70+ votes for immigration reform in the Senate? That sounds rather crazy, but John McCain thinks “it’s doable.” There’s a feeling amongst some of the senators working on the legislation that if the bill gains majority support from both parties in the Senate, the House won’t have any choice but to put it to a vote. We are skeptical that either of those things will happen, let alone both. source
They think the whole world is a battlefield, including America, and that the laws of war should apply…that’s not my understanding of the way America works. I don’t think the laws of war apply to America, I think the Bill of Rights do and I think it’s a disservice to our soldiers that our senators up there arguing that the Bill of Rights aren’t important.Sen. Rand Paul • Responding to criticism leveled against him by fellow Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain on Thursday, less than a day after his impressive attempt to block the confirmation of John Brennan as head of the CIA. Both Graham and McCain attacked Paul on the floor of the Senate Thursday, saying the Kentucky Republican’s comments during his 13-hour filibuster were both untrue and disappointing. source
The former presidential candidate John McCain is one of three US senators who have criticised the depiction of torture in Zero Dark Thirty,Kathryn Bigelow’s fact-based drama about the hunt for Osama bin Laden. The film suggests that waterboarding and coercive interrogation tactics were instrumental in gathering information ahead of the successful raid on Bin Laden’s compound in May 2011.
McCain, a Republican senator for the state of Arizona, joined two Democrats – Dianne Feinstein and Carl Levin – to write a public letter to Michael Lynton, the chairman and chief executive of Sony Pictures, which backed the picture. They claim that Zero Dark Thirty is “grossly inaccurate and misleading in its suggestion that torture resulted in information that led to the capture”.
We haven’t had a chance to see the movie yet, but its already been met with a fair amount of controversy thanks to the aforementioned “enhanced interrogation” depiction. Have you had a chance to see the movie yet? What did you think of Zero Dark Thirty?
I care more about my country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge…I care a lot more about it than I do Grover Norquist.Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss, breaking ranks with the militant anti-tax wing of his party. 41 senators have signed Norquist’s pledge—which is essentially a promise to never, ever vote for any revenue or tax increase—but while the document used to be Republican orthodoxy, its influence is showing signs of crumbling. Chambliss’ colleagues Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Tom Coburn have all recently called for Republicans to abandon the pledge, as has former governor Jeb Bush. While Norquist is a very powerful figure in DC, he isn’t an elected official. He derives power solely from Republicans’ decision to grant him power, and if their subservience to his demands goes away, so does the bulk of his political influence. source
One of you, Senator McCain, has gone so far as to make the outrageous claim that this event was “worse than Watergate”—despite the fact that there is no evidence that any crime was committed, no evidence of any cover-up, and no evidence that the administration has characterized the incident in any way that has not been consistent with the Intelligence Community’s contemporaneous assessments.Harry Reid, rejecting McCain’s request to form a Senate committee to investigate the attack on Benghazi last September. McCain had made the request in part because, per internal Senate rules, he’s term-limited out of his seat as ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the formation of a new committee would allow him another perch from which to delve into the Benghazi matter. Reid derided McCain’s request as an attempt to use the Senate as “a venue for baseless partisan attacks,” and excoriated the senator for skipping a classified briefing on the incident in order to hold a press conference. source
It was like pulling teeth to get information yesterday…a lot of senators were frustrated. And you pick up major newspapers in the country and you find details not shared with you.Senator Lindsey Graham • Voicing frustration within the Senate GOP caucus that the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal received more detailed briefing on the Libya attacks than did congress. Senator Bob Corker called it “the most useless, worthless briefing I have attended in a long time,” and John McCain accused the Obama administration of holding the Senate in “disdain.” The closed-door briefing in question presumably also included Senate Democrats, but none have made hay about it in the way Senate GOPers have.
“That one, I don’t think was well handled,” said former vice president Dick Cheney about John McCain’s VP pick four years ago. He doesn’t think Sarah Palin passed the test of being “capable of being president of the United States.” He doesn’t think Palin fit that standard, and he doesn’t want Romney to make the same mistake. source
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Of course not… I don’t know what depths these people won’t reach. Obviously, it’s just outrageous. That’s just outrageous. It shows the – it’s so disgraceful for them to allege something that they have absolutely no knowledge of.Senator John McCain • Denying very forcefully a theory that’s been circling political media over the last week — that during his 2008 search for a running mate, McCain shied away from current GOP challenger Mitt Romney due to his extended tax return history, which Romney has steadfastly refused to release to the public. Regardless of what the McCain campaign may have found in Romney’s returns during vetting, the idea that it was a dealbreaker does seem a bit unbelievable — why then pick Sarah Palin rather than a more staid, Romney-esque alternative? Former McCain strategist Steve Schmidt also said the taxes weren’t a deciding issue, but did concede that following a flurry of attention on the McCain family’s numerous homes, bringing in another candidate with so much owned property gave the campaign pause. source (via • follow)
Wrote a thing.
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Obviously, maybe in a roundabout way, foreign money is coming into an American campaign.Sen. John McCain • Criticizing the recent $10 million donation casino magnate Sheldon Adelson made to Mitt Romney’s Super PAC by suggesting that Adelson likely used profits from properties he owns in the Chinese special administrative region of Macau to fund Romney’s campaign. (It’s an issue near and dear to McCain’s heart, as the campaign finance bill that Citizens United largely struck down, McCain-Feingold, bears his name.) The Las Vegas Sands head also played a heavy role in the primaries, heavily funding Newt Gingrich’s electoral efforts. While people from foreign countries cannot fund election efforts, McCain is arguing that efforts like Adelson’s skirt around this, due to the fact that Adelson is the leader of a multinational corporation. Follow McCain’s logic here?
After I lost, my friends, I slept like a baby — sleep two hours, wake up and cry.Senator John McCain • Drawing laughter during a speech in Ohio, where he offered his endorsement of Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel. Mandel, currently state treasurer of Ohio, faces incumbent Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown in a race that has drawn national attention due to the amount of outside money pouring into the Republican’s campaign. Many conservatives hope to take back what they currently see as winnable-seat, because progressive and labor groups that have traditionally supported Brown in the past have yet to contribute any meaningful support to the campaign. source (via • follow)
Argument: As they age, John McCain and Joe Lieberman are slowly morphing into the same person, with similar facial expressions. Evidence: See photo, above, taken with Syrian refugees in Turkey. (Photo by Umit Bektas/AP)
Whether Rick Santorum stays in or not, is now basically irrelevant and Mitt has a lot of ground to make up. I’m confident he can make it up, but every day that goes by that he’s not in the general campaign is a day lost.Sen. John McCain • Offering a tough take on Rick Santourm, suggesting that by staying in, he’s severely hurting Romney’s general election campaign. McCain also thinks that Romney’s doing poor in favorability rankings largely because the campaign has been so bitter.
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