Blustering McCain

John McCain on the debate over Rice’s nomination: "So I wonder why we are starting this new Congress with a protracted debate about a foregone conclusion," McCain said. Since Rice is qualified for the job, he said, "I can only conclude that we are doing this for no other reason than because of lingering bitterness over the outcome of the election.”

McCain’s first point reminds me of Leonard Pitts’ column last week complaining about the attention being given to voting irregularities in Ohio. Both Pitts’ and McCain’s points seem to be that if the outcome is assured, the process doesn’t matter. That attitude is, of course, the bane of participatory democracy. McCain is also being either incredibly naïve, or, far more likely, typically partisan and dishonest with his comment about there being no reason other than lingering bitterness over the outcome of the election to explain the debate. He wishes us to believe that nobody could have serious doubts about Rice’s qualifications for the job of Secretary of State, doubts that have arisen out of her incredible and fatal record of incompetence and dishonesty during her four years as National Security Advisor.

I continue to be mystified by the infatuation some (too many, including John Kerry) Democrats have with McCain. He has by no means demonstrated that he is a maverick or a liberal. When the time has come for him to stand up for anything of consequence he has consistently been as big a partisan hack as the next guy.