Free Republic

Simmering discontent among a segment of Arizona Republicans over John McCain’s famous penchant for bucking his party boiled over in the winter of 2014 with the censure of the longtime U.S. senator. McCain’s allies responded with an all-out push to reassert control over the Arizona Republican Party. Censure proponents were ousted or diminished, and McCain went on to defeat his far-right challenger in a blowout during the 2016 primary. Less than a decade later, the right wing forces that McCain marginalized within the Arizona GOP are now in full control, with profound implications for one of the nation’s most closely...

Obama waited too long to help the Syrian FSA against the monstrous Assad regime. When some sort of intervention was talked about: (bombing, indirect support, arms, etc) it was TOO late to help, and it would most likely have helped (either directly or indirectly) terroristic elements and possibly Al Qaeda elements which had taken the lead in Syria against Assad. NO WAY ON DOING THAT. PERIOD. And, once again, it is too late to help the Ukrainians against the thug Putin. (strike one against helping them). And as long as the Ukrainian gov't hasn't ran Svoboda and Right Sector and...

Senator John McCain lashed out at fellow Republican Ted Cruz on Wednesday over a Nazi appeasement comparison he made during his all-night, anti-Obamacare marathon on the U.S. Senate floor. McCain, a Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war, said the comparison was inappropriate. He said he had taken Cruz aside privately to tell him, and got a response he did not like: Cruz told him his appeaser reference applied not to distinguished members of the Senate but only media "pundits." "I resoundingly reject" Cruz's comments, said McCain, a senior Republican and former presidential candidate. "I think it's wrong and I...

Amidst reports of chemical weapons and atrocities committed by the warring factions, one Sierra Leonean, Sheikh Mohammed Canah Bah (photo) [at URL] has been captured and tortured to death by the Free Syrian Army... Even though no reason has been proffered by the rebel faction for the capture and execution of the Sierra Leonean, reports generally indicate that such dispositions have been usually manifested against foreigners in the country, a situation akin to what happened to blacks in Libya during the rebellion against Muhamar Al Gaddafi. A representative of the Sierra Leone Students Union in Syria, now residing in the...

Half of Syrian rebels are hardline Islamists: British study AFP - Jihadists and members of hardline Islamist groups make up almost half of forces fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to extracts from a British defence study published in Monday's Daily Telegraph. The analysis by defence consultancy IHS Jane's, due to be published in full later this week, puts the number of rebel forces at around 100,000, the Telegraph reported. But these fighters have split into as many as 1,000 bands since violence flared two years ago, the study concluded. Of the rebel forces, IHS Jane's estimates that around...

Amid contradictory reports Israel, U.S. carry out joint missile test in the Mediterranean. Russia had detected the launch of two ballistic 'objects' toward the sea, Russian media reported earlier; U.S. Navy earlier denied having any involvement in the launch Israel and the U.S. carried out a missile test in the Mediterranean sea on Tuesday, Israel's Defense Ministry said in a statement, amid rising tensions in the region over the crisis in Syria. The confirmation came after morning reports indicated that Russia had detected two ballistic "objects" launched toward the eastern Mediterranean from the central part of the same and a...

It was he and progressive Democrat Sen. Schumer that appeared today on "Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace" and seemed to tag-team on why the "immigration" (cough) bill should be supported. I wonder who ran faster to get in front of the lens/microphone? A vote for S. 744 or a vote to send this to conference will end any chance of Republicans winning the presidency in 2016, given that it does not have wide-spread Tea-Party, Conservative & Libertarian support, and does not have the support of Conservative/Libertarian-leaning Independents. 2012 all over again... And thus: They WILL be energized to primary...

Sen. John McCain to hold town hall Tuesday in Goodyear Tuesday, August 23, 2011 3 pm Goodyear Justice Center 185 North 145th Avenue, Goodyear, Ariz. McCain town hall here Monday Monday, August 22, 2011 Noon First Congregational Church 216 East Gurley Street, Prescott, Ariz.

Former GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, who this week referred to Tea Party lawmakers as "hobbits," publicly criticized Pennsylvania's Pat Toomey Sunday during an unusual unscripted debate on the Senate floor. McCain, who appeared to be having a great 'ol time during a back and forth with Democrat Majority Whip Sen. Dick Durbin, referred to Toomey and those who share his views as "terrible." (snip) "...the terrible obstructionists on this side of the aisle, the terrible people, their flawed philosophical views about the future of America..."

