Tag: McCain

USS John McCain

One of the big stories this past week is the one about the Beloved Supreme Leader’s recent visit to Japan and a US Naval ship, the USS McCain…..

It would appear that Trump still has a hard on for Sen. McCain….if this report is true……

President Trump has made no secret of the fact that he isn’t, and never was, an admirer of the late John McCain. But that story took a strange turn this week with a report that the White House ordered the Navy essentially to conceal a destroyer named for McCain’s father and grandfather, both Navy admirals, while Trump visited Japan. By all accounts, Trump himself did not make any such order, but he said Thursday that he understands the rationale. Details and developments:

  • The president: “I don’t know what happened. I was not involved. I would not have done that,” Trump told reporters Thursday, reports Politico. “I was not a big fan of John McCain in any shape or form,” Trump added, before ticking off some of their differences. “Now, somebody did it because they thought I didn’t like him, OK? And they were well-meaning.” But “I would never have done that.”
  • Meghan McCain: She initially criticized Trump on Twitter Thursday morning over the report and later amplified on The View. “The president’s actions have consequences,” she said, per CNN. “And when you repeatedly are attacking my father and war heroes, it creates a culture in the military where people are clearly fearful to show my father’s name in one way or another. And that, I think, is what has started this chain of events and actions.”
  • The allegations: The first report of the White House order came from the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post and the New York Times later confirmed the broad strokes, though with different details. The USS John McCain is docked at Yokosuku Naval Base, and the White House reportedly asked that it be “out of sight” when Trump visited. The ship, however, can’t be moved because of ongoing repairs.
  • A tarp, a barge: The most tangible move to obscure the ship came when a tarp was used to cover its name, per the Journal and Post. Photos of that emerged on Friday, but Navy officials caught wind of what was happening and ordered the tarp removed on Saturday, before Trump’s visit. The Journal also says a barge was positioned in front of the McCain ship, though it was moved before the president arrived.
  • The sailors: The Times reports that sailors from the ship were singled out and not invited to hear the president speak, and that those who showed up wearing the ship’s insignia were turned away. However, the Post downplays this, reporting that the ship’s crew was not invited because they had the day off for the Memorial Day weekend, along with sailors from another ship.
  • Different controversy: Some of the sailors who did hear Trump speak wore patches with an image of the president reading “Make Aircrew Great Again,” as seen in this tweet from the Times. The Navy is looking into whether any uniform regulations were violated, reports Stars and Stripes.
  • Investigation: The Navy also is investigating whether anyone acted inappropriately in regard to the McCain ship, reports UPI. Acting Navy chief Patrick Shanahan says his chief of staff is looking into the reports.  (How far will that go?)
  • A critic: In the Atlantic, Eliot Cohen writes that any Navy officials who agreed to the requests to cover up the ship “disgraced themselves and disgraced the oaths they took when they joined the service or became public officials.” It’s not only a matter of principle, he writes. “A service that tolerates sycophancy will get America’s sons and daughters killed.”

This is news and it should not be so….this is a juvenile act regardless who ordered it…….or was this to take away from any bad news on the horizon for the day?

Sorry whoever ordered this slight to Sen. McCain is a childish attempt and is not as clever as they think it is…..

McCain and I agreed on little but he deserves more respect than this.

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The Death Of Political Courage

I would like to report that my area dodged a bullet….the storm that was headed our way actually came ashore 30 miles East of me…..so we were on the West side so a little rain and wind and no damage…..I survived to write another day.

In the days of Trump and the GOP I see NO political courage….I see No one standing up to the leadership of the GOP with the exception of those cowards that refuse to run again and have tried to become the soul of the GOP….in that they FAILED!

Just last week John McCain died.

There are more issues with McCain that I disagreed with than agreed….but I will say that he did have the political courage to take on his party on some issues……

Senator John McCain sought to stop the Bush administration’s attempt to weaken the protections offered by Geneva Conventions. The provision at issue was obscure, the matter legally complicated, and the White House was ready to fight. But McCain was determined.

At the time, I served as the senator’s foreign policy adviser. Talking in his office, we went over the issue one more time. It’s important, I said, but few understand it. You may well lose if you choose to fight this. Even if you win, you’ll get no credit for the victory, and the matter will soon be forgotten. But, I added, I think it’s the right thing to do.

