While other Republican senators and congressman cower, Senator John McCain will not bow and scrape to Trump.
The Wall Street Journal writes today (sorry, can’t find the link–if you do, send it):
Sen. McCain has served notice he is the Republican lawmaker most willing to defy the new Republican president
The maverick is unleashed.
Sen. John McCain, famously independent-minded and fresh from his own resounding re-election victory, has served notice that he is the Republican lawmaker most willing to defy the new Republican president.
Some fret over how to handle their disagreements with Donald Trump; Mr. McCain exhibits no such uncertainty.
In just over a week’s time, Mr. McCain has called the new Trump ban on immigration from a set of Muslim-majority countries a recruiting boon for Islamic State radicals; threatened to codify Russian economic sanctions into law to prevent Mr. Trump from lifting them; called the president’s decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership “a serious mistake”; and called the idea of imposing a 20% tariff on imports from Mexico to pay for a border wall “insane.”
The senator also served noticed that he will fight any effort to reinstate waterboarding or other forms of torture in interrogation of terror suspects; and declared he may oppose the Trump nominee for budget director because of his past opposition to military spending and troop deployments in Afghanistan.
In short, frenetic as the new president has been, Mr. McCain is matching him step for step. Thus is a president willing to go rogue being matched by a powerful lawmaker—head of the Armed Services Committee and former GOP presidential nominee—prepared to do the same.
“The main thing is, do the right thing,” Mr. McCain said in an interview. “I feel, frankly, a greater burden of responsibility. The world’s on fire, we have more challenges than any time in the last 70 years and, with the chairmanship of the Armed Services Committee and whatever influence I have, I need to exercise it because the responsibilities are so great.”
Mr. McCain said he is willing to work with Mr. Trump: “I believe there are areas where we certainly can.” In fact, he will be crucial to the president’s desire to ramp up military spending and overhaul defense procurement practices, areas where they are almost entirely in sync.
Plus, he said he has good relations with key Trump security nominees: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and national security adviser Michael Kelly. White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, he noted, was Wisconsin chairman of his 2008 presidential bid, and he has traveled abroad on congressional delegations with Vice President Mike Pence.
But, he said, he has no communication going with the president himself.
This is a potentially serious long-term problem for Mr. Trump. The president is not especially susceptible to criticism from Democrats, which is predictable and easily dismissed, but opposition from Republicans, who control both chambers and every committee of Congress, and thereby the Trump agenda, is far more important.
Republicans hold only a two-seat majority in the Senate, so the White House has little margin for error within the party there. Though Mr. McCain’s ability to unite Republicans behind him has long been questionable, Mr. Trump could ill afford it if Republican misgivings coalesced around a highly visible leader.
The bad blood isn’t surprising. Early in the 2016 presidential campaign, Mr. Trump belittled Mr. McCain’s horrific Vietnam War experience, during which his Navy attack jet was shot down and, while seriously injured, he spent more than five years in a North Vietnamese prison.
“He’s not a war hero,” Mr. Trump said. “He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
The comment came early in the Trump campaign, and many thought it would derail it. The fact it didn’t was a key initial sign of how much the GOP had changed.
Mr. McCain also noted that Breitbart News, the site previously overseen by top Trump adviser Stephen Bannon, has “attacked me incessantly for years.”
All that leaves lots of room for bad blood. Some of the disagreements are local. Mr. McCain argues that the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Mr. Trump wants to renegotiate, has benefited his home state of Arizona, and that the tariff on Mexican imports floated by the White House clearly would hurt it.
His own war experience with brutal treatment during incarceration leaves him starkly at odds with Mr. Trump’s belief that waterboarding and other forms of harsh interrogation are acceptable.
But the area that seems to most bother Mr. McCain isn’t personal; it is a seemingly deep disagreement with the new president over his desire to strengthen ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The last two American administrations, of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, similarly started “with the mistaken belief there would be improved relations with a hardened KGB colonel,” Mr. Putin, only to be disappointed, he said.
“The difference now versus before is he’s invaded a country”—Ukraine—and, he added, has tried to influence an American election.
All well and good, Senator McCain. What’s your opinion about Betsy DeVos?
