McCain Explodes!

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Much of the United States appeared to be in shock yesterday after Donald Trump stood next to Russia's Vladimir Putin and declared his belief in Putin's denials that Russia was involved in U.S. election manipulation in 2016.    Trump sided with the Russian dictator even though United States intelligence agencies had concluded otherwise - and twelve Russians had been indicted for U.S. election interference that very week.

Trump's public defense of Putin was regarded by much of the world as a stunning disrespect of American democratic principles.  There were many voices in social media using the word "treason" to describe Trump's statements in Helsinki.  Two of the more popular Twitter hashtags for the day were "#TreasonSummit" and "#SurrenderSummit".

American politicians were eager to try and surf the wave of public anger, with some members of Trump's own GOP even taking potshots at their Glorious Leader.  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called Trump's remarks the "most serious mistake of his presidency" and declared that they "must be corrected - immediately."

Ben Sasse, a Republican senator from Nebraska with a history of poking Trump, declared that Trump's Helsinki performance indicated that he has a "Trump First" rather than an "America First" foreign policy.

Retiring Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the current head of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was effusive in his disdain of Trump's Helsinki remarks.  Corker said that Trump's comments were "regrettable" and "very disappointing" - and that they made the U.S. look like a "pushover."   He also commented that the Russians were probably enjoying caviar in celebration of Trump's seeming capitulation.

Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, another Republican who is retiring after this term, labeled Trump's remarks as "shameful."  In a tweet he lambasted his party's leader:

"I never thought I would see the day when our American President would stand on the stage with the Russian President and place blame on the United States for Russian aggression. This is shameful."

Senator Flake said that he plans to introduce a resolution in the Senate, perhaps as early as Monday, which would reaffirm Senate support for the FBI and the investigation by Robert Mueller's team.

Sadly, Flake appears to be the only Republican official with any substantive plan for countering Trump's Helsinki self-serving actions, and his is certainly far from being any great shakes.  None are using any language that suggests Trump should be removed from office.

They are angry, but not righteously angry.

And then there is John McCain.  McCain who is homebound in Arizona suffering from incurable brain cancer, has no intention of going "gentle into that good night."  He is pissed off and exploding like Mt. Vesuvius.   Yesterday Johnny Mac posted this on his homepage, and it has since been widely distributed across cyberspace.  What follows is the full text of McCain's statement on the Trump Helsinki fiasco:

“Today’s press conference in Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory. The damage inflicted by President Trump’s naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake. 

“President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand up to Putin. He and Putin seemed to be speaking from the same script as the president made a conscious choice to defend a tyrant against the fair questions of a free press, and to grant Putin an uncontested platform to spew propaganda and lies to the world. 

“It is tempting to describe the press conference as a pathetic rout – as an illustration of the perils of under-preparation and inexperience. But these were not the errant tweets of a novice politician. These were the deliberate choices of a president who seems determined to realize his delusions of a warm relationship with Putin’s regime without any regard for the true nature of his rule, his violent disregard for the sovereignty of his neighbors, his complicity in the slaughter of the Syrian people, his violation of international treaties, and his assault on democratic institutions throughout the world. 

“Coming close on the heels of President Trump’s bombastic and erratic conduct towards our closest friends and allies in Brussels and Britain, today’s press conference marks a recent low point in the history of the American Presidency. That the president was attended in Helsinki by a team of competent and patriotic advisors makes his blunders and capitulations all the more painful and inexplicable. “No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant. Not only did President Trump fail to speak the truth about an adversary; but speaking for America to the world, our president failed to defend all that makes us who we are—a republic of free people dedicated to the cause of liberty at home and abroad. American presidents must be the champions of that cause if it is to succeed. Americans are waiting and hoping for President Trump to embrace that sacred responsibility. One can only hope they are not waiting totally in vain.”

What a damned shame McCain in not well.  If he was able to return to Washington, he would likely be the one Republican who would have the cajones to wave his American flag right in Trump's flustered face!  And that needs to happen - and it needs to happen now!