John McCain isn't having a good week. His anti-filibuster tirades have destroyed the last shreds of his post-2000 election credibility, and he's become the poster child for GOP members who seek to continue living in the party's past. Despite having his comments rebuked by virtually everyone - on both sides of the aisle - the "maverick" of the Senate isn't done.
The Huffington Post has a new interview with the Arizona Senator. Like an old man with a robe, black socks, and a walker, McCain wanders onto his metaphorical front porch and tells Rand Paul to get off his lawn.
"They were elected. Nobody believes that there was a corrupt election, anything else," McCain says. "But I also think that when, you know, it's always the wacko birds on right and left that get the media megaphone."
Ummmmm, John? You were the Presidential candidate in 2008. You had the biggest "media megaphone" a politician can have. It's not Rand Paul's fault that you had no idea how to use it.
The Huffington piece also features comments from a Paul advisor, who tries his best to smooth things over. He claims things between the two Senators aren't as dire as McCain's comments make them seem.
"On some issues [McCain] sees him as a fellow maverick, but on some issues I think that pisses [McCain] off, having a maverick against John McCain," said the Paul adviser, who asked to speak frankly in exchange that he not be identified. "I think he thinks Rand wants his way too much, like on [National Defense Authorization Act] ... but I don't think he thinks he's doing it just to do it."
Rand "wants his way too much" on the NDAA? Sorry, but Senator McCain co-authored a bill that granted the President the power to black bag U.S. citizens, throw them in prison, and keep them there - without trial - forever. Standing up to that isn't simply an act of trying to have things "your way."
Paul is fighting for the continued existence of the Bill of Rights. It should be a no-brainer for every member of the Senate, regardless of party. If this basic struggle makes Paul a "wacko bird" in Senator McCain's mind, then we've been shown one more reason why the failed Presidential candidate needs to get off the stage.
