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 leaderships 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. Im 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 wont 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 Senates 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 publics 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 partys 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 isnt always a priority for every one of us. Good luck to you, Senator.
Sincerely,
John McCain
Get em Mccain... Damn straight!!
He's slimy and two-faced and the only thing that will save him is that he looks smooth on TV.
Here it is.
"You lied to me once, and I believed you. I'm not angry, but I won't make that mistake again."
That last pph will leave a mark.
Well then. That's a serious biatch-slap, even if it is from McCain. I guess even a blind squirrel gets a nut on occasion.
Even this so-called flame is so dressed up that MCain is trying to look proper, when in reality the subject he's talking about is the lack of integrity among the entire Senate. It's as if they don't mind being crooks, they just don't want people to know it.
That group will never reform as long as there is tax money to spend.
I suspect Mr. McLame is just making this issue bleed enough so that come 2008 he can go for the artery against Hildabeasts running mate.
What did he expect? A democrat swine to keep his word?
Honor and integrity are not found in the democrats lexicon.
I hate to be such a cynic, but I just don't trust the guy.
McCain's electability is based entirely on the public perception that he is still a rational and sane person. I laughed out loud when I was reading the letter, but at the end of the day, he's making it look like there's some legitimacy to Rove's (successful) attempt to make him look loony in the 2000 primary.
It's stuff like this that may make me reconsider the pledge to never vote for McCain.
Nice job Senator.
From one self-aggrandizing bozo to another. They are both preening for the media.
Just like your immigration/amnesty bill co-sponsored with Ted Kennedy, Senator?
Nice shot at Obama, though.
Any time!
While John "Keating Five" McCain isn't on my guest list, he does deserve credit for putting Osama Oboma in his place.
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