Last night, Jon Stewart ripped into Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for their insipid smears of Chuck Hagel by pointing out just how hypocritical they've been when it comes to their previous statements.
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ (2/12/2013): I do not believe that we should move forward with his nomination until questions are answered that Senator Graham and Senator Ayotte and I have asked to be answered.
THE HELL?? I'm sorry, but it's hard to take your tenacity on Benghazi as honest fact-finding, given, Mr. McCain, some of your past history on the subject.
11/15/2012:
ALEX WAGNER: McCain did not attend his classified briefing on Benghazi yesterday.
DANA BASH: What he was doing at the time was having a press conference calling for this select committee, complaining about not getting enough information.
"Ah, Mr. McCain, here's the information you requested."
"Not now! Can't you see I'm busy demanding the information you have in your hand? And are attempting to give to me? And get off my lawn, ya son of a....!!" (grabs at invisible objects in the air)
Senator McCain, what the hell's going on here??
2/17/2013:
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ: We have had a massive cover-up.
....
DAVID GREGORY: A cover-up of what?
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ: Of the information concerning the deaths of four brave Americans. The information has not been forthcoming.
....
DAVID GREGORY: You said there was a lot of confusion.
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ: Do you care? Do you care, David?
DAVID GREGORY: I'm asking you, Senator.
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ: Do you care, David?
DAVID GREGORY: What is the cover-up of what?
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ: I'm asking you! Do you care?
....
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ: Do you care whether four Americans died?
....
No, McCain! You don't get to pull the "four dead Americans" shit! You lost that privilege over a period of — oh, I don't know — the Iraq War, which I believe American casualty-wise, was Benghazi times 1,000. And far from holding up all Senate business until that fiasco was resolved, I think you had a slightly different perspective.
11/3/2005:
LARRY KING: Is the Senate going to have a full investigation of what led up to Iraq?
....
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ: I think that we have investigations going on, and we have had investigations. ... I'm not against investigations. I just want to make sure that we don't waste a lot of time and energy.
....
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ (1/18/2007): Mistakes have been made, they've been well-chronicled in Cobra II and in Fiasco and other books.
Sure. A lot of books. They've been so chronicled. There's been Fiasco. ... Oh, there was that book, Oops, Based on the Novel "Wrong" by Sapphire.
Oh yeah, The Five People You Meet in Heaven Who Knew You Were Wrong.
Ah, but hey. No, I get it. Mistakes happen. Things go bad. We are where we are. Que será será. The only thing that would make this worse would be if not only was McCain being hypocritical about his level of outrage, but if the outrage fueling the Hagel nomination filibuster was also somehow streaked with just a hint — just a soupçon — of junior high school level pettiness.
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ (2/14/2013): It goes back to, there's a lot of ill will towards Senator Hagel because when he was a Republican, he attacked President Bush mercilessly. At one point, said he was the worst President since Herbert Hoover, said that the surge was the worst blunder since the Vietnam War, which was nonsense, and was very anti-his own party and people. People don't forget that.
OK, first of all, Bush was the worst President since Herbert Hoover. (wild audience applause) And second, you fucking hated him! Haaaaaaaaaated him! And third, blocking a Secretary of Defense nominee who has absolutely nothing to do with the target of your current rediscovered moral outrage at American deaths overseas, whilst also copping to maybe a little personal payback, is the antithesis of your stated campaign slogan. So pardon me, sir, but perhaps it needs a little update.
Video and full transcript below the fold.
Anyway, the point is, he got his Panetta testimony. So now the Senate can finally go forward with Hagel's confirmation and the CIA directorship,the general business of the Senate. Smash cut to three days after Panetta's testimony.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-SC (2/10/2013): I don't think we should allow Brennan to go forward for the CIA directorship, Hagel to be confirmed to be Secretary of Defense, until the White House gives us an accounting. ... I want to know what our President did. What did he do as Commander-in-Chief? Did he ever pick up the phone and call anybody?
You said you would do it after Panetta! You got Panetta! Hagel's got nothing to do with Benghazi! Which is as good as any other reason I've heard to confirm him. Get the other guy out of there, right? I mean, there've been nine hearings, two full-length reports, months of media inquiry, and any number of classified briefings. I mean, keep pursuing it, that's fine. But why bring the country's business to a halt?
You know who's not going to put up with this? Your pal Johnny McCain. Cuz he lives by a different code.
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ (10/10/2008): In a time of trouble and danger for our country, who will put our country first?
They just shouted something indecipherable. But that's right! Mr. Country First! John McCain! He doesn't have time, Graham, for your cheap political games. He'll get this train back on track like the Straight Talk Express.
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ (2/12/2013): I do not believe that we should move forward with his nomination until questions are answered that Senator Graham and Senator Ayotte and I have asked to be answered.
