May 12, 2018

"Sen. John McCain is 2,200 miles from Washington and hasn’t been on Capitol Hill in five months, but he showed this week that he remains a potent force in national politics and a polarizing figure within the Republican Party."

"From his home in Sedona, Ariz., where he is receiving treatment for an aggressive and typically fatal type of brain cancer, McCain has challenged and praised the Trump administration’s actions on national security — his voice limited to news releases and Twitter. But his declaration Wednesday in opposition to Gina Haspel, President Trump’s nominee for CIA director, has uniquely roiled the political scene. The denunciation has prompted reactions from fellow senators and a former vice president, as well as intemperate remarks from some Republicans aligned with Trump, including a White House aide. It has revived the fierce debate over torture and its effectiveness in extracting information in the years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — from a man who speaks from experience. McCain was held for 5½ years in a North Vietnamese prison, often deprived of sleep, food and medical care, after a jet he piloted was shot down over Hanoi...."

So begins "Speaking out on torture and a Trump nominee, ailing McCain roils Washington" (WaPo).

Also at WaPo: "John McCain is the single greatest political leader of our time" (by Dana Milbank). Excerpt:
McCain is still with us, and this is no obituary. But as Trump loyalists besmirch this good man, I thought I would put in writing what I have often thought over the years: John McCain is the single greatest political leader of our time. He is, in a way, not of our time, for his creed — country before self — is unfamiliar to many who serve in office and utterly foreign to the man in charge.

Only once during the nearly quarter of a century I’ve been covering politics did I think I could work for a politician, and that politician was McCain. I first got to know him in early 1999, when there were just a few of us driving around New Hampshire with him in an SUV, before the “Straight Talk Express” rolled. Had he beaten George W. Bush (he surely would have defeated Al Gore), and had he been president on Sept. 11, 2001, I know he would have done great things with the national unity Bush ultimately squandered....

263 comments:

1 – 200 of 263   Newer›   Newest»
mikee said...

McCain has been a reliable source of Democratic support and opposition to Republicans ever since his escape from prosecution as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Abscam bribery scandal. Coincidence?

rehajm said...

I will always remember John McCain as the guy sitting at his desk listening to someone (I don't recall) lay out an ambitious and positive plan to correct some bureaucratic swamp mess or other. While McCain sat and listened the look on his face was a mix of contempt and pity and when the speaker was finished McCain gave a little chortle and a good luck with that in this town kind of answer without a hint of recognition he was a big part of the problem.

I'll cut and paste this in his obituary post.

traditionalguy said...

You can count on WaPo to publish pure BS all of the time now. John McCain has ridden the "I am a hero" horse for a lifetime dedicated entirely to John McCain. And he has had support for his career mostly given for sake of honor due to father and grandfather. But those who served with him all consider McCain to be a phoney with a terrible temper that turns on his friends on a dime.

AllenS said...

What mikee said. McCain is a rat. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that McCain sold out the other prisoners that he was imprisoned with.

Kevin said...

Please. If McCain supports Haspel does any of this get written?

tcrosse said...

It's amazing how McCain has grown in Dem's estimation since 2008. What a feat.

Kevin said...

The press has always been McCain’s base.

Darrell said...

Rest in Silence.

Humperdink said...

Milbank has been a fanboy of McCain forever. Forever, I say. Right up until the time he won the Republican nomination to run against the lefty god B. Hussein Obama. McCain then became Satan incarnate.

After Obama beat him like a rented mule, McCain has returned home, as fan favorite of the commie-pinko media. As McCain's demise draws near, expect more of the same. And Trump's name will be mentioned in every media article or report.

todd galle said...

I find both McCain and Milbank (M&M?) as fellow travelers.

the 4chan Guy who reads Althouse said...

There's a thing in movies and shit called 'The Magic Negro', you can look it up on Wikipedia. A lot of times it's Morgan Freeman, but it can be any black actor in a movie who is the projection of dreams, and, like, is better than the white people. Even Whoopi Goldberg played one in 'Ghost', back when Demi Moore was hot and not a mutant, and Patrick Swayze was cool, even if he wasn't anywhere near 'Roadhouse' cool.

Anyway, all of this shit about John McCain makes me think of the Magic Negro, because, like, McCain is The Magic Republican: he's the Republican that people who don't like Republicans can point out and say "If more Republicans were like this i wouldn't hate all of them so much" -- you know, shit like that.

But blacks don't like The Magic Negro because they know what white people are really doing with that shit, and that's what the liberals do with McCain -- he would, like, be the savior to conservatives if they just would listen to him when he talks like someone who isn't a conservative.

I mean, I don't want to mean to the dude, he's dying and shit, but he really is kinda a Republican minstrel show for the liberals: he dances for them real nice, he's got that bojangly spirit that makes them applaud except when he actually does say something conservative, which he might do sometimes, I don't remember.

And, like, it's OK, dude, you don't have to be a conservative, be who you want to be. But when he tries to act like a conservative it seems like a white dude in blackface showing how black people REALLY are, and that sucks.

Because pimpin' ain't easy, and the most important thing you gotta know is whether you're the pimp or you are the one being pimped. And I think McCain thinks he's Big Pimpin', but he kinda looks like he's doing tricks for the liberals, and you know they think he's their bitch. Which isn't a cool way to go out, dude: the liberals may pour a 40 for you after you die, but it ain't like they're going to get your name tattooed on them and shit, you know?

Hagar said...

Come on now, Professor. This is just trolling us.

Michael The Magnificent said...

Anyone know the penalty for urinating on a grave-site?

narciso said...

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/05/the-week-in-pictures-thank-god-its-saturday-edition.php

Sebastian said...

"John McCain is the single greatest political leader of our time."

So that's why self-respecting Dems voted for him over lightweight Barry?

Anyway, with McCain's impending death, we're gonna need trigger warnings on this stuff.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

We so often say that the sins of the father should not be visited upon the sons. Or something in that vein, I said it rather poorly.

However, if the above is accepted wisdom, why should the glories of the father be visited upon the sons?

Robert Roy said...

If he's for sure dying, and unable to attend his office for over 5 months, then isn't it unconscionable to not resign? He didn't get elected to have his own personal title, he got elected to represent his state.

Dude1394 said...

I would love to see the crap milbank must have written against McCain when he was the nominee. I’m sure it was a ringing endorsement.

narciso said...

Now mccain was a facilitator of this grishenko hunt in two ways first bringing the dossier from Canada second working with many of these same players deripasha klimnik akmetshin milan

Bay Area Guy said...

Milbank - a Skull & Bonesman from Yale - is an atrocious pseudo journalist. Nobody cares what you think, Dana.

McCain - the Neocon interventionist - never met a foreign intervention he didn't like, never missed an opportunity to poke a GOP president in the eye. Disseminating the bullshit Steele Dossier to Comey, without even challenging the triple hearsay, bullshit claims does not speak well to his character. Sounds like he wanted to pledge the "Get Trump" Fraternity. A big No-No, John.

Humperdink said...

McCain (R-Media) has accomplished one thing over his long and storied (cough) career as public servant (gag me). He has expanded the definition of the term "useful idiot".

