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 gotta agree with Pat on this topic.
Buchanan is an arse. Who cares what he has to say? Last I heard from him he was saying we should have been on Hitler's side in WW2. Nazi-loving trashbag.
BTW, doesn't "Mc" before a name mean "son of" or from the "family of". Wonder if this confirms that McCain is the son of Cain? The evil he's doing says oodles about him.
"He sure isn't going to get votes from the McCainiacs, who will do anything to thwart Bush."
In defense of the arrangement, Graham stated he would vote for rules change, if the dems default. I think he is not alone.
Overall I see it as having far more potential benefit for Republican party, than for the democrats.
It disarms the dems of a claim of "tyranny of the majority" and now places them in jeopardy of breaking the deal.
No similar downsides for Republicans; and most of the judges should get approved now, with prospect for pushing more through with rule change, if dems obstruct (break the deal).
That is my "big picture" take on these events.
Furthermore, I don't think that Sen. Byrd (who we learned today from his own lips "saved the Republic") is going to be telling W. who is acceptable for SC nomination. Somehow I don't think that a cowboy from Texas is going to take that kind of c*** from a sheet-wearing hillbilly.
5 years
He is real creep
In SC in 2000 John McCain brought in under-age students to the airport to bump his crowd for the TV media - He poured them kegs of iced Bud - courtesy of his wife*s family biz
Like Hillary - McCain goes for the result in any way he can
He is dispised by most in the Senate
I recall seeing the out-takes on TV when he attacked Maria Shriver verbally and viciously backstage in 2000 when she simply said hello and asked him a simple innocent question - McCain lashed out at Maria Shriver like a madman - thinking no mike or camera was live -
That did it for me in 2000 on McCain*s character and mental problems -
It*s what people do when they think nobody is looking - like Slick Willie and Monica in the Oval Office numerous times
Frist wants to pawn our mandate. NOT, it doesn't work like that!
Exactly. As far as these Executive branch appointments are concerned, the U.S. Senate is in the same place today that is was two weeks, two months, and two years ago -- with one key difference: three of those nominees are going to be voted upon.
None of the Republicans inspire me any more..They give up and let the dems walk all over them..
I agree Char that Senator John Bolton would be good,but how long before he turned everything over to the dems like the rest of the gutless republicans in Washington..Sorry but that is the way I am feeling about this now..When someone in Washington can show me that they are working for the American people then maybe I can have faith in them again..
I've ragged on McCain for years and am sick and tired of that egomaniac!
It's unfortunate that the AZ voters keep re-electing him:-(
He already sees Frist as the loser and last night was calling for Frist to announce the Nuke Option was still on the table.
Pat was about 8 hours late on that advice as Frist had ALREADY announced that on the Senate floor earlier that morning.
The only thing Frist didn't do was ask for a vote on the Nuke Option immediately. No need for him to do that until the Dems break the agreement which I'm sure they're going to do:-)
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