Beloved Puppet of Republican Leadership Offers More Meaningless Words
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A true profile in courage again speaks up when it counts:
JUST IN: John McCain blasts President Trump for tweeting "unclear" statement on transgender military policy pic.twitter.com/evA5nVkL0y
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) July 26, 2017
So, so courageous! Bucking a president of his own party, yet! So mavericky!
Why, it was less than a decade ago that LBGT people were formally barred from serving openly in the armed forces. In 2010, Congress finally acted to end this disgraceful policy. Why, even McCain’s good friend and fellow preening asshole Joe Lieberman decided it was time to do the right thing. How did this courageous defender of the dignity of LBGT Americans vote? Let’s see…
Really, his comments today are almost as impressive as the time McCain delivered a speech piously defending Senate procedure after casting a decisive vote to allow a process that blew basic procedural and democratic norms to smithereens, and then voted for legislation he claimed in the speech he would not vote for. I remember it like it was yesterday!
America’s telemarketers and Florida real estate salespeople must be rushing to get the contact info of all of the many members of the press who are still buying McCain’s bullshit. I mean, really.
…via Alex Saltzberg in comments, I was actually too generous to Saint McCain. He literally <em>led the opposition to DADT repeal:
During the debate, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona and his party’s presidential candidate in 2008, led the opposition to the repeal and said the vote was a sad day in history. “I hope that when we pass this legislation that we will understand that we are doing great damage,” Mr. McCain said. “And we could possibly and probably, as the commandant of the Marine Corps said, and as I have been told by literally thousands of members of the military, harm the battle effectiveness vital to the survival of our young men and women in the military.”
He and other opponents of lifting the ban said the change could harm the unit cohesion that is essential to effective military operations, particularly in combat, and deter some Americans from enlisting or pursuing a career in the military. They noted that despite support for repealing the ban from Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, other military commanders have warned that changing the practice would prove disruptive.
To be clear, I believe in taking yes for an answer. If McCain actually acts to overturn Trump’s ban — such as inserting an amendment in the defense bill — I’ll praise him. But his words alone mean nothing.