Tag: John McCain

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Benghazi Politics

Meanwhile, Sen John Kerry Remains Quiet

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John Kerry is angling to be the nation’s top diplomat by being, well, diplomatic.

The longtime Democratic lawmaker from Massachusetts has largely stayed quiet while President Barack Obama considers him for the next secretary of state. Kerry has asked his supporters to avoid overt lobbying of the White House on his behalf. And he’s defended his chief rival for the post, Susan Rice, amid Republican criticism of her initial explanation of the attack on Americans in Benghazi, Libya.

Kerry’s strategy reflects what people close to the senator say is his disdain for some aspects of Washington’s personnel politics. But it also underscores his awkward role in the process. If Obama taps Rice for the job Kerry covets, the senator would have to shepherd her difficult nomination through the foreign relations committee he chairs.

White House officials say Obama is still mulling over his pick to replace outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, though a decision is expected soon. Rice, who has a close relationship with the president, is widely viewed as the favorite. But Kerry’s stock may be rising as GOP lawmakers threaten to hold up Rice’s confirmation until they’re satisfied with her answers about the early public statements about the Benghazi attack.

But don’t expect Kerry or his allies to make his case to Obama as the president nears a decision, as is standard practice for people who are on a short list for a new job. People close to the senator say he finds backroom lobbying for top jobs irritating and counterproductive. That view, they say, is shaped from his experience on both sides of the process: as a contender for previous high-level jobs and as the one making the decision in 2004, when he tapped John Edwards as his running mate during his presidential bid.

“John Kerry is very seasoned at how personnel decisions get made by chief executives,” said Michael Meehan, a former Kerry aide. “He wouldn’t be out there advising anybody on how to make this decision.”

While Rice has several high-level advocates in the White House, particularly among advisers who have been with Obama since his 2008 campaign, Kerry has his fans within the administration as well. He backed Obama early in his 2008 presidential run and was under consideration to be his first secretary of state. More recently, Kerry spent months helping Obama with his campaign debate preparations, playing the role of Republican nominee Mitt Romney in practice sessions.

h/t AP

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Benghazi Politics rachel maddow Senate

Why Are Republicans Going After Susan Rice? Rachel Maddow Explains – Video

Rachel Maddow has a very interesting take on why Republicans – led by John McCain and Lindsey Graham – are so against the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice. And according to Maddow’s theory, the reason has absolutely nothing to do with Rice’s ability to do the job and everything to do with another Massachusetts Senator, John Kerry.

Maddow explains: Ambassador Rice is one of two candidates reportedly on the short list to become the next Secretary of State after Hillary Clinton. The other candidate on that short list besides Rice, is Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. And if somehow Susan Rice is disqualified from becoming Secretary of State and President Obama picks John Kerry instead, guess what happens in the United States Senate… Massachusetts suddenly has an open Senate Seat, as well as a certain Republican Senator from that state [Scott Brown] who is basically sitting around doing nothing since he just lost his re-election effort [against Elizabeth Warren].

In her typical way, Maddow breaks it down like this:

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Benghazi Benghazi Politics racist sexist

Report: The White House Did Not Change Language In Benghazi Talking Points

John McCain and his Republican friends would not be happy hearing this. According to official reports, the White House had absolutely nothing to do with replacing the words, “al Qaeda” with “Extremists” in the talking points Susan Rice repeated on the Sunday talk shows.

The report:

The intelligence community — not the White House, State Department or Justice Department — was responsible for the substantive changes made to the talking points distributed for government officials who spoke publicly about the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, the spokesman for the director of national intelligence said Monday.

….The initial version included information linking individuals involved in the attack to al Qaeda, according to a senior U.S. official familiar with the drafting of the talking points. But when the document was sent to the rest of the intelligence community for review, there was a decision to change “al Qaeda” to “extremists.” The official said the change was made for legitimate intelligence and legal reasons, not for political purposes.

Republicans led by John McCain, have hoped and prayed that someone in the White House – preferably President Obama – changed those words. Their hope was presenting the Obama administration in a negative light, engaging in a cover-up of the unfortunate events that took the lives of four Americans in Benghazi Libya.

Now that this information is cleared up, are the Republicans going to stop their baseless witch-hunt on Susan Rice? Don’t bet on it. After this news broke, 97 Republicans signed a letter urging President Obama to avoid nominating  Susan Rice for Secretary of State.

Susan Rice has over 20 years of diplomatic experience. She is the United States Ambassador to the United Nations and has the experience and education necessary to represent America as Secretary of State. Why then, are Republicans hellbent on denying her nomination? Said Marcia Fudge, the next chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus:

“All of the things they have disliked about things that have gone on in the administration, they have never called a male unqualified, not bright, not trustworthy. There is a clear sexism and racism that goes with these comments being made by unfortunately Sen. McCain and others.”

