John McCain's bitter slide into irrelevance is surely complete. Ambassador Susan Rice has been a thorn in his side since the 2008 Presidential campaign, and he has not forgotten it. He is a grudge bearer of the highest order and this Benghazi non-scandal gave him what he thought was the perfect opportunity to extract revenge for his hurt feelings.
We were recently reminded of some of the digs Rice took at McCain as then-candidate Obama's spokesperson:
Rice, a Clinton administration veteran, became Obama’s senior foreign-policy adviser, after she chose him over Hillary Clinton early in the presidential race. That put Rice squarely in opposition of McCain, each time the war veteran tried to challenge the junior senator’s national security credentials.
Some of her choice quotes:
“His tendency is to shoot first and ask first questions later, it is dangerous and we can’t afford four more years of this reckless foreign policy,” Susan Rice said to reporters about McCain in August 2008.
When McCain tried to paint Obama as someone who routinely shied away from tough decisions on Iraq, Rice was there to tear down his record.
“On critical, factual questions that are fundamental to understanding what is going on in Iraq and the region, Senator McCain has gotten it wrong and not just once but repeatedly,” said Rice in June 2008.
With reference to the situation in Georgia where McCain announced 'today we are all Georgian's:
“We were dealing with the facts as we knew them,” Rice said on MSNBC. “John McCain shot from the hip, very aggressive, belligerent statement. He may or may not have complicated the situation.”
And a reference to McCain strolling around the market in Iraq with heavy security to prove how safe it was:
Rice even got personal with McCain when Obama traveled overseas to visit the Middle East.
“I think he wants to get out and do as much as he can Rice said about Obama’s trip. “I don’t think he’ll be strolling around the market in a flak jacket.”
Rice was subtly referring to McCain’s trip to Iraq a year earlier, after he was mocked by liberals for wearing body armor while visiting what looked like a peaceful market in Baghdad.
John McCain is the bitterest of sore losers and hasn't forgotten or forgiven what he perceives as Barack Obama usurping his supposed strong suit of foreign policy and national security, with Susan Rice being the one slinging the arrows at him. So he has been on this faux Benghazi scandal like a pitbull, even after General Petraeus' new testimony has embarrassed him beyond belief.
Yesterday he appeared on CBS's Face the Nation in his weekly Sunday talk show gig to announce what would get him to back down:
Arizona Sen. John McCain said on Sunday he wants U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to publicly announce she was wrong in saying the attack in Libya was sparked by spontaneous protests to an anti-Islam Internet video.
"She has a lot of explaining to do," the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
If Rice came back on "Face the Nation" and acknowledged she was wrong, McCain said, it would help her case in the Senate if President Barack Obama does nominate her to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
McCain also responded to Obama's strong defense of Rice last week in his White House press conference.
"I wish the president wouldn't get mad [at] me," McCain said. "I wish he would spend our time together in finding out what happened, what caused it."
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on the same show that Republicans were being "fundamentally unfair" in calling out Rice because eight years ago Condoleezza Rice was held to a different standard when Democrats questioned her role in misleading Americans regarding intelligence in Iraq.
"To say that (Susan Rice) has to be held accountable when intelligence agencies didn't tell the whole story initially for reasons of national security is totally unfair," Durbin said.
So a public flogging will satisfy Sen. John McCain and he will finally allow Amb. Rice (or
anyone for that matter) to be considered for Secretary of State. She has to admit she was wrong, for accepting the current and best prepared information from our nation's intelligence services? This is about as petty as it can possibly be.
It is truly remarkable how he, and the rest of his cohorts in the GOP remain clueless as to how thoroughly embarrassed they have been in the public sphere, and are now grasping at any straw they can think of. Move on to the next scandal, you people - have you not heard that President Obama mispronounced Aung Sahn Suu Kyi's name?