McCain: 'I Don't Understand' Filibustering Gun Control

by Mike Flynn 7 Apr 2013
 

 Sen. John McCain (R-Sunday Shows) expressed bewilderment on CBS' "Face the Nation" that GOP Sens. Cruz, Lee and Paul would filibuster gun control legislation. “I don’t understand it,” McCain said. “The purpose of the United States Senate is to debate and to vote and to let the people know where we stand.”

With all due respect to Sen. McCain, that is almost completely backward.  The purpose of the US Senate is not to be some federal debating society. It is not tasked with taking the great issues of the day and giving its "august" members a platform for their musings on policy. The public does not look to the Senate for guidance in its deliberations on the issues.

The Senate's first, and only, task is to uphold the Constitution. Originally, the Senate was designed to act as the states' check on an encroaching federal government. Senators were appointed by state legislatures to be their voice in Washington. The House was designed to be the voice of the people. Sadly, those days are long gone.

Today, Senators are just House members juiced-up on steroids. Worse, they have a habit of putting decorum and the traditions and processes of the institution above foundational principles.

“I don’t understand why United States senators want to block debate when the leaders said we could have amendments,” McCain noted.

If one believes a legislative proposal is, on its face, unconstitutional, the ability to offer amendments is of little solace. Sens. Cruz, Lee and Paul, among other Senators, believe legislation to limit gun rights is, by its nature, unconstitutional. Amending the legislation to make it slightly less unconstitutional is a fool's game, and a large reason our federal government has grown so large.

A filibuster against gun control legislation is upholding the greatest tradition of the Senate, i.e. acting as a bulwark against the federal government's natural inclination to expand its power. Knowing how specific Senators voted on shredding the Constitution won't put it back together again. Any proposal that tramples on constitutional rights should never grace the floor of the Senate.

Sen. McCain, once the GOP candidate for President, is becoming marginalized within the GOP Senate caucus. New, more conservative, Senators are stepping up to defend Constitutional principles and becoming a vocal, loyal opposition to the Administration and its curtailing of our liberties. They should be applauded.

Follow Mike Flynn on twitter: @Flynn1776

Big Government

John McCain: New GOP Guard 'Wacko Birds'

by Larry O'Connor 8 Mar 2013
 

 John McCain may have finally lost it.  In an interview with Huffington Post he referred to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) as "wacko birds."  “They were elected, nobody believes that there was a corrupt election, anything else,” McCain said. “But I also think that when, you know, it’s always the wacko birds on right and left that get the media megaphone." Asked to clarify, McCain said he was referencing ”Rand Paul, Cruz, Amash, whoever.”

Maybe McCain is angry because Paul and Cruz stole the headlines from his and BFF Lindsay Graham's kumbaya "My Dinner With Barack" moment on Wednesday. Maybe he still blames those crazy Sarah Palin conservatives who kept him out of the White House (you know that's what he really believes in his heart... you just KNOW it,) or maybe he is just jealous that a fellow Senator can actually stand, talk and refrain from urinating for over 12 hours, let alone 12 minutes.

Either way, McCain is single-handedly giving the media the exact narrative they need to attack conservatives' newest hero.  He is also inviting a robust primary challenge for his bid to get re-elected to the US Senate in 2016 for the 31st year.

In the long three decades McCain has served in Washington DC, we can't find any time he's referred to any other colleagues, past or present, as "wacko birds." Not Nancy Pelosi. Not Barbara Boxer. Not Al Franken. Not Robert Byrd.  Not Sheila Jackson Lee. Not Hank Johnson. Not Patrick Leahy. Not Robert Menendez. Not Bernie Sanders.  Not Dennis Kucinich.  Not Jim Wright.  Not Anthony Weiner.  Not Alan Grayson. Not Carol Moseley Braun. Not Dick Durbin. Not Chuck Schumer. Not Harry Reid.

No. The "wackos" are Rand Paul and Ted Cruz -- the two men who have single-handedly breathed new life into the moribund and wasted GOP brand.  Moribund and wasted no thanks to the abysmal political skills (or lack thereof) of McCain and his ilk.

And let's please remember who joined Sen. Paul and Sen. Cruz during the "wacko" filibuster.  Sen. John Thune, Sen. Ron Johnson, Sen. Pat Toomey, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Tim Scott and, oh yes, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.  "Wackos" each and every one of them.

He's gone too far.  McCain is letting his personal pique and myopic world view cloud his already questionable judgement.  It might be time for Sen. McConnell to have a sit down and reign the maverick in.

Big Government