What McCain needs to learn from a kindergarten teacher

“I will meet with any leader who has the same principles and philosophy that we do: human rights, democracy, and liberty. And I will confront those that don’t.”

John McCain made this statement yesterday in an interview with Radio Caracol in Miami. The Boston Globe reported today:

After discussing [Cuba, Venezuela, and Bolivia], the interviewer asked whether McCain would meet with Zapatero, the first modern Spanish leader not to have visited the United States during his term of office and who has not spoken to President Bush since he ordered 1,300 troops out of Iraq soon after he was elected. “I will meet with those leaders who are our friends and who want to work with us cooperatively,” McCain replied.

After eight splendid years of George W. Bush, the president who brought us such niceties as suspension of habeas corpus, extraordinary rendition, tax cuts for those making over $250,000 per year, the collapse of Wall Street, interminable war in Iraq, and this week, the explosion of tent cities in parking lots around America, John McCain is plagiarizing Bush’s foreign policy strategy: only talk to your buddies, and show your enemies who’s boss by refusing to learn anything about them or engage with them. We’re number one!

If John McCain wanted to teach a child to read, would he declare the child was dead to him until it learned?

Thinking like this is what has embroiled us in perpetual warfare first in Vietnam, and now in Iraq and Afghanistan. When will politicians learn the lesson our kindergarten teachers try to instill in us---that when we have a disagreement, we must sit down and discuss the problem calmly, try to find some common ground, and maybe share some cookies: child’s play. And yet, the Republican candidate is holding fast to the posture cemented by George W. Bush.

The concepts of human rights, democracy, and liberty are examples of humankind at its best. But they were not developed by one person in an isolation chamber; they have evolved over time, and have been improved by the addition of voices from diverse backgrounds, races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, religions, and nationalities.

The Republican party has loudly criticized Barack Obama for stating he would meet with the leaders of all nations without preconditions. This has been lauded in the international press, which doesn’t normally trip over itself rushing to praise American politicians. The American political establishment, however, has called Obama everything from incautious to naïve. But his position is the only one with the potential to improve America’s image in the world; an image that is now tarnished by eight years of George Dubya Bush-style arrogance. McCain’s statement is arrogant, uninformed, insular, and smugly stupid. Most importantly, it won't work; regardless of your political party, ignoring problems, be they on Wall Street, in Washington, or in a foreign country, won't make them go away. Sticking our collective heads in the sand doesn't work.

The next president should send his foreign policy team to an elementary school to test their strategy. When a student throws a fit, as one will inevitably do, the policy team should try two approaches. The first test should involve stepping forward and saying, “We disagree with you, therefore we do not hear you, and will not acknowledge your existence on this earth.” And when that fails, and the student continues screaming, they should move on to the next step; pulling up a chair, looking the student in the eyes, and saying “We disagree with your actions and your position. But as soon as you are ready to discuss this matter, we are ready to sit down and hear what you have to say.”