“They are threatening to weaken the Geneva Conventions,” McCain responded. “I can’t let them do that. I’ll fight them to the end—even if it costs me everything.”

https://www.defenseone.com/politics/2018/08/death-political-courage/150820/

A sad day…..for with the death of John McCain came with the death of political courage.

Think about it…who do you see as having the courage to step up and buck the president other than the Dems….no Repub has a spine to do that these days…..

A nice tribute was written by H.R. McMasters to McCain…..

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2018-08-29/john-mccain-and-meaning-courage

He, McCain, will be sorely missed in a town of soulless drones he was an individual….and in a Building filled with spineless cowards he was a bright light that is gone forever.

John McCain–American Hero

This will be my last tribute to the memory of John McCain…..Me I seldom agreed with this man on policy….he was a neocon and too pro war for my book…..however he was a man that met his obligation to the country by his military service.  He was loved by the GOP as well as hated by the same…..most people that “hated” the man had NO idea what he was about…..and the ones that speak the most vile crap are those that stayed home during war and hide behind deferments….

This is the last post I will write to John McCain…..

In my dictionary, a “hero” is 1) an illustrious warrior; 2) a man admired for his noble qualities;or 3) one who shows great courage. John McCain met all the criteria.

As a United States Navy pilot, McCain was daring to the point of recklessness, determined always to be in the thick of the fight. His conduct during a long and brutal captivity in Vietnam was the definition of nobility and courage.

His Senate career demonstrated courage of a different sort, as he staked out independent positions on issues ranging from immigration to torture to campaign finance.

In his final days, McCain was one of the few leaders of his party to directly challenge the Trump administration, calling for a restoration of civility in our politics, and integrity in our public life.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2018/08/27/john_mccain_death_of_a_hero_113747.html

His last words to the country and its people…….

Before he died, John McCain wrote a farewell letter to Americans in which he expressed thanks for the privilege of serving and said the nation’s “present difficulties” would pass. See the full text at the Atlantic. Here are four excerpts:

  • “I’ve tried to serve our country honorably. I’ve made mistakes but I hope my love for America will be weighed favorably against them. I’ve often observed that I am the luckiest person on earth. I feel that way even now, as I prepare for the end of my life. I’ve loved my life, all of it.”
  • “We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment, and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe. We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down …”
  • Our public debates can be nasty, but “we have always had so much more in common with each other than in disagreement. If only we remember that and give each other the benefit of the presumption that we all love our country, we will get through these challenging times.”

“Do not despair of our present difficulties. We believe always in the promise and greatness of America because nothing is inevitable here. Americans never quit, we never surrender, we never hide from history. We make history. Farewell fellow Americans, God bless you, and God bless America.”

Once again in case it was missed…..See the full text at the Atlantic.

And that my friends is how a true American hero makes a speech.

Senator John McCain may you Rest In Peace.

Tribute To John McCain

Over the weekend we got the sad news that Sen.John McCain had passed away…..as a radical I seldom agreed with the man on policy…..as a Vietnam vet I respected the man……and I am sure that my reader will be seeing many tributes to McCain’s memory and his legacy…..

I share one that I read to his memory….

I did not join in the rather ghoulish anticipation of John McCain’s death indulged in by some war opponents. On Twitter, one aspiring attention-seeking pundit was suspended for her tasteless display of disdain for a dying man, and while there was an outcry (she was reinstated) I was not among the out-criers. For once I agreed with @jack, although I’m sure this meeting of the minds was purely coincidental and not likely to happen again: a little old-fashioned respect for the dying never hurt anyone. Far be it from me to cheer on the effects of cancer on a human being: I won’t do it, no matter who is involved.  This disrespectful rudeness was also indulged in by our President, another class act, who has more in common with his left-wing enemies than either is ready to acknowledge. (Trump eventually did his duty, however, albeit laconically.)