It is unfortunately beginning to look that way.

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Benghazi Benghazi Politics

John McCain Is Hurt And Will Not Approve ANY Nominee For Secretary Of State – Video

John McCain is doing a fantastic job of playing the role of the grumpy old man. He has embraced this role since losing to President Obama in 2008 and he sees a clear benefit to continuing his role today in 2012. The killing of four Americans in Benghazi has been McCain’s most recent trophy, and he is trying to use this trophy to hit the president and his administration on the head.

Since Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed on September 11th, 2012, Republicans led by presidential loser Mitt Romney have tried to blame President Obama. The blame game began before knowledge of the American deaths were known as Mitt Romney held a press conference while the attacks were happening, calling the uprising in Libya “the downfall of President Obama’s foreign policy.”

The killings happened at an unfortunately ideal moment, as Muslims all over the Middle East responded to a “movie” made by a right-wing nut-job here in America. Egyptians marched in protest to the movie that depicted their leader in many disparaging ways and in Libya, more protests against the movie occurred. People marched to a compound in Benghazi where Ambassador Stevens worked and rocket-propelled grenades exploded in the compound killing the four Americans.

At this moment when the news finally made it back that Americans actually died, Mitt Romney had already wrapped up his press conference blaming President Obama. That was a little over two months ago and since then, Mitt Romney lost the general election. Leave it up to John McCain to carry on Romney’s fight.

So now, John McCain has the administration in his sights and more specifically, the United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice. Rice could President Obama’s nominee to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, but soon after the events in Benghazi, Rice went on the Sunday television talk shows and repeated the information she knew at that time – that the attack in Benghazi was not an act of terrorists, but the result of the uprising against the movie.

That was the information Susan Rice had before the formal investigation was made, but John McCain thinks there is a bigger story here. Without any proof whatsoever, McCain and the Republicans are continuing to push this issue hoping that somehow, it leads to the doorstep of President Obama. And McCain is willing disapprove any nominee for Secretary of State until the President is impeached for… something.

Doing how own rounds on the Sunday talk shows, McCain was heard saying;

Under the present circumstances, until we find out all the information as to what happened, I don’t think you would want to support any nominee right now. Because this is very very serious and it has even larger implications than the deaths of 4 Americans. It really goes to the heart of this whole light foot print policy that this administration is pursuing.

The American people have spoken in the election, and based on the results of the elections they want a government capable of working together to solve the pressing issues of the day. But given McCain’s present goal to bring down this administration at any cost necessary, including pushing baseless and fact-less stories, it seem that working together for the benefit of the country is not the path McCain wishes to pursue.

Apparently McCain still has some ill feelings towards this president and the need for the country to have an effective Secretary of State will take a back seat to McCain’s own personal feelings.

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Mitt Romney Politics Sarah Palin

John McCain – I Chose Palin Over Romney Because She Was A Better Candidate

In an interview with Politico today, John McCain let the cat out of the bag. He spoke about his vice president search in 2008 and told the online publication that from all the potential candidates, Romney included, he went “with the better candidate.”

“Why did we not take [Tim] Pawlenty, why did we not take any of the other 10 other people,” McCain said. “Why didn’t I? Because we had a better candidate, the same way with all the others. … Come on, why? That’s a stupid question.”

You heard that right, John McCain thought Sarah Palin was a better candidate for vice president. Sarah Palin, who didn’t know what news papers she read, who concluded that she had foreign experience because of Russia’s close vicinity to Alaska. John McCain thought that the woman who referred to herself as “a pitbull with lipstick” was better for the country than Mitt Romney.

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Mitt Romney Politics

John McCain Confirms That What Mitt Romney Did At Bain Was “Cruel”

John McCain, the Republican Presidential Candidate in 2008 and now a Mitt Flip Romney supporter went on Fox News yesterday and confirmed to host Chris Wallace that what Mitt Romney has tried to deny since he began running for president over 6 years ago. John McCain confirmed that what Mitt Romney did at Bain Capital was in fact, “cruel.”

“This is the free enterprise system. The only place in the world that I can recall where companies never failed was the old Soviet Union. This is what investors do in the free enterprise and capitalism system. And, yes, the free enterprise system can be cruel. But the problem with this administration is that small businesses have been the ones that have suffered the most, the kind that need investors, the kind that don’t need the hundreds of pages, the thousands of pages of regulations that continue to plague them and have them continue to hold back on hiring and investment.”

With friends like these….!