THE HELL?? I'm sorry, but it's hard to take your tenacity on Benghazi as honest fact-finding, given, Mr. McCain, some of your past history on the subject.
11/15/2012:
ALEX WAGNER: McCain did not attend his classified briefing on Benghazi yesterday.
DANA BASH: What he was doing at the time was having a press conference calling for this select committee, complaining about not getting enough information.
"Ah, Mr. McCain, here's the information you requested."
"Not now! Can't you see I'm busy demanding the information you have in your hand? And are attempting to give to me? And get off my lawn, ya son of a....!!" (grabs at invisible objects in the air)
Senator McCain, what the hell's going on here??
2/17/2013:
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ: We have had a massive cover-up.
....
DAVID GREGORY: A cover-up of what?
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ: Of the information concerning the deaths of four brave Americans. The information has not been forthcoming.
....
DAVID GREGORY: You said there was a lot of confusion.
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ: Do you care? Do you care, David?
DAVID GREGORY: I'm asking you, Senator.
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ: Do you care, David?
DAVID GREGORY: What is the cover-up of what?
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ: I'm asking you! Do you care?
....
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ: Do you care whether four Americans died?
What?? Whoa, whoa, whoa! Do you care?? Stop this train!
What, I say, stopping the train with some kind of device you really don't find on trains?
No, McCain! You don't get to pull the "four dead Americans" shit! You lost that privilege over a period of — oh, I don't know — the Iraq War, which I believe American casualty-wise, was Benghazi times 1,000. And far from holding up all Senate business until that fiasco was resolved, I think you had a slightly different perspective.
11/3/2005:
LARRY KING: Is the Senate going to have a full investigation of what led up to Iraq?
....
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ: I think that we have investigations going on, and we have had investigations. ... I'm not against investigations. I just want to make sure that we don't waste a lot of time and energy.
Don't you care? Don't you care about dead Americans? Dontcha? Naw, naw, naw, lemme finish! Dontcha care? Dontcha? What was the mantra then? Was it everyone responsible for the entire Iraq debacle from Curveball's faulty intelligence to (in George W. Bush voice) "50 tons of mustard gas on a turkey farm, hehehehehehe" to Colin Powell and his vial of confectioner's anthrax — was the mantra that they must all be held accountable? Was that your mantra? Or was it this?
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ (11/3/2005): There was a colossal intelligence failure, but also ... every intelligence agency in the world believed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ (4/15/2004): Things go bad in wars. Mistakes happen.
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ (4/24/2007): When things go bad, things go bad. The war was terribly mismanaged. ... We are where we are now. We are where we are now.
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ (1/18/2007): Mistakes have been made, they've been well-chronicled in Cobra II and in Fiasco and other books.
Sure. A lot of books. They've been so chronicled. There's been Fiasco. There's been The Shit Brain Adventure.
There was the book Boy Were We Wrong. That was the book there.
Oh, Fifty Shades of Wrong.
That was a.... Oh, there was that book, Oops, Based on the Novel "Wrong" by Sapphire.
Oh yeah, The Five People You Meet in Heaven Who Knew You Were Wrong.
Ah, but hey. No, I get it. Mistakes happen. Things go bad. We are where we are. Que será será. The only thing that would make this worse would be if not only was McCain being hypocritical about his level of outrage, but if the outrage fueling the Hagel nomination filibuster was also somehow streaked with just a hint — just a soupçon — of junior high school level pettiness.
SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-AZ (2/14/2013): It goes back to, there's a lot of ill will towards Senator Hagel because when he was a Republican, he attacked President Bush mercilessly. At one point, said he was the worst President since Herbert Hoover, said that the surge was the worst blunder since the Vietnam War, which was nonsense, and was very anti-his own party and people. People don't forget that.
OK, first of all, Bush was the worst President since Herbert Hoover. (wild audience applause) And second, you fucking hated him! Haaaaaaaaaated him! And third, blocking a Secretary of Defense nominee who has absolutely nothing to do with the target of your current rediscovered moral outrage at American deaths overseas, whilst also copping to maybe a little personal payback, is the antithesis of your stated campaign slogan. So pardon me, sir, but perhaps it needs a little update.
We'll be right back.
He then looked at how Mississippi finally got around to
ratifying the 13th Amendment.
Meanwhile, Stephen focused on news across the pond. He started off with the
horse meat scandal in Europe.
Then he discussed the
soccer corruption scandal with
Alexi Lalas.
He then looked at a really
popular TV show in Norway... of firewood burning in a fireplace.
Stephen talked with Game Show Network CEO David Goldhill about improving our health care system, and Jon talked with reporter Helaine Olen about Wall Street, which went long. Here's the unedited interview in three parts.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3