On Statesmen, National Myths, and Reality

In the days following Senator John McCain's death, I noticed a recurring theme in the news and on social media (particularly Twitter.) A lot of outside-the-mainstream media outlets and private individuals were aiming some harsh criticism at both the late Senator for actions he took during his career, as well as mainstream outlets for "whitewashing" McCain's career immediately following his passing.  The timing of that criticism left a bad taste in my mouth, because there's a proper time and place for it, and right after someone passes away is not that time. 

Still, McCain made his share of shameful decisions throughout his tenure, like choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate for the 2008 presidential election or running interference for Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses.  Those things need to be brought out into the open, because we as citizens are not doing ourselves any favors by pretending they never happened.  At some point, it's appropriate, even necessary, to discuss McCain's record honestly and fairly.  Seeing the entire picture - the good, the bad, and the ugly - helps us make better choices when we're selecting our elected officials or exercising any other form of political expression.  Democratic forms of government like ours endow more decision-making power upon the citizens, and like any other form of  power, it comes with certain responsibilities. One such responsibility is doing the research to make an informed decision.

Here's the uncomfortable truth about many of the shameful deeds that tend to get whitewashed, though: they're often necessary evils. For example, one of FDR's more detestable decisions was brokering a deal with Stalin in order to get the Soviet Union's help with defeating Nazi Germany, and a condition of that deal was essentially throwing Poland to the wolves.  Stalin already had an established reputation as a mass-murderer, and FDR surely knew what evil fate was in store for Poland.  Yet would the Allies have been able to defeat the Nazis without Stalin's troops? We don't have any way of knowing, but the best case scenario would be the European part of World War II drags on for another few years.  Or maybe the US decides to drop an atomic bomb on Berlin. Or maybe without the Soviets tying up millions of German troops to the east, the Allies are outnumbered and either collapse or are defeated. Or, to bring up a contemporary example, how about America's relationship with Saudi Arabia? I'm no fan of the way our government turns a blind eye to Saudi's many atrocities, but once you realize how important oil is to our day-to-day lives, it becomes clear that Saudi Arabia has a lot of leverage on us. The situation is getting better, but taking a hard stance would trigger a huge economic hit.  And by the way, they've known this since the 1970s.

My point here is that it's easy to be the armchair quarterback when you're not the one making these kinds of important decisions, but it's important to remember two things.  First, people are imperfect.  I don't think anybody over the age of about fifteen thinks our elected officials are noble, virtuous, and pure.  Even the ones we've seemingly transformed into legends. That would be considered hugely gullible. For instance, the Founding Fathers.  They did some great things, but also their fair share of disgraceful ones.  It's extremely rare that a politician is either all good or all bad.  Second, the decisions the elected officials make are usually messy with no good answers.  A few of them will probably trigger nightmares for years or even decades. People who are expecting perfect candidates and perfect decisions might as well be wishing for unicorns. They have the luxury of not bearing the weight of making those decisions.  So, a decent portion of criticism needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

Of course, it's also very likely that some of those so-called agonizing decisions are made with personal gain in mind.  Maybe it's a reliable campaign donor, or a lucrative private sector job once a politician's term is over.  Or maybe the UAVs Saudi Arabia uses against Yemeni rebels are manufactured in a candidate's home district, meaning a few hundred jobs, meaning a dependable voting bloc. A person would be naive to not consider that.  Well, that's where being informed comes into play, and why knowing what unsavory actions a candidate takes matters.

An informed citizenry is important to a democracy, and while focusing on McCain's more shameful deeds right after his death was classless, it still serves the function of informing the public.  It was how the Founders anticipated the media acting as a check on the political class.  This kind of adversarial journalism keeps the voters informed and the politicians in check.  Frankly, we could use a lot more of it.

Fix the timing and delivery, though.