In his person, and his public pronouncements, McCain was the perfect representative of the nascent imperial class: born in the Panama Canal zone, the son of an Admiral, he was almost fated to become what he did indeed become – the archetypal Praetorian, the veritable embodiment of America’s post-World War II empire. A paladin of the cold war while it lasted, and a tireless advocate of post-cold war hegemonism, his favorite phrase was “boots on the ground,” and he championed this as a policy option for virtually every foreign policy problem confronted by US policymakers.

https://original.antiwar.com/justin/2018/08/26/john-mccain-and-the-warrior-spirit-in-american-foreign-policy/

In these days to stupid a man of logic and truth will be sorely missed.

Good bye John and thanx for everything.  chuq

Sen. John McCain–R.I.P.

Some sad news on this Sunday morn…..Republican senator from Arizona has died from brain cancer just days after deciding not to continue his treatments……

John McCain has died of brain cancer at age 81, per the AP. An aide said the war hero, longtime Arizona senator, and one-time presidential candidate died Saturday. In more than three decades in Congress, McCain became known as a political maverick willing to stick to his convictions rather than go along with party leaders—an independent streak that has drawn a mix of respect and ire. Most recently, he has been a thorn in the side of President Trump, keeping up his criticism of the White House even while undergoing severe medical treatment in Arizona. The son and grandson of Navy admirals, McCain is a former Navy pilot. He was elected to Congress in 1982 and to the Senate four years later, replacing the retired Barry Goldwater.

Prior to his political career, McCain served in Vietnam. In 1967, his plane was shot down on a bombing mission over North Vietnam. He was severely injured and spent more than five years as a prisoner of war. Years later, after establishing his name in the Senate, McCain ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, then won it in 2008. But he and running mate Sarah Palin lost to Barack Obama. When Republicans took control of the Senate in 2015, McCain embraced his new influence as chairman of the Armed Services Committee, pushing for aggressive US military intervention overseas and eager to contribute to “defeating the forces of radical Islam that want to destroy America.” Asked how he wanted to be remembered, McCain said: “That I made a major contribution to the defense of the nation.”

I wish his family all the sympathies I can…..John will be sorely missed in DC….his voice was one that had served the country well……

John McCain dead at 81….R.I.P.

A Sunday Thought

First of all….I wish all my mothers a very pleasant and happy Mothers Day.

In the past week there has been a bunch of interest, especially on Twitter, about John McCain’s last wishes when he passes…..

It seems does not want Trump at his funeral…will accept Pence but not the president……

As Arizona Sen. John McCain gets his affairs in order, focus has moved to the 81-year-old’s funeral. NBC News reports that former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have each been asked to deliver eulogies at the event at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, while President Trump hasn’t even received an invite. McCain, battling brain cancer, has reportedly asked Vice President Mike Pence to attend in the president’s place in a move that “highlights the depths of the Trump-McCain feud,” dating to 2015, when Trump insulted McCain’s years as a POW in Vietnam, per Vanity Fair. As CNN’s Jake Tapper puts it, per HuffPost, “This is a real moment for the country where an American hero, somebody beloved in many, many ways is saying, ‘I don’t want this guy at my funeral.'”

Sen. Orrin Hatch thinks McCain should reconsider. “John should have his wishes fulfilled with regard to who attends his funeral,” but it’s “ridiculous” not to invite Trump, he tells CNN. “He’s the president,” and “would be a very interesting speaker and would do a good job for John,” the Senate’s president pro tempore says. In an editorial at the Boston Herald, Michael Graham even argues Trump “belongs at McCain’s funeral.” “Chances are there never would have been a President Trump” without McCain, who attacked the GOP base before Trump rallied it, Graham writes. But Rep. Gregory Meeks, a Democrat, disagrees. As “McCain is known for being honest, just the opposite of Donald Trump,” inviting Trump to his funeral “would be a mischaracterization of who he is,” Meeks says.

Let me tell Orrin Hatch what to do and save the McCain family for having to deal this Trumpian a/hole.  Piss Off!

Why would McCain do anything after the disrespect that Trump has shown him in the past?

Do not get me wrong there is very little that I like about McCain’s politics but as a veteran I will show the respect he deserves for serving his country in the military.

You want more respect for the president then someone tell him he needs to show more respect for others.  He can stay home and spend his time playing on Twitter and watching fake news TV….it is what he does best.

And speaking of disrespect…..a GOPer knows how to do it…..

