"The Restless Wave" by John McCain and Mark Salter--Book Review

McCain, John & Mark Salter: The Restless Wave (New York, NY, Simon & Schuster 2018)

"Bigger misfits haven't been seen inside a White House since William Taft got stuck in his bathtub." John McCain & Mark Salter, p. 327.  

This has been the most pleasant surprise I have found in a book in many years.  I went into reading this last book by John McCain with the preconception that I  would find a fairly standard espousal of some customary Right Wing Radical Republican views.  While I did find some of that, I also found a lot of honesty, perhaps expressed in the face of impending death, but honesty just the same.  There was honesty about both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  But, the most pleasant surprise of all was that there was honesty about TRAITOR and Spawn Of Satan Trump.  I had not expected to find that in spite of what I already knew about the less than pleasant relationship between the two.  But the book delivers some brutally honest assessments of the traitor who currently illegally occupies the White House based on his treason with Vladimir Putin and Russia.  McCain and Salter stop short of using the word traitor but they definitely did not pull many other punches in referring to the ongoing disaster in America.  I suspect that John McCain wanted to go to his grave with a somewhat clear conscience.  However, it is a real tragedy that he chose to not endorse Hillary Clinton for president simply based on is party loyalty.  My copy of this book is currently marked nearly from cover to cover with those tiny Post It Notes which denote a geek because I found so many statements in the book which I wanted to pass on to my readers in this review.  

The one possible area in which I question this book is the fact that John McCain was dying as it was being written, edited, and prepared for publication and much of it was probably written solely by Mark Salter.  But Salter had known and primarily worked for John McCain since 1988 and served as his chief of staff for a period.  They coauthored seven books together during their thirty year collaboration and Salter served as McCain's primary speech writer and one of his closest confidantes.  In that light, it is likely that few if any people understood John McCain better than Mark Salter. So even if Salter wrote the majority of the book, I still consider it authentic McCain.  McCain and Beau Bridges narrated the audio book version of this last book and it could be said that the manuscript was either finished or very nearly finished before McCain's death and all or most of it was written with his cooperation and knowledge in order to make his portion of the narration possible.  However, I do not know what percentage of the book McCain managed to narrate before his death.

McCain's first reference to TRAITOR and Spawn Of Satan Trump comes on page 103 where he discusses the torturous practises which were followed at Guantanamo, including waterboarding and Trump's claim that he was willing to bring it back.  McCain states that TRAITOR Trump

"...insisted that torture 'absolutely works' and swore he would bring back waterboarding and worse.  His statement was made out of ignorance, attributable to his lack of experience in a role related to the defense of this country.  It also exposed his apparent lack of appreciation for the importance of our values to our security, and for the understanding that simple human decency is as essential to the souls of nations as it is to the souls of people."  (McCain & Salter, p. 103)

There are several aspects of this quote which are worthy of discussion.  Firstly, McCain's reference to the ignorance of TRAITOR Trump was both accurate and timely.  Secondly, his veiled reference to the traitor's lack of military experience clearly compares the early lives of both men.  McCain spent five and a half years as a POW in Viet Nam while TRAITOR Trump spent those years exercising multiple claims of having bone spurs which kept him from being rightfully inducted.  Thirdly, the reference to TRAITOR Trump's lack of understanding of morals and human decency is also quite accurate. Unspoken in that quote is the fact that after five and one half years in a Viet Cong prison John McCain was an expert on torture and the information it might and might not produce from a victim.  This is the first notable mention McCain made in the book to the criminal who temporarily resides in the White House but it was not the last.  However, it did set the tone for everything else which was said in the book on that despicable excuse for a human.

By contrast, when McCain first mentions President Barack Obama on page 192, he refers to him as "...thoughtful and well intentioned..." while disagreeing with his views. I was also quite pleased to read McCain's discussion of dark money and the Citizens United decision by the US Supreme Court on page 200 where he states that

"...the explosion of unlimited and dark money in campaigns, an invitation to corruption made possible by the Supreme Court's decision in  the Citizens United case, a mistake made by five justices who never ran for any office and were more naive than a cloistered nun about the corrupting effect of unlimited money in politics." (McCain & Salter, p. 200)

When McCain approaches the discussion of immigration and the ongoing battle over illegal immigration, he surprised me totally by saying that Republicans who oppose immigration

"...need to be confronted, not ignored or winked at or quietly dismissed as kooks.  They need to be confronted before their noxious views spread further, and damage for generations the reputation of the Republican Party."  (McCain & Salter, p. 206)

McCain also was honest and patriotic in his discussion of the Mueller investigation into the crimes of TRAITOR & Spawn Of Satan Trump.

