McCain’s Tongue Runs Before Nuland’s Wit

Senator John McCain, who arrived in Kiev this past weekend to support proponents of European integration (evidently instead of the 6th Fleet of the U.S. Navy, which does not pass through the Dnieper on to Kiev), hardly imagined that he would wind up involved in a foul-smelling story. But then analytics, prognostication and good sense are obviously reserved for other politicians in Washington, and everyone is already used to the fact that it is McCain’s unique and inimitable style to annoy Moscow by any means possible. And it is even better if there is cause to wish harm personally to “Vlad Putin,” as the ex-presidential candidate who failed to seize the White House loves to call the Russian president.

He has subjected himself to ridicule many times for his actions and statements, but in the eyes of the European and North American establishment, everything that has happened up to now has looked like the efforts of a man who is not very smart but is sincere and deserving of respect for his Russophobia. But it is a whole different story with the Euromaidan.* Influential Jewish organizations in the U.S. and Israel have suddenly seen the light, having seen the American senator amiably shaking hands with one of the leaders of the Euromaidan, the head of the All-Ukrainian Union “Svoboda,” Oleg Tyagnibok, and even making an address from the scene of the protest with Tyagnibok in the background.

No wonder, given that Tyagnibok is listed as one of the world’s 10 most virulent anti-Semites by the experts at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. And not alone, but together with his deputy Igor Miroshnichenko. What is more, Tyagnibok occupies the honorable fifth place on the list, after the Muslim Brotherhood, the Iranian regime, a certain Brazilian cartoonist and fans of the British soccer club “Tottenham Hotspur.” Oleg Yaroslavovich earned this place on the list because of his endeavor to rid the country of the “Yid-Muscovite mafia” and his desire to rid the country of “yids.” It is not surprising that the Wiesenthal Center thereafter called for Washington not to let Tyagnibok and Miroshnichenko into the U.S.

And right next to this man who was awarded the “Golden Cross” by veterans of the “Galician” S.S. Division – a medal he gladly accepted – that “giant of thought” and “father of Libyan democracy” John McCain promised his supporters help under Banderan** banners: “America is with you!” And he said it so forcefully that it sent pro-American shivers even down Vitali Klitschko’s spine. And in response to McCain’s incendiary promises to impose American sanctions on Ukraine, all of Euromaidan exhaled “Thank you!” almost like “Sieg Heil!” So McCain felt triumphant and gifted the protesters another of his absolutely priceless gems (if you approach it logically): “It is the sovereign right of Ukraine to determine its own destiny freely and independently. And the destiny you seek lies in Europe.” Translation: “You can do anything you want to do, as long as it’s what I tell you.”

It must be said that Jewish activists allow that perhaps McCain simply did not know who was standing nearby. For them, a version of the story in which the senator is imprudent is preferable. Otherwise “it is a lot more serious and speaks about just how unscrupulous American politicians are.”

Surprisingly, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland’s meeting with the three leaders of the Euromaidan, including Tyagnibok, did not cause such a public outcry. Maybe it was because although Nuland handed out cookies on the square, she did not really fraternize with Tyagnibok. But what is the difference if McCain’s tongue runs before Nuland’s wit?

Offhand remarks from John McCain:

– “Dear Vlad, the Arab Spring is coming to a neighborhood near you.”

– “I think dictators all over the world, including Bashar al-Assad, maybe even Mr. Putin, maybe some Chinese, maybe all of them, may be a little bit more nervous because clearly the people of Libya rose up and we assisted them …”

– “We are all Georgians now.”

– “Yes, it’s true that this morning I dismissed my entire team of senior advisers. All of their positions will now be held by a man named Joe the Plumber.”

– “I’m older than dirt and have more scars than Frankenstein, but I’ve learned a few things along the way.”

– “I spent several years in a North Vietnamese prison camp, in the dark, fed with scraps. Do you think I want to do that all over again as vice president of the United States?”

Some of the policy statements of Oleg Tyagnibok’s ideological colleague, deputy of the All-Ukrainian Union “Svoboda” Iryna Farion:

– “Russian can be neither a regional nor a second official language in Ukraine, but rather merely the language of an occupier.”

– “Those who do not speak Ukrainian will certainly be put in jail. The 5 million degenerates who do not speak Ukrainian need to be put in jail.”

– “Where did the Russian language come from? Who sowed it? Excuse me, but on what barn floor did it sprout?”

*Editor’s Note: Euromaidan refers to the demonstrations and unrest in Ukraine that began in November 2013.

** Editor’s Note: This refers to Ukrainian nationalist Stepan Bandera.