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Re: McCain
One of the interesting things about the tributes to McCain are those coming out of the Middle East. I always find it interesting to follow Middle East twitter at times like this and see how particular Americans are perceived. Reading the tributes after his death, for example, I conclude Bourdain was probably the most universally loved person in all of the Middle East. Really, just everyone loved the man - everyone loved someone who came by, ate their food, asked them basic questions about their lives. He didn't take a lot of sides in conflicts, but broke bread with everyone.
The response to McCain's death, on the other hand, is a real mixture of love and hate. There are a lot of minority groups out there he connected with - the man knew the difference between the Yazidis, the Kurds, and the Chaldeans, and he spent a lot of time on the ground, but he clearly took sides in a lot of the conflicts and on more than one occasion expressed some racial or religious ugliness. There may be as many "let me tell you a story about John" posts from Iraq and Syria as from Arizona and DC.
I disagreed with him on almost everything, including many issues relating to the Middle East. But this is a man who at least tried to dig deep on issues, in a way few elected officials ever do, and despite his limitations and biases.
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A wee dram a day!
Last edited by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy; 08-26-2018 at 12:43 PM..
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