McCain Picked for Iraq Intelligence Probe

[FlashHarry]

Yahoo!/Reuters story here

<snip>
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) is expected to name Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) to a bipartisan commission that will investigate flaws in U.S. intelligence used to justify the Iraq (news - web sites) war, Republican sources said on Thursday.

Bush is expected to announce the establishment of the commission on Friday with a timetable of reporting back next year, after the November election.

McCain is a maverick who opposed Bush for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 and is known for speaking his mind and taking on the administration.

He would lend a streak of independence to a commission that Democrats doubted would be independent since its nine members are being picked by Bush rather than by Congress.
</snip>

On edit: Mods, this story was posted by Reuters 30 minutes ago, and I haven't seen it yet posted here. If it's a dupe, please delete. Thanks.

[Sagan]

1. He's not THAT independent...

He has truckled to the misAdministration more than once.

[LiberalBushFan]

3. and is currently campaigning for Bush.

not our friend.

He may speak his mind sometimes (by criticizing Bush's spending but not much else), but he still doesn't act his mind.

It's party above country for him.

[Jacobin]

4. Hell, he's out CAMPAIGNING for Smirk RIGHT NOW

saw him interviewed the other day at a repuke nominating convention for Smirky

[Bonobo]

22. I heard THAT!

[Jacobin]

2. Perfect Lord Hutton clone

"saddam baaad, intelligence flawed, did thu right thing, blah blah blah blah"

[FlashHarry]

5. Actually, for a Repuke, I'd have rather had Chuck Hagel (R-NE)

He's been a foreign-policy thorn in the Administration's side from day-one. He was the one who famously suggested that the Chickenhawks (Wolfie, Perle, et al.) be in the 'first wave' into Baghdad.

Edit: spelling

[Zhade]

17. You're kidding, right?

Isn't this the same Chuck "I owned stock in voting machine companies that counted votes in races I won" Hagel?

[goobergunch]

38. Yeah

He may have cheated in his elections, but he is halfway decent (for a Repub) on foreign policy.

[FlashHarry]

42. He's not fond of BushCo, regardless of his 'election.'

He's no Linc. Chafee, though.

[joeunderdog]

45. Ted Kennedy is available, isn't he?

Ted said that he would be fair. Was there some reason they decided to leave him out of the loop?

ehem, pardon the sarcasm.

[stepnw1f]

6. A Sham...

Independent Ivestigation my ass!

[salinen]

10. Once and for all time

we will know who John McCain really is.

[buff2]

7. What do you want to bet.......

The panel the idiot selects will consist of 5 repukes and 4 dems? Notice he couldn't make it an even number? :argh:

[FlashHarry]

9. With McCain giving the illusion of impartiality.

Give that man a cigar!

[PaDUer]

34. You're right...

BTW, what's the story about McCain's wife? What's she involved with?

[Algorem]

8. deal to replace cheney as vp?

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=16385 Ariana-Cheney the chink in armor?

[salinen]

12. Ooooo Al

what a mind.

[stevedeshazer]

11. What's the payoff?

McCain ain't doing this for nothing.

Stay tuned, I'd guaran-damn-tee that McCain has been offered something, perhaps even the vice-presidential spot on the Republican ticket. They know Cheney is going down.

[jpak]

13. W-H-I-T-E-W-A-S-H

Will anyone but moran repug pundits believe this "independent" commission has any cred whatsoever?????

[bushwakker]

14. He's in the tank on this issue

[myomy]

This whole thing will be like the fox checking on the hen house.

.

[Malva Zebrina]

15. John McPowell

another good cop, bad cop player willing to get on his knees to support an evil man.

[KoKo]

16. What are you smoking!....This Commission is as Independent as the RNC!

If you look beyond McCain's "so called" independence and see his record you will see he's a "deceiver." Just as many of us like Pat Buchanan when he's "with us" and forget who he is and what's in it for him to "appear" to be "with us" from time to time.

Anyone who thinks that Bush's hand picked commission will really be fair needs to remember what Ken Starr was to Bill Clinton.

And..the money for this "boondoggle." Where does the money come from?

If you have a truly "independent" commission, then you want folks who will work on it full time. Can McCain spare the time from his Senatorial duties?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

I think it's a conflict for McCain to investigate whether

intelligence lied or the president lied while he's out on the campaign trail for Bush.

[colonel odis]

18. this is mccain's chance to do the right thing

will he? doubtful. bush/rove must really have the good on mccain.

see, this way he'll parrot the party line. yet people who remembered 2000, back when he had balls, will give him more credibility. because, after all, he ran against mr. bush.

rove is brilliant. but then, they say satan is, too.

