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The Democratic nostalgia for John McCain

James Leroy Wilson
3 min readJun 2, 2021

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A few days ago (Sunday, May 30, 2021). John McCain was trending on Twitter.

Apparently, some Republican in Congress didn’t show up for an important vote, and that was compared to when a cancer-ridden John McCain showed up for a vote that saved Obamacare. (At least, I think that was why McCain was trending; if you’re ever on Twitter, you know that it’s usually unclear why things trend.)

Democrats and progressives praised the late Senator for reaching across the aisle, for being unlike today’s Republicans. In any case, progressives were heaping praise on the late Senator for all sorts of reasons.

Including McCain’s hatred of diplomacy.

For example, this:

Patrick Nova @PatrickNova6

FUN FACT: John McCain was the last Republican to publicly condemn Vladimir Putin.

I’m no fan of the Republican Party, but excuse me, why should politicians condemn foreign leaders? Any of them? Even if they’re from Russia? Or China? Or Iran or North Korea?

Does condemnation help negotiation?

Is antagonism the path to peace?

I had disagreements with McCain on domestic policy, but it was his war-first foreign policy, his hatred of diplomacy, that enraged me.

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James Leroy Wilson
James Leroy Wilson

Written by James Leroy Wilson

Former activist. Writer with a range of interests from spirituality to sports.

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