PS: His treatment of Sarah Palin reflects his unwavering loyalty. What a classless move.

Michael K said...

"
Blogger Kevin said...
The press has always been McCain’s base."

Yes and they are typing up this hagiography stuff because they know his last thought will be hatred of Trump.

I feel sorry for his family.

rhhardin said...

The forces of PC align with McCain. You can't say the obvious so you can't fix it.

MadisonMan said...

I agree with Robert Roy. Why is he still in office if he's not been in DC for 5 months!! Who is the Edith Wilson in his Office?

Has he actually met and talked to the CIA nominee? Is his opinion informed by interactions with her?

rhhardin said...

You'll know McCain's mind is gone when he says something that's not self-serving.

Curious George said...

"John McCain is the single greatest political leader of our time."

Yet Milbank cites no one example where he has lead. And the reason, because there isn't one. The closest is becoming the ZGOp presidential candidate, but let's be honest. That was the old "your turn" menatilty of the GOP. He got that by default after losing out to W. The country, and the party, hardly rallied around him during his failed run.

Allen S. is right. He's a fucking rat. But not even the leader of the rats. Sad.

CWJ said...

"(he surely would have defeated Al Gore), and had he been president on Sept. 11, 2001, I know he would have done great things with the national unity Bush ultimately squandered..."

Just let those two statements sink in. I now know with a certainty that I did not previously possess that I need never take any Dana Milbank statement seriously ever again.

pacwest said...

"John McCain is the single greatest political leader of our time."

I guess that moves Barry down to #2? So soon! And what about Teddy? Hil? I mean a statement like that just so unfair. /snarkoff

The clowns in the media are just mailing it in now. Pathetic. John McCain served his country in the manner he thought best. Thank you John.

William said...

If McCain were saying anything positive about Trump, we would be hearing all about how brain cancer affects the judgment.......Some casual comment from a White House aide detrimental to McCain was leaked and was subsequently covered extensively by the press. Fuck them. I can't help but compare the coverage of that remark with the lack of coverage of other far more hideous things that Democrats have done, or for that matter, the shit the press has said and done........I think McCain has stature and standing to talk about torture. If he wants to ride that horse into the sunset, let him, but I don't compare the things that were done to him with waterboarding. Perhaps I'm more neutral and distanced from the subject and have reached a more balanced opinion.

tcrosse said...

"John McCain is the single greatest political leader of our time."

Heavy sarcasm.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Wacko bird McCain- The anti-American Democrat party's favorite Republican and most admired military man, after Bowel Bergdahl and He/She Manning. With what kind of spite and venom did Milbank adorn his admiration for McCain in 2008, I wonder.

Gahrie said...

John McCain is the single greatest political leader of our time. He is, in a way, not of our time, for his creed — country before self — is unfamiliar to many who serve in office and utterly foreign to the man in charge.

Could someone direct me to the columns where Milbank defended McCain as the MSM and the Democrats called him a dangerous, racist, sexist, extremist, fascist who was old and out of touch when McCain was the republican nominee?

Unknown said...

John McCain protests too much. He excoriated Gina Haspel to promote the belief that while he was tortured, he did not sing. Believe McCain if you will. As for the WaPo, it is safe to laud McCain, he will never again run for public office. The Senate needs terms limits, say three and out.

narciso said...

Well this was before the Jones memo went into effect


https://youtu.be/TwGxk9BrWHQ

narciso said...

Even earlier in the link:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/johnmccain/2146131/US-election-2008-John-McCain-accused-of-pandering-to-the-Right.html

rhhardin said...

his last thought will be hatred of Trump

Trump called him out on his Viet Nam hero grandstanding.

Phil 314 said...

I enthusiastically supported McCain in 2008. It’s been downhill since. I believe he shouldn’t have run for re election in 16. But I never understood the vitriol among certain right of center folks towards McCain.

I guess it’s the “we hate the traitor more than the enemy” phenomenon.

I guess I don’t see him as a “traitor” nor “them” as the “enemy”.

Birches said...

Oh brother! Lying liars and the lies they tell. These guys only like McCain because he has one foot in the grave.

Phil 314 said...

Trump called out someone on “grandstanding”

Pot meet kettle.

gilbar said...

two statements that show people don't understand john:
"for his creed — country before self "
" He didn't get elected to have his own personal title, he got elected to represent his state. "

and one statement that show's someone does:
"You'll know McCain's mind is gone when he says something that's not self-serving."

the 4chan Guy who reads Althouse said...

Has anyone ever asked McCain if, like, when he was a prisoner of war, did any Viet Cong dude ever fuck him in the ass?

Because that kind of shit happens to prisoners of war, I think. And I bet a Viet Cong dude would all be like, hey, I'm fucking an American soldier in the ass and shit. And not even because the Viet Cong dude's gay, just because he can do it, you know?

Like, in prison men fuck other men in the ass all the time, but that doesn't mean they're gay, it's just different in prison, it's about establishing dominance, I think. And what could make a Viet Cong dude feel more dominant over evil America than fucking an American soldier in the ass?

And McCain probably went over there thinking he'd be like a hero and shit, and instead he's getting fucked in the ass by a little Viet Cong dude, the little Viet Cong dude is fucking him and saying shit in Vietnamese, and McCain doesn't even know what the dude is saying, he just knows he's getting fucked in the ass.

So when he gets back to America, he's not like the same dude anymore, right? He's got this secret, and the secret, like, eats at his insides and shit. Maybe he even wakes up screaming in the middle of the night sometimes, like, yelling all "Stop fucking me in the ass! Stop fucking me in the ass!" And that's gotta suck.

Anyway, that could fuck a guy up, and it might then explain things about how McCain acts, because he's now got trust issues and shit. And a lot of suppressed anger: he's gotta have a lot of suppressed anger, because he's spent the rest of his life being afraid to say, yes, I got fucked in the ass in Viet Nam, and it sucked. And now he's dying, and it's like: just go ahead and say it, dude, it's OK. Just because you were fucked in the ass in Viet Nam doesn't mean that you're still not, like, a real American and shit.

Francisco D said...

John McCain desperately wants the affection of liberals and often gets it, except when he acts like a Republican.

It has been sad to see him duped by his liberal buddies over and over again.

narciso said...

No, he was tortured by Vietnamese supervised by Cuban regime officials Mike benge has chronicled the details. He did sung like a,songbird according to the transcript published in granma. At least one of the officials is allegedly someone who rose to be transport minister.

WK said...

Michael The Magnificent said...
Anyone know the penalty for urinating on a grave-site?

Google “Art Modell grave” for a list of possible charges.

Dagwood said...

I think what Milbank was supposed to say was, "John McCain is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life."

chuck said...

Heh, heh. They are going to need a smaller teapot, that is all.

M Jordan said...

Raise your hand if you think Millbank voted for McCain over Obama.

No hands, I see. And WaPo wonders where this fake news label comes from.

rhhardin said...

Trump called out someone on “grandstanding”

Pot meet kettle.


Trump uses grandstanding as self-deprecation actually. It's humor.