In the big picture, because of his committee assignments, this a less of a priority. We’ll have to wait and see if this is real or a press trial balloon. Meanwhile, back at the Obama ranch (from HuffPo):
Obama Weighs In On President Trump For The First Time
Obama wanted to give Trump his space. Nine days later, he is joining the debate.
Sam Stein Senior Politics Editor, The Huffington Post
Former President Barack Obama released a statement on Monday expressing solidarity with those protesting his successor’s ban on travelers and refugees entering the United States from certain Muslim-majority countries.
The statement, issued under the name of Obama’s spokesman Kevin Lewis, was the first time that Obama has weighed in on Donald Trump’s presidency. And though it did not mention Trump by name or directly criticize the executive order that he signed on Friday, the implication was one of disapproval.
President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country. In his final official speech as President, he spoke about the important role of citizens and how all Americans have a responsibility to be the guardians of our democracy — not just during an election but every day.
Citizens exercising their Constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake.
With regard to comparisons to President Obama’s foreign policy decisions, as we’ve heard before, the President fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith.
Obama studiously kept his criticism of Trump muted during the transition and pledged to give Trump space after he assumed office. But nine days into the presidency, a host of executive orders have brought protestors to the streets and the nation’s airports. And they’ve compelled Obama to speak out as well.
Part of what may have compelled the former president was Trump’s insistence that the executive order mirrored what the Obama administration did when it stopped refugees from coming into the U.S. from Iraq for six months.
The fact-checkers have sided with Obama on this dispute, noting that Obama was vocally critical of any ban on refugees that prioritized one religion over another, as Trump’s does.
After some Republicans called for only Syrian Christians to be allowed into the U.S. in the wake of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, Obama called such potential policies “shameful.”
“That’s not American. That’s not who we are. We don’t have religious tests to our compassion,” he said at the time.
Asked about Obama’s statement in support of protesters Monday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer again defended the executive order.
“It is a shame that people were inconvenienced obviously,” he said. “But at the end of the day we are talking about a couple of hours.”
“And though it did not mention Trump by name or directly criticize the executive order that he signed on Friday, the implication was one of disapproval.”
Chuckles. I bet he sent a sternly worded letter too.
Anyway, there was so much Obama could have done before Trump even took office, but he didn’t. In fact, he continued the policies and presidential power grab made infamous by the Bush administration. https://theintercept.com/2017/01/28/trumps-muslim-ban-is-culmination-of-war-on-terror-mentality-but-still-uniquely-shameful/
I wish more would stand up.
Yes, it will take a few more, and a few corporate CEO’s. A new week, what sort of ballyhoo do we have to look forward to? A trade war with China perhaps?
It’s amazing how much damage is being done in such a short amount of time. Very scary times.
“It’s amazing how much damage is being done in such a short amount of time. ”
Doesn’t it make you think that perhaps the president has much more power than people—even those on this blog—believe?
You can build a tower higher and higher and higher, but if it has no foundation it will inevitably fall. He can do a lot in a short time, but he is not acting either rationally or legally.
May we begin to see a contest among those who have privately held anger toward Trump and his words/actions to become famous for being “rogue” actors.
“Plus, he said he has good relations with key Trump security nominees: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and national security adviser Michael Kelly. White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, he noted, was Wisconsin chairman of his 2008 presidential bid, and he has traveled abroad on congressional delegations with Vice President Mike Pence.”
Um hm. So in other words, you (McCain) can talk the talk, but you won’t walk the walk. You disagree with Trump, but yet you like and agree with the people he’s appointing to implement his policies. Yeah, yeah, sure, sure. You’ll forgive me if I wait to applaud you until after you’ve done something more than talk.
Mattis is reasonable.
I think a politician has to be in good relations with all other politicians. If McCain is in bad relations with too many others in Congress, then Arizona voters would get mad at him, since he wouldn’t be able to get any favors for Arizona. Then why would he be in DC?
This is why many of us here are not a politicians.