Veteran Sen. John McCain has had enough with tea-party-aligned lawmakers who have vowed not to vote to raise the debt ceiling before passage of a constitutional balanced budget amendment. The Arizona Republican, the GOP’s 2008 presidential nominee, described their position as “foolish,” “deceiving, even bizarro,” given Americans’ anxiety about the sliding stock market, a halt on hiring and the possibility of higher interest rates related to the looming default.

Congress should take up work on comprehensive immigration reform once the U.S. borders are secure, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday. McCain, a longtime proponent of comprehensive reform who had tacked right in his race for reelection last year, said that an immigration deal could be an area of compromise between Republicans and Democrats. "Once we get the border secured — and we can get the border secured — I would look forward to working on comprehensive immigration reform," the 2008 Republican presidential nominee said on NBC's "Today" show. The Arizona senator had in the past favored legislation that would...

...my nutshell case for why McCain was functionally a Democrat: As a war hero who's hawkish on foreign policy, he more than matches Bush on the military front. As a reform-minded foe of corporate welfare, Big Tobacco, and the Republican right, he is peerless. McCain is Bush's most vociferous critic, voted against the president's tax cut, forced his hand on campaign finance reform, and federalized airport security in the face of White House opposition. He has co-sponsored numerous bills with Democrats--many of them in the presidential-aspirant class--requiring background checks at gun shows (Lieberman), a patients' bill of rights (Edwards), better...

Republican presidential nominee John McCain cornered President George W. Bush into convening a White House summit on the financial crisis – one that top administration officials thought could hurt the administration’s response to the crisis, Mr. Bush says in a new memoir. Mr. Bush writes that Mr. McCain, trailing in the polls and seeking to appear on top of the crisis, asked him to convene a special meeting to discuss a rescue package for the financial markets. Mr. Bush says he told the Arizona senator that he would first check with Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to make sure a meeting...

From ABC News... (snip) "McCain was supportive of the Dream Act in the past... we saw him as a champion in some ways, and we hope that comes back," said Abdollahi. Now the next paragraph is the money paragraph and I certainly hope Arizona voters are paying attention. McCain has been on all sides of this issue and now that he is facing reelection he is trying to convince voters that he will protect the borders. Let's see what he says when under pressure from the left. A McCain spokesperson told ABC News the senator will support the so-called "Dream...

Arizona Republicans say GOP Sen. John McCain’s recent staff shake-up is an acknowledgment of the seriousness of his Aug. 24 primary challenge — a contest in which he remains a clear — but nervous — front-runner. While recent polls have shown McCain with a double-digit lead over former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, in an election year in which one Senate incumbent has already been taken down and several others are facing stiff primary opposition, the departure of two top campaign officials — campaign manager Shiree Verdone and deputy manager Mike Hellon — is being viewed as proof that McCain recognizes that...

It almost seems like a political tradition: the great John McCain campaign-staff shake-up. As the Arizona Republic's Dan Nowicki first reported Sunday, the top two staffers in McCain's Senate re-election effort — campaign manager Shiree Verdone and her deputy, Mike Hellon — have decamped. The two will work for the Arizona Republican Party, overseeing strategy for a "victory" fundraising effort for statewide candidates, including McCain. The move comes on the heels of a recent TV ad meant to tout McCain's border security credentials, including a push for a stronger fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. "Complete the danged fence," McCain says...

Link only, per FR posting rules

For the last month, Arizona Sen. John McCain has been running his primary campaign against former Rep. J.D. Hayworth as if it was the final weekend of the 2008 presidential campaign. On a daily basis, McCain's team bashes Hayworth while simultaneously working to shore up the Senator's right flank through a series of symbolic acts ranging from the rejection of the "maverick" title he wore proudly during both of his presidential campaigns to his forceful support of Arizona's controversial new immigration law. (McCain released an ad recently in which he urges the federal government to "complete the danged fence", a...

President Barack Obama's savvy use of technology during the 2008 campaign helped pave the way to the White House, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) acknowledged during an interview with The Hill. When asked what Obama did right on the campaign trail that he wished he had done, McCain said, "I think President Obama did many things right. I think one was that he's an incredibly articulate speaker, and motivational, and I think that was extremely helpful to him, not only in the general election but in his primary."

(snip) His loathing for McCain has a long history. “I don’t like him,” Tancredo said. “He is not a very pleasant person. He is nasty, mean; the skin of an onion would look deep compared to his. He has a short fuse, he is almost peculiarly unstable.” He still remembers his first encounter with the senator from Arizona. In 1999, Tancredo was elected to the House with 54 percent of the votes in his Colorado district. “When you win with less than 55 percent of the vote, you are seen as vulnerable. So then the party will go out to...