…In his speech today, McCain will say [said]:
Our great power does not mean we can do whatever we want whenever we want, nor should we assume we have all the wisdom and knowledge necessary to succeed. We need to listen to the views and respect the collective will of our democratic allies. When we believe international action is necessary, whether military, economic, or diplomatic, we will try to persuade our friends that we are right. But we, in return, must be willing to be persuaded by them.
But missing from both McCain’s remarks and the pre-coverage of his speech is “a fresh acknowledgment” of the fact that McCain has often acted less than collegial towards international allies with whom he disagrees.
For instance, during the rush to war with Iraq, McCain took great joy in childishly bashing France for it’s opposition to the war:
MCCAIN: [The French] remind me of an aging movie actress in the 1940s who’s still trying to dine out on her looks, but doesn’t have the face for it. The cynical role–the cynical role that France is playing proves that if — if you are not — you cannot be a great nation unless you have great purpose. And they’ve lost their purpose. And it’s very unfortunate, and perhaps Churchill and Roosevelt made a very serious mistake when they decided to give France a veto in the Security Council, following–when the United Nations was organized. [CBS, 2/16/03]
MCCAIN: They’ve made clear their intentions to use whatever means to block our military action in Iraq no matter what we do. So they have to be, I think, treated for what it is, a — an election ploy on the part of the German leader. And in the case of French, simply kind of classic French misbehavior. [CNN, 2/10/03]
MCCAIN: Look, I don’t mean to try to be snide, but the Lord said the poor will always be with us. The French will always be with us, too. [Hardball, 2/10/03]
“McCain has been equally vehement regarding the French: ‘The Lord said the poor will always be with us, and the French will be with us, too. This is part of a continuing French practice of throwing sand in the gears of the Atlantic alliance.’” [Arizona Republic, 2/19/03]
… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Think Progress>
There has been talk, here and elsewhere, discussion of French bashing by Democrats over the loss of the tanker contract to a french company, engineered largely by McConJob in return for campaign support. That bashing was inappropriate, brought about mostly from sour grapes on the part of very few labor supporters of those who lost their jobs in the wake of that corrupt transaction. It has not been the majority position of the party. However, let us remember that the overwhelming majority of bashing the French and other Europeans came at the hands of the GOP, including those of their present candidate for Fuhrer.
Cross-posted from Politics Plus