McCain is serious.

Michael K said...

The "vitriol on the Right" is partly because he says one thing in Arizona and another in Washington.

He ran for re-election in 2016, with the support of Sarah Palin who is probably more popular in Arizona than he is, on a platform of repeal Obamacare then he cast the last vote (with relish) to prevent its repeal.

I was a volunteer for McCain in 2000. I preferred him to Bush but by 2008, he was too old and had little idea of what to do about the economy.

He was Bob Dole 12 years later.

Now, he is just bitter and angry at the world, especially the Republicans who he never really cared about.

David Begley said...

I find this whole matter both sorry and despicable.

I’m sorry to see McCain exit in such a small and petty fashion. I find the media’s use of McCain to score points against Trump despicable. Despicable but predictable.

Phil 314 said...

“Trump uses grandstanding as self-deprecation actually. It's humor.”

Sounds like the Jon Stewart defense.

Fabi said...

"John McCain is the single greatest political leader of our time."

I just learned that "leader" and "schmuck" are synonyms.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Bush squandered the sense of unity? Not the ones who turned from supporting the war to impeaching Bush? They didn’t squander the unity, huh? Great analysis from a dogeared hack.

narciso said...

I don't think she did in 2016, after she found out about the Jones memo, mccain Feingold made citizens United necessary and the latter was mostly because the pew trusts wanted to appeal to his sense of honor so-called.

Mccain and Graham cobbled together the detainee act which was shot down by the courts in boumedienne.

Robert Cook said...

"I’m sorry to see McCain exit in such a small and petty fashion."

Why is it small and petty for McCain to express his legitimate opposition to someone he does not think is appropriate to be head of the CIA? Is he, or is anyone in Congress, supposed to be a rubber stamp for whatever his party's president wants?

narciso said...

That came out almost as sincere as milbank:


https://www.nysun.com/editorials/senator-mccains-regrets/90261/

Fabi said...

"Anyone know the penalty for urinating on a grave-site?"

No idea, but your first three fines are on me!

Quaestor said...

"The single greatest political leader of our time" is utter and complete bullshit. What has McCain done other than plot and wreak vengeance, first on Bush for beating him in a key primary and lately on Trump for being insufficiently impressed by the McCain myth? Why it's the McCain-Feingold law, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, say the usual suspects, it helped get the money out of politics. More bullshit. Just like the Affordable Care Act, the official name of that legislation is propaganda that even the tobacco tycoons never matched. McCain's signature legislation did nothing except to set the hurdles even higher for the outsider to enter national politics, making McCain himself virtually a Senator for life in spite of pissing off his base in Arizona time and time again. Nor has it made the money end of campaigning more transparent. Hillary raised and spent a billion dollars, but even now we don't know whose money it was that flowed like Niagra into her coffers. McCain engineered his bill to leave loopholes wide enough for Smaug himself to easily wiggle through with the assistance of some sharp lawyers.

Earnest Prole said...

John McCain is a capital-W Weasel.

mccullough said...

John Lewis said that McCain is a racist. John Lewis was badly beaten during Selma. McCain was badly beaten during his years in captivity.

Maybe they both have CTE

Robert Cook said...

"John McCain is the single greatest political leader of our time."

Hahaha! Now that's just stupid!

mockturtle said...

Polarizing? No, just an annoying wasp at the picnic.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Shall we dig up the Dana Milbank of 2007-2008?

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

The press has always been McCain’s base.


Big Mike said...

Anyone know the penalty for urinating on a grave-site?

If he’s buried in Arlington, and you’re caught, the Third Infantry Regiment gets to use you for target practice and bayonet drill.

TRISTRAM said...

If he's for sure dying, and unable to attend his office for over 5 months, then isn't it unconscionable to not resign? He didn't get elected to have his own personal title, he got elected to represent his state.

if he resigns before 5/30, there would be an election this fall to fill the remainder of his term. If he resigns after, the (R) Governor gets to appt a replacement. Chances that the deal is, "I wait, you appoint X?" is quite high, I'd imagine.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

He should have retired years ago. This whole "Senator for life" is total crap and all it does is make us wish these people would die faster, please.

Michael K said...

Why it's the McCain-Feingold law, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, say the usual suspects, it helped get the money out of politics.

No, it turned Congress into a branch of the Administrative State. The Congress people spend all their time raising money while the staffs write the legislation. Then they move on to agencies to write the regulations or to lobby firms to take advantage of the "Easter Eggs" they inserted into the laws.

That law was the worst thing to happen to the US in a century.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

If McCain can stick it to his own party, he will. Thanks for nothing, chump.

the 4chan Guy who reads Althouse said...

"Has anyone ever asked McCain if, like, when he was a prisoner of war, did any Viet Cong dude ever fuck him in the ass?"

I bet, if it happened, it went something like this:

"How you like war now, GI? How you like your war now, Big American Soldier Man?"

"Stop fucking me in the ass, Viet Cong Prison Guard dude!"

"I fuck you in the ass, GI! You bomb my people, and now I fuck you in the ass with the fury of a thousand napalm!"

"I'm a soldier! You fucking me in the ass is, like, against the Geneva Convention and shit."

"There is no protection for the Imperialist Mangy Dogs! I fuck you in the ass like mangy dog, Imperialist GI!"

"Please stop fucking me in the ass, Viet Cong Prison Guard dude!"

"You will not defeat the glorious revolution of the peoples! The revolution will not stop until all the Imperialist Mangy Dogs are fucked in the ass!"

"It hurts! Even though your cock is small compared to that of an American, this hurts!"

"Oh! American Imperialists all think it is about the size of the Big American Cock! You no hero, GI, you my Jane Fonda! You my Jane Fonda bitch!"

"Noooooo!"

"Say it, round-eye! say you are my Jane Fonda bitch!"

"I'll never say it! You will never break the spirit of a true American dude!"

"No? I will keep fucking you in the ass until you say it! I have the spirit of one thousand hundred Vietnamese warriors of the people! I will fuck you in the ass for one thousand hundred days and nights!"

"Okay! Okay! I'm your Jane Fonda bitch! I'm your Jane Fonda bitch!"

"Ah, you Americans are so weak! I am done now fucking you in the ass, Jane Fonda bitch!"

"Thank God..."

"Do not thank your God yet, round-eye! I am done fucking you in the ass, but now I go to get the next horny Viet Cong Prison Guard dude. Your ass is not done yet..."

I post my shit here.

SGT Ted said...

"John McCain is the single greatest political leader of our time."

Uh, No. Not even.

If he were supporting Trump, none of these press blowjobs would be written, much less published.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

The fact that McCain's preferred candidate was Hillary and Hillary lost, well - hahahahaha last laugh still belongs to "the people"-- instead of the entrenched corrupt bureaucracy. All he can do now is fiddle around the edges with his trademark maverick media love fest.

Dana Milbank knows where his bread is buttered and his ego is stroked.

mccullough said...

McCain wants to die a Washington Senator.

He’s hoping for a Ted Kennedy type state funeral. He’ll probably get it.

