WATCH, LISTEN: Arizona Senators Vote Against $1.1 Trillion Spending Plan; Clips From Both, McCain Outraged Over Drone Plan Changes In Spending Bill

Arizona Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake were among the 26 Republicans who voted against the $1.1 Trillion federal government spending plan that will now be signed by the President (after passage in the House).

17 Republicans joined the Democrats in passing the plan that had been worked out by negotiators from both parties.  McCain and Flake both indicated in advance of the Thursday night vote that they would not support it, primarily because of some of the wasteful spending contained in it.

Early in the day, Flake was interviewed on NPR's Here & Now program, and tried to distinguish what happens in omnibus bills like this from the earmarks of days gone by that he successfully railed against:

The full transcript of the interview is below the jump, but here is a key portion:

HOBSON: Well, the other thing that some people may look at is these things that I know nobody's calling earmarks, but they certainly look a lot like earmarks.
FLAKE: Yeah, fortunately over the past couple of years we have banned the practice of earmarking, ostensibly. There are still things that look a lot like earmarking, like you say. The truth is that the, you know, in its heyday back in 2005, 2006, there was some 16,000 earmarks, about $40 billion worth spread across the appropriation bills. So the practice has been largely marginalized, at least, and that's a good thing.
But a lot of the programs that grew up during the earmark era just continue in these agencies and have continued in the president's budget or directed by congressmen.
HOBSON: Well, what do you call what's in this bill, if they're not earmarks?
FLAKE: Well, directed funding I guess you would say. People in position on the appropriations committees are in a position to more easily make sure their programs of choice continue to get funding. But it has, like I said, it's been marginalized largely. There's far, far, far less of it that's happening now. And, you know, sometimes it takes the form of letter-marking or calling the agencies, asking them to continue funding. And, you know, the agencies know who butters their bread, too. And so they're not wanting to go against any direction from appropriators.

McCain prepared statements to speak on the floor to express his several concerns with the plan: “With our country facing a rapidly growing $17.3 trillion dollar debt, which amounts to more than $54,000 per citizen, it is time for Congress to return to ‘regular order’ and consider each one of the 12 individual appropriations bills in turn to fund the activities of our government before the end of the fiscal year – with ample time for debate and amendment, instead of ramming through massive 1,582 page Omnibus appropriation bills like the one before us today. The American taxpayer expects more and deserves better than what we are giving them in this bill."

The rest of his statement is below the jump.  Arizona's Politics could not locate the video on C-Span's feed this morning, and suspects that he did not end up delivering them.  However, at the beginning of the day, he did rip into the Senators who put the omnibus bill together for allowing "secret provision" that deals with shifting the drone program from the CIA to the Pentagon.  An article on the front page of yesterday's Washington Post had called his attention to it.

WATCH: Sen. McCain Pretends Pres. Obama Doesn't Know Supreme Court's Role; Plus, He Cracks Himself Up On Romney Choosing Palin For VP

Sen. John McCain's appearance this morning with Charlie Rose on the CBS This Morning show was interesting.  He talked a tougher-than-usual line on President Obama, though it was hard to believe that he actually thinks that the President really does not understand the role of the Supreme Court in our three branches of government.  He delivered his desired message to former colleague Rick Santorum to get out now, and he cracked himself up (more than usual ) when he joked that Mitt Romney should pick McCain's former running mate Sarah Palin for the number two spot on the ticket.

McCain can be good at delivering attack lines based on out of context quotes or semi-truths, but the Supreme Court one that he spent the first part of the interview on is quite the stretch.  The Senator did try to preface it by saying, "As usual, he is backing off some from his initial, utter, remarkable statement....Clearly, the President - a quote, teacher of constitutional law - doesn't have the same fundamental understanding that most of us do."


So, Sen. McCain is trying to indicate that he is aware of both the initial statement and the subsequent "backing off some."  In case neither he nor his staff (nor perhaps, other readers of this blog) had the opportunity to review that initial statement, Arizona's Politics presents the full question and answer with the money quote highlighted.

Q    Thank you, Mr. President.  After last week’s arguments at the Supreme Court, many experts believe that there could be a majority, a five-member majority, to strike down the individual mandate.  And if that were to happen, if it were to be ruled unconstitutional, how would you still guarantee health care to the uninsured and those Americans who've become insured as a result of the law?
 
