Nooooooo! Not John McCain Again!

President Trump promised on the campaign trail he would fight to give middle class Americans a tax cut reminiscent of the historic Reagan tax cuts of the 80s.  On November 2 during a gathering in the Oval Office with members of the House Ways and Means Committee the President said, “We are giving them a big, beautiful present for Christmas in the form of a tax cut.”

The White House has repeatedly urged congressional Republicans to move the bill through Capitol Hill as quickly as possible so Trump can sign some form of tax cuts into law before the Christmas holiday.

"I really believe we'll have it done before Christmas. I consider that to be one of the great Christmas presents," the President said.

Senate Republicans took a significant step toward passing a sweeping tax overhaul on Tuesday, with a key panel giving its approval and several wavering senators indicating they would support the tax package, helping clear the way for full Senate consideration later this week.

It's likely all 48 Senate Democrats will vote against the tax bill. That means Senate Republicans can only afford two defections. They already have two likely no votes and even more senators with competing concerns that could derail the bill.

Once again, it could all come down to the senator from Arizona who is desperately in need of being put out to pasture.

After sinking his Party’s hopes of repealing Obamacare this year with a dramatic thumbs-down, the fate of a tax overhaul may now sit in the hands of John McCain. In recent days, he has been fairly tight-lipped about his views on the tax proposal speeding through the Senate, saying he sees some problems with the existing bill but is waiting for a final plan before making a decision.

Even those who know Mr. McCain best are unsure how he will vote, but if history is any guide, Republicans have reason to worry.

Some supporters of the tax bill have been concerned that McStain, along with senators “Liddle” Bob Corker (R-TN) and Jeff “Snow” Flake (R-AZ), could vote against the legislation to spite the President.

An Emphatically Ascendant Nightmare

I was among those who were stunned and dismayed when then-candidate Donald Trump described John McCain during a Family Leadership Summit in Ames, IA in July of 2015 as “not a war hero.”

“He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”

He mocked McCain for having graduated near-last in his class at the US Naval Academy and called him a loser for failing in his bid for president in 2008.

Yesterday, the Arizona senator who has been in office for 30 years popped off following President Trump’s threat to rain “fire and fury” on the hermit nation of North Korea. 

"I take exception to the President's comments because you gotta be able to do what you say you're gonna do...In other words, the old walk softly but carry a big stick, Teddy Roosevelt's saying, which I think is something that should've applied because all it's going to do is bring us closer to a serious confrontation. I think this is very, very, very serious…The great leaders I've seen don't threaten unless they're ready to act and I'm not sure President Trump is ready to act...It's the classic Trump in that he overstates things."

McCain finally found a country he didn't want to bomb. Just so happens it's one that the Dreaded Trump is talking about. https://t.co/cPLOpESrop

— Baby Goat Alliance (@AceofSpadesHQ) August 8, 2017

McCain may be one of the last hawks left in office but the old bird sure can flap his wings when he wants to beat the drums of war as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"And so, maybe it will turn out alright, he's the president, I'm not," McCain said. "But I don't think that some of the great leaders that I have admired would have taken that same path."  When asked to rate the North Korean threat on a scale of one to 10, McCain said, "I'd say 6, 6 or 7." 

Well Maverick, you old fart, I think when the elapsed time is a mere 39 minutes for one of North Korea’s ICBMs to strike New York City the threat is far greater than a 6 or 7.

This nightmare is an emphatically ascendant one.

No one could doubt that the Sept. 11 terrorists would have gladly used nuclear bombs instead of airplanes if they had had them, and it seems only a matter of time until they try. Instead of a retreating threat in North Korea, that fanatical regime now possesses as many as eight nuclear bombs, and is just one member of a growing nuclear club.

S. Dakota #Airmen arrive on Guam; conduct #bilateral missions w/Japan & ROK--U.S. ready to #fighttonight https://t.co/DhOTTdNT19 pic.twitter.com/HSOkYKHPQ4

— PACAF (@PACAF) August 8, 2017

Rex Tillerson on North Korea: @realDonaldTrump "is sending a strong message to North Korea in language Kim Jong-un would understand." pic.twitter.com/yItUSKE422

— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 9, 2017

UPDATE:  Welcome Pirate’s Cove readers. We always appreciate it when the Admiral links to one of our posts.