I’ll be watching baseball. The Washington Senators left DC twice. They are the Twins and the Rangers.

The Mavericks are an NBA team. The NBA is unwatchable. Too many prima donnas and whiners.

Drago said...

Robert Cook: "Why is it small and petty for McCain to express his legitimate opposition to someone he does not think is appropriate to be head of the CIA?"

Because his stated rationale for opposing this nominee was nowhere in sight when he voted for a previous nominee who had been much more involved at a higher level in the very activities McCain claims to oppose.

McCain has always attacked republican Presidents not named McCain and has always sucked up to democrat presidents, democrats and lefty media.

This is not a remotely debatable observation as McCain himself has discussed it openly.

AllenS said...

My flag will not go down to half staff after the bitter asshole dies.

policraticus said...

"Strange new found respect..."

It is a trope. As soon as any Republican is out of office or dead, he is automatically preferred and contrasted to whoever the current Republican candidate by Democrats and the Press. For example, Nixon became an "elder statesman," to be prefered to the bellicose McCain. Reagan became assumed to be "unelectable by current GOP." George HW Bush suddenly became courtly and serious compared to his chimp-hitler son. Now, George W Bush's "aw shucks humility" is compared to the Trumpian nightmare. McCain is one of the few Republicans who have flipped multiple time between "principled maverick," "vicious racist," "honored hero," and "crazy warmonger." Sometimes, within the same new cycle.

Honestly, Althouse, ever post these days seems to warrant a #bullshit tag.

Birches said...

Kristian is right. Whatever stuff McCain is saying to the NYT, he is actually being a team red player by not retiring until after the deadline.

Anonymous said...

My impression of John McCain, and his finale seems to confirm it, is that -contrary to Milbank's assessment- John McCain always comes first. The MSM has always had a love affair with him because he can be counted on to make statements that will win their favor. The McCain- Feingold Act stands as a monument to foolishness and, frankly, it's the only thing that I can connect with legislation from McCain.

Campaigning on the repeal of Obamacare and then casting the vote that "saved" it seems pretty typical of his approach to the world. I would not be surprised that an unfavorable biography lies in the not to distant future. Once in the ground McCain may be "swift boated".

rcocean said...

McCain is the biggest political fraud of my lifetime. He's constantly lied to Republican primary voters and the general electorate about what he stood for. He lied about voting against Obamacare, Open Borders, Amnesty, and being a social conservative.

In 2000, he was a great supporter of Falwell, the Confederate Flag, and the religious conservatives UNTIL he lost Super Tuesday, then he dropped the mask and they became "Agents of intolerance". He's posed as an opponent of abortion, but in California said he "wouldn't support the repeal of Roe v. Wade". During the 2008 primary, he said his favorite justice was "Scalia" but of course opposed Alioto because he was "too right wing".

And he could always be counted on the stab the R's in the back or dishonestly support the Judicial filibuster when the R's were in power and say nothing when the D's pushed it through.

buwaya said...

Milbank is just another mouthpiece for the machine.
He will say whatever he's told to say to suit the propaganda line of the moment.

Really, it is futile to analyze anything such people say or write, other than as an observation of the system at work. Nothing is sincerely meant, it is all for effect. Thats how propaganda machines operate.

rcocean said...

That's one reason the Wapo/NYT and DC elites loved him. He lied to the boobs and did what it took to get elected, and then "reached across the aisle" to help the Establishment.

He never met a war or a Democrat he didn't like or a Conservative he respected.

Unknown said...

Amazing how many Democrats and liberals *love* Republican politicians when they're either dead or dying...

rcocean said...

So why did he stay Republican? Easy. As and R, he could be "The Maverick" the straight-shooter who constantly criticized the Republicans and gave the Democrats bi-partisan cover. As a "D" he would've just another Bush or Trump hater.

On a personal level, McCain always talked of "honor" but it was always HIS honor. Whatever he did - was the always "honorable thing" or his "duty". He never seemed to care about other people's honor. He was a petty, egotistical, grandstander, who never showed any respect or generosity toward anyone not liked by the NYT or WaPo.

Kansas Scout said...

McCain is the biggest prick in DC. His recieving and turning over the "Steele Dossier" to James Comey which accusses Trump of participating in Golden Showers trumps (oh yes I did) any catty comment said in a private meeting.

rcocean said...

McCain's supporters CONSTANTLY bring up the War Hero stuff - he's been riding that for 45 YEARS! Even though, tens of thousands of men in Vietnam were more courageous - but don't talk about it.

Daniel Jackson said...

"Anyone know the penalty for urinating on a grave-site?"

Dancing is the universally accepted custom.

Big Mike said...

If McCain is truly opposed to “enhanced interrogation” then why did he vote for the confirmation of John Brennan? From Wikipedia:

“Brennan withdrew his name from consideration for Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the first Obama administration over concerns about his support for transferring terror suspects to countries where they may be tortured while serving under President George W. Bush.”

The problem McCain presents with his support for Brennan and opposition to Haspel is that it doesn’t appear to be fact-based (Haspel was not directly involved with enhanced interrogation) nor is it based on adherence to principles. I supported him in 2008 and I voted for him in 2008. But now he’s past his sell-by date.

Ralph L said...

an unindicted co-conspirator in the Abscam bribery scandal.
Don't think he was in that one. He was a Keating Fiver, mostly because it needed a token Republican. You'd think he would have learned from that. Instead he did M-F.

4Chan Guy, he said it didn't happen (don't know if anyone asked). The Desert Storm aviator POWs were raped, which must have been horrible with their g force piles.

Michael K said...

"So why did he stay Republican?"

The beer heiress lived in Phoenix. Arizona has been Republican since 1912.

rcocean said...

"The beer heiress lived in Phoenix. Arizona has been Republican since 1912."

True, but they've had D Senators - like DeConcini. McCain could've switched parties in 2003 - or 2009 -He was thinking about it and gotten re-elected.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The way "grassroots" Republicans have allowed McCain to be treated shows just how despicable and odious they are. They have no appreciation for life or sacrifice whatsoever, and have no "chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than themselves."

The nut roots showed their true colors this week. As they did that week when they attacked the teenagers who stood up against the gun menace inflicted on them.

Republicans care more about keeping Mexicans safe from armed assault than they do American kids. Just repulsive slimeballs through and through.

buwaya said...

McCain was the designated fall guy in 2008.

The PTB had selected Obama, and then it was just a matter of getting the election to go as required. The ritual of elections can be risky (Trump) however. So the best way to do elections is with an opponent who understands his role. Sanders for instance, who at times seemed concerned that he would actually win that primary.

McCain (or his staff, selected for the purpose) threw the election. McCain was right about Palin being an error, if his purpose is properly understood. She threatened the arrangement.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mark said...

Are any of us supposed to read these two pieces and take any of it seriously?

It is the effing Washington Post. They run eight or nine hyped-up hit pieces on Trump every day. To read it and to bother to respond to it is like the folks who read and respond to You-Know-Who or one of the other usual suspects here.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Amazing how many Democrats and liberals *love* Republican politicians when they're either dead or dying...