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Mitt Romney Politics

John McCain Says Foreign Money Going to Romney’s Campaign

Senator and Romney presidential campaign surrogate John McCain (R-AZ) said Thursday that casino magnate Sheldon Adelson is indirectly injecting millions of dollar in Chinese “foreign money” into Mitt Romney‘s presidential election effort.

“Much of Mr. Adelson’s casino profits that go to him come from his casino in Macau, which says that obviously, maybe in a roundabout way foreign money is coming into an American political campaign,” McCain said in an interview on PBS’s News Hour.

“That is a great deal of money, and we need a level playing field and we need to go back to the realization… that we have to have a limit on the flow of money and corporations are not people,” he said.

Adelson announced Thursday he would be giving $10 million to the pro-Romney Super PACRestore Our Future, and reports stated his future contributions to pro-Romney groups could be “limitless.”

[More]

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Mitt Romney Politics

Hey Mitt, Republicans are Just Not Into You

A new Gallup poll is confirming what we’ve all known since Willard announced his intentions to run for president last year – that Republican voters just don’t like the Romney, and when compared to John McCain’s campaign in 2008, enthusiasm for Mitt Romney is almost nonexistent.

A little more than one-third of Republicans say they would vote “enthusiastically” for either Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum if either candidate were to win their party’s nomination for president. Slightly fewer say they would vote enthusiastically for Newt Gingrich. This level of enthusiasm is similar to Republicans’ feelings about voting for Romney in early 2008, but lower than the enthusiasm level for that year’s eventual GOP nominee, John McCain.

But Mittens is not concerned. In a recent Fox News interview, Romney predicted that Republicans would just fall in line and support his candidacy.

“Some who are very conservative may not yet be in my camp, but they will be when I become the nominee, when I confront Barack Obama,” he said.

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Politics Waterboarding

John McCain Agrees With President Obama – “Waterboarding Is Torture”

If there is anyone who qualifies to speak on whether or not waterboarding is torture, it’s John McCain. The 2008 Republican presidential nominee was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam from 1967 to 1973, and was subjected to many methods of torture by his captors.

One can only imagine his horror as his fellow Republicans – Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain – answered a question about waterboarding and torture. Asked whether waterboarding was torture, both Bachmann and Cain said it wasn’t, and  that in fact torture would be part of their administration if they were to be  elected as president.

Mr. McCain had this to say about his comrades and their preference for waterboarding, which is the act of making the victim feel as if they are being drowned.

The Arizona lawmaker—who was tortured himself while a prisoner of war in Vietnam — said the controversial practice was both illegal and ineffective on Monday evening.

“Very disappointed by statements at SC GOP debate supporting waterboarding,” he tweeted. “Waterboarding is torture.”

McCain, who ran for President in 2008, elaborated on CNN later, arguing, “If you put enough physical pain on somebody, they will tell you whatever they think that you want to hear in order for the pain to stop.”

But don’t take McCain’s word on this, he’s only had to suffer 6 years of torture. Listen to Michele Looney Toons Bachmann and Herman Pizza Man Cain. Yeah, they know what constitutes torture.

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Politics

A Republican Gives President Obama “Kudos” On His Handling Libya

“This is a victory for the United States military, for our British and French allies, for NATO, for the president of the United States, but most importantly for the Libyan people. …” Kirk said in a conference call with reporters from the Libyan capital. “Unquestioned kudos goes to the president and his team, but the challenges are not over yet.”

“This was a success by President Obama and his team. Any military conflict has ups or downs or things you might have done differently … but we have all the makings of a very strong U.S. ally in Libya.”

Those are the words of Republican Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who criticized the President at the beginning of the conflict for not getting congressional approval before joining forces with NATO to help the Libyan people. Now, after touring the war-torn country, Mark Kirk is singing a different tune.

Kirk traveled to Tripoli with three fellow Republican senators – John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida – to meet with members of the National Transitional Council, comprised largely of the opposition movement that removed Qadhafi from power.

The congressional delegation toured a hospital and the U.S. embassy, and spoke with civilians in Martyr’s Square, the site of protests and fighting earlier this year.

While driving through the streets of the city, Kirk described seeing “spontaneous graffiti” that was overwhelmingly anti-Qadhafi. Billboards which had previously displayed the Libyan leader’s image had been ripped down.

“The age of Qadhafi has definitely ended,” Kirk said, though the ousted leader still remains at large.

Now only if Kirk could spread those words to the rest of the Republicans in Congress, and don’t be surprised if we find out that Republicans are now trying to come up with a way to credit George Bush for Libya’s success.