 

A Cornucopia Of McCain Craziness

Senator John McCain waxes bold...
No, no.
Senator John McCain whacks his old...
Nah, too subtle.
Senator McCain cracks a cold...
Nope, not that.

Senator John McCain screeches batshit crazy anti-Trump innuendos while exposing himself to prominent European guests.

There, that's it.

President Trump’s sudden firing of FBI Director James B. Comey is bad for the country and will not be the end of the Trump-Russia affair, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told a group of foreign diplomats and experts Tuesday night. 

Although McCain did not directly accuse the White House of firing Comey to thwart the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s possible Russia ties, he did say that if that was the intention, it would fail.

McCain, clad only in his own fecal material, shocked his guests by implying that the lawful, legal actions of the President of the United States in exercising his Constitutional discretionary powers while heeding the advice of his duly appointed Cabinet ministers, were in reality a criminal conspiracy to conceal a James Bond/Spectre type takeover of the United States by Vladimir Blofeld.

“This scandal is going to go on. I’ve seen it before,” McCain told a meeting of the Munich Security Conference core group. “This is a centipede. I guarantee you there will be more shoes to drop, I can just guarantee it. There’s just too much information that we don’t have that will be coming out.”

Senator McCain's remark to the group first referenced a unicorn but was later amended (under McCain's protest) to refer to a centipede. McCain is deathly afraid of centipedes.

Likewise for the "There’s just too much information that we don’t have," remark which was originally transcribed as, "The information is just too damn high."

He called Trump’s actions against Comey “unprecedented” and said the position of FBI director has held special meaning in American public life dating back decades.

Of course Comey's termination was not unprecedented.  The July 1993 firing of FBI Director Bill Sessions occurred during the FBI investigation of the Whitehouse travel office scandal and Vince Foster's death the very same month. Senator McCain later clarified his use of the term "unprecedented" to mean "not within the last thirty days."

When quizzed about these discrepancies, Senator McCain attributed them to the presence of undigested corn in his stool.

Source

McCain’s War

The long-simmering war between John McCain and Rand Paul boiled over Wednesday on the Senate floor when McCain directly accused Paul of working for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

McCain was speaking in support of a bill advancing Montenegro’s bid to join NATO.  Foreign Ministers invited the tiny Balkan nation to start accession talks to become the 29th member of the alliance in December of 2015.

Graphic via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Montenegro's Slavic ally Russia has strongly opposed its membership.  Russia sees the move as a way to cut off Moscow’s strategic access to the Adriatic Sea.  Serbia is Russia’s only traditional ally in the region.

There is no compelling reason to bring Montenegro into NATO. It adds nothing to the alliance with a military of just 2,000 and will become one more ally dependent on the United States.

In 2013, only 38 percent of Montenegrins supported accession. Many of them are Serbs who remember NATO's role in the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Prime Minister Milo Đukanović, who has run Montenegro since 1991, was a staunch ally of former President Slobodon Milošević of Serbia who was handed over to the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague for genocide and crimes against humanity including the infamous massacre of civilians at Srebrenica in 1995.

Furthermore, Duško Marković, became Montenegro’s prime minister in November 2016 amid complaints of election irregularities and the support of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).

The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland drew up the Global Terrorist Data which recorded a large number of terror attacks in the Balkans between 1970 and 2015.  Montenegro includes 38 cases including the unresolved case of the killing of Goran Žugić, a security adviser to President Milo Đukanović, in the capital of Podgorica in 2000.

A published report appearing in The Washington Times in November of 2015 reveals Croatian intelligence identified a possible Islamic State leader who set up operations in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina and began to organize scores of Islamist fighters who left the Balkans to join the Islamic State or al Qaeda’s Nusra Front in war torn Syria and Iraq and have since returned home.

“We have identified a possible Islamic State leader for the region and are monitoring the jihadist fighters returning to the Balkans, and there is much to be concerned about,” said the official, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing sensitive intelligence.