Not as amazing as how many Republicans and conservatives only pretend to *love* Republican politicians for as long as they can be of use to their pro-death agenda.

narciso said...

It's humor except for those who get off on the ergot, our host intends these offerings as the opening to a Socratic dialogue.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

McCain's supporters CONSTANTLY bring up the War Hero stuff - he's been riding that for 45 YEARS! Even though, tens of thousands of men in Vietnam were more courageous - but don't talk about it.

Good. Then let them stay out of the Senate if they're so ashamed and/or conflicted about what they did.

Michael said...

Well, at least as the second lion of the Senate he was not honored for, or in spite of, abandoning a drowning woman and then heroically trying to get one of his staff to take the fall. These senate heroes!! So beloved by their colleagues.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The amount of trashing that the Republicrazies on this thread are subjecting McCain to proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that they jumped the shark long ago and have absolutely no personal values or principles that transcend partisan politics. None at all.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

And can you point to a single act of courage or bravery or virtue that you're proud of or that people might admire you for, Michael?

Of course not! You're proud of how spineless and unprincipled you are! You would sell out your country in a heartbeat and then demand unpaid interest on it the next day.

That's how Michael is. That's how most Republicans long to be.

CWJ said...

"'Anyone know the penalty for urinating on a grave-site?'

Dancing is the universally accepted custom."

Anyone know the penalty for dancing on a grave-site?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The Republican Party: Where character goes to die.

MayBee said...

Do they think we don't remember the 2008 election?

John McCain was a hero to the press from 2000-2007, then an 8 year mysterious gap, and then again in 2016. I wonder why John McCain decided to be so un-heroic and dishonest for those gap years? (eyerolll)

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Anyone know the penalty for dancing on a grave-site?

It's so nice to see Republicans graduating from attacking American kids gunned down under a looser regulatory framework than Republicans demanded of Eric Holder in Mexico to grave desecration of a guy who endured what they're so contemptuous of McCain enduring in a Vietcong prison.

What a commendable moral and social contribution these sociopaths have to offer America.

Roughcoat said...

That law was the worst thing to happen to the US in a century.

Not the worst thing. But, yes, the worst law.

It is perfectly reasonable and logical to hate the traitor more than the enemy.

Anal rape jokes, riff, and shtick are no longer shocking, edgy, interesting ... or funny.

I would not want McCain in my foxhole, I would not trust him to cover 180-degrees of perimeter. I'm speaking figuratively. Or metaphorically. Okay, also literally.

McCain and James Webb are both of a type: combat veterans who are also assholes. The former does not excuse the latter. It is possible to be both, duh.

khematite said...

Michael K wrote:
The beer heiress lived in Phoenix. Arizona has been Republican since 1912.

Actually, Bill Clinton carried Arizona as recently as the 1996 presidential election. Prior to that, Woodrow Wilson (1912, 1916), FDR (1932, 1936, 1940, 1944), and Harry Truman (1948) all carried Arizona in presidential elections. Carl Hayden, a Democrat, was an Arizona senator from 1927-1969. And have people forgotten that Janet Napolitano was governor of Arizona for six years, from 2003-2009?

narciso said...

Children that the authorities saw fit not to act on the threat, from the school administrators to the fib. Try again.

Michael K said...

Actually, Bill Clinton carried Arizona as recently as the 1996 presidential election.

Thank you for obsessing about this. I was being facetious.

robother said...

Trump should rise above. Instead of attending the funeral, he could order the US Navy to "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" in lieu of a 21 gun salute.

Michael K said...

McCain and James Webb are both of a type: combat veterans who are also assholes. The former does not excuse the latter. It is possible to be both, duh.

Webb is a pretty good writer. I have no personal experience with him.

A good friend did have a personal experience with McCain, confirming his assholishness.

Michael K said...

McCain was right about Palin being an error, if his purpose is properly understood. She threatened the arrangement.

She even wanted to campaign in Michigan. Imagine !

She could have messed up the whole script.

rcocean said...

Just remember McCain was a single-seat bomber pilot. No crew-members.

They put him in that, so he could only kill himself.

The better pilots they put in multi-engine bombers, 2 seat attack planes like the A-6 and fighters.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

McCain was never going to beat Obama. The fact that McCain blames his loss on Palin is pathetic.

Francisco D said...

Ritmo is awake and manic.

I find it easier not to read his posts. I worry that the venal stupidity is contagious.

Maybe that is his plan, if he has a plan.

rcocean said...

I'm always shocked how blase Republicans are over McCain's desire to choose Liebermann as his VP.

Liebermann was his first choice. McCain was talked out of it, at the last moment, in August. Althouse even has a post about it. It seems several state leaders made in clear to the McCain campaign that there would be a floor fight if Libermann was nominated.

Think about that. Had McCain said he wanted Liebermann during the primaries he would've lost. So he said nothing. A lie by omission. Instead, he wanted to run with Al Gore's Running mate!

Had McCain been elected he would've made Joe Liebermann, a liberal Democrat, his AG. Who KNOWS what bi-partisan crap he would've pulled if he'd been elected.

Michael K said...

Francisco, as a psychologist, do you think trolls get a sexual thrill like other exhibitionists do exposing themselves ?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“The Republican Party: Where character goes to die.”

And where white nationalists feel emboldened. Where POWs are demonized because Trump is jealous of him. Where disabled reporters are mocked. Etc. Etc. Etc.

That is doesn’t feel wrong to them is very troubling. That they make excuses for the behavior is very troubling. That they continue to support the behavior that starts at the top is more than troubling.

Francisco D said...

Michael K.

I think Ritmo gets a dopamine rush that is also found among chronic masturbators.

chickelit said...

McCain had a pretty good legacy going but he decided to destroy it befor3 he dies. It’s not hard to tell where this will end up: His staunchest defenders will be anti-Trump fellow travelers.

chickelit said...

Perhaps the rump state remains of the Republican Party can form a coalition with conservative Dems. Hillary or JEB! is their natural leader. They can slug it out with the radical Bernie fringe and ensure a Trump re-election.

Michael K said...

"His staunchest defenders will be anti-Trump fellow travelers."

I'm afraid so. I was a supporter until the past couple of years but was always aware that #1 for McCain was McCain.

chickelit said...

McCain’s downfall is his petty hatred of Trump. It is petty which is why it’s so transparent. Just imagine if Barbara Bush’s last words were anti-Trump.

McCain should focus on reconciling with Jane Fonda.

Big Mike said...

Where POWs are demonized because Trump is jealous of him.

Demonized?!?!? I think not. But it certainly is true that McCain initiated and escalated the contretemps between himself and President Trump. It is also true that in the last election he ran explicitly on repealing Obamacare but once re-elected cast the key vote to maintain it. It is true that his opposition to Haspel cannot be based on principles, else why did he vote for Brennan’s confirmation?

Megthered said...

McCain didn't text anything. With a malignant brain tumor in the final stages, he absolutely couldn't. I would bet it's probably someone in his family that wants to keep him in the news and keep people talking about him.
That he hasnt resigned is despicable. He doesn't care anout the people of Arizona or America.

Big Mike said...

