Friday, February 15, 2013

John McCain's very, very reasonable explanation for why Republicans filibustered Chuck Hagel

President George W. Bush joins Arizona Senator John McCain in a small celebration of McCain's 69th birthday Monday, Aug. 29, 2005, after the President's arrival at Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix. Short version: McCain says Hagel sucks because he was mean to Bush Yesterday, Senate Republicans blocked a vote on former Sen. Chuck Hagel's nomination to be secretary of defense, marking the first time in American history that any nominee for defense secretary has been filibustered. But don't worry, they had a very good reason to launch their historic act of destructive obstruction. Sen. John McCain, please take it away:
It goes back to there's a lot of ill will towards Senator Hagel because when he was a Republican, he attacked President Bush mercilessly and said he was the worst President since Herbert Hoover and said the surge was the worst blunder since the Vietnam War, which was nonsense. He was anti-his own party and people ' people don't forget that.
In other words, this is about Republicans defending their honor by standing up for George W. Bush and the Iraq War. It would be unbelievable, except these are the same guys who brought you George W. Bush and the Iraq War. And now, unlike Hagel who at least recognized his bad judgment for supporting W. and Iraq, virtually all Republicans are still committed to defending their incredibly damaging record.

But, as we'll see below the fold, there appears to be another reason McCain blocked Hagel: he didn't like being cc'd on a letter. He denies this, but take a look at the facts and decide for yourself.

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