Here’s the link: http://www.wsj.com/articles/mccain-again-the-maverick-challenges-president-trump-1485794147
Here’s the paste: McCain, Again the Maverick, Challenges President Trump
Sen. McCain has served notice he is the Republican lawmaker most willing to defy the new Republican president
Photo by Jameswragg source http://www.flickr.com/photos/jameswragg/4688532009/
Sen. John McCain is challenging fellow Republican Donald Trump on a host of issues, including trade, Russia and the president’s immigration order. PHOTO: J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/ASSOCIATED PRESS
By GERALD F. SEIB
Updated Jan. 30, 2017 11:49 a.m. ET
874 COMMENTS
The maverick is unleashed.
Sen. John McCain, famously independent-minded and fresh from his own resounding re-election victory, has served notice that he is the Republican lawmaker most willing to defy the new Republican president.
Some fret over how to handle their disagreements with Donald Trump; Mr. McCain exhibits no such uncertainty.
In just over a week’s time, Mr. McCain has called the new Trump ban on immigration from a set of Muslim-majority countries a recruiting boon for Islamic State radicals; threatened to codify Russian economic sanctions into law to prevent Mr. Trump from lifting them; called the president’s decision to withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership “a serious mistake”; and called the idea of imposing a 20% tariff on imports from Mexico to pay for a border wall “insane.”
The senator also served noticed that he will fight any effort to reinstate waterboarding or other forms of torture in interrogation of terror suspects; and declared he may oppose the Trump nominee for budget director because of his past opposition to military spending and troop deployments in Afghanistan.
In short, frenetic as the new president has been, Mr. McCain is matching him step for step. Thus is a president willing to go rogue being matched by a powerful lawmaker—head of the Armed Services Committee and former GOP presidential nominee—prepared to do the same.
“The main thing is, do the right thing,” Mr. McCain said in an interview. “I feel, frankly, a greater burden of responsibility. The world’s on fire, we have more challenges than any time in the last 70 years and, with the chairmanship of the Armed Services Committee and whatever influence I have, I need to exercise it because the responsibilities are so great.”
Mr. McCain said he is willing to work with Mr. Trump: “I believe there are areas where we certainly can.” In fact, he will be crucial to the president’s desire to ramp up military spending and overhaul defense procurement practices, areas where they are almost entirely in sync.
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Plus, he said he has good relations with key Trump security nominees: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and national security adviser Michael Flynn. White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, he noted, was Wisconsin chairman of his 2008 presidential bid, and he has traveled abroad on congressional delegations with Vice President Mike Pence.
But, he said, he has no communication going with the president himself.
This is a potentially serious long-term problem for Mr. Trump. The president is not especially susceptible to criticism from Democrats, which is predictable and easily dismissed, but opposition from Republicans, who control both chambers and every committee of Congress, and thereby the Trump agenda, is far more important.
Republicans hold only a two-seat majority in the Senate, so the White House has little margin for error within the party there. Though Mr. McCain’s ability to unite Republicans behind him has long been questionable, Mr. Trump could ill afford it if Republican misgivings coalesced around a highly visible leader.
The bad blood isn’t surprising. Early in the 2016 presidential campaign, Mr. Trump belittled Mr. McCain’s horrific Vietnam War experience, during which his Navy attack jet was shot down and, while seriously injured, he spent more than five years in a North Vietnamese prison.
“He’s not a war hero,” Mr. Trump said. “He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
The comment came early in the Trump campaign, and many thought it would derail it. The fact it didn’t was a key initial sign of how much the GOP had changed.
Mr. McCain also noted that Breitbart News, the site previously overseen by top Trump adviser Stephen Bannon, has “attacked me incessantly for years.”
All that leaves lots of room for bad blood. Some of the disagreements are local. Mr. McCain argues that the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Mr. Trump wants to renegotiate, has benefited his home state of Arizona, and that the tariff on Mexican imports floated by the White House clearly would hurt it.
His own war experience with brutal treatment during incarceration leaves him starkly at odds with Mr. Trump’s belief that waterboarding and other forms of harsh interrogation are acceptable.
But the area that seems to most bother Mr. McCain isn’t personal; it is a seemingly deep disagreement with the new president over his desire to strengthen ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The last two American administrations, of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, similarly started “with the mistaken belief there would be improved relations with a hardened KGB colonel,” Mr. Putin, only to be disappointed, he said.