McCain should focus on reconciling with Jane Fonda.

Pointless. His own wife is arguably more pretty and, besides, Fonda is “closed for business down there.”

Gahrie said...

I was anti-McCain the politician long before I was pro-Trump.
McCain is part of the reason Trump is president.

chickelit said...

“And where white nationalists feel emboldened. Where POWs are demonized because Trump is jealous of him. Where disabled reporters are mocked. Etc. Etc. Etc.”

But there does need to be a bright line distinction between Audie Murphy type war heroes and John McCain type war heroes. Disabled reporters cannot get carte blanc passes to slander just because they are disabled. La Raza judges with un-American sympathies cannot be adjudicating without criticism.

Yancey Ward said...

Good grief! How could a writer write an essay that literally everyone knows the writer does not himself believe. What lack of self-respect could it take to do something like that?

Ralph L said...

It says something about him that he won a House seat in a state he'd only lived in about a year. Not sure that that something is good. Politicians used to buy votes with beer, so he was well equipped.

IIRC, his wife had to go buy a house in the district--she didn't live there, either.

chickelit said...

“Pointless. His own wife is arguably more pretty and, besides, Fonda is “closed for business down there.”

I didn’t mean in a personal, romantic way. McCain is a self-styled aisle crosser. What better way to go out than to reconcile two factions who still loathe one another.

Yancey Ward said...

rcocean,

I thought Lieberman would have been an inspired choice in 2008, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway- Obama still wins easily in that alternate universe.

Etienne said...

...after a jet he piloted was shot down over Hanoi...

Yes, I believe he was flying over the city to enjoy the beautiful view.

Rosalyn C. said...

McCain was elected to the US Senate in 1986. He's gotten 53 bills passed into law . Many of them specifically benefit Arizona and notably, Native Americans.

The Senator who has passed the greatest number of laws is Orrin Hatch , who has served for 37 years and has sponsored or cosponsored 742 bills that eventually became law.

Etienne said...

"John McCain is the single greatest political leader of our time."

Dear God in Heaven. My ice cream is melting...

Yancey Ward said...

I voted for McCain in the CT primary in 2000 and 2008, but I didn't vote for him in the general election in 2008 (I knew he was toast by the end of September, so voted for Obama simply as a historical token).

It has always been clear to me that McCain gives the D.C. media far too much regard, and for no reason that I can fathom- it would be like me trying to suck up to someone like ARM or Inga. Had McCain miraculously won in 2008, Milbank would have spent the following 4 or 8 years writing column after column criticizing literally every aspect of McCain's administration unless McCain announced he was switching parties, and even then Milbank would have supported any Democrat who primaried McCain.

Gk1 said...

Its a little bit sad John wants to spend his remaining moments spitting venom at trump and dumping all over Palin. What does this gain him spiritually? I think Chickelit is on to something that McCain's last gesture should be a reconciliation of some sort. But hey, it was always about what made John happy in the moment, screw the consequences.

buwaya said...

"what lack of self respect..."

Well, that is a job requirement of the propaganda business.
It is a job. You write or say what you are told to.

If you have to do a 180 on something you wrote yesterday, and pretend consistency, then you do it. If you have to write absurdities, thats just a problem in creative writing.

These are professionals.

donald said...

Even as a mutant, Demi Moore is hot AF, to this broken down old codger.

chickelit said...

“McCain didn't text anything. With a malignant brain tumor in the final stages, he absolutely couldn't. I would bet it's probably someone in his family that wants to keep him in the news and keep people talking about him.
That he hasnt resigned is despicable. He doesn't care anout the people of Arizona or America.”

Remember, Peggy, that McCain has the example of his grandfather who fought in the Pacific through the end, witnessed the surrender aboard the USS Missouri in a frail state, and then went home to die a week later.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

A good friend did have a personal experience with McCain, confirming his assholishness.

McCain has many more true friends that will attend his funeral than will attend Special K's - or Special K's "friend."

But that is because McCain's friends are, you know, important people. People who actually get things done and matter in this world. And Special K and his buddy are just peons.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Just imagine if Barbara Bush’s last words were anti-Trump.

She had already gotten them out way in advance of that.

Whereas for you they will forever remain bottled up in your weak self with a cap on the end that you keep tightly corked in place by your sad dismay at not having had a daddy and seeking one in Trump instead.

Michael K said...

It is also true that in the last election he ran explicitly on repealing Obamacare but once re-elected cast the key vote to maintain it. It is true that his opposition to Haspel cannot be based on principles, else why did he vote for Brennan’s confirmation?

The best reasons for being relieved that he will be gone soon. I also wonder of that is really him posting those nasty tweets. It reminds me of Wilson's last year when his new wife was running things.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I hope Trump finds out who blabbed about Kelly Sadler's comment and fires the blabber.

Michael K said...

More dopamine rushes.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Apparently Francisco doesn't know the answer to your question, Special K. But he says that if you want to ask him about his expertise, chronic masturbation, then he will gladly answer to that instead.

Francisco would have been a nice psychiatric assistant to Mengele.

Now is it possible to get back to the subject of the post - McCain - (as I HAD DONE), or did you chronic masturbators want to "discuss" trolling instead?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Don't despair at the fact that your funeral will be much more lightly attended than McCain's, Michael Special K.

But if it gives you a dopamine rush to fancy yourself better than him in the meantime, that sure does sound... hmmm. special.

And if you find yourself too boring to live with until then, just think of all the opioids you could prescribe yourself to cope with it. Chronically.

Lots of dopamine in those Percocet pills. Get cracking, chronic narcissist!

langford peel said...

That's a good point about him not being able to tweet. Obviously his wife is doing it to keep his name in the news and so she can posed as the poor widow who I s being torn apart. It is part of her plan to be appointed to the "McCain" seat in the Senate. The elites have nothing but contempt for the yahoos who vote for the likes of Palin or Trump.

The fact that he doesn't care that the people of Arizona have not had a Senator for five months shows the contempt he has for the voters of his state. Who cares about appointing someone by the a Republican Governor. Let the people decide.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I worry that the venal stupidity is contagious.

I suppose that among weak-minded toadies like yourself Francisco D., it is.

So the worry is understandable, even if what prompted it - (your fear of me) - is stupid.

What you really fear is that I'd get you to think for yourself, for a change. Much nicer to have others do your thinking for you. More soothing, relaxing, and comforting.

Birkel said...

John McCain is a poor politician and a weathervane. I was glad he lost to Barack Obama because McCain would have done similar things in "bipartisan" (or, sell us all down the river) ways that led to irreparable damage to the country.

Obama, to his credit, was an ineffectual figurehead who spawned a nationwide, Republican electoral resurgence and easily reversible Executive Acts.

I hold John McCain in slightly lower regard than I hold Barack Obama.

langford peel said...

They should have a special election where the people decide who will be the next Senator. Not have someone appointed until 2020. If they elect a Democrat so be it. That is what Democracy is all about.

There is no "McCain" seat just as there is no "Kennedy" seat. We need to root out and destroy the family dynasties like the Kennedy, Bush, Clinton and Cuomo political abortions.

