John McCain was a staunch ally of democrats in Russia. That includes Boris Nemtsov, the leader of the opposition, who was murdered within sight of the Kremlin in 2015. It also includes Vladimir Kara-Murza, a lieutenant to Nemtsov, who has twice been poisoned and has twice survived.
I wrote about Kara-Murza, in three parts, last year: here, here, and here. That series is called “A Russian Patriot and His Country.”
On Monday, he published a column: “John McCain saw through Vladimir Putin better than anyone” (here). I think he is unfair to George W. Bush, as many are. I have explained my views many times — in this 2014 Impromptus, for example — and will leave their restatement for another day. I will note merely that if people wait for a better friend to freedom than George W. Bush, they will wait a long, long time.
But back to McCain and Kara-Murza. Here is a paragraph from the latter’s column:
I am able to write this thanks in large part to John McCain. Eighteen months ago, when I lay in a Moscow hospital, in a coma after a severe poisoning, McCain took to the floor of the Senate to draw attention to my case. Public attention is often the only protection in these situations; and it certainly was for me.
In anticipation of his death, McCain chose Kara-Murza to be a pallbearer at the funeral. (To read a news article about this, go here.) Why? William Browder opined, “This recognizes the enormous risk Vladimir has taken in countering Putin after two assassination attempts,” and it sends “a clear message to Putin not to touch him further.”
I think that sounds right. McCain admired Kara-Murza enormously. He admired dissidents, political prisoners, and freedom fighters generally. He also realized that, the more visible an opponent of a dictatorship is, the greater his chances of staying alive. Visibility did not save Nemtsov, and it has not saved others, but every bit helps.
Charles Krauthammer once told me something about Meg Greenfield, the late editorial-page editor of the Washington Post: She wanted to run articles about Andrei Sakharov regularly, in the hope that it would help keep him alive.
Anyway, to many of us, the sight of Vladimir Kara-Murza at John McCain’s funeral will be stirring. One of the many things they have in common is physical courage.