Posted on 05/24/2005 3:36:16 PM PDT by CHARLITE
Former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan had no kind words for Sen. John McCain this morning on the Don Imus radio program.
Buchanan said that Bill Frist had the votes to override the filibuster, but that McCain, with his "deal," in essence supported the Democratic filibuster and took the leadership of the Senate away from Frist.
Buchanan told Imus that with a change in the rules, President Bush's judicial nominees would have sailed through the Senate, that any Supreme Court nominees would sail through the Senate, and that "the great battle for the supreme Court was about to be won today" – except for the efforts of the "McCain Seven," who, Buchanan believes, have sold out the positions of the president, Sen. Frist and the entire base of the Republican Party.
That's quite a lot to heap on the shoulders of those seven Republican senators (Snowe, DeWine, Warner, Collins, McCain, Chafee and Graham) who cut this deal with the Democrats – but Buchanan isn't convinced the deal has to go through.
He told Imus, "If I were Senators Allen and Frist, I would say, 'Senator McCain, you've cut your deal with the Democrats and that's fine, but you haven't cut any deal on our behalf.
"'We've got seven judges here, and we're going to vote them all out of committee, and we're going to bring them to the floor [of the Senate], and every one of them is going to get an up-or-down vote.
"'If the Democrats filibuster, we're going to try to invoke cloture, and you can vote with Harry Reid and Ted Kennedy if you want - all four times.'"
This would present a problem for McCain and his ambitions. Buchanan added, "If they do that, McCain will then be forced either to go with the Republicans, and vote to break the filibuster ... or he votes with the Democrats, in which case he will cut his own throat, repeatedly, in his desire to be the Republican nominee [for president].
"Frist and Allen and the others are in the catbird seat, as long as they've got the nerve to stand up and say these fellas have cut the deal, it's nice to have the three judges, but we do not accept the deal that denies us [the other] four."
In other words, Frist and the others have to stand up for not only the Republican Party but also for Frist’s own leadership.
"If they don't do it, they're in effect ceding the decisive leadership in the Senate – Frist would be ceding it to McCain," Buchanan said.
But the issue is not simply about one or two judges, according to Buchanan. It's about the tyranny of the Supreme Court over the last half century.
"This is about the U.S. Supreme Court. The Republicans have to break that filibuster because ... the Supreme Court's been conducting a social revolution in this country for 50 years, and Bush has a long-shot chance of bringing down the curtain on it – and you should not give up that for some idea of non-partisanship in the U.S. Senate," he said.
Buchanan surmised that Bush needs to appoint three Supreme Court justices to override the liberal bias of the court, and "take it out of being a judicial dictatorship and judicial tyranny and restore it to constitutionalism."
Imus then asked what McCain and the others might be motivated by in making this deal.
"McCain gets big media that says 'John McCain is the man of the hour,' then he gets the Democrats coming around saying 'McCain saved things, he's a moderate, he's a man of the middle,'" Buchanan answered, "but he's done it at the expense of Frist and the Republican Party."
I'm not sure a bucket is up to the job today. A wheelbarrow maybe.
I think that Bill Frist's mistake was assuming that more than a few Senate Democrats would actually act in good faith, and limit their opposition to nominees tainted by "extraordinary circumstances". What he fails to appreciate is that to most Senate Democrats, being a mainstream conservative is "extraordinary" in and of itself. And they don't mean that in a good way. To the Democrat leadership, even a mild-mannered, rational man such as Bill Frist is a dangerous radical who must be defeated at any cost. He opposes their concept of progress - and "Progress" is their deity.
Your preaching to the choir. I agree.
I never thought I would hear myself say this but...I just don't give a damn anymore.
The sane Buchanon speaks today I see.
I agree. They must tell the others to go to hell. Have the votes and put them on record. Take votes right through '06 if they have to every week. Keep drilling this into public consciousness and make them kiss their careers goodbye with every second this drags on.
President Bush should find ways to make sure he remains the power in town. McStupid is making a play to be king-maker here. Bush needs to cut him off at the knees.
Perhaps some base closures can be re-assigned to Arizona.
Buchanon is essentially correct. If Republicans let these 7 buttwipes get away with this then Frist should resign, because he has become worthless. As for any notion that Frist will insist on the other 4 being brought on the floor. It wont happen. No balls.
I have been trying to give Frist the benefit of the doubt, ever since he assumed the position of Majority Leader, but I think you're right. He's turning out to be a huge disappointment to those of us who were so energized and enthusiastic about our gains last November.
As you say, this man should quietly return to private medical practice. Give us a John Bolton to lead our majority in the U.S. Congress? Just who is our strong man, I ask you.
Char :)
I wrote on another similar thread last night (discussing John McCain), that I worked for 6 months leading up to the Nov. '04 election, with various anti-Kerry, pro-Bush veterans' groups........and you would be surprised how many vets told me privately that they know that "John McCain just isn't all there." i.e. he's missing a few screws.
None of them elaborated, or provided details, but lots of them said that McCain's problem is the "not-a-full-deck" problem. Too bad the voters in AZ. haven't figured that out yet, and unless or until they do, there isn't much that the rest of us can do about it.
At this point, one can almost be assured that if conservatives are on the verge of major victories, John McCain will devise a way to wreck the plan, and defeat us!
Rush thinks that McCain has been engaging in "pay back" for what he perceives as insults from the Bush people during the 2000 primary season......and that everything he does is to thwart George W. Bush. That's worse than simply being a RINO! I'm not sure what his new label ought to be.
Char
I don't think there is any other way to interpret events. It is SO-o-oooooo aggravating. I had such high expectations for Bush's 2nd term. Time's awastin' . . . and I can't see any of the strong, bold "take charge" moves that he made during his 1st term.
Thanks so much for your reliably astute comments, Ghost!
Char :)
"Who would put a character like McCain on their shoulders? Nobody. Not Dems, not Republicans, nobody."
Yes, Dems...and the dimwitted.
mcPain's ego lives on.........
Does seem that anytime Bush and Republicans are set to roll with their majority, a McCain or Jeffords pops out of somewhere to screw everything up and make it a hard road.
McCain was being a total ASS here. I firmly believe McCain is trying to sabotage Judges so Bush may not have a Judicial legacy to leave the courts that would be historically significant.
I am beginning to think that the wrong part of McCain was cut off in his operations. They should have saved the mole and lost him instead.
What a waste of a Senate seat McCain is.
"Creep" does it for me.
George Allen for President in 2008. We need a real man in the Majority Leader position, and Frist is obviously not the man who can control the Republican party.
Today Graham and Warner both sounded like they would go along with the nuclear option if/when the Dems decide to filibuster again.
That is the depressing question. I don't think we have one.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.