The concerns have been exacerbated by the refugee crisis sweeping Europe, which has security officials in the Balkans worried that an Islamic State sleeper cell could slip into the region disguised as Syrian refugees seeking asylum.

With a large Muslim population and a weak economy that leaves young, poor men vulnerable to radicalization, the Balkans region is experiencing growing fears that terrorism may be breeding among its civilian population.

“The threat is real, and the region is a potential tinderbox for radicalization,” the Balkan diplomatic official said.

I have been willing in the past to defend Sen. McCain against challenges to his patriotism and heroism, but his attack on Rand Paul was egregious.

When Sen. Elizabeth Warren attacked Jeff Sessions during his confirmation hearings Majority Leader Mitch McConnell muzzled her when she impugned the motives and conduct of the nominee for Attorney General.  Where the hell was the “Post Turtle” when McCain viscerally accused Rand Paul of working for Putin?

A McCain spokesperson clarified the senator’s words, “Senator McCain believes that the person who benefits the most from Congress’s failure to ratify Montenegro’s ascension to NATO is Vladimir Putin, whose government has sought to destroy the NATO alliance, erode confidence in America’s commitments to its allies, overthrow the duly-elected government of Montenegro, and undermine democratic institutions throughout Europe.”

His office further stated: “Senator McCain, and certainly the people of Montenegro, would appreciate an explanation from Senator Paul as to why he sought to prevent this small, brave country from joining in the defense of the free world.”

In responding to McCain’s McCarthyite broadside Paul said, “Currently, the United States has troops in dozens of countries and is actively fighting in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen. In addition, the United States is pledged to defend 28 countries in NATO. It is unwise to expand the monetary and military obligations of the United States given the burden of our $20 trillion debt.”

Senate Rule XIX (2) stipulates “No Senator in debate shall, directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another Senator or to other Senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a Senator.”

McCain should be punished.

John Lewis: Wrapped In Anger With A Dash Of Hate

Chuck Todd and NBC are rejoicing in the turbulence created during Todd’s interview with Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) on Friday.  The interview came on the heels of a 90-minute closed door briefing with members of Congress earlier in the day during which FBI Directory Comey “refused to clarify” whether his agency is investigating President-elect Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.  Comey’s “lack of candor” angered legislators; most notably Rep. Lewis.

“I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be very difficult. I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president.  I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected, and they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. I don’t plan to attend the inauguration. It would be the first one that I miss since I’ve been in the Congress. You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong.  I think there was a conspiracy on the part of the Russians and others to help him get elected. That’s not right. That’s not fair. That’s not the open, democratic process,” Lewis said.

This is the same kind of divisive rhetoric that Democrats hated under Obama.  

Congressman Lewis said he doesn't see Trump as a legitimate POTUS. In fairness, at 75 years young, he doesn't see much of anything anymore.

— Josh Earnst (@NotJoshEarnest) January 14, 2017

Lewis voted for Hillary Clinton who labeled African-American youth as “superpredators” when referring to “gangs of kids” in the midst of championing husband Bill’s 1994 crime legislation.

Remember to always use the words "respected icon" when referring to this misguided political hack. It's the law.#johnLewis pic.twitter.com/zamzJN3PtE

— THIS JUST IN... (@weknowwhatsbest) January 14, 2017

Lewis is notorious for endlessly spewing the same tired dog whistle mantra of racism expecting everyone to acquiesce because he’s a civil rights “icon”.  Lewis has managed to wrap himself in anger with a heavy dash of hate.

In October of 2008 Lewis accused John McCain and Sarah Palin of stoking hate exclaiming, "What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history.  Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse."

“As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all," Lewis said. "They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better.”  His full statement can be seen here.

McCain responded, "I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track," the GOP nominee said in a statement this afternoon.”

He added, "I call on Senator Obama to immediately and personally repudiate these outrageous and divisive comments that are so clearly designed to shut down debate 24 days before the election. Our country must return to the important debate about the path forward for America.” 

