Posted on 03/08/2013 7:56:46 AM PST by chessplayer
At this point, you’d think he’d tone it down if for no other reason than that he’s doing Paul an incredible favor by continuing to pound on him. The optics simply couldn’t be better. An unsuccessful former party nominee who’s pushing 80 and known for being the most enthusiastic interventionist in American government, tearing a guy apart for making a basic constitutional point about not assassinating American citizens? What?
Don’t forget to send him a thank-you card, Rand. First, from BuzzFeed:
“Either they were drinking a lot at the Obama party or they’re just completely dismissive of what was going on,” said one senior Republican strategist. “They’re living in an alternative universe. I don’t get it at all. You have a party where there’s all this talk about how divided the establishment is from the grassroots, and then you have John McCain and Lindsey Graham come out of left field with this. People are just scratching their heads.”…
Another GOP operative called Graham and McCain “just completely out of touch.”…
“Senator McCain is obviously well aware of the politics of this – he just doesn’t care,” said one McCain aide. “He’s doing what he thinks is right. Unlike many of these guys, he’s actually been involved in a few national security debates over the years. He knows that jumping on the Rand Paul black helicopters crazytrain isn’t good for our Party or our country, no matter what Twitter says.”
Next, via HuffPo, sweet thoughts from the man himself:
“They were elected, nobody believes that there was a corrupt election, anything else,” McCain said. “But I also think that when, you know, it’s always the wacko birds on right and left that get the media megaphone.”
“I think it can be harmful if there is a belief among the American people that those people are reflective of the views of the majority of Republicans. They’re not,” he continued.
I asked McCain to clarify who, specifically, he was talking about.
“Rand Paul, Cruz, Amash, whoever,” McCain said…
“On some issues [McCain] sees him as a fellow maverick, but on some issues I think that pisses [McCain] off, having a maverick against John McCain,” said the Paul adviser, who asked to speak frankly in exchange that he not be identified. “I think he thinks Rand wants his way too much, like on [National Defense Authorization Act] … but I don’t think he thinks he’s doing it just to do it.”
It’s only the “wacko birds” who get the media megaphone? McCain, famously, has been the most ubiquitous guest on Sunday morning political talk shows for years. But wait, one more. This one’s my favorite just because it’s so revealingly petty:
McCain was quick to dismiss Paul’s nearly 13-hour effort since other Republican senators also came to speechify, giving Paul a slight break, even if the Kentucky Republican was unable to excuse himself to even use the restroom.
“Usually, traditionally it’s been one person, makes it a lot easier if you have other people talking for him,” McCain said.
He stood there for 13 hours without a bathroom break and spoke for the vast majority of it — on topic too, not by reading the phone book — but because Ted Cruz chewed up a little bit of time, the whole thing’s illegitimate.
Old Moss back McCain must have finally looked in the mirrow and did not like what he saw.
Days are over McCain. Get your retirement and your blankee.. and find a soft spot to wipe your drool.
When old John goes on like this and then his daughter blogs something just as dumb, it shows that three generations of congenitally stupid idiots from the same family can be taken seriously by folks who claim to be our betters.
Poor Johnny. He’s still looking for the marbles he left in Hanoi.
Just keep it up, McCain. Your bizarre rants are only boosting Paul’s popularity.
He’s doing the left a huge favor, though. All they talked about on CNN last night was McCain bashing Paul.
It seems to me that the RINO wing of the GOP have decided to go to war with the rest of us.
Okay, I’m up for a good fight.
Let’s rock, people!
Our government is corrupt and this community organizer even more corrupt.
On twitter and FaceBook McCain and Graham are being eviscerated.
Every time either one of them opens their mouths the blood letting intensifies.
Senator Levin just announced his retirement. It’s something we all wish the senior senator from Arizona would consider as well and please take Goober Graham with you too.
McCain is disgusting. He IS helping the left.
“It’s always the wacko birds on right and left that get the media megaphone,” McCain told Huffington Post’s Jon Ward in a story titled “John McCain: Getting Back To Maverick, With An Eye On Retirement.”
If only.....
I now accept the comments from a political friend of mine who suggested there are GOP leaders who may actually be working to destroy the party. I think McCain believes he is protecting the party from conservatives who he believes must be squashed so the party can pursue the leftist voters who come with the “shift in demographics”. I also think he is unaware that he is destroying the R party—he will not bring in new R voters or retain the majority of current R voters. He does not understand the strength of conservatives and the future of politics in the US. He operates under some shallow myths.
McCain may just have put a nail, if not the final nail, in the GOP coffin just as Obama and the Dems had hoped would happen. He is the best soldier the Dems have had, possibly ever, and I seriously doubt he understands the danger of his words.
This may be the day that a new party, not a third but the new first party, is assured. If well-funded and organized at the outset, it may enter as the second strongest party at the national level and gradually build strength in red states. The R party will then be relegated to blue state competitions with the D party. In a few election cycles, the new party should be able to compete strongly with the D party. That is my general prediction.
I regret the R party is so weak, however, the McCain’s, poor get-out-the-vote efforts, insult of the base, and the serial poor election campaigns, have caused so much damage and I don’t see a plan for how the R party goes forward. What the heck are they planning to do? They are spending a lot of energy on squashing conservatives. How does that win over voters? It cheers the leftists but those people don’t intend to switch to the R party, they simply find it satisfying that the conservatives are being disowned. McCain lost an election he should have won easily. Romney did the same. I have no idea what point there was in running Dole back in the 90s. How many times do these goofs need to fail at easy challenges before someone improves the strategy? I work in the area of strategy development and the R party appears to be in great need of a serious planning effort.
The geezers know better, but it’s easier, quieter, and more refined to do nothing. When Mr. Paul, over the top or not, stood up to demand answers to some of the questions the geezers themselves raised, he was ridiculed and told, like an irritable child, to calm down. Geezers think their role is to pour oil over troubled waters, when they should be striking a match.
Or is it strawberries ...... ?
McCain knows he is limp, he will show up on every Sunday morning show that will have him.
“McCain”
Just walk off dude, your gig is up.
MSM will use like a sock puppet that you have become.
RINO McCain has crossed the line to Vichy Republican—selling out to Obama and his media. He has confused question asking with rebellion. He is now selling out for media support by helping Obama. Treachery doesn’t know party lines. I once thought you were an American John, now I know you for what you are—a sell out, Progressive Lounge Republican who will dance to any tune sent down from Obama.
The money quote. Sums up the GOP-elite attitude towards conservatives and the Tea Party in one simple sentence.
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