John McCain's Lasting Anger

Yes Virginia, There was a Time When John McCain Was Admirable
Dear Independent’s Eye: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there was a time when Arizona Senator John McCain was admirable. Papa says, “If McCain says ‘My friends’ it must be so.” I saw Senator McCain on TV talking in the Senate and he looked so angry he gave me nightmares. Tell me the truth: was there a time when John McCain was admirable? Virginia Schmidlap Virginia, your little friends were right. Once upon a time, John McCain was admired across the nation. He

Orrin Hatch Calls Vote On Immigration Bill He Once Co-Sponsored A Cynical Exercise
Back in 2003, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) sponsored S.1545 — the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. Back then, the bill attracted co-sponsors like Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John McCain (R-AZ), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Sam Brownback (R-KS). All of those Republican senators voted against a more conservative version of the same bill this past Saturday. Hatch simply didn’t bother to show up. Yet, Hatch couldn’t just leave it at that. The Deseret News re...

Family Research Council: Sen. John McCain Will Work With Us To Block DADT
Today the Family Research Council, an officially designated anti-gay Hate Group, announced that they have enlisted Sen. John McCain in their campaign to block the implementation of the Repeal of DADT. As for FRC, who will take great pleasure in seeing this lame-duck finally limp out of town, we'll be spending the next couple of weeks reassessing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" debate. In fact, I've already been in conversations with Hill leaders about holding hearings in the New Year, as well as s...

John McCain's viciousness on DADT, phoniness on DREAM Act secure an unpleasant legacy
I dunno about you, but my initial instinctive sense of John McCain, even when he was giving George W. Bush heartburn on the Campaign Trail back in 2000, was that he really was a world-class phony. That whole "maverick" schtick was so transparently a cover for opportunism that he always had me counting my spoons, if you know what it mean. This past week, he put his utter phoniness -- and the really vicious streak that it has always hid -- out there for the whole world to see, leading the Republic...

John McCains lasting anger: Repeal of DADT brought high-fives all over liberal bastions of America from elite schools that bar m
When Sen. John McCain took the floor before the groundbreaking vote to Repeal “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”, he furiously told the Senate, “Today is a very sad day,” and announced, “There will be high-fives over all the liberal bastions of America,” from “the elite schools that bar Military recruiters from campus” to “the salons of Georgetown.” John McCain, the fighter pilot, war hero, and the man who would be king (twice), has bee...

Senate approves defense bill, sends it to House
Source: The Boston Globe WASHINGTON—The Senate passed Legislation on Wednesday that authorizes the Pentagon to spend nearly $160 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this Budget year without major restrictions on the conduct of operations. The voice vote on the defense authorization bill came after House and Senate Democrats agreed to strip several provisions, including one that would have allowed gays to serve openly in the Military. "The Controversial aspects of this Legislation have be...

Obama savors year-end victories
WASHINGTON — Seven weeks after using the word "shellacking" to describe his political condition, President Obama left for his annual Hawaiian Vacation in a vastly different place, with a litany of accomplishments and his party seizing the high ground on issues relating to Civil Rights, National Security and the Sept. 11 attacks. At his first news conference since the day after Midterm Elections, in which Republicans won control of the House, Obama claimed Wednesday he had heard the messa...

Martinez taps former Florida official to head education department
Governor-elect Susana Martinez selected Hanna Skandera, Deputy Commissioner of education in Florida from 2005 to 2007, to head the Public Education Department. Skandera also served as education undersecretary for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif., and was an education policy adviser to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., during his unsuccessful 2008 Presidential Campaign. Skandera recently served as the deputy Chief of Staff and senior policy advisor in the U.S. Department of Education. Skandera was a...