Trust the people not the elite.

Michael K said...

It is part of her plan to be appointed to the "McCain" seat in the Senate.

That's a pretty good point I hadn't thought of. I think he has to resign by the 30th to allow the governor to appoint a substitute.

I'm not sure what happens after that. His term goes to 2020.

langford peel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
langford peel said...

I would rather have a socialist like Bernie Sanders elected by the people than Cindy McCain who is only out for herself and her family.

We don't have an aristocracy in this country. Or at least we should fight the elites who want to establish one.

Unknown said...

He’s a Heroic and Tragic figure. I’ve spent time with and admire. Amazing what Brain Washing can accomplish, if you don’t parse the sentence too closely, good cop bad cop, he remembers the USSR colonels in the room, helping the NVA after helping the Koreans and their own regime. No surprise he’s had a lifelong animus toward the defeated Russians, to say nothing of needing to keep his donors fed so they can sustain him, his party, and Eisenhower’s Defense industrial complex. The Keating five was not criminal; it was just John doing his job as best he could without a wiser mentor or following in the footsteps of many others. Until today where an attempt by AT&T to educate, not bribe an official, will cost you your job if not your freedom. What have we come to? No taxation without representation. Ok, you can sell me on no corporate tax or the opposite, one dollar of tax, one vote, for everyone normalized across employee individual taxes of all kinds and corporate, summed over the election interval. A laptop could compute all this now that the banks do most of the work every month. See the 1987 secrecy in Banking act. AKA “The Recording and Reporting of Your Secrets Act”. That put the Banks in the Tax business since the IRS couldn’t do basic accounting. Which is less a criticism, it’s just the tax system we’ve used since 1776 that’s never been modernized. Use a single chest of gold coins. Coins in. Donations, confiscations, IOUs, I forgets, coins out, oops. Empty. borrow some. Decline to pay. Sue me. call China. Where the only check and balance is “You’ll go to jail if you overspend what’s appropriated, if we catch you, but, how would we know”?

n.n said...

But he was on site at Obama's elective regime change through sodomy, extrajudicial abortions, CAIR (e.g. immigration reform, trail of tears), and global social justice wars.

Humperdink said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Marc in Eugene said...

Thanks to whoever supra suggested KillFile for Chrome; it seems to work perfectly. If so and so manages to make any remotely reasonable comments, I'm sure the shock expressed by subsequent commenters will alert me & I can turn KF off.

Jim at said...

When you have hardcore leftists like Dana Milbank singing your praises as a 'Republican,' you're not a Republican. Nor a conservative.

Jim at said...

I enthusiastically supported McCain in 2008.

Not me. That asshole spent his entire political career kicking people like me in the teeth. And then he wanted my vote? No effin' way.

The one - and only time - I left the top of my ballot blank.

Fabi said...

The left -- who said in 2008 there was basically no difference between McCain, Hitler, and Stalin -- is now having the vapors because some on the right are now calling him an asshole? Lulz

Big Mike said...

@George Spix, so I guess you’re cool with McCain campaigning on a platform of ending Obamacare, then voting to continue it once he was safely re-elected?

Molly said...

(Eaglebeak)

Odd that apparently McCain has arranged for George W. Bush to give one of his eulogies--those two guys hated each other. HATED. Go back and look at the 2000 GOP primary history for confirmation.

And in the memorable NH primary that year (which McCain won walking away) the MSM were slavering all over McCain, visiting his Straight Talk Express trailer or whatever it was--until he flustered them a little by referring to the Vietnamese as "g--ks."

Here's an intriguing piece from HuffPo in 2011:

Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain’s intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain’s hair and said, “You’re getting a little thin up there.” McCain’s face reddened, and he responded, “At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.” McCain’s excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/07/report-mccains-profane-ti_n_95429.html

Now, maybe I missed it, but I never heard Trump talk that way "Grab 'em by the pussy" doesn't come close. And McCain is nothing like Bob Dole, who was , and is, a decent guy, a WWII hero, and although snide and sarcastic, not vicious.

Michael K said...

"Thanks to whoever supra suggested KillFile for Chrome"

I'm still struggling with it.

walter said...

Sources say Dole once said to him "I served with Bob Dole. I know Bob Dole. Bob Dole is a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Bob Dole."

chickelit said...

@Molly: McCain calling his own wife a “cunt” was explained at the time as just salty sailor talk. But can you imagine what he called Palin? He probably outdid Ritmo.

chickelit said...

What I want to know is what was said about whom during that recent screening of “The Man Who’s Hot Libert Valance” at McCain's home. Was Graham mincing words?

chickelit said...

Did McCain role play the John Wayne character with Trump as Valance?

Fabi said...

“At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.”

Leadership!

Chuck said...

There is some merit to this comment, by the sometimes-meritorious Fabi:

Blogger Fabi said...
The left -- who said in 2008 there was basically no difference between McCain, Hitler, and Stalin -- is now having the vapors because some on the right are now calling him an asshole? Lulz

I know of two groups of disreputable ratfuckers who would stoop to joking that McCain was not a hero, because he was captured. One group is Al Franken, who originated the “joke,” and his left wing supporters. The other group is Donald Trump, who plagiarized the joke for his own selfish purposes, and his fanatical base.

tcrosse said...

I know of two groups of disreputable ratfuckers who would stoop to joking that McCain was not a hero, because he was captured.

Another group is Naval Aviators of that era, who do not regard McCain as a credit to the Service. But they are not disreputable ratfuckers.

Chuck said...


Blogger tcrosse said...
“I know of two groups of disreputable ratfuckers who would stoop to joking that McCain was not a hero, because he was captured.”

Another group is Naval Aviators of that era, who do not regard McCain as a credit to the Service. But they are not disreputable ratfuckers.

Ya know, chief, you can save your 4Chan bullshit for somebody who cares.

langford peel said...

Chuck is the type of ratfucker who would see the people of Arizona not have a Senator for six months so another creature of the Swamp and the Republican establishment be appointed and not elected. McCain, McConnell and the Quisling Republicans like Chuck only want to have people who will slavishly follow the neocon globalist line in tandem with the Democrats. The fear and loath the people and refuse to give them the chance to elect their own representatives. When they do as they did President Trump they do everything in their power to stop him from achieving conservative victories and try to remove them through an illegal and unconstitutional coup.

Soon enough they will rot screaming in Hell. John McCain will just be there first. He will warm up a seat for you Chuckles.

tcrosse said...

Knock knock
who's there
Chuck
Chuck who ?
Chuck, go piss up a rope.

Michael K said...

Ya know, chief, you can save your 4Chan bullshit for somebody who cares.

Why are you bothering chuck, if you don't care ?

I've already related the story of my friend, who was a Marine F 18 pilot in Gulf War I who was at a McCain rally in his flight suit and McCain walked right by him shaking hands with donors.

He is no longer a McCain fan and lives in Arizona.

McCain is a jerk. I'm not criticizing him about the POW stuff but he was sure eager to go back and hob nob with the NVA and with Kerry the traitor. They also shut down the MIA groups.