[beanball]

19. After the November elections

lets hope their findings will be a moot question,lets give Shrub a rousing send off back to Texas.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

26. and whoever our nominee is can underscore it will be much more objective

if the administration in the WH after the election isn't trying to redact pages of the inquiry as they did with the first 9/11 report

[Just Me]

32. *LOL*, I have been using your post name ALOT lately,...

,...practically daily :D,...great name, "nothingshocksmeanymore"!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

20. Let's see...

9/11 investigation= Harsh time constraints.

IraqTel investigation= Sometime after the election.



They put the lid on the 9/11 investigation because they wanted to clear it well before the election. However, they didn't expect another investigation to come along. My prediction: They will succumb to the cries that the 9/11 investigation should have more time. Enough more time to be after the election. Bonus prediction: They'll try and push the Plame and Halliburton probes back, too.

[Just Me]

21. I hear, "direct conflict of interest",...

,...McCain is campaigning with Bush, presenting a direct conflict of interest,...McCain simply should not qualify.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

23. If he'd have been on the hunting trip with Uncle and Scalia,

it would be more apropos. Independent isn't in their vocabulary.

[Just Me]

31. The Tony/Dick thingy will be brushed off as mere "socializing",...

,...whereas, McCain campaigning has more teeth,...in my humble opinion. Although the Tony/Dick trip on the taxpayer's tab really pisses me off (and I have no doubts that their ties disables any possibility of Tony being "objective", as if he ever was anyway *LOL*), Tony will still portray it as merely a social event that will not impact his "judgment". Don't get me wrong, I think a huge stew should be made over it, and that the rest of the Supremes should actually demand Tony recuse himself simply on the basis of an appearance of impropriety.

Blah, blah,....bottom line,...I think the McCain conflict has bite.

[daleo]

24. Yeah, this is a joke

He is too firmly tied to Bushco. It will have no credibility. Try again. Vote him out, and none of it matters (as much, anyway).

[David Zephyr]

25. As I Keep Saying, McCain Might Just Be Bush's VP.

Cheney is finished now. He's toast. Energy Scandal and Plame Investigation.

So, it's Rudy or McCain.

I think Rove will go with McCain.

[Snappy]

27. COVER UP

This would be a farce with McCain involved. He has turned into a lapdog of the Neo Fascists.

[David Zephyr]

40. Which Is Why He's Their Baby.

Lap dog who'd love being called Mister Vice President.

[Q]

28. Sorry...I just don't get why the Bush* White House...

...is allowed to choose the people who will investigate them. Are the American people so dumbed-down that they don't see the conflict of interest?

[pinniped]

29. Utterly disgusting to let that POS pick anyone.

n/t

[Snappy]

30. The American People

Most are quite ignorant of what has been and is going on. Seems that most only get their news from TV soundbytes. Most don't care either and are only concerned with making a living. This is the reason that politicians get away with screwing over the "average" (Non-wealthy) citizens.

[pinniped]

33. Just heard that guy is going to be the "HEAD" of the commission.

Ya he sure picked the best guy for the snowJOB.

[Whoa_Nelly]

35. This is bogus

There will be bias, plays, and even though it's really quite possible, McCain will take this on and do a good job, I also have to ask myself if he'll do such a good job that he goes for the vault again in 2008?

[MasonJar]

36. McCain is for the war. This commission is a Bush rubberstamp.

[Whoa_Nelly]

37. Yup, yup, yup!

eom

[revcarol]

39. Now we know it is a whitewash.

McCain: party above country's welfare, above all.

[cosmicdot]

41. why have any elected Capitol Hill person?

I'm sure Terry McAuliffe is on top of this sham ... (not!)

flashback to 2000, South Carolina ...

"Do we really want another politician in the White House America can't trust?" - Bush advert.

[madaboutharry]

43. John McCain (R-enabler)

Make no mistake, John McCain is a hack.

[GoldenOldie]

44. This Zoni has lost faith in Sen. for McCain

I supported McCain's run for the Whitehouse and was enraged when his fellow Republican's so ruthlessly slandered him and his family during the campaign. I heard him on Imus MSNBC 2days ago and he was defending Georgie's TNG AWOL/Deserter status as being courageous and patriotic..he felt Georgie served his country honorably?????? Having worked closely with the military during the Vietnam war, having a spouse that was in the ANG, seeing the affects on the returning military and knowing of McCain's POW background and what his fellow Republicans did to one of their own, I assumed that Sen McCain would strongly support the good of the US, strongly defend his family and not the good of Bush Inc. I have lost all respect for Sen. McCain and seriously doubt that he will now be honest and objective with this investigation.