Clarence B. Jones: A Re-Earned Resumption of Trust -- Subject to Verification
In recent blogs I criticized President Obama for not exercising forceful presidential leadership in the face of Republican Party efforts to impose their more conservative solutions to those urgent domestic social, economic and political problems confronting our nation. I was especially critical of his abandonment of his repeated campaign pledge to end the Bush Tax Cuts disproportionally favoring the most wealthy individuals and families in our country. I believed Obama's tax-cut Compromise was...

The American Dream
The Senate rightly rejected the NIGHTMARE Act. Maybe the Midterm Elections have teeth. Known as the DREAM Act, this nightmare Legislation was yet another dishonest left-wing anti-American Immigration Bill that would have provided a roadmap for Citizenship for Children of Illegal Immigrants, and then some. The reality of the NIGHTMARE Act is that had it passed it would have opened the flood gates for even more unidentified Mexican and OTM invaders to illegally cross our border. There are two fun...

Bill Whittle's Firewall: 'A Nation of Desire' Christmas 2010
A special Christmas edition (via Glenn Reynolds): Previously : * "Bill Whittle's Firewall: 'What We Believe, Part 1: Small Government and Free Enterprise'." * "Bill Whittle's Firewall: 'What We Believe, Part 2: The Problem with Elitism'." * "Bill Whittle's Firewall: 'What We Believe, Part 3: Wealth Creation'." * "Bill Whittle's Firewall: 'What We Believe, Part 4: Natural Law'." * "Bill Whittle's Firewall: 'What We Believe, Part 5: Gun Rights'." * "Bill Whittle's Firewall: 'What We Believe, Pa...

President Obama and Latinos agree road ahead rough for immigration overhaul
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and Latino lawmakers agreed during a private meeting Tuesday that over the next two years, chances are dimming for passage of an Immigration overhaul that would provide a path to legal status for millions of illegal residents, according to people familiar with the session. Instead the president and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus concurred that until the 2012 Elections are over, a more realistic goal would be to stave off Legislation targeti...

Undocumented Students Give Congress an F
Leslie Perez, 22, left, and Grecia Mondragon, 19, react to televised coverage as the DREAM Act fails to move forward in the Senate. Jennifer was three days away from graduating from Yale when I met her for lunch in New Haven, Conn., last May. Like most in her class she was excited to have her family in town for the event and was busy packing and preparing to say goodbye to the small city she had called home for the past four years. Unlike most of the graduating seniors, however, Jennifer was un...

Will The Right File Suit To Stop DADT Repeal?
It's been a long, hard fight. And as sobering as the outcome may be, we can all be proud that we stood our ground and did what was right for our Soldiers and our country. Now it's time to leave the outcome, however ominous it may be, in the hands of the Lord. But that apparent Resignation did not last long, as the very next day FRC announced that they would be working with Sen. John McCain and other Republicans on ways to limit and ultimately Repeal it: As for FRC, who will take great pleasure i...

Family wants Vietnam War general cleared
Published: Dec. 22, 2010 at 9:59 AM WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- The family of a U.S. Air Force general fired and demoted during the Vietnam conflict is pushing for his exoneration while his widow is alive to see it. Four-star Gen. John Lavelle was stripped of two stars and relieved of his command in 1972 on charges of ordering unauthorized bombing of North Vietnamese missile sites. Lavelle, who died in 1979, maintained the bombings were ordered by his superiors. Dennis Lavelle of California h...

HuckaMcCain?
First there was Huck’s support for the recent Compromise on taxes that the president signed into law, and now this. While Huckabee’s actual words on the subject of a healthy diet are much more complex than the headline suggests, it’s the headline that folks are going to read. And yet the author of this purposely sensational headline does have a point: this is, after all, the second time this month that Huckabee has sided with someone named Obama over someone named Palin. Is t...