And then a President for President Calderón and Prime Minister Harper.  Over the weekend, Governor Mitt Romney said that the U.S. used to promote free enterprise around the world, and he said, “Our President doesn’t have the same feelings about American exceptionalism that we do, and I think over the last three or four years, some people around the world have begun to question that.”  My question to the both of you is whether you think that American influence has declined over the last three to four years. 
 
And, President Obama, if you’d like to respond to that, too.
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, on the second part of your question, it’s still primary season for the Republican Party.  They're going to make a decision about who their candidate will be.
 
It’s worth noting that I first arrived on the national stage with a speech at the Democratic Convention that was entirely about American exceptionalism, and that my entire career has been a testimony to American exceptionalism.  But I will cut folks some slack for now because they're still trying to get their nomination.
 
With respect to health care, I’m actually -- continue to be confident that the Supreme Court will uphold the law.  And the reason is because, in accordance with precedent out there, it’s constitutional.  That's not just my opinion, by the way; that's the opinion of legal experts across the ideological spectrum, including two very conservative appellate court justices that said this wasn’t even a close case.
 
I think it’s important -- because I watched some of the commentary last week -- to remind people that this is not an abstract argument.  People’s lives are affected by the lack of availability of health care, the inaffordability of health care, their inability to get health care because of preexisting conditions.
 
The law that's already in place has already given 2.5 million young people health care that wouldn’t otherwise have it.  There are tens of thousands of adults with preexisting conditions who have health care right now because of this law.  Parents don't have to worry about their children not being able to get health care because they can't be prevented from getting health care as a consequence of a preexisting condition.  That's part of this law.
 
Millions of seniors are paying less for prescription drugs because of this law.  Americans all across the country have greater rights and protections with respect to their insurance companies and are getting preventive care because of this law. 
 
So that’s just the part that's already been implemented.  That doesn’t even speak to the 30 million people who stand to gain coverage once it’s fully implemented in 2014. 
 
And I think it’s important, and I think the American people understand, and the I think the justices should understand, that in the absence of an individual mandate, you cannot have a mechanism to ensure that people with preexisting conditions can actually get health care.  So there’s not only a economic element to this, and a legal element to this, but there’s a human element to this.  And I hope that’s not forgotten in this political debate. 
 
Ultimately, I’m confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress.  And I'd just remind conservative commentators that for years what we’ve heard is, the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint -- that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law.  Well, this is a good example.  And I’m pretty confident that this Court will recognize that and not take that step.
 
Q    You say it's not an abstract conversation.  Do you have contingency plans?
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  I'm sorry.  As I said, we are confident that this will be over -- that this will be upheld.  I’m confident that this will be upheld because it should be upheld.  And, again, that’s not just my opinion; that’s the opinion of a whole lot of constitutional law professors and academics and judges and lawyers who have examined this law, even if they're not particularly sympathetic to this particular piece of legislation or my presidency.  (emphasis added)

Sen. McCain could not have any serious doubt that his former opponent understands that the Supreme Court justices have the constitutional authority to overturn the act of Congress.  It is just that Obama's "confident" that they will not because he thinks there are precedents supporting its constitutionality and it would be a huge decision if they knocked it out.  (Here are his extending and revising remarks from the next day.)

On to the fun part of the interview.  Sen. McCain was asked the Mitt Romney/VP question in the context of Sarah Palin suggesting Romney "go rogue".  That prompted the wise-cracking Senator to shoot back that he thought Romney's pick should be "Sarah Palin".  Though he pulled himself together enough to run down the list of real short listers, he obviously still had his joke on his mind when he concluded "obviously, it's a tough decision."  (CBS' text report accompanying the video noted he chuckled when he delivered that line, making it appear that McCain was demeaning those potential running mates; he was not.)

(McCain gave a much different, interesting interview a few weeks ago that aired this weekend, and Arizona's Politics will post that audio shortly.)




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WATCH: Sen. John McCain With Greta Van Susteren Last Night - Re: STOCK Act: "If It Makes People Feel Better, Fine."

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) was relaxed in his 952nd (estimated) interview with Fox News Channel host Greta Van Susteren. He joined with her in mocking the need for Congress to pass the STOCK Act, which passed the Senate unanimously yesterday and prevents members of Congress from benefitting financially from nonpublic information they learn in the course of their work.

McCain said, "Well, one would think (laugh) that this act was not necessary and we could respect ethics rules we have, ethics committee we have but if it makes people feel better, fine."

