In a letter posted online by National Review this week, the Senator’s adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, said Mr. McCain believed that the Constitution gave Mr. Bush the power to authorize the National Security Agency to monitor Americans’ international phone calls and e-mail without warrants, despite a 1978 federal statute that required court oversight of surveillance.
Mr. McCain believes that “neither the administration nor the telecoms need apologize for actions that most people, except for the A.C.L.U. and trial lawyers, understand were constitutional and appropriate in the wake of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001…”
Although a spokesman for Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, denied that the senator’s views on surveillance and executive power had shifted, legal specialists said the letter contrasted with statements Mr. McCain previously made about the limits of presidential power.
In an interview…with The Boston Globe six months ago, Mr. McCain strongly suggested that if he became the next commander in chief, he would consider himself obligated to obey a statute restricting what he did in national security matters.David Golove, a New York University law professor who specializes in executive power issues, said that while the language used by Mr. McCain in his answers six months ago was imprecise, the recent statement by Mr. Holtz-Eakin “seems to contradict precisely what he said earlier.”
Gotta keep the faith with the War-on-Terror-voters.
Those who still have problems sorting out McCain and Bush should take this test. All the way through the McCain vs. The Carrot round.
I don’t understand why this is a big deal. Opinions change. Perhaps he was convinced that wire tapping is a good thing. I doubt that there is anyone who has never changed their opinion about something. The worrying part of his flip flopping is when he outright lies about his actions. If he had said his peace and then did the opposite once he was elected that would be different. As long as he makes his position clear before the votes are cast I don’t mind a bit of issue-flipping.
Backed off his negotiation stance is a flip-flop, but maybe you haven’t been paying much attention and didn’t get it. Before he said he would negotiate without preconditions, now he says he wouldn’t do that.
You want proof of his flip-flopping? He told his press he was going one place, then when they all got on the plane, he had the plane take off and had his adviser tell them he went to meet Hillary.
So there!
>>Perhaps he was convinced that wire
>>tapping is a good thing.
OK. Fair point. Maybe he’s not a flip-flopper, he’s just a fucking moron.
Or an anti-American sack of shit like Dumbya, who views the constitution as nothing more than a “goddamned piece of paper”. “Warrants? We don’t need no steenkin’ warrants! I’m King of the World, Master of the Universe! Fuck warrants!”.
I’m not convinced, though. Dollars to donuts, he’s a flip-flopper. All Republicans are that way.
>>I’ve ben doing him tuna sandwichs to see if,
>>after all those things, he grants you a spot
>>in the Mission Miracle that he has and sent
>>you to cuba for some eye surgery.
Sorry Pete. You’re going to have to send that one to Bobbo. He’s the one who went to all those schools in all those countries where he was taught in languages other than English.
I have no idea what the fuck your statement means; I can only assume it’s written in some language that looks like English, but isn’t.
If you’d care to translate, I will respond.
McCain has been on both sides of every major issue.
The tax cuts for the wealthiest are the most infamous, was against them, then for them, then against, then for, then against, now, finally he’s for them.
The list of his flipflopping is a mile long.
#39, Lyin’ Mike,
You want proof of his flip-flopping? He told his press he was going one place, then when they all got on the plane, he had the plane take off and had his adviser tell them he went to meet Hillary.
So there!
WOW !!! I am impressed. You found something. NOT
Flip flopping is being in favor of one idea then changing it a short time later for political reasons. What you just wrote is a change in PLANS. It happens all the time.
I suppose if Bush had of stopped reading My little fucking goats to the school after being told about 9/11 he would be a flip flopper too.
Geeze, where do you get these comments from?
>>Geeze, where do you get these comments from?
I think Lyin’ Mike is losing it, Your Eminence. Perhaps he’s smoking the same stuff that Pedro is. None of their recent comments have made much sense.
http://tinyurl.com/5jsuzw
#45 – LMAO!
>>“I have no idea what the fuck your statement means”
>>And that’s why you’re a true believer
Why, because I don’t understand monkey-talk? Wtf? You said (and I quote):
“I’ve ben doing him tuna sandwichs to see if, after all those things, he grants you a spot in the Mission Miracle that he has and sent you to cuba for some eye surgery..
I double-dog dare ANYONE to translate that into something we Earthlings can understand.
Y’all lighten up and look at #45.
#45 Mister Ketchup, that’s a good illustration of McCain’s jobs program 😉
In 2004, we already had irrefutable evidence that Bush was an absolute disaster of a president — one of the worst presidents in US history.
Yet Americans rewarded him with a second term.
This should be a cake walk for Obama but I’m not at all confident that the better candidate will win.
… as for McCain’s flip-flops.
I don’t have a problem if a politician changes his mind — as long as it is from the wrong position to the right one.
But McCain IS GOING TO THE DARK SIDE.
I mean, to flip flop on his signature opposition to torture?
To give up on campaign finance reform and let lobbyists run his campaign?
To give up on the constitutional principle of due-process and support warrantless, unaccountable spying on US citizens?
It’s not that McCain has changed his position — HE HAS MADE ALL THE WRONG CHANGES.
>>HE HAS MADE ALL THE WRONG CHANGES.
