During the funeral of late Sen. John McCain, he was eulogized by both former Presidents G. W. Bush and Barack Obama at the Washington Cathedral Memorial service. Both men defeated McCain’s bids for the presidency and used the funeral as a moment to speak frankly for the nation and the state of America’s democracy. President Trump was not invited. The purpose of this essay, therefore is to summarizing three of the talking points made during Obama’s speech, which delivered for the nation and the world an unusual repudiation of Trump’s presidency and current politics.
Divisive Politics
Without mentioning him by name, Obama delivered many pointed remarks about Trump’s divisive politics and leadership. “So much of our politics, our public life, our public discourse, can seem small and mean and petty, trafficking in bombast and insult, in phony controversies and manufactured outrage” (CBS News, 2018). More recently, most Americans believe that President Trump is doing more to divide the country than unite it. This has been witnessed across race, gender, political affiliation and all parts of the country. Trump’s language also seems to seems to divide the world into areas he likes and areas he does not like (Ignatius, 2017). When the president talks unfavorably about the birthplace of some immigrants, he risks pitting neighbor against neighbor on the basis of their race or their accent. Obama echoes this in his speech when he remarked, “John understood, as JFK understood, as Ronald Reagan understood, that part of what makes our country great is that our membership is based not on our bloodline, not on what we look like, what our last names are, it's not based on where our parents or grandparents came from” (CBS News, 2018).
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Foreign Policy
Obama’s speech also touched on foreign policy and was a direct criticism of Trump’s foreign policy. Obama stated “And finally, while John and I disagreed on all kinds of foreign-policy issues, we stood together on America's role as the one indispensable nation, believing that with great power and great blessings comes great responsibility” (CBS News, 2018). Trump has more recently rejected many of the critical doctrines of the liberal international order, the expansive and multilayered system that the U.S and its allies built and have promoted for more than 50 years. Bringing into disrepute the very fabric of global collaboration, President Trump has assailed the world trading system, cut back funding for the United Nations, deplored NATO, threatened to end multilateral trade agreements, ridiculed at efforts to address international problems, including global warming, amid other theatrics (Landler, 2018). His transactional strategy to foreign relations marks the U.S. less interested in handling its long-lasting relationships than in taking advantage of the short-term deals. President Trump continues to send the message that the United States will only look after its interests, and not the interest of the alleged global community.
Furthermore, Trump believes that political determinants must define economic relations, that globalization is not designed to nurture harmony among nations, and that economic interdependence advances national susceptibility. On the contrary, Obama continued “our security and our influence was won not just by our military might, not just by our wealth, not just by our ability to bend others to our will, but from our capacity to inspire others” (CBS News, 2018). However, Trump’s “America first” rhetoric is profound only in the sense that it strives to support the interest of the U.S. at the expense of long-standing allies.
Attacks On the Press
Another talking point was when Obama also delivered indirect disapproval of President Trump’s recent attacks on the media. Obama stated, “He understood that if we get in the habit of bending the truth to suit political expediency or party orthodoxy, our democracy will not work” (CBS News, 2018). It is common knowledge that Trump’s attacks on the media are premeditated, intended to weaken confidence in the reporting and increase doubt concerning provable facts. In fact, Trump has nicknamed the media “fake news.” By definition, freedom of the press has always been the safeguard against bad governance and tyranny. As such, Americans take great pride in their press freedom. Therefore, it is up to of all Americans to appreciate this freedom and demand it remains protected.
Overall, Obama used a cautious tone to urge a more civil tone in politics and persuaded Americans to follow the late senator’s example of integrity in politics. In his speech, he also upholds the Constitutional premises on which the Bill of Rights was framed, such as the protection of individual rights and liberties. Obama stated, “our capacity to inspire others with our adherence to a set of universal values, like the rule of law and human rights, and an insistence on the God-given dignity of every human being” (CBS News, 2018). In comparison, former President George W. Bush like Obama took an aim at the current president, and in his tribute delivered an indictment of Trump’s policies. Bush decried, “He respected the dignity inherent in every life, a dignity that does not stop at borders and cannot be erased by dictators” (CBS News, 2018).
References
CBS News. (2018, Sept 1). Remarks by President Barack Obama at the Memorial Service for Senator John McCain. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-mccain- funeral-barack-obama-eulogy-transcript/
CBS News. (2018, Sept 1). Remarks by President George W. Bush at the Memorial Service for Senator John McCain. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-mccain- funeral-george-w-bush-eulogy-transcript/
Ignatius, D. (2017, Dec 29). Trump's Divisiveness Puts America at Risk. RealClear Politics. Retrieved from https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/12/29/trumps_divisiveness_puts_america _at_risk_135873.html
Landler, M. (2018), Aug 3). There’s Trump’s Foreign Policy and Then There’s His Administration’s. New York Times . Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/03/us/politics/trump-foreign-policy.html\