There was “discomfort” during a closed-door White House meeting of communications staffers Thursday when special assistant Kelly Sadler made light of Sen. John McCain’s terminal illness, sources tell the Hill. Sadler, discussing the Republican senator’s opposition to Gina Haspel becoming CIA director, said: “It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway,” the insiders say. Two sources confirmed to the AP that Sadler made the insensitive remark, leaving them “shocked and stunned.” The White House didn’t dispute reports of the comments, but it said in a statement: “We respect Senator McCain’s service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time.”  (Sense the Trump admin will not answer the question we can assume that they agree with everything this toad had to say)

McCain, 81, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer last year and is being treated in Arizona. Wife Cindy McCain fired back at Sadler, tweeting: “May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren.” But Sadler wasn’t the only one making offensive remarks about McCain on Thursday, the Washington Post reports. Fox Business Network host Charles Payne apologized after a guest, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, claimed that McCain’s time as a POW in Vietnam showed that torture works. “That’s why they call him ‘Songbird John,'” McInerney said, though there’s no evidence that McCain betrayed his country. Payne tweeted an apology for the guest’s “false and derogatory remark.”

Time for some civility in the White House starting with the man in the PJs watching FOX and eating a Big Mac.

Sunday is over for me….I will retire to the library and spend the day doing what I do best…..reading.

On an added note:  Some say that I am a Trump “hater” that is a cute insult and the best I can say is BITE ME!

I dislike Trump and his people…they are insulting, disrespectful, petty and pathetic……and their handling of the subject of this post illustrates my accusation……

“It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway,” Sadler said. Said Sanders: “I’m not going to validate a leak one way or the other out of an internal staff meeting.”

When asked why she wouldn’t just offer up an apology, she replied, “I’m not going to get into a back and forth because, you know, people want to create issues of leaked staff meetings.” ABC News characterizes Sanders as having had “multiple opportunities to condemn Sadler’s comments” but declining to do so. Sanders confirmed that Sadler, a special assistant to the president, did not lose her job over the comment, which was made in a room filled with about 20 people, some of whom apparently gasped at the remark. Former Vice President Joe Biden did have something definitive to say on the issue Friday. “People have wondered when decency would hit rock bottom with this administration. It happened yesterday,” Biden said in a statement.

It is stuff liked this that brings me to my dislike…..I believe if you want respect then you need to give respect……

I await the excuses from the Trump apologists (Like that term….where have the dullards heard it before?)

Closing Thought–20Jul17

Facing One More Challenge!

Sen. John McCain has had to face many challenges in his life….POW, political winds and now a medical challenge…..

Arizona Sen. John McCain has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, his office said in a statement Wednesday. The 80-year-old lawmaker has glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer, according to doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, where McCain had a blood clot removed from above his left eye last Friday. “Subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot,” his office said in a statement. According to the American Brain Tumor Association, more than 12,000 people a year are diagnosed with glioblastoma, a particularly aggressive type of tumor. The American Cancer Society puts the five-year survival rate for patients over 55 at about 4%.

It’s the same type of tumor that struck McCain’s close Democratic colleague in legislative battles, the late Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. The tumor digs tentacle-like roots into normal brain tissue. Patients fare best when surgeons can cut out all the visible tumor, which happened with McCain’s tumor, according to his office. That isn’t a cure; cancerous cells that aren’t visible still tend to lurk, the reason McCain’s doctors are considering further treatment, including chemotherapy and radiation. McCain has had a lifetime of near-death experiences, reports the AP: surviving the July 1967 fire and explosion on the USS Forrestal that killed 134 sailors; flying into power lines in Spain; the October 1967 shoot-down of his Navy aircraft and fall into Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi; and 5.5 years in a North Vietnamese prison.

McCain has always been a fighter and I am sure that he will fight this turn tooth and nail……if anyone can beat this diagnosis it is John McCain.

While we seldom agreed with McCain politically IST wishes to issue a strong support for a speedy recovery…..and our prayers are with him and his family.

Time to kick back and relax for the rest of the day….I shall return with a bag of more stuff…..chuq

Why Not Go To War?

