McCain Shows Ineptitude and Intolerance

Last week, the ultraconservative Republican Senator John McCain gave a demonstration of a mentality like that of a Roman governor, outdated in history. In an incredibly intolerant way, he warned that he would use all his influence to get other senators to support him in removing the $80 million given to Guatemala annually, unless their government stops the flow of children causing the current humanitarian crisis. Later he said on CNN that the best way to solve the problem is to send planes full of children and their families back to their country of origin.

With such statements, McCain, the Republican candidate defeated by Obama, demonstrated how terrible it would have been for the United States if he had entered the White House. He also confirmed that the Republican Party, in a manner that is impossible to understand, has reinforced their anti-immigrant position, which not only goes against the principles that gave their country strength for many decades, but was one of the clear factors in the sequential electoral defeats of the Republican Party.

McCain’s case is particularly alarming because he is a former combat pilot who was shot down during the Vietnam War and spent several years in North Vietnamese dungeons, suffering humiliations of all types, so he should take a minimally humane position. He doesn’t have one.

The most worrying thing is that he makes clear his inability to understand that he cannot comprehend the causes or the solutions to the humanitarian tragedy that has exploded. Not only has it been in force for many years, but it can also be considered an effect of legal reforms adopted by the Republican administration of George W. Bush. He also does not realize that the tea party faction is completely removed from moderate Republican supporters.

These considerations do not mean that the Democratic senators and congressmen are not worthy of criticism for their eloquent and unjustified silence with respect to the refugee children, as they fear defeat in the November elections.

Someone should explain to McCain that the $80 million in aid is equal to just 4 percent of what President Obama requested to address the crisis, yet it is necessary in an economy like that of Guatemala. And so, if it is stopped, it will contribute to increasing poverty and thus emigration to the United States by children and adults. Also, the infants who are already there will stay for a long time, perhaps years, due to the inability of a judge to quickly determine their legal situation.

So far, the unfortunate game of bipartisan politicking with respect to the immigrant children has been obvious. But what had not yet been shown was the side of inhumanity with which some fanatics address this situation, whose roots are numerous and varied, and which will be recorded by history as one of the most unexpected and painful situations. Little by little, these types of policies are abandoned and enter history as mistakes and malicious intent.