However, as reported by CBS News (which attracted a lot of attention to the issue last year on "60 Minutes"), the newly-passed law headed for the President's desk was stripped down by the House (from the version previously passed by McCain and the Senate).

In order to pass both Houses of Congress, the legislation was pared back from its original form. The final bill dropped a provision passed in the Senate last month, which would have given prosecutors new tools to investigate and prosecute criminal conduct by public officials. The final version also left out a provision that would have required those employed in the burgeoning "political intelligence" industry to register with Congress in the same way that lobbyists do. In the political intelligence industry, people with access to insider information sell their knowledge of political developments to Wall Street investors, who then use it to make investment decisions.

The political intelligence provision was stripped in the House after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said there should be more study of the issues involved. He also said the issue was outside the scope of the bill and wondered if the amendment could have negative consequences.

Link.

McCain and Van Susteren also discussed the healthcare insurance reform law headed for the Supreme Court next week.



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WATCH: Sen. John McCain Swallowing Hard To Vote "Aye" On Deal

Sen. John McCain was interviewed on Bloomberg TV this morning, shortly before he and 73 other Senators swallowed hard and voted to approve the debt ceiling/deficit reduction deal.



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WATCH: Sen. McCain This A.M. On CBS and Fox; Obama Can No Longer Talk About "Corporate Jets and Billionaires"

Arizona Senator John McCain (R-AZ) did not claim victory for the GOP in the debt ceiling deal that is now headed to both the House and the Senate later today.  Nevertheless, he is pretty pleased with it and praised Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for setting out the basic framework a couple of weeks ago.  He was on CBS News' "The Early Show" this morning.  Embedding of the video is not available, but here is the link.

He did go a bit further on "Fox & Friends", where he noted that the deal - by not including closing tax loopholes - removes President Obama's ability to campaign on "corporate jets and billionaires and all that".



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WATCH: McCain's Initial Speech Deriding Tea Party, Balanced Budget Amendment Requirement, Tax Raisers and President

Arizona Senator John McCain (R-AZ) made front-page news a couple of days ago when he derided some conservative Republicans and Tea Party followers for insisting on a balanced budget amendment being part of the debt ceiling negotiations.  Here is his initial speech on the floor of the Senate, on Wednesday night.


In reviewing this speech, it becomes apparent that - yes, he DOES agree that the Tea Partier's insistence on a balanced budget amendment is unreasonable given the lack of votes for it.  However, he does it in the context of criticizing all the sides that he felt were holding up a resolution of the situation.

The following day, McCain seemed to backtrack somewhat when he went on Sean Hannity's Fox News show, though he did not backtrack as far as Hannity would have liked him to.

Finally, here is his interview on Greta Van Susteren's Fox News show on Friday night.

In conclusion, Sen. McCain was very consistent in urging the President, the Democrats, and those in the Republican party to come to what he believed (believes) is the best solution.  And, as of tonight, it seems very possible that McCain's proposal might be the one that the party's move towards on Sunday.  (Hmmm, who is going to be on the Sunday talk shows?)


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DEBT CEILING COVERAGE: Arizona Delegation Updates, Sat./Sun.

I will try to post 'em as I can find 'em - but, if you have any that you would like to see included, please shoot me an e-mail at info@arizonaspolitics.com.

Kyl, Jon (R-AZ):  Arizona's junior Senator delivered the Republican's  weekly response this morning (Saturday).  He delivered a speech blaming President Obama for not understanding that this is an "opportunity" to "rein in spending".  ("President Obama is simply too committed to the European style of big government that his policies have set in motion."  "...raise taxes and keep on spending.")
McCain, John (R-AZ): Arizona's senior Senator sat down with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren last night. He repeats his softened criticism of those Republicans who have been holding out for a balanced budget amendment.  "Let's be honest with the American people. We have to have a balanced budget amendment.... But, I have to be honest with my constituents and tell them that this Senate is not going to pass it, but we can't give up the fight."



Here's a good article in today's Arizona Republic, from Dan Nowicki and Erin Kelly, with comments from many in the Arizona delegation, including the oft-ignored House Democrats (Pastor and Grijalva).


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WATCH: Sen. McCain On Fox News Sunday; "Greatly Worried" About Bi-Partisan House Support To Get Out Of Afghanistan

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) made his most recent Sunday morning appearance on Fox News Sunday last weekend.  Among other subjects, he acknowledged that he is "greatly worried" that support for U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan may be drying up.

