Last thought on @SenJohnMcCain, then have to write.
A lot will be said today about how McCain lost his bids for the presidency. But you should also remember how he almost won.
He called Vladimir Putin on his bullshit, and stood up for a faraway place that wanted what we have /1
A lot will be said today about how McCain lost his bids for the presidency. But you should also remember how he almost won.
He called Vladimir Putin on his bullshit, and stood up for a faraway place that wanted what we have /1
When Russia invaded Georgia in August 2008, McCain called it for what it was. An invasion. He visited the region extensively, knew the Georgians well, knew that Russia had spent months rebuilding hundreds of kilometers of heavy rail to move 100k troops to the Georgian border. /2 
He knew Putin was making his move to keep Georgia out of NATO, and that letting him have his way would have deep costs for transatlantic security. He knew you had to call Putin out -- because he knew all the players involved. /3
Obama was on vacation in Hawaii. And eventually came out with a "both sides need to show restraint" comment, which he then had to clarify.
It was a reminder to the electorate that Obama was new to the world of national security -- maybe too new. The 3am phone call test. /4
It was a reminder to the electorate that Obama was new to the world of national security -- maybe too new. The 3am phone call test. /4
McCain trailed Obama in polls from the beginning. But just after the August War, he was ahead for 1st time. McCain was clear & concise about the threat & how to face it -- about the values we need to defend. Americans were reminded he would be a powerful leader in the world /5
The economy tanked soon after, and that was that. /6
McCain may never have been president -- but in global terms, he was a face of America for decades. He fought for so many places, and so many people, that otherwise would have felt marginal in American policy. He always had time for them. He always took the call & the meeting /7
He spoke to them as equals. He brought their message to his colleagues and the administration. He dragged his colleagues to them on relentlessly-paced CODELs, so they could see these places for themselves, know the people and the food and the drink and the land. /8
He would sweep through a small place, larger than life, meet everyone, deliver hard truths, make more stories--& move out, leaving nations out of breath & transformed in his wake. He wasn't there as a tourist. He followed up on his promises. He was the batphone everyone dialed./9
McCain may never have been president -- but that didn't make him any smaller, in his stature or our history. Having not been, he was free and unbound to crisscross the world, and see it all for himself, and tell us exactly what he saw, and fight for the fighters he admired. /10
McCain would want us to get on with it. And so we will.
But I hope someone shows up on Monday to claim the batphone. That there are a lot of someones willing to travel the world so tirelessly in defense of America, and of all those who aspire to the same things we do. /11
But I hope someone shows up on Monday to claim the batphone. That there are a lot of someones willing to travel the world so tirelessly in defense of America, and of all those who aspire to the same things we do. /11
Epilogue: seen many small moving memories of McCain today. An encounter in the elevator, a gesture of goodwill, a joke. We have those because he let us. Unlike so many titans who move past us out of reach, he stopped & shared a piece with us. Now we have them to carry with us.
