Posted on 02/06/2006 3:55:52 PM PST by hipaatwo
From the Office of Senator John McCain comes this heroic smackdown of the other media darling in the Senate. The letter speaks for itself and it is brilliantly done.
The Honorable Barack Obama
United States Senate
SH-713
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Obama:
I would like to apologize to you for assuming that your private assurances to me regarding your desire to cooperate in our efforts to negotiate bipartisan lobbying reform legislation were sincere. When you approached me and insisted that despite your leadership’s preference to use the issue to gain a political advantage in the 2006 elections, you were personally committed to achieving a result that would reflect credit on the entire Senate and offer the country a better example of political leadership, I concluded your professed concern for the institution and the public interest was genuine and admirable. Thank you for disabusing me of such notions with your letter to me dated February 2, 2006, which explained your decision to withdraw from our bipartisan discussions. I’m embarrassed to admit that after all these years in politics I failed to interpret your previous assurances as typical rhetorical gloss routinely used in politics to make self-interested partisan posturing appear more noble. Again, sorry for the confusion, but please be assured I won’t make the same mistake again.
As you know, the Majority Leader has asked Chairman Collins to hold hearings and mark up a bill for floor consideration in early March. I fully support such timely action and I am confident that, together with Senator Lieberman, the Committee on Governmental Affairs will report out a meaningful, bipartisan bill.
You commented in your letter about my “interest in creating a task force to further study” this issue, as if to suggest I support delaying the consideration of much-needed reforms rather than allowing the committees of jurisdiction to hold hearings on the matter. Nothing could be further from the truth. The timely findings of a bipartisan working group could be very helpful to the committee in formulating legislation that will be reported to the full Senate. Since you are new to the Senate, you may not be aware of the fact that I have always supported fully the regular committee and legislative process in the Senate, and routinely urge Committee Chairmen to hold hearings on important issues. In fact, I urged Senator Collins to schedule a hearing upon the Senate’s return in January.Furthermore, I have consistently maintained that any lobbying reform proposal be bipartisan. The bill Senators Joe Lieberman and Bill Nelson and I have introduced is evidence of that commitment as is my insistence that members of both parties be included in meetings to develop the legislation that will ultimately be considered on the Senate floor. As I explained in a recent letter to Senator Reid, and have publicly said many times, the American people do not see this as just a Republican problem or just a Democratic problem. They see it as yet another run-of-the-mill Washington scandal, and they expect it will generate just another round of partisan gamesmanship and posturing. Senator Lieberman and I, and many other members of this body, hope to exceed the public’s low expectations. We view this as an opportunity to bring transparency and accountability to the Congress, and, most importantly, to show the public that both parties will work together to address our failings.
As I noted, I initially believed you shared that goal. But I understand how important the opportunity to lead your party’s effort to exploit this issue must seem to a freshman Senator, and I hold no hard feelings over your earlier disingenuousness. Again, I have been around long enough to appreciate that in politics the public interest isn’t always a priority for every one of us. Good luck to you, Senator.
Sincerely,
John McCain
Ping!
Be back later tonite :)
I just heard Brit talk about it. The letter from McCain is a riot.
LOL -bump-
I see this at the link, but is it for real? I doubt Senators
publish their mail to each other.
oh my...
I have a hard time believing this is genuine. It's more insulting than Senators usually act.
I tend to criticize McCain, so I'm more than glad to be fair and balanced and applaud him for this letter! :-D
OhBama and the 45 thieves....Democrat Senators.
"Hell hath no fury like a McCain scorned"
bump
And I suppose McCain is proud of this. He's the worst media mugger in D.C.
If this letter is genuine, I applaud McCain. If this letter is NOT genuine, I applaud whoever wrote it and ask them to please consider running for public office. ;)
How to call a colleague a "clymer" in 3,000 words or more.
McCain flames Obama
Posted by Frank James at 4:42 pm CST
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has apparently just been introduced to the infamous temper of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
In a flaming letter, McCain accuses Obama of “disingenuousness” for allegedly backing out of a commitment he made to McCain to participate in a bipartisan effort at lobbying reform.
My colleague Jeff Zeleny is working on a story for tomorrow’s Chicago Tribune and is trying to nail down the details of what exactly happened between McCain and Obama. We are also working to get a response from Obama's office.
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2006/02/mccain_flames_o.html
Sen. Obama's office responds
Posted by Frank James at 5:42 pm CST
Fellow Chicago Tribune reporter Jeff Zeleny talked with Robert Gibbs, a spokesman for Sen. Barack Obama who, as reported in an earlier posting, was skewered by Sen. John McCain who apparently felt Obama misled him about the Illinois senator's intentions to pursure bipartisan lobbying reform.
Zeleny tells me Gibbs expressed surprise over the tone of the McCain letter that came out of a meeting the two senators and eight others had last week. He said Obama remained interested in achieving ethics and lobbying reform.
“If Sen. Oama wasn’t serious about a bipartisan solution,” Gibbs told Zeleny, “he wouldn’t have gone to the meeting.”
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2006/02/sen_obamas_offi.html
ping
read post 16
o.k. NOW I'm outta here for a bit..LOL
O.K. I take half of the crap I said about McCain back.
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.