"I trust the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller, an experienced, skilled prosecutor, and a man of exceptional probity and character, to separate fact from fiction, and to get to the bottom of the so-called dossier. (The Steele Dossier) If it is the product of slander or groundless fears, he'll say so.  It will be up to Congress and the judiciary to evaluate his conclusions and act on them if necessary, to do our duty, whatever it proves to be, as diligently, fairly, and nonpolitically as Mueller will have done his."  (McCain & Salter, p. 241)

Although McCain did not discuss the Russian hacking and the collusion between TRAITOR & Spawn Of Satan Trump at length, on page 265 of the book he does say

"Moscow waged a sophisticated cyber and disinformation campaign against the Georgians as well, giving the world its first good look at a form of warfare the Russians would prove adept at, which we would see again in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine, and, it pains me to say, in an American presidential election."  (McCain & Salter, p. 265)

If John McCain, a dying former US presidential nominee, long term senator, and war hero was willing to admit that the Russians hacked our election, no other American should ever doubt it. Keep in mind that John McCain was the person in American government who was chosen by Christopher Steele to deliver the Steele Dossier to the hands of US law enforcement and carried that out immediately upon receiving and reading the dossier.  Until we reach the end of the Mueller investigation and justice has run its course for TRAITOR and Spawn Of Satan Trump, America can never again assume that we are living in a functioning democracy.

Just as he did in reference to President Obama, McCain spoke favorably of Hillary Clinton on  page 270 where he said "She concluded correctly, that 'strength and resolve were the only language Putin would understand'." Time is likely to prove that the greatest tragedy of John McCain's life and career in politics was the fact that he did not fully endorse Hillary Clinton in 2016 instead of just refusing to endorse the TRAITOR & Spawn Of Satan Trump.  He did go on later in the book, on page 274 to say that Putin sought "...revenge five years later by ordering his trolls, and hackers and subcontractors at WikiLeaks to help defeat her."  He went on to say that "Sparing Putin any serious penalty for his assault on our democracy doesn't just encourage further aggression, it tells the victims and potential victims of Russian aggression...that the United States, the greatest power in the world, couldn't be relied on to defend its own democracy." (McCain & Salter, p. 288)  I would go even further and say that sparing both Putin and TRAITOR and Spawn Of Satan Trump any serious penalty for their crimes also encourages every other traitor and would be dictator in America to believe they can also achieve illegitimate and illegal access to power in our country.  McCain goes on in the book on pages 294-295 to further discuss his opinion of Vladimir Putin and his crimes against America and the world.  His concluding words in the section quoted immediately below also leave little doubt of his opinion about the fact that our elected congress members have failed to confront the crimes of both Putin and TRAITOR & Spawn Of Satan Trump.

"He is using our own weaknesses and virtues against us, the openness of our society and the increasingly acrimonious political divisions consuming us. He wants to widen those divides and paralyze us from responding to his aggression.  He meddled in our election, and he will do it again because it worked, and because he has not been made to stop.  He interfered in the  last French presidential election.  And he successfully helped reelect the president of the Czech Republic, a NATO ally, who opposes NATO and the EU and supports Putin's invasion and annexation of Crimea.  He did it with the same means he used to interfere in our election.  And yet, as of this writing, I don't see Washington prepared and focused to stop his continued assault on our democratic processes."  McCain & Salter, p. 295.

McCain goes on, a few pages later, to expand on his thoughts about what must be done to contain Vladimir Putin and the Russian plan to control our elections and destroy America, American Democracy, all out diplomatic alliances, and the entire free world.

"...we have a way to go before all Americans realize that Putin's goal isn't to defeat a candidate or a party.  He means to defeat the West.  He will try to interfere, he already is, in our next election, and the election after that, and the election after that.  He will keep doing it until we prevent him.  And we're behind schedule in that responsibility." McCain & Salter, p. 299.

