‘We Live in a Land Made of Ideals, Not Blood and Soil’ McCain, Targeting Trump, Reminded America
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) Monday night blasted President Donald Trump and didn’t even have to mention his name. The elder statesman, with an eye toward the history books, condemned the head of his own party, attacking Trump’s “half-baked spurious nationalism,” and while comparing it to “unpatriotic” and “tired dogma.” There was no question he was targeting Trump and Trump’s top advisors who have advanced his white nationalistic, near-fascistic policies and rhetoric, some from the so-called “alt-right,” including Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller.
“To fear the world where we have organized and led for three-quarters of a century, to abandon the ideals we’ve advanced around the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership and our duty to remain ‘the last best hope of Earth’ for the sake of-some half baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who had rather find scapegoats than solve problems is as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans have consigned to the trash heap of history,” McCain charged.Â
Washington Post congressional reporter Paul Kane reports that portion of McCain’s speech drew a standing ovation.
The Arizona Senator, a former prisoner of war now battling an aggressive form of brain cancer, is still more than capable of delivering a blistering attack. He spoke upon being awarded the Liberty Medal by the National Constitution Center. Former Vice President Joe Biden presented his friend of former colleague of more than two decades with the award.
“We live in a land made of ideals, not blood and soil,” McCain added, making clear reference to the neo-Nazi slogan chillingly chanted in Charlottesville. “We are the custodians of those ideals at home, and their champion abroad. We have done great good in the world. That leadership has had its costs, but we have become incomparably powerful and wealthy as we did. We have a moral obligation to continue in our just cause, and we would bring more than shame on ourselves if we don’t. We will not thrive in a world where our leadership and ideals are absent. We wouldn’t deserve to.”
Surprisingly, no response yet from President Trump, who early in his campaign and several times more recently has not shied away from attacking Sen. McCain.
McCain’s full speech is below, via CNN.
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