Big Mike said...

@Chuck, if you weren’t a total nincompoop you’d recognize that you contribute to the strength of Trump’s support. Lots of us voted for Donald Trump because the alternative was Hillary Clinton, who daily reminds us that she would have been worse than Beelzebub. But he makes good things happen. North Korea, Saudi Arabia, tax cuts, incentivizing the corporations to reinvest in America, these are all good things that would not have happened under Hillary Clinton, or even Marco Rubio or Jeb!

As Linvoln said of Grant, we cannot spare this man. He fights. So the more you try to tear him down, the more strongly we support him.

langford peel said...

Chuck has a job to do and he is worthy of the money that George Soros has invested in him.

Marcus said...

Thanks, Althouse, for the troll today. You can close up shop. See you tomorrow.

Birkel said...

Chuck, fopdoodle extraordinaire, would prefer to lose with an eGOP and a guy who blasts the conservatives at every turn, than Trump. Because Trump is not eGOP.

Bad language cannot explain it. McCain has a potty mouth, too.

I must conclude Chuck is not a conservative but is an LLR.

Fabi said...

I've never been regarded as sometimes-meritorious, Chuck -- much obliged!

Humperdink said...

LLR said :"I know of two groups of disreputable ratfuckers who would stoop to joking that McCain was not a hero, because he was captured."

Add retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney to your list. Regarding enhanced interrogation, McInerney said, "the fact is ... it worked on John. That's why they call him 'Songbird John.'"

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

LLR and Noted Racist Commenter Chuck: "Ya know, chief, you can save your 4Chan bullshit for somebody who cares."

Actually, the 4Chan guy is basically correct as to how McCain was viewed by his contenporaries.

Of course, if you really want to get "Bowe Bergdahl republican" Chuck on your side, simply be a dem AND either call US Troops "gestapo" or "Stolen Valor"-lie about your service record.

Do those things and Vichy Chuck will be your most ardent defender!

Big Mike said...

@Humperdink, your General McInerney is a worthless piece of shit. Given enough time, and a small enough conscience, you can make anybody do anything. Put Chuck in my clutches for enough months and he’d be writing checks to the Trump re-election committee.

langford peel said...

As noted traitors tend to stick together.

Both Chuck and McCain are traitors to their party and the United States of America.

Both Chuck and McCain disdain the people and would reverse a duly elected Representative of the people to give the election to the Democrats.

They are birds of a traitorous feather. They stick together.

Sort of like the Viet Cong guy fucking John McCain in the ass.

Drago said...

Remember, #StrongDemDefender Chuck was attacking and insulting the highly regarded and decorated combat medic Adm Ronnie Jackson.

Racist Commenter Chuck called him "Ricky Bobby"

Good old Chuck, who himself courageously pondered joining the military for at least several moments before heroically deciding not to 'cuz there was no draft.




AllenS said...

Too much back and forth with Pee (Inga) for me to read all of the comments, but permit me to say how Trump could end up being the most bestest President of all time -- ask somehow to be able for the voters of this county on a resolution that simply says all Senators and all members of the House will have such and such term limits.

Please let this happen.

Humperdink said...

Big Mike said: "@Humperdink, your General McInerney is a worthless piece of shit."

Just for clarification, the general is not my guy.

Ralph L said...

Unfortunately, killfile on Chrome doesn't work on the blogger.com comment page. It does for the original althouse.blogspot threads, but to comment you must go to the blogger page.

tcrosse said...

Actually, the 4Chan guy is basically correct as to how McCain was viewed by his contenporaries.

I didn't get that from 4Chan. I got it from my shipmates. But Chuck's disdain for those who served is duly noted and reciprocated.

Big Mike said...

@Humperdink, I should think not! Anyone who thinks that they can't be broken, given enough time, is simply unaware.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Something more despicable that McCain? - why - the collective left.

Flashback.

Michael K said...


Blogger Ralph L said...
Unfortunately, killfile on Chrome doesn't work on the blogger.com comment page. It does for the original althouse.blogspot threads, but to comment you must go to the blogger page.


Thanks. I was trying and couldn't do it.

chickelit said...

@Dickin’: That link just shows that Sullivan has always been more interested in pleasing black men than in pleasing any woman. But we knew that.

chickelit said...

Substitute any sex-related verb for “pleasing” in my comment above.

mikee said...

Ralph L - you are correct. Keating 5, not Abscam.

You may claim your prize for this correct correction at Headquarters for Althouse Blog Comments, Bennelong Point, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia, from 9:00am to 5:00pm, monday to Friday. Proof of ID required, and please arrive well before closing time to allow for the requisite probulation.

mikee said...

The archetypical dancing on graves skit:
https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/dont-look-back-in-anger/n8660

(note that no detectable urination is involved)

Bad Lieutenant said...

Big Mike said...
@Humperdink, I should think not! Anyone who thinks that they can't be broken, given enough time, is simply unaware.

5/12/18, 3:30 PM



Just so. But what then was McCain's particular heroism? Organizing POW resistance like Adm. Stockdale? No, I think everyone was gaga over him because he insisted on being repatriated in proper order.

That's good. But, his alternative was to come home branded. Tarred with having violated the policy and giving NVN a particular propaganda victory, and more importantly than his country, a defeat to his family. He wasn't just some schlub who scraped through flight school. He was a hidalgo, a son-of-somebody.

For a son and grandson of men who had served with honor and success, men to whom he of course owed his career (however chosen) in the face of mishaps and subnormal performance, if he could not offer success, at least he could cling to what remained of his honor. For McCain, going home early to what he would have faced was worse than the treatment he was getting in prison.

Such a man ultimately should never have allowed himself to be captured. Really, he should have never ejected. The Navy and the country would have been better off without him.

DanTheMan said...

>>The better pilots they put in multi-engine bombers

Uh, no. Not at all. The USAF used to (still does?) have a two track system for graduates of UPT (undergraduate pilot training):
FAR: Fighter, Attack, Recon - these are almost all single seat jobs, and the only the best are FAR qualified.
Everybody else went multi-engine (bigger plans with crews)

This idea has been around at least since WWII, when fighter pilots would get asked "When will they let you fly the big planes?"

No idea how they do it today, of course.

And, all of you kids, get offa my lawn!

Darrell said...

Pee-Pee Ritmo tried to steal the nutroots label at 10:43AM that the Right coined to fight the Leftie scum who thought that netroots (net/grassroots) was the cleverest label ever--one implying that they controlled political thought on the internet, with billions of anonymous voices behind every one of their comments. When he says that "nut roots showed their true colors this week" he is referring to his Leftist buddies. And their colors are shit brown and red. As always.

Michael K said...

Uh, no. Not at all. The USAF used to (still does?) have a two track system for graduates of UPT (undergraduate pilot training):
FAR: Fighter, Attack, Recon - these are almost all single seat jobs, and the only the best are FAR qualified.
Everybody else went multi-engine (bigger plans with crews)


I think that is still the case.

One of the slams on Rumsfeld was that he flew multiengine in the Navy, He said if they had let him fly fighters he might have stayed in for a career.

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