, it would now serve to enrich us by making more fracking economically viable.  Humanitarian military actions (e.g. Somalia, Libya) have not gone well for us and are best avoided.

 

Whatever we do militarily, the outcome will be bad.  Better to engage the various players diplomatically and economically rather than risk military.  Russia and Iran are harmed by America's rising oil independence.  The more oil we drill, the further their economies sink.  Approving the XL Pipeline may be one of the best moves in bringing OPEC countries to heel.

 

Looking back, it may be that we dodged a bullet when McCain lost to Obama.  Yes, Obama was a catastrophe - we are enjoying his Syrian successes today - but McCain has rattled the saber at every conflict.  He would have been far more active against Russia than either Bush or Obama.  He made lots of noise when Russia pealed off part of Georgia, was feisty when Russia annexed the Crimea, and has called for more sanctions in the wake of the election hacking hoax.  Though I agree that the US should have done more, McCain sounds like he wants to restart the Cold War and then warm it up a bit.  You know, the good ole days when foreign policy was easy.

Health Matters

Back in 2008, John McCain's health was an issue.  He had had multiple brushes with skin cancer, one that required facial reconstruction surgery.  This article even notes the 5 and 10 year survival rates; McCain was 8 years along from the incident so might very well die in 2010.  Turns out that McCain is a tough old bird and still around but his health was absolutely a valid issue.

 

Today, the Democratic nominee is the case for concern.  Her unsteadiness on her feet, her persistent cough, issues with blood clots, and extended absence from the campaign trail do not paint a picture of health.  Her health issues are considered serious by an informal survey of 250 doctors.  Unlike McCain, Hillary has not released any medical records to counter the concerns.  As before and after photos of those who have served as president show, the job takes a heavy toll.  Is Hillary up to it?  That is not an unreasonable question.