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Osama bin Laden Politics Rick Santorum Waterboarding

Rick Santorum Questions John McCain’s Torture Claims

Republican Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has one for John McCain, telling a radio show host on Tuesday that Mr. McCain, a man who was a documented, tortured, prisoner of war for 5 years, “doesn’t understand how enhanced interrogation works.”

Mr. Santorum was referring to an op-ed written by John McCain, in which Mr. McCain stated that the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden had nothing to do with enhanced interrogation or water-boarding. In the op-ed, Senator McCain states that after talking to CIA Director Leon Pinetta, he was under the impression that “none of the three detainees who were water­boarded pro­vided Abu Ahmed’s real name, his where­abouts or an accu­rate descrip­tion of his role in al-Qaeda.”

Santorum said on the show;

“Everything I’ve read shows that we would not have gotten this information as to who this man was if it had not been for information from people who were subject to enhanced interrogation, and so this idea that we didn’t ask that question while Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was being water-boarded, he doesn’t understand how enhanced interrogation works. I mean, you break somebody, and after they’re broken, they become cooperative.”

Personally, I think it’s a rather strange coincidence that Santorum used the word “broken” in describing the point where enhance interrogation or torture begins producing information. And even stranger is the fact that he used the word in trying to dispute Senator McCain’s op-ed.

It is common knowledge that John McCain suffered many broken bones in his arms and legs from the events in 1968 that lead to his capture as a prisoner of war and his bout with torture.  And even today, the effects of those events can still be seen in the limited movements of Mr. McCain.

If Santorum is correct with his “broken” claim, then we must wonder exactly what information did John McCain give while he was being broken. Maybe Mr. Santorum knows something we don’t.

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Osama bin Laden Politics United States Waterboarding

John McCain – Torture Did Not Lead To Osama Bin Laden’s Capture

John McCain is often called many things for many reasons (we will not get into them now). But one thing you must respect Mr. McCain for is the many years he spent in captivity while flying bombing missions in the Vietnam war. John McCain was a prisoner of war and faced bouts of torture from his captors.

So when McCain talks about torture, it would be a wise idea to listen to someone with first hand knowledge. In a Washington Post op-ed written on Thursday, McCain responded to the claims of many in his own Republican party that intelligence gathered under torture led to Osama Bin Laden’s capture. Mr. McCain spoke about some of the acts employed by United States personnel, namely water-boarding;

Much of this debate is a definitional one: whether any or all of these methods constitute torture. I believe some of them do, especially waterboarding, which is a mock execution and thus an exquisite form of torture. As such, they are prohibited by American laws and values, and I oppose them.

After stating his personal feelings on water-boarding, Mr. McCain – the Republican 2008 Presidential nominee and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee – dove into the debate head-on, saying that any claims by former Bush officials that torture led to Bin Laden’s capture were “false.”

But this must be an informed debate. Former attorney general Michael Mukaseyrecently claimed that “the intelligence that led to bin Laden . . . began with a disclosure from Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who broke like a dam under the pressure of harsh interrogation techniques that included waterboarding. He loosed a torrent of information — including eventually the nickname of a trusted courier of bin Laden.” That is false.

I asked CIA Director Leon Panetta for the facts, and he told me the following: The trail to bin Laden did not begin with a disclosure from Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who was waterboarded 183 times. The first mention of Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti — the nickname of the al-Qaeda courier who ultimately led us to bin Laden — as well as a description of him as an important member of al-Qaeda, came from a detainee held in another country, who we believe was not tortured. None of the three detainees who were waterboarded provided Abu Ahmed’s real name, his whereabouts or an accurate description of his role in al-Qaeda.

This must be shocking news for those on Fox News and most of the Republican leaders, who, on the Sunday talk shows had a field day promoting the lie that torturing Khalid Sheik Mohammed revealed the name of the courier to Osama Bin Laden. Instead of accepting the fact that Bin Laden was captured on President’s Obama’s watch, these partisan Republican leaders got their talking points from Fox News, and ran with it.

Mr. McCain continued;

In fact, the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” on Khalid Sheik Mohammed produced false and misleading information. He specifically told his interrogators that Abu Ahmed had moved to Peshawar, got married and ceased his role as an al-Qaeda facilitator — none of which was true. According to the staff of the Senate intelligence committee, the best intelligence gained from a CIA detainee — information describing Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti’s real role in al-Qaeda and his true relationship to bin Laden — was obtained through standard, noncoercive means.

One of the claims John McCain made in the 2008 presidential election was that he was still a maverick. Well you can’t get more mavericky than this.

At a time when Republicans are looking for any kind of victory, even trying to take one away from a Democratic President, one Republican is standing up and speaking the truth – a rare act. And for that, John McCain has regained his maverick status.

Hopefully, it’ll stick around for a while.

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