The House of Representatives narrowly defeated an effort to step up the withdrawal of troops.  McCain said the Taliban has to be convinced that it cannot win, in order to bring them to the negotiating table.  The Senator's words echoed his 2007 against-popular-opinion position for a surge of troops in Iraq (which helped bring his 2008 presidential campaign back from the dead).

"And, military, there is significant success on the ground. It's tough and it's hard, as General Petraeus predicted. But I've seen this movie before. It was in 2007 that the same movement to get out of Iraq and we managed to push that back and the surge succeeded."

(The rest of the transcript of the interview can be found here.)


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WATCH: Sen. McCain's Speech On Mideast; "Do All That We Can Short of Military Action, To Help The Syrian Revolution Succeed."

Here is the speech that Arizona Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) delivered about the Middle East last night at the U.S. Institute of Peace, hours after President Barack Obama gave an address on the same subject.  (Though, as McCain pointed out, his was scheduled before Obama's, and he called the President "eloquent".)

The Senator pushed for further intervention in the ongoing problems in Syria:  "We must do all that we can, short of military action, to help the Syrian revolution succeed. I commend the President for imposing additional sanctions on top Syrian officials, including Assad himself. And I would urge the administration to continue ratcheting up the pressure, in concert with the EU and Turkey. The President should also call publicly for Assad to go, just as he did with Mubarak and Qaddafi."



The speech begins at the 20:45 mark and lasts about 28 minutes.  A link to the transcript is below the video. (If the video takes too long to load, here is the link to the C-Span page with the video.)



Text of speech, from Sen. McCain's website.
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WATCH, SOON: Sen. McCain To Deliver Own Mideast Speech (3pm, AZ Time); Obama Spoke On Subject Earlier Today

President Barack Obama gave a major speech on the Mid East and North Africa this morning.  Though he is no longer running against Obama, Arizona Senator John McCain delivers his own speech on Middle East policy this afternoon.

At 3:00p.m. (Arizona Time), McCain will speak at the U.S. Institute for Peace.  It will be carried live on C-Span, and may be watched online here.

Here is the transcript of President Obama's speech.  In it, he called for Israel to accept a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders (with mutually agreeable swaps).





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BEDROCK: McCain Calls Out Former AG Mukasey On Role of Waterboarding In Tracking Down Bin Laden

Our previous posts on John McCain speaking out about Bin Laden: (1) his statement in the immediate aftermath; (2) his interview the following morning praising Obama;  and (3) his 2008 mocking of Obama for saying he'd go into Pakistan.

Arizona Senator John McCain published a column in the Washington Post yesterday, restating his reasons for opposing "torture" (often euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation techniques"), in light of last week's discussion regarding whether waterboarding helped the U.S. to find and kill Usama bin Laden.  In doing so, McCain revealed that he did some fact-checking on former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey's claim that waterboarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed led us to Bin Laden;  "false", concluded McCain.

McCain said he called outgoing CIA Director Leon Panetta for details; Panetta had made some open-for-interpretation statements in an interview with NBC's Brian Williams.  McCain's account of his discussion with Panetta:

"...He told me the following: The trail to bin Laden did not begin with a disclosure from Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who was waterboarded 183 times. The first mention of Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti — the nickname of the al-Qaeda courier who ultimately led us to bin Laden — as well as a description of him as an important member of al-Qaeda, came from a detainee held in another country, who we believe was not tortured. None of the three detainees who were waterboarded provided Abu Ahmed’s real name, his whereabouts or an accurate description of his role in al-Qaeda.


In fact, the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” on Khalid Sheik Mohammed produced false and misleading information. He specifically told his interrogators that Abu Ahmed had moved to Peshawar, got married and ceased his role as an al-Qaeda facilitator — none of which was true. According to the staff of the Senate intelligence committee, the best intelligence gained from a CIA detainee — information describing Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti’s real role in al-Qaeda and his true relationship to bin Laden — was obtained through standard, noncoercive means."

McCain closed his column with a straight-talking appeal that the U.S. should "stand as an example of a nation that holds an individual’s human rights as superior to the will of the majority or the wishes of government."

It is easy to conclude that the issue of torture and the treatment of prisoners is the most deeply personal political issue for McCain.  He may be criticized - rightly or wrongly - for changing positions on other issues, but this brings us down to McCain bedrock.