Kevin Jackson, proprietor of The Black Sphere posited this thought:  “Fools like Lewis have outlived their usefulness for black people, and he demonstrates just how badly he has sold out to the Democrats. The Congressional Black Circus hasn’t helped blacks in any meaningful way, since its inception. In fact, the CBC has made black Leftists the weakest whiners on the planet.”

Lewis cannot be held solely accountable for perpetuating this nonsense about Granny Clinton losing the election due to Russian meddling.  I hold an equal amount of revulsion for #NeverTrumpers like Mitt Romney, Bill Kristol, Jonah Goldberg and others, but my greatest ire is directed toward John McCain who admitted he gave an unverified, error-riddled “dossier” detailing claims of Russian blackmail to the FBI.

Watching our intelligence chiefs and McCain trying to blacken Trump's name by means of a sleazy, unverified report about golden showers in a Moscow hotel, is particularly ignoble.

The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post have been baying for Trump's blood. Not since World War II has the media so dramatically dropped its mask of ersatz impartiality to reveal its true political agenda.

Our intelligence agencies are a vital component of national security which has become our new state religion. But in true bureaucratic form they have become bloated, redundant and self-perpetuating. They need to be booted out of politics.

UPDATE:  Welcome readers of Adrienne’s Corner.  We appreciate Adrienne linking to this post.

“This Story Shall The Good Man Teach His Son”

Everyone was talking last week about Rand Paul’s 13-hour filibuster.  I praised Sen. Paul for challenging a president we don’t trust on his drone policy.

In a Washington Post Op-Ed Paul wrote, “The Senate has the power to restrain the executive branch—and my filibuster was the beginning of the fight to restore a healthy balance of powers. The president still needs to definitively say that the United States will not kill American noncombatants. The Constitution’s Fifth Amendment applies to all Americans; there are no exceptions.”

This president has relentlessly whittled away at the will and spirit of Americans.  As Sen. Paul spoke in the well of the Senate he was unaware that an explosion of support was building.

Thank you to my colleagues in the House & Senate, and to all the Americans who stood w/ me tonight in support of preserving civil liberties.
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) March 7, 2013

I was reminded of the St. Crispin’s Day speech from Act IV, Scene III of William Shakespeare’s Henry V.  The English army, led by the young King Henry V, is hopelessly outnumbered by the French forces at Agincourt.  The battle comes near the end of the Hundred Years War.  They do not expect to survive the day.

This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Just a few blocks away from the White House, at the pricey Jefferson Hotel, Republicans Lindsey Graham, Tom Coburn, John McCain, Kelly Ayotte, Pat Toomey, Bob Corker, Ron Johnson, Saxby Chambliss, John Hoeven, Dan Coats, Richard Burr and Mike Johanns joined our perfumed potentate to sup on high-dollar grub like Kalamansi Caviar, Lobster Thermidor, Maryland Blue Crab Risotto, Golden Beet Soup with Quail Egg and Filet of Prime Beef with Truffled Potato Mousseline.

McCain, who now loves power and the copious rewards which power confers upon him, once loved liberty.  McCain has been a colossal disappointment for many years and now he’s beclowned himself for criticizing Senator Paul’s filibuster.

Well, Senator McCain my friend, Paul’s filibuster got him the answer he was seeking from a stubborn regime that could have answered his question months ago.

Obama and Holder’s ultimate admission that he lacks such authority vindicates the notion that one senator can, in fact, make a difference.

The increased use of executive powers by this president is a threat to liberty.  Congress can halt this imperial presidency by exercising its constitutional powers.  Paul said his filibuster was the beginning of the fight to restore a healthy balance of powers.

John McCain is a pompous, tired, old warhorse.  I thank him for his service, but urge him to stand down.  He is part and parcel of what is wrong with a very broken Washington.  The increasingly irrelevant Lindsey Graham and young, rising Republican Kelly Ayotte are being led around by their noses by McCain. 

You don’t have to agree with Rand Paul’s wariness of American military interventionism to recognize the shift in politics his filibuster has heralded.  It doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination is see that Americans ache for a restoration of checks and balances on this regime.

For the record, I am not a Paultard, but I applaud the way he set Washington on its ear.