[thomas_a]

46. Why McCain Supports George Bush

The way to understand McCain is to look at certain behaviors in prisons.

In jail, the stronger convicts frequently rape the weaker convicts, making them their prison wives or "bi**hes". The "wives" play their part by wearing makeup and feminine clothes. This allows the rape victims to feel that they are willing participants in the situation; that they have some control over what is happening to them. In their degradation they try and salvage their self-respect by actively playing the passive role

This is what John McCain is doing.

During the 2000 Presidential campaign, McCain was symbolically raped by George Bush. He was attacked by Bush loyalists in the most vicious terms. He was dubbed insane. He was accused of betraying his country while a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. Never mind, that while McCain was in the Hanoi Hilton George Bush was shirking his National Guard duty. Even after the election Bush would not relent, launching a recall campaign against McCain. Totally humiliated, McCain had no choice but to roll over, put on lipstick and a woman's blouse and hit the campaign trail for Bush.

By charging McCain with heading up the WMD probe, Bush has not only ensured that it is under the control of a faithful lap dog but further humiliated McCain by putting him in a position where he could make trouble for Bush but where it will soon become obvious to all that he has been reduced to a squeaking little gerbil who is to cowed and humiliated to do anything but a white wash job.

[leesa]

47. A traitorous thug to investigate the traitorous thugs.

He'll follow in Ollie's shoes and end up on the Boy Scout lecture circuit.

[0rganism]

48. This will surely test McCain's alleged independent integrity

I love the way the press plays him up as "a maverick... known for speaking his mind... lend a streak of independence..." instead of noting the obvious conflict of interest in having a bush campaigner on the commission. Oooh, that wascally wiberal media!

[TacticalPeek]

49. This is Rove's move; they don't want McCain in the WH.

Either as a replacement for Cheney if he resigns, or as a late nomination challenger if Shrub gets as bloodied by scandal as now seems more possible.

This puts him on the shelf, neutering aWol's most significant potential R opponent.

And they could care less if he does a thorough investigation or not. If they get by the election, then whatever comes out of a commission, or Congress or the courts will mean diddly to them. Their reelection would be a validation in their minds to do ANYTHING they want to our country.

Let's stop 'em.

[Hornito]

50. Word is, James Woolsey (former CIA Dir.) is going to be

selected too. Woolsey is a major neonazicon, a member of PNAC, and best buddies with Perle, Wolfowitz, Feith, Bolton, Abrams, Libby, Cheney, et al. He is also a radical Likudnik-Zionist, though a goy. The thought of this bastard, who has openly campaigned for an Iraq invasion for the last 5+ years (and, who may very well have played a part in 9/11), sitting on Bush "Whitewash Commission" makes me sick. What's next, having Perle on there too?

As far as McCain goes, he's not the man many think. He has long supported the neocons, and is also pro Likud-Zionist. Still, many right-wing Repubs can't stand him, and after what Bush did to him in 2000, I simply cannot understand why he would even want to be a part of the commission. What's the payoff John?? As an Arizona voter, I plan to try and corner him to find out.

This whole thing stinks, and is a total set up. By having their report come out AFTER the election, it could also give whoever will be the next president an out to pardon these criminal bastards, by accepting the whitewash, and urging the country to "move along". Bush goes back to Crawford, the nation is left with a mess and thousands dead, end of story. Kerry and Edwards (and certainly Lieberman, if has stayed in and won) seem to me the most likely to let that happen, if it comes to pass.

I have contacted Kerry's office five times now, to try an ascertain his position on prosecutions for the crimes of the Bushies, and in an effort to receive assurances that he will not pardon these people. My queries have been met with silence.

We cannot let Bush get away with this. We must DEMAND a completely independent commission. McCain is a fraud, and campaigning for Bush for gawd's sake, how freakin' independent can he be? And Woolsey? Fuck, why not have PNAC to the job? All of this is somehow tied together too. I personally think, many of the same players in the set up to the war(s), were involved in setting up 9/11, and some may end up sitting on Bush's commission. We cannot allow that to go unchallenged!

It's time for pitchforks and a march to the White House! Someone has to round these criminals up, and get justice for the 3,000 killed on 9/11, the thousands killed in Iraq, and the harm they have bought upon this nation! Will our Dem nominee have the guts to call it like it is, and fight the fight that needs to be fought? God I hope so.


"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

[FlashHarry]

51. Kick

:kick:

[DoYouEverWonder]

52. This is right up there with picking Kissinger for the 9-11

'independent' commission.

This whole sham is total bull. Bu$h is the subject of the investigation, it is a travesty if he is allowed to control it.

Too bad Clinton didn't get to pick his own independent council?