I recently did a piece where I gave some props to McCain and his ally Graham…..they were showing their grit by standing up to the emperor on some issues…..and then when I was starting to like these guys a bit, after years if bad mouthing them, they just could not let some things go….

It appears the McCain and his crony Graham recently made a “fact finding” mission to the Ukraine and while there had to thump their chest like crazed primates….

The United States has never been particularly supportive of efforts by European nations to negotiate a ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine. Perennial hawks Sen. Lindsey Graham (R – SC) and John McCain (R – AZ) took things a step further, however, visiting Ukrainian troops on the frontlines and openly urging new military offensives against the ethnic Russian rebels.

Addressing the troops alongside Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Graham declared 2017 to be “the year of offensive” against Russia, insisting Ukraine’s fight was America’s fight, and that he was determined to make the Russian “pay a heavier price.”

Sen. McCain concurred, insisting that the US could not allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to “succeed” in Ukraine, because if he does he’s liable to also “succeed” in other countries around the world.  (Domino Theory again?)

Graham is also said to be pushing a draft resolution aiming to impose a new round of sanctions against Russia for “trying to interfere with our election.” He insisted he would “never be satisfied” until the US punishes the Russian government.

(antiwar.com)

Appears the Pres. Trump and McCain/Graham are not on the same page when it comes to Ukraine…..

White House officials say President Trump had a “very good call” with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko over the weekend, during which hew promised to work to restore peace along Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia, an area which has faced years of civil war.

According to a read-out of the call, Trump promised to work with Ukraine, Russia, and all other parties on the issue, with an eye toward restoring peace along the border. Trump and Poroshenko also discussed the possibility of meeting in the near future.

Is that our only answer to any situation….GO TO WAR?  Or is there a possibility for some sort of diplomacy? (that would be a pipe dream)……

McCain: A Trump Nemesis

John McCain the hero of the Right in 2008 has become a “traitor” in 2017….for no other reason than he will not bend over for the new dude in the robes of power….He, McCain, has not abandoned any of his positions on issues so that cannot be the problem…..unlike Ryan McCain has stuck by his principles….most of which I do not agree with but he gets my respect for not being a brown noser….

After a few days in the power seat Trump and McCain have already bumped heads……

WASHINGTON (AP) – Sen. John McCain has emerged as President Donald Trump’s top Republican nemesis on Capitol Hill.

Since Trump’s inauguration, McCain has broken with the president on his immigration order, warned him against any rapprochement with Moscow, lectured him on the illegality of torture, and supplied only a tepid endorsement of Rex Tillerson, Trump’s secretary of state nominee.

Oh, and McCain also hammered Trump for backing away from – instead of embracing – international free trade agreements.

As Trump presses ahead with an ambitious and contentious agenda at home and abroad, McCain is pushing back, using his seniority in Congress and his characteristic bluntness. McCain, 80, cruised to a sixth Senate term in November, defeating a Democratic challenger who hounded the senator for standing by Trump even after the billionaire businessman insulted him as a “loser.”

I wish I could be optimistic that he, McCain, will stick by his guns…..but I have watched too many politicians put on a brave front for the cameras and then cave to the will of the “boss”…..

Where McCain goes so shall Graham…..we will watch to see just how much of a nemesis these two will be….or is it all so much smoke?

Grandstanding After All

When it began there was push back to Pres. Trump’s nominee for State, Tillerson.  The leaders of the “opposition” were Sens. McCain and Graham….very vocal and defiant toward the appointee….

With all the chest thumping I said that it might be just theatrics like so much else done or said by senators…..

Appears I called this one also……

Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain will support Rex Tillerson as secretary of state in a move that all but clinches his nomination, reports Politico. Graham confirmed his position on CBS’ Face the Nation and in a joint statement with McCain; Marco Rubio still hasn’t decided, but McCain and Graham make that all but irrelevant. “Though we still have concerns about his past dealings with the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin, we believe that Mr. Tillerson can be an effective advocate for US interests,” they said in a joint statement. McCain says the decision “wasn’t an easy call” but he says Tillerson assuaged worries about Russia in private meetings. McCain says he also believes in giving incoming presidents “the benefit of the doubt” on their picks.

Typical political games that runs rampant in Washington…..AH the games played in the name of governing….