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Home Front: Politix
RINO John McCain Goes After Rummy Over Defense Intel Story
2005-01-24
McCain preens for MSM once again, goes after Rummy over WaPo Defense Humit story.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold hearings on a Washington Post report that the Defense Department is reinterpreting U.S. law to give the secretary broad authority over clandestine operations abroad. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has created a new espionage unit called the Strategic Support Branch, according to the news report, but McCain, speaking on CBS's "Face the Nation," said he doubts Rumsfeld has broken any laws.
So why the committee hearing, Johnny?
Add more tar with those feathers, Johnny, they'll stick to Rummy better heh.
"I'm always pleased sorry to read about things in The Washington Post when they affect a committee that I am a member of," McCain said. Pentagon spokesman Lawrence T. DiRita issued a carefully worded statement yesterday that appears to dispute parts of the Post article. "There is no unit that is directly reportable to the secretary of defense for clandestine operations as is described in the Washington Post," he said. In addition, DiRita said, "the Department is not attempting to 'bend' statutes to fit desired activities, as is suggested in this article." At the same time, DiRita said: "It is accurate and should not be surprising that the Department of Defense is attempting to improve its long-standing human intelligence capability."

DiRita said the war on terror necessitates "a framework by which military forces and traditional human intelligence work more closely together and in greater numbers than they have in the past. These actions are being taken within existing statutory authorities to support traditional military operations and any assertion to the contrary is wrong." The Strategic Support Branch, according to The Post, was designed to expand the Pentagon's use of "humint" or human intelligence operations, including the recruitment of spies and interrogation of prisoners. The recruited agents could include "notorious figures" whose ties to the United States would be embarrassing if revealed, according to a Pentagon memo.
They make such a nice couple don't they: WaPo and Johnny.
Posted by:Captain America

#9  I am so damned tired of McCain - from his belittling of POW/MIA activists years ago and his sucking up with Kerry prior to the election, to this kind of crap - time to show him the door and force him to do a Jeffords if he cannot walk the line.
Posted by: OldSpook   2005-01-24 2:18:17 AM  

#8  I am so damned tired of McCain - from his belittling of POW/MIA activists years ago and his sucking up with Kerry prior to the election, to this kind of crap - time to show him the door and force him to do a Jeffords if he cannot walk the line.
Posted by: OldSpook   2005-01-24 2:18:17 AM  

#7  IIUC Lieberman and McCain are good friends. Both sound moderate, both are moderate.
Posted by: Liberalhawk   2005-01-24 2:49:53 PM  

#6  McCain sounds liberal, but votes conservative. I'll take him over Hillary or Lieberman - who sound conservative, but vote liberal - any day.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2005-01-24 1:58:04 PM  

#5  McCain is unacceptable because of his hatred of free speech.

And, no, I'm not overstating it. His attitude and statements make it clear he cannot stand being criticized and will gleefully criminalize lese majeste.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2005-01-24 10:36:58 AM  

#4  id be happy to take McCain, even if most my fellow dems find him way to conservative. Thats why i part company often with so many of my fellow dems.
Posted by: Liberalhawk   2005-01-24 10:11:39 AM  

#3  I really can't agree, OS.
Yes, he is a grandstander, and of course the MSM play right into it when it can hurt the GOP. Yes, he sometimes votes based on ego or something rather than what we elect him for. Still, his record is usually good, unlike Arlan S.P.E.C.T.R.E.

The majority party is going to have flakes on both sides (and in the middle). The Democrats, in their heyday, had communists (OK, they still have those) to liberals (lots of those) to conservatives (those are gone) to racist Dixiecrats (Byrd is about the only one of those left). Sometimes there were desertions and even breakaway movements. Yet, the coalition survived for decades and was able to get legislation through. The lost tribes were welcomed back every time without (much) penalty.

Let's say we get rid of McCain, and S.P.E.C.T.R.E., and Chafee, and perhaps Snowe. We are now down to 51 seats. Maybe Hagel should go, too, as he is an another Daschle (talks conservative at home, talks and votes liberal in DC). Now we're at 50. Perhaps, in several years, they will be replaced by real Republicans, but in the meantime our agenda are stalled.

While I would prefer it that we had 55 (heck, 100) people who agreed with Me on every issue, we have to take what we can get.
Posted by: jackal   2005-01-24 10:05:20 AM  

#2  McCain continues to disappoint.
Posted by: 2b   2005-01-24 8:13:27 AM  

#1  I am so damned tired of McCain - from his belittling of POW/MIA activists years ago and his sucking up with Kerry prior to the election, to this kind of crap - time to show him the door and force him to do a Jeffords if he cannot walk the line.
Posted by: OldSpook   2005-01-24 2:18:17 AM  

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