Who's Presumptuous Now? McCain Articulates U.S. Foreign Policy in Georgia Conflict

Barack Obama caught flak a few weeks back when he traveled to the Middle East and Europe. Apparently, he was just too presidential. After eight years of George Bush, that wasn't too hard. He refrained from giving neck rubs to European heads of state and had the audacity to give speeches in which the sentences achieved subject - verb agreement.

How dare he go overseas and not produce a collective cringe from those of us back home? Who does he think he is?

But Obama never purported to speak for the United States in the middle of an international crisis, which is now what John McCain has done.

The international hot spot of the moment is Georgia, where Russian troops continue on the offensive. It's a complicated and perilous situation, with innocent civilians in danger and regional stability at risk.

John McCain has waded into the situation with both feet, and not only on his own behalf. Apparently McCain telephoned Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Tuesday, and, according to McCain himself, told him "that I know I speak for every American when I say to him, today, we are all Georgians." McCain told supporters at a campaign event that Saakashvili "wanted me to say thank you to you, to give you his heartfelt thanks for the support of the American people."

It's fine and good for the presidential candidates to express support for one side or the other, or to issue calls for restraint, or to express solidarity with the innocent civilians who are at risk.

But it strikes me as presumptuous indeed for McCain to telephone the president of one of the warring nations and to purport to speak for the American people, especially when McCain's statement seems to promise something serious. What exactly does "we are all Georgians" mean? I don't know, but McCain thinks he can speak for all of us in promising it. It's as if McCain is running a shadow State Department out of the Straight Talk Express.

Saakashvili called McCain's bluff on Wednesday, saying on CNN: "Yesterday, I heard Sen. McCain say, 'We are all Georgians now.' Well, very nice, you know, very cheering for us to hear that, but OK, it's time to pass from this. From words to deeds."

This is dangerous stuff. We have a president of a warring nation responding to McCain's comments as if the Republican nominee is setting policy for the nation, and asking us to back up the straight talk with substance.

Doesn't anyone else think it's odd that John McCain is the one who seems to be speaking for the United States at the moment? Isn't that the epitome of presumptuousness?

Comments

[hardlyhikin]

Can you imagine the Rethugnican outcry if Obama had made that call, or said that "We're all Georgians now"? Maybe John McCain thinks Georgia is that piece of real estate between South Carolina and Florida...

[speedingpullet]

See, this the perfect reposte to the 'Celebrity' smears.

Next time McC drags out another 'celeb' ad (and he will, ad nauseum), O needs to do another one pointing out:

A) Randy Sheunemann's well-documented ties to the Georgian govt.
B) McCain's over-the-top and premature call for action.
There's only one President at a time, and he's not it, yet, (or ever, hopefully).
C) McCain's presumptuousness in sending his 'envoys' to Georgia, just like he was already POTUS.

Call it 'Commander in Chief?' or something like that.

[InformedAmerican]

J Mac does NOT speak for me!

[danod]

Heck NO, it's not at ALL ODD for McCain to be telephoning the Georgian President....that's the entire reason he's hired Scheuneman's firm (or whatever McCain's lobbyis advisor's name is) to lobby for him. If your lobbyist can't get the presumptuous president on the phone for you, they're not worth the paper their contracts are printed on.

[reshas1]

Hum, maybe he should have been on vaca, body surfing, or maybe windsurfing?

[cobraxus]

as opposed to our current president GWB who took time out from his latest vacation to say afew words about Georgia before heading back to Crawford Texas(where he's spent over 400 days during these last eight years).

[speedingpullet]

Surely, as someone who obviously doesn't like O, you'd be happy with him being as far away from Washington as its possible to get in the 50 states?
Or would it make you happier to have him treading on the feet of the present POTUS by sabre-rattling?

Or, does O's very existance give you a reason to bit@h about his actions, whatever he does?

[Interested Party]

And the MSM do not call him on it. No 24 x 7 coverage and asking everyone what they think. Isn't he presumptuous. The blogs on the Internet are the ONLY source of real news/forum. Being in Europe for the past 2 weeks, I can tell you most Europeans ask me, "Are all Americans racist?" I tell them I don't think so, but being Canadian is certainly better. We used to be in awe of our American neighbours to the south, always felt second-best. Not any more. The american media is giving McCain a pass because being owned by American corporations they have to. The Clintons will torpedo Obama and then run again in 2012, likely plans for Chelsea to run next. So sad, so much promise and so predictable. And what will the rest of the world say? That's right, the US does not care (according to the MSM).

[diboss]

"We used to be in awe of our American neighbours to the south, always felt second-best. Not any more."

What part of Canada are you living in?
I've never met a Canadian that felt second best to Americans. I live in a border city, and well...they elected George Bush twice, how would you have felt second best?

Plus, read the new mcclean's magazine, we're wayyy better off. Not to mention that we have free health care and schools that are actually useful, even in the ghettos.

[JPHR]

Clear failure as a response to a 3 o'clock call: In a situation rife with ethnic tension clearly siding with one side in the conflict because its a democratic christian nation. I do not know what christian has to do with it given Georgian actions. And a democracy which considers citizens it claims at his own as expendable? Milosevic was also democratically elected, perhaps Saaskhavili ought to follow him to The Hague. Might be a nice suggestion for Bush too for leading the USA and the international community into Iraq.

By the way Ossetia an Abkhazia were de facto independent nearly just as long as Georgia.

Slowly it is becoming clear that the USA's meddling in Georgia served the same purpose as Iraq: Control over Oil.

Does anyone still remember the Bush Administraion's manipulation of facts, news flow and media in the period before Iraq? Why fall for that same trap now?

Neocons are quite happy to invoke cold war fears shortly before the elections.

Now the situation is settling down and it slowly emerges what has happened on the ground:

Citizens of the USA are you really (willing to affiliate that closely with) Georgians?

Citizens of Georgia will you reelect Saaskhavili?????

[oscartucker]

Thank you Kent Greenfield for these observations! It is time for McCain to stop this madness before he gets this nation into a mess. McCain spoke out before GWBush and he spoke more agressively. Today, it has been reported that Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham are going to go to Georgia as "envoys" on behalf of John McCain. President Bush and Secretary Rice should contact John McCain and let him know that he is overstepping. I would like for Bush or Rice to announce publicly that there is only one president at a time and that there are also persons in the administration who are handling international affairs, though I am doubtful about the job they are doing.

[tompoe]

"Doesn't anyone else think it's odd that John McCain is the one who seems to be speaking for the United States at the moment? Isn't that the epitome of presumptuousness?"

He sounds no more ludicrous than the war criminals in office.

[blaqntelligence]

"Doesn't anyone else think it's odd that John McCain is the one who seems to be speaking for the United States at the moment?"
Yes and no.
Yes: He is not, nor will he be president.
No: There is a presidential void that he is trying to fill......­.Unsuccess­fully.
Isn't that the epitome of presumptuousness?
Absolutely.