Exceptional Buffoonery

The more and more I hear of John McCain's take on American foreign policy, the more it appears the man has no comprehension of American foreign policy failings and a complete inability to read a history that is anything other than completely pro-American. In some circles, people call that patriotism, but it strikes me as blind ignorance.

The senator's speech yesterday to the American Legion, despite its well meaning, was full of historical distortions and, as is typical of the senator, lacked basic comprehension in reality. 

Returning to Sen. McCain's theme that he's a proud Reagan Republican, he picks up on the idea that America, via Ronnie, single handedly won the Cold War: 

The Cold War ended not because the world stood "as one," but because the great democracies came together, bound together by sustained and decisive American leadership.

No, senator, not really. The special relationship with the U.K., America's continued pissing contests with France, and our economic fearmongering toward Japan did not win the Cold War. Hell, if anything, West German efforts during Ostpolitik did more to bring about the end of the Cold War than anything we did. 

I suppose you could argue the U.S. outspent the Soviet Union to death during the 1980s (which is why the U.S. is now being bought up by Middle Easterner and the Chinese, but oh well!), but the "great democracies" stopped being together under "decisive" American leadership by the mid-1950s. But nevermind, Ronnie went to Berlin, told Gorbachev to tear down the Wall, and, uh, East German mobs did it themselves.  

It's a political no-no to suggest American did not "win" the Cold War, but Sen. McCain cannot even grasp the reality that much of the world chaffs at "decisive" American leadership:

[W]hen people in the oppressed nations of the world need support, and solidarity, and hope, they look to America. When they talk about our country, it is not with distrust or disdain, but with respect and affection. They do not resent or resist America's democratic influence in the world -- they thank God for it.

Really? REALLY? The last time America was really greeted as liberators was World War II. Since then, who exactly has welcomed us with such open arms? Sure, people in oppressed nations like American support, like American guns, like American missiles, like American military aid, but respect and affection? I would love to know where the senator is getting this information, since it sure ain't from in any 2007 Pew Global Attitudes survey I've looked at.

I understand politically that Sen. McCain has to say these things to an audience of Legionnaires, but does he really have to suggest that our invasion of Iraq and the Russian invasion of Georgia are completely unrelated? 

And if [Obama] really thinks that, by liberating Iraq from a dangerous tyrant, America somehow set a bad example that invited Russia to invade a small, peaceful, and democratic nation, then he should state it outright -- because that is a debate I welcome.

In the end, confusion about such questions only invites more trouble, violence, and aggression. To promote stability and peace, America must stand firmly on the side of freedom and justice. The next president must bring to office a clear-eyed view of our nation's role in the world, as the defender of the oppressed and a force for peace.

I actually think the situation in Georgia is tragic, and the American response shameful, but, honestly, Sen. McCain can't see how, as far as Russia is concerned, the U.S. set a fantastic precedent for Russian intervention in Georgia? American militarism is the root cause for Russia's current posturing!

Opportunistic or not, the Russians can make a valid claim that they, too, were only acting as "defender of the oppressed and a force for peace" after Georgian President Saakhashvili used force against separatist provinces full of Russians.

Nevermind the equally damning argument that, if American weren't so busy with Sen. McCain's "easy" war in Iraq, there would have been a small chance Russia would have been so bold. But nevermind! Sen. McCain is too busy to think about reality when he can lambast Sen. Obama's "confidence in [him]self" and cloak himself in Reagan-esque patriotic BS.