Monday, August 27, 2018

John McCain's Farewell Letter (Perla Diaz)

"John McCain issues subtle rebuke of Trump in farewell letter before his death"

Summary: In his farewell letter, John McCain indirectly criticized President Trump and called for American citizens to stand behind the country's founding ideals rather than trying to hide from the rest of the world behind walls and political parties. This references Trump's plans of building a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border. In his letter, McCain emphasizes the importance of focusing on our country's ideals and finding ways to create a more progressive society rather than being a country of blood and soil. McCain also defended the ideals of the liberal world order which Trump has previously complained about having become a burden.

Analysis:John McCain's farewell letter and the advice he delivers to American society is similar to George Washington's Farewell Address. In Washington's Farewell Address, one of his main warnings was of the dangers of political parties and excessive geographical distinction. They both touch on how we will only be able to persevere through our hardships if we are not a country being torn apart from within.

I think that in a time of constant inner turmoil between American citizens, focusing on our ideals and what we want our country to stand for would be a very wise choice. I agree that rather than trying to block out the rest of the world we should instead be working towards finding a way to be able to embrace and influence the rest of the world with more progressive, and productive ideals. In his letter McCain points out how we are a country full of debate and often vilify those we do not agree with. However, he wisely advises citizens to realize that in the end we have more in common than we may think, and we just have to give each other the benefit of the presumption that we all love our country in order to get through these trivial times. 


2 comments:

  1. Excellent synthesis! Thank you for posting this.

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  2. I agree with you that McCain's farewell letter is very similar to George Washington's Farewell Address because they do in fact share common topics and point out similar situations such as the country tearing apart from within. I guess history really does repeat itself.

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