Not to worry. Even the dipsticks that were fooled by the Swift Boat Liars won’t be sucked into Bush III.
And that guy’s public speaking?? Jesus. Is he too old to join the Toastmasters? That guy’s as bad as Dumbya. Talk about an uninspiring speaker.
>>Not to worry. Even the dipsticks that were fooled by the Swift Boat Liars won’t be sucked into Bush III.
Goodness, I wish I was as confident as you.
>>And that guy’s public speaking?? Jesus. Is he too old to join the Toastmasters? That guy’s as bad as Dumbya. Talk about an uninspiring speaker.
I think some Americans actually LIKE that kind of “folksy” crap.
I’m starting to think these two guys are very similar. They will act as if they are above politics, and stick to their positions no matter what. Then they will pander to get votes, and when called on it will get all self-righteous about it.
>>I think some Americans actually LIKE that
>>kind of “folksy” crap.
If that’s true, we deserve what we get. The smart ones will be emigrating to somewhere else.
What a tragedy that our heritage might be stolen from us by dickwads like this.
200 years ago, we might have considered staging a revolution. But now our overlords have us captured with warrantless wiretaps, CCTC, and whatever the FBI came up with after the pissed away millions of dollars on “Carnivore”.
This election is it. If the Repukes win, we’re fucked. Totally fucked. We might as well move to Iran.
McCain said that most people have no problem with the warrantless wiretaps, “except for the A.C.L.U. and trial lawyers”. I believe that’s an underestimate…
McCain is basically a 3rd bush presidency, only with extra stupid.
This discussion has nothing to do with McCain alone. It has nothing to do with Obama alone.
It has everything to do with McCain AND Obama together and why the msm seems to think they are our best choices. Both are pandering lip servants to the sound bite. Anyone who can’t see that is crazy. Anyone who doesn’t take the time to do some of their own research deserves another four years of the same.
I will not be voting for either one of them. That way, when things don’t change I can look the complainer in the eye and ask, “So why did you vote for McCain/Obama?”
And for those who want the proof that Obama is just as much a flopper as McCain:
Google: barack obama flip flopping
>> 200 years ago, we might have considered staging a revolution.
Even just ten years ago, all good Americans would have been HORRIFIED at the thought of our country “disappearing” people, having secret torture prisons, secret unaccountable wiretapping of our own citizens, lying to start a war, etc. etc.
I want to believe that _good_ Americans are still against it and won’t stand for it. But are they such a minority?
#60, pedro,
When will you ever learn to use The Google??? While you’re at it, learn to undersatnd [sic] the written word.
It is not incumbent upon the reader to investigate or decipher what the writer has written. It is up to the writer to express his thoughts in as clear a manner as possible.
Telling your reader to “use The Google” is as lazy and wrong as they come. You made the comment. You provide the reference or citation. I know of no one who would spend time trying to prove a point they disagree with.
And what the fuck does that comment mean? I understand English is not your first language and generally try to give you some slack on that point. But, …
#28 I’ve ben doing him tuna sandwichs to see if, after all those things, he grants you a spot in the Mission Miracle that he has and sent you to cuba for some eye surgery.
is totally incomprehensible. Please, either explain or rephrase it.
>>(MM since I’m sure you won’t get the name)
Oh no. Of course. I never heard of the Beatles.
#61, ten years ago all of those things were happening. Rendition didn’t start with George Bush. The Clipper chip was suggested by Al Gore, and Janet Reno was on board. The left got all angry about the expansion of wiretapping authority. Bill Clinton went to war with Iraq because of WMD.
>>Google: barack obama flip flopping
Been there, done that. Just a bunch of right wingnut trash talk. Not even up to the standards of Michelle Malkin, Anal Cyst Limbaugh, or Ann Coulter. Rabid dogs, donning their white sheets and looking to hang a darkie.
They’d burn a cross on his lawn, but they’re not allowed to use matches.
>>In my view, unwillingness to find info
>>is being lazy.
Pete, I’ve spent countless hours trying to “find info” regarding what the fuck “I’ve ben doing him tuna sandwichs to see if, after all those things, he grants you a spot in the Mission Miracle that he has and sent you to cuba for some eye surgery. ” means, to no avail.
Pretty please with sugar on top, tell us what it means! The Great Mystery of dvorak dot org slash blog! “I’ve ben doing him tuna sandwichs to see if, after all those things, he grants you a spot in the Mission Miracle that he has and sent you to cuba for some eye surgery. !! Zounds!
#67 – Mustard, stand by. I’m going to drop some acid and read it again to see if that helps me understand it. If that fails I’ll find a blonde and ask her to decipher. I love tuna and all but, WTF?
#68 – Ketchup,
Don’t bother. Don’t you recognize word soup when you see it? It’s probably a cut and paste from a spam message.
Pedro, (multiple posts)
You should learn to use google. You should also learn how to copy and paste a link. You see, as many have already stated, abso-fucking-lutely no one will ever google what you tell them to.
I promise from my own blog (where I can see what links have been clicked) that it’s hard enough to get people to click through a link that you post. You will not get anyone to do your searching for you.
If you have a point to make or think you have some great source of information, try posting the damn link!!