The quote above from page 299 of McCain's book should have been a rallying cry for every loyal American both inside and outside the Washington Beltway to rise up and take the fight to Putin and Russia by all means possible and necessary.  But the TRAITOR & Spawn Of Satan Trump belongs to Vladimir Putin and has ever since Alfa Bank bailed him out of his deliberate bankrupting of the New Jersey casinos in 1987.  He will not and literally cannot do anything to fight or control Putin and has no desire to do so if he could.  He is a Russian agent.  We are in the deepest, most dangerous constitutional crisis in this country since 1861.

On the next page of the book, John McCain continues his discussion of the failures of TRAITOR & Spawn Of Satan Trump to use his illegally obtained office to confront Vladimir Putin. "...Trump seems to vary from refusing to believe what Putin is doing to just not caring about it."  If reading that statement from one of the most senior and most politically connected and experienced US Senators does not scare you, you aren't paying attention or simply denying the truth. "He (Trump) needs to needs to comprehend the nature of the threat Putin poses.  He needs to understand Putin's nature, and ours.  Last year, he implied that our government was morally equivalent to Putin's regime: 'We have a lot of killers, too.  You think our country is innocent,' he told an interviewer.  It was a shameful thing to say, and so unaware of reality."  McCain & Salter, p. 300-301

I do not believe that the statement quoted above by John McCain was "unaware of reality" on the part of the TRAITOR & Spawn Of Satan Trump.  I believe he was and is fully aware of what he is attempting to do when he discusses Vladimir Putin and Russia.  I believe he is first and foremost attempting to please the man who owns and controls him, Vladimir Putin.  I believe he is seeking to do everything he can to destroy America in support of his Russian Owner.  I simply believe he is a TRAITOR, fully aware of his TREASON and its potential consequences if he is unable to seize control of America in support of Russia.  I believe he is working toward his own selfish goals to protect himself from both the legal consequences of his TREASON and from the personal consequences if he is unable to do as ordered by the Russians who have owned him ever since they bailed him out of his New Jersey casino disaster.  Farther down page 301 in the book, McCain continues his discussion of the world wide consequences, both to the USA and to our diplomatic and strategic allies, of the TREASONOUS acts of TRAITOR & Spawn Of Satan Trump.

"The world is learning to live without our active leadership.  That's not good for the world and it won't be good for us.  That's the real damage our distractions are doing to our interests--the spurious nationalism animating our politics, our growing distrust of our institutions and of each other, facilitated by the activities of a committed enemy.  When President Trump compares us neutrally to the regime of a murderer and thug, it causes our allies and adversaries to wonder, if Americans don't believe in themselves, why should we."  McCain & Salter, p. 301.

Having that kind of public statement come from a senior US Senator, an undisputed war hero, a former major party presidential nominee, a man respected worldwide, is one of the most terrifying statements ever made about the relationship between the  USA and our diplomatic allies and it is absolutely true.  Our closest allies such as Germany, Canada, England, and the other members of the G7, the weak but struggling democracies we have always supported, and the enemies we have always fought both militarily and diplomatically are no longer accepting that the USA will stand up for good, fight against evil, or protect the weak whether they are people or governments and that is a tragedy which must be laid fully in the lap of the TRAITOR & Spawn Of Satan Trump.

I have gone to much greater lengths in writing this book review than I have on any other recently.  That is due to the fact that I firmly believe that this is a book which every American should read, especially those members of the Republican party who still, for some unknown and unknowable reason, support TRAITOR & Spawn Of Satan Trump.  This book is the final epistle from a dying American whose commitments to America and American Democracy were always unquestioned and unquestionable.  This author was writing his swan song to a wonderful career of service to his country and the world.  This is an author who will be considered credible by many people who still refuse to believe other American heroes and authors such as James Clapper, James Comey, and Madeleine Albright when they say the same things about the horrible state in which we find our country and our democracy today.  Read this book, study this book, take it seriously, and commit its truths to your memory and your heart.  I am also choosing to close with more words from John McCain.

"If you're alarmed by our descent into all-consuming partisanship  by the fact that much of the grassroots energy in both parties is with the closed-minded absolutists on the fringes, what are you doing about it?  Are you voting in primary elections?  Are you helping choose party leaders for your county, your state?  Are you running for leadership positions yourself? Are you showing up for precinct committee meetings, district elections, town halls with your elected officials?...Play as big a role in the mundane activities of politics as the zealots do.  It's important."  McCain & Salter, p. 360.