STUPIDITY: Since running an older, white-haired, pasty-faced Cocktail Party establishment candidate against Obama didnt work in
Running Mike Pence in 2012 is one of the dumbest things the GOP could do…and after Mittens Romney, it’s exactly what the Cocktail Party GOP establishment WANTS to do. He’s a bland, older, white-haired, pasty-faced, establishment guy…just like McCain! So, after McCain failed to beat Obama in 2008…and the media had a field day contrasting their two images throughout the campaign, anyone who is gung-ho to go through all this again with Mike Pence is just nuts. The Whit...

Census 2010 shows red states gaining congressional seats
The congressional map continued to shift toward Red States Tuesday, as the U.S. Census Bureau released new apportionment data. The Census numbers reshuffled the number of seats in Congress for 18 states, based on population gains and losses over the past decade. Most states gaining seats went for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the 2008 Presidential Election, while almost all states that lost seats were won by President Obama -- many of them in the Rust Belt. The westward movement of the U.S. popu...

Palin 'may not help ethics probe'
Republican vice-presidential Candidate Sarah Palin is "unlikely to co-operate" with an inquiry into alleged abuse of power, a campaign spokesman has said. Ed O'Callaghan said the Alaska state legislative Probe had become "tainted" by partisan Democratic politicians seeking to target the Alaska Governor. Mrs Palin, who is John McCain's Running Mate, denies any improper behaviour. A spokeswoman for the Alaska Democratic Party rejected claims that the inquiry had become politically motivated. T...

START Moves Forward, 67-28
Source: Slate START Moves Forward, 67-28 Posted Tuesday, December 21, 2010 3:28 PM | By David Weigel The Senate voted for Cloture on the START Treaty just now, all but assuring ratification when the debate is over. Watching the vote from the gallery, it was almost free of suspense. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) slumped in his desk, sharing a conversation with Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) on one side and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) on the other, both of them having supported cloture. As the vote neared its end,...

In letter to Senate, Obama promises that New START treaty won't limit missile defense
President Obama issued a letter to the Senate on Sunday pledging to fully develop a U.S. Missile Defense system in Europe, as part of a final offensive to relieve concerns about the nuclear arms pact with Russia as it moves toward a final vote. The letter reiterated administration policy but was an especially extensive and detailed statement on Missile Defense by the president. Parts of it were read aloud by Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) shortly before a vote on an amendment that could have ki...

START Moves Forward, 67-28
The Senate voted for Cloture on the START Treaty just now, all but assuring ratification when the debate is over. Watching the vote from the gallery, it was almost free of suspense. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) slumped in his desk, sharing a conversation with Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) on one side and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) on the other, both of them having supported cloture. As the vote neared its end, John Kyl (R-Ariz.) sped over to John Kerry (D-Mass.), handing him a short piece of paper; Kyl circle...

Comrade Obama Reveals His Biggest Disappointment
(Yahoo News) — In his final news conference of the year, President Obama heralded the accomplishments of the lame-duck Congress, calling the last six weeks a “season of progress” that proves Washington can rise above political Partisanship. “If there’s any lesson to draw from these past few weeks, it’s that we’re not doomed to endless gridlock,” Obama said. However, the president also voiced his “disappointment” over Congress’s f...

Republicans Block DREAM Act, Another Old Media Lie
The Old Media is up to its old tricks again, this time making the GOP the fall guy for the failure of the latest Immigration Bill. Nearly every news outlet is reporting that the Republicans have blocked the DREAM Act, many of these reports even say so right in the headline. The truth, however, is not that the GOP blocked it, but that the Democrats didn’t get all its own members to vote for it. In fact, if the Democrats could have gotten five more of their own members to vote “yea&#...

Analysis: A political rebound, but can it hold?
(12-21) 17:33 PST WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is rebounding from his party's midterm drubbing with the kind of lame-duck victory list any White House would want: a tax deal, a landmark Repeal of the ban on Openly Gay Military service, and the prospect of a major Nuclear Treaty with Russia. Each represents a different approach at deal-making, but none alone offers a clear path to governing in a divided capital over the next two years. In the seven weeks since the election, Obama n...