“The difference now versus before is he’s invaded a country”—Ukraine—and, he added, has tried to influence an American election.
Corrections & Amplifications
Michael Flynn is national security adviser in the White House. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Michael Kelly holds the position. (Jan. 30, 2017)
Write to Gerald F. Seib at jerry.seib@wsj.com
Reblogged this on Lloyd Lofthouse and commented:
Will McCain block the Malignant Narcissist in the White House from destroying the United States and the U.S. Constitution?
“McCain, again the maverick” – Reminiscent of the SNL sketch about
his, mavericky choice, for V.P.
Palin, another maverick.
The overzealous, reactionary, TV camera-seeking, on-the-wrong-side-of-history, Conservative Republican Sen. John McCain (ever-masking as both General
Curtis Le May & John Foster Dulles) once again demonstrates his propensity for
unhinged venomous rhetoric and vindictive behavior—all of which signals CRISIS
ALERT!—given Mr. McCain’s most-favored status by a gracious, stenographer-like inside-the-Beltway media and his Senate committees’ seniority + Pentagon-Intelligence Agencies-State Dept, and government corporate contractors’ network worldwide.
President Trump, Inc. and his Multi-Plutocratic Administration shall extend and expand
on the Corporatization and Privatization of THEIR Federal government.
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has joined with them; supported the Party Platform Statement; and, shall (as in the past) vote near-entirely with the Republican Majority
on All legislation. It’s Not the photo-op in Iraq or Ukraine or by the Senate Statuary Hall; quickie on-camera prepared talking point distortions; talk show appearances’ overload of patriotic b.s., Putin-Hating lies, other war-mongering machinations.
It IS the DEED—Deeds For The People… On such, Senator McCain and his Republican
legislators in both the House and Senate, as well as his Republican presidents and their
administrations—were, are, shall be—AWOL & MIA.
Abe,
I got an email from a friend pointing out that McCain is no friend of public schools.
I don’t know, Dianne. I am getting seriously scared. It won’t matter very much if we have any public schools left if the U.S. as we know no longer exists. I will never stop advocating for public schools, but McCain’s willingness to stand up to Trump is critical to forming an effective resistance movement within government. We had better start indicating a willingness to form coalitions and agree to not agree on all issues if we want to save what is left of a free society.
Agree with you, speduktr.
I hope this helps: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mccain-again-the-maverick-challenges-trump/ar-AAmpV33
do you mean this link? https://www.wsj.com/articles/mccain-again-the-maverick-challenges-president-trump-1485794147
On Mon, Jan 30, 2017 at 4:30 PM, Diane Ravitch’s blog wrote:
> dianeravitch posted: “While other Republican senators and congressman > cower, Senator John McCain will not bow and scrape to Trump. The Wall > Street Journal writes today (sorry, can’t find the link–if you do, send > it): Sen. McCain has served notice he is the Repub” >
What speduktr said. Also, a MUST-read “Trump’s Go-To Playbook: Non-stop Diversions” by Leonid Bershidsky, a Bloomberg View columnist* (originally in Bloomberg, but reprinted in yesterday’s–1/30/17–Chicago Tribune–p.17). Sorry, I’m no good at finding links. If someone can find the link, please post it. This REALLY MUST be read by everyone.
*No, he’s NOT a Russian hacker–from what he writes & his knowledge, it seems he might have emigrated (like a number of my sister’s in-laws’ relatives did, in the 1990s).
We need an Elliot Richardson as well as some GOP Senators… Someone like Mattis or Tillerson, who were supposedly left out of dissuasions about this, should resign now… How could they possibly function in an administration that does not seek their counsel before undertaking this kind of action? And if, as you report in a later post, Sessions WAS involved, HIS confirmation becomes crucial…
McCain is a war hawk and Trump is going to bring peace with Russia, not surprising.
Peace in our time, Joe?
And what about our allies in Europe?
Will we give Putin the right to retake Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia? the Czech Republic and Slovakia? Hungary? Poland?
Peace in our time.