NOTE: TMVer Dorian de Wind wrote an extensive post HERE about McCain being increasingly isolated, which is updated with this recent news. MUST READING.
If you hear a slight sound, its the sound of an Etch-a-Sketch. I mean, if you lose your best political bud Joe Lieberman, who do you have left? Here’s a statement just issued by Arizona Senator John McCain — a political figure who more often than not no longer comes off looking like a moderate, but more of an aspiring Fox News commentator, someone who these days has looked more like a quintessential sore (Presidential campaign) loser than an actual maverick.
“I am somewhat surprised and frustrated to read reports that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was responsible for removing references to Al-Qaeda from the unclassified talking points about the Benghazi attack that Ambassador Susan Rice and other officials used in the early days after September 11, 2012. I participated in hours of hearings in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last week regarding the events in Benghazi, where senior intelligence officials were asked this very question, and all of them – including the Director of National Intelligence himself – told us that they did not know who made the changes. Now we have to read the answers to our questions in the media. There are many other questions that remain unanswered. But this latest episode is another reason why many of us are so frustrated with, and suspicious of, the actions of this Administration when it comes to the Benghazi attack.”
Crooks and Liar’s Nicole Belle:
Wait, does that mean that John McCain changed his public stance after receiving new and more specific intelligence? Imagine that.
But that doesn’t mean that Grampy McSame likes Ambassador Rice any more than he did last week. Despite being armed with information that exculpates Rice of his major criticism, McCain has not yet retracted his vow to block Rice’s presumptive nomination to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. Of course, it may be that the same man who thought Sarah Palin was imminently qualified to be one heartbeat away from the presidency still thinks that Harvard alum Rice is not ‘qualified’ to be Secretary of State.
I’ve concluded that John McCain is allergic to rice and addicted to acting out in ways so he can show Barack Obama that he still has power and is as relevant as ever.
And I’ve cloncluded the first may be true — but the second is not.
Andrew Sullivan, in his own subtle style, says this:
The irascible douche now acknowledges there is no evidence that Susan Rice was responsible for editing CIA talking points after the Benghazi attack, and that the DNI gave her what she subsequently went on TV with. End of scandal. No formal retraction or apology of course….
Of course, McCain believed it was perfectly obvious that Saddam had WMDs in Iraq. And so did I. I’ve learned to wait for the facts a little bit longer before jumping to conclusions of conspiracy or mendacity.
Well, Andrew, you and others may do that, and it may be the thoughtful, responsible thing for serious people to do, but, hey:
McCain’s a maverick….
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.