It is hard to estimate how much influence over U.S. domestic and foreign policy John McCain had. With his illness upgraded to a glioblastoma in his head, the likelihood of his return to a policy position is unlikely.
As I predicted earlier this week, the severity of McCain’s health problems will inevitably usher in a major power shuffle in Washington.
The Arizona senator’s absence creates a unique opportunity for President Trump to alter the course of our foreign and domestic policy. From Iraq to Libya, Syria to Afghanistan and right up to Russia’s borders in Ukraine, McCain’s bloody paw prints are all over more than a decade of American foreign policy blunders.
Most of these foreign policy nightmares have served, directly or indirectly, to weaken Russia’s western and southern flanks and prevent Eurasian integration. And of all the excrement that has exited McCain’s mouth, his hatred for Russia has always seemed most sincere. Everything else is politically fungible.
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His irrational hatred of Russia made him the perfect vessel for neoconservative policy. It allowed him, without irony, to share the stage with Nazi-sympathizers in Ukraine or rub elbows with Salafist head-chopping radicals in Syria while ensuring a steady flow of taxpayer money to these animals.
McCain’s Hate Talk Express to Hell
With him gone the driving force is gone as well. Many who stood with McCain on these issues did so because Washington is the ultimate ‘go along to get along’ kind of place. And few, if any, in the Senate have his drive to continue the work. Notice how quiet Lindsay Graham has been the last couple of weeks.
Many will see the writing on the wall and kiss the ring of President Trump to avoid a primary challenge in the…