Ask Sen. Mitch McConnell what he thinks of the version of campaign finance 'reform' winding its way through Congress and he minces no words.
"This whole thing is jury-rigged in such a way to help incumbents further", he said on Fox News Sunday.
The 3-term Republican Senator from Kentucky knows a threat to free speech when he sees one, however alluringly draped and adorned its wily disguise. He isn't gulled by pious sanctimony gushing forth from "reform" crusaders, nor cowed by the rah-rah from their inebriated media enablers. Sen. McConnell can think for himself, thank you very much.
In politics, where soothing weasel words and cryptic doublespeak are coins of the realm, Sen. McConnell is a refreshing departure. If obfuscation is the prevailing etiquette governing Washington these days, you would never know it listening to the Bluegrass State's senior Senator. In the beltway, his blunt, straight-shooting, straight-talking mien is downright iconoclastic.
And effective. In piercingly forceful, yet tantalizingly polished parlance, he propounds a spirited defense of free speech so relentless, so methodical it saps opponents into enervated fatigue in short order.
Sen. McConnell's position boils down to this: McCain-Feingold/Shays-Meehan is not only misguided, it is a cynical ploy by entrenched incumbents scheming to fetter encroachment from viable challengers even further, while gagging citizen groups -- all of it blatantly unconstitutional, to boot.
To illustrate his point, Sen. McConnell cited the millionaire loophole: "If you are challenged by a well-financed, multi-millionaire opponent, the contribution limits are raised dramatically so you can compete. Now, that helps a lot of us incumbents who are out there, potentially victims of some well-financed business person who enjoyed enormous success..."
Thus, the sham of campaign finance "reform" is revealed in all of its farce.
No, Ladies and Gentlemen, McCain-Feingold/Shays-Meehan isn't "reform", it is subterfuge by shameless political exhibitionists plotting an end-run around our Constitution.
Campaign finance "reform" isn't about accountability, it is chicanery -- a clever ruse de guerre staged by ruling-class crooks fire-walling themselves from all accountability.
Campaign finance "reform" isn't about fixing a 'broken system': McCain-Feingold/Shays-Meehan is THE FIX -- a shrewd gerrymander by venal politicos who aim to be answerable to no one.
Campaign finance "reform" isn't about restoring honesty in government; it enshrines dishonesty by muzzling and jailing citizens who dare to criticize the gangsters, thugs, mobsters and thieves sullying their offices in Washington.
No, campaign finance "reform" is nothing more than John McCain, the Grand Pooh-Bah of political exhibitionism himself, contriving a booby-trap for the President -- a tripwire, a political ambush to *get even* for the primaries.
But Mr. McCain is too clever by half. If he countenances this 'heads-I-win-tails-you-lose' dirty pool will work, McCain must live in a fool's paradise.
Memo to Mr. McCain: Sir, if you haven't learned this lesson by now, soon you will: Bush will be bullied by no one -- least of all by sniveling twits, if you catch my drift. This President will not be hectored, he will not be bulldozed, he will not be cowed into anything.
Newsflash: Your nagging gripes and sniping from the sidelines don't mean squat to el hombre de Tejas.
Here's another clue: Bush is playing for keeps. Expect to have your head handed back -- yet again.
My two cents..
"JohnHuang2"