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NEW: Arizona Poll Numbers On Brewer, Arpaio, McCain, Kyl, State Gun, Planned Parenthood; Disapproval of McCain Crosses 50%

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) was easily re-elected last Fall; today, only two Senators have higher disapproval ratings than McCain.  Meanwhile, Governor Jan Brewer's approval ratings stayed nearly flat from January, even after vetoing a flurry of bills.  And, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio continues to have a more favorable than unfavorable rating.
Public Policy Polling ("PPP") - an organization hired mainly by Democrats but which has noted to be one of the most accurate and unbiased pollsters - released the numbers, a couple of days after releasing portions of the poll dealing with the 2012 Senate and Presidential races.

Only 7 substantive questions in this portion of the poll results, so we will simply print them in their entirety below the jump. 

But, we will first note that the two Senators with lower approval ratings than McCain are close McCain friend Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and John Ensign (R-NV, just resigned).  However, not all of the states are polled, nor at the same time.

The pollsters surveyed 623 Arizonans, had a 3.9% margin of error, and did not try to limit its automated poll to registered or likely voters.  Conventional wisdom is that such polls are more likely to lean towards Democratic candidates.  The poll was not paid for by any candidate or political organization.  (Note: I have asked PPP to confirm whether or not they try to reach registered voters and/or screen the respondents for the likelihood of voting.)

WATCH: Arizona Sen. John McCain Spars With DHS Secy/Fmr AZ Gov. Janet Napolitano

All eyes were on Arizona yesterday at a Senate hearing as Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and DHS Secretary (and former Arizona Governor) Janet Napolitano sparred on who has spent the most time focusing on Arizona/Mexico border issues and how best to address the situation.

While Attorney General Eric Holder was briefing McCain and other lawmakers, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano was beginning her briefing to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs.  McCain came in late and Napolitano offered to catch him up later on DHS plans to initiate a new metric for gauging border security - a metric she said McCain has requested in the past.

McCain, too, wants to meet with Napolitano "before the election season gets too polarizing - although, obviously, it is," and expressed his disappointment that she had not seemed to take the McCain-Kyl-Flake 10-point plan seriously; she indicated that many of the points are already being done and that others may cost more money than the Congress is willing to spend.

The two grew testy over whether and how many drug cartel "spotters" may be sitting on mountain tops in southern Arizona.  McCain called it a fact, Napolitano said she that there are a couple of hundred possible spotting sites but that does not mean that they all have smugglers standing there watching law enforcement movements.  McCain grew exasperated but swallowed his statement that that is "crazy": "This is symptomatic to me of the lack of recognition" of the situation by the Administration.

However, both McCain and Napolitano agree that the border situation in Arizona has  gotten better. McCain:  "I agree that there have been improvements and I'm grateful for those improvements.  But., I argue that they have not kept up with the escalation of violence on the other side of the border."

Napolitano:  "In my judgment, what we need to do at the border is exactly what we are doing and more so and sustain it.  It's more manpower, it's more technology, it's more infrastructure.  It's adding air cover, which we now have across Arizona which we didn't have before."

The 15-minute exchange is worth watching.  Following that, I have embedded a fine summary report that aired on KJZZ (91.5, Phoenix, NPR) this morning.

Oh, and with all due respect to both McCain and Napolitano, I think that there are plenty of professional law enforcement individuals who have spent more time dealing with Arizona-Mexico border issues - some of them at the policy levels, too.



http://kjzz.org/news/arizona/archives/201105/NapolitanoSenate
(embedded player deleted because it automatically played)



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WATCH, READ: In 2008, McCain Mocked Obama For Promising To Go Into Pakistan Without Approval To Capture/Kill Bin Laden

(Note: Previous posts have highlighted a McCain interview yesterday and his Sunday night statement.)

In at least one of the presidential debates in 2008 between Senators Barack Obama and John McCain, Obama prophesied a time when the President might have to pursue Usama (aka Osama) Bin Laden into Pakistan, and promised that he would go in to capture or kill the terrorist leader with or without Pakistani help.  McCain tried to morph that statement into "threatening to attack Pakistan," and noted that he would be the more successful at building up a good relationship with Pakistan.  (Pakistan's government has since changed.)

Certainly, a fascinating exchange to revisit with today's hindsight.  The transcript of this portion of the October 7, 2008 debate is after the jump. Before the portion selected - and I certainly urge you to watch or read more - is the viewer's question about whether we should respect Pakistan's sovereignty and part of Obama's answer placing some of the blame for the Pakistan relationship on going into Iraq and letting bin Laden off the hook; after is McCain's promise to get bin Laden and that "I know how to get him."

LISTEN: Arizona Sen. John McCain: President Obama Deserves "Great Credit"; Al Qaeda Retaliation Doesn't Worry Him More Today Than Yesterday

Arizona Senator John McCain was interviewed by phone this morning by KTVK's (Channel 3, Phoenix) Tara Hitchcock. He twice gave explicit praise of President Obama for his role in the strike that killed Usama Bin Laden, and he does not believe that Al Qaeda is holding any attacks in reserve that make it more likely that they will retaliate.


He also deftly side-stepped a question about whether his opinion on waterboarding would change if it is confirmed that some of the key intelligence for yesterday's strike came from illegal torture methods. McCain reiterated that bad intel often comes from improper interrogation methods and that good intel often comes from accepted interrogation methods.



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READ: McCain Statement On Killing of Osama Bin Laden; "Overjoyed that we finally got the world's top terrorist"

Arizona Senator John McCain (R) released the following statement tonight:

“I am overjoyed that we finally got the world's top terrorist. The world is a better and more just place now that Osama bin Laden is no longer in it. I hope the families of the victims of the September 11th attacks will sleep easier tonight and every night hence knowing that justice has been done. I commend the President and his team, as well as our men and women in uniform and our intelligence professionals, for this superb achievement.


“But while we take heart in the news that Osama bin Laden is dead, we must be mindful that al-Qaeda and its terrorist allies are still lethal and determined enemies, and we must remain vigilant to defeat them.”

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Arizona Senators McCain, Kyl Both Vote For Budget Deal

Both of Arizona's Senators, John McCain and Jon Kyl, were among the 81 who voted this afternoon for the bill that authorizes federal spending through the rest of FY2011. 

Over on the House side, Arizona's delegation overwhelmingly opposed it.  Only Rep. Paul Gosar (R-CD1) voted for it, saying he did so because of the military troops.

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Newsweek Magazine Becomes "Arizona Week"; Sen. John McCain Profile Beneath Feature On Rep. Giffords' Recovery

We just posted a summary of Newsweek's feature story on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.  We would be remiss if we did not also point out that Newsweek's website is also featuring Sen. John McCain.  Arizona's one-two punch, a bit like the Black-Eyed Peas simultaneously holding the numbers one and two slots on the Billboard Hot 100.  (Or, Elvis Presley or The Beatles, for those of us a bit older; The Fab Four actually held the top FIVE spots one week in 1964!)

Here is the McCain profile by Howard Kurtz, positing that McCain has re-found his mojo as a result of the Libyan conflict.


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WATCH: Arizona Sen. John McCain On Who Are The Libyan Rebels: "People Didn't Ask... 'Who Would Replace Hitler?'"

Beating the Sunday talk shows to the punch, Channel 12's Brahm Resnik questioned Arizona Senator John McCain today about the present situation in Libya (and other issues).  Besides acknowledging that he told Resnik off-camera that the Libyan issue marks the first time that he regretted that he did not win the 2008 persidential election - though he said he was exaggerating - McCain criticized President Obama ("The contradictions start with the President") and advocated for directly arming the Libyan rebels.

When pressed as to who those rebels are, McCain responded by saying that that is not the question.  "People Didn't Ask... 'Who replace Hitler?'"  He believes that we do know the rebels well enough ("They have a website.") and that it is necessary.

The interview will air tomorrow morning.


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Half of Arizona's Congressional Delegation Makes A Run For the Border Thursday; Sen. McCain Leads The Pack

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) leads half of Arizona's Congressional delegation to the Arizona-Mexico border this week. (March 23-24)  After their survey of the situation, the five will head back to Tucson for a press conference in the parking lot of the regional office of the federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas agency (down by the Tucson airport).

Reps. Jeff Flake (R-CD6), and freshmen Paul Gosar (R-CD1), Ben Quayle (R-CD3) and David Schweikert (R-CD5) will join McCain on the survey and at the news conference.

UDPATE:  Not sure if they're going to the Douglas/Agua Prieta area, but came across this report this a.m.: http://bit.ly/f2nqXI


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