[Peace-discuss] Obama too shifty for McCain

[C. G. Estabrook]

[This is cute. McCain is a fathead who likes to be taken for a
liberal, but was last week in Munich raving for an attack on
Iran.  (He said, "There's only one thing worse than military
action; that is a nuclear-armed Iran" -- as Obama said last
year.) But here Obama, who always likes to be on both sides of
an issue (witness his antics about Alito), is too shifty even
for McCain.  --CGE]


  February 6, 2006
  The Honorable Barack Obama
  United States Senate
  SH-713
  Washington, DC 20510

  Dear Senator Obama:

I would like to apologize to you for assuming that your
private assurances to me regarding your desire to cooperate in
our efforts to negotiate bipartisan lobbying reform
legislation were sincere. When you approached me and insisted
that despite your leadership's preference to use the issue to
gain a political advantage in the 2006 elections, you were
personally committed to achieving a result that would reflect
credit on the entire Senate and offer the country a better
example of political leadership, I concluded your professed
concern for the institution and the public interest was
genuine and admirable. Thank you for disabusing me of such
notions with your letter to me dated February 2, 2006, which
explained your decision to withdraw from our bipartisan
discussions. I'm embarrassed to admit that after all these
years in politics I failed to interpret your previous
assurances as typical rhetorical gloss routinely used in
politics to make self-interested partisan posturing appear
more noble. Again, sorry for the confusion, but please be
assured I won't make the same mistake again.

As you know, the Majority Leader has asked Chairman Collins to
hold hearings and mark up a bill for floor consideration in
early March. I fully support such timely action and I am
confident that, together with Senator Lieberman, the Committee
on Governmental Affairs will report out a meaningful,
bipartisan bill.

You commented in your letter about my "interest in creating a
task force to further study" this issue, as if to suggest I
support delaying the consideration of much-needed reforms
rather than allowing the committees of jurisdiction to hold
hearings on the matter. Nothing could be further from the
truth. The timely findings of a bipartisan working group could
be very helpful to the committee in formulating legislation
that will be reported to the full Senate. Since you are new to
the Senate, you may not be aware of the fact that I have
always supported fully the regular committee and legislative
process in the Senate, and routinely urge Committee Chairmen
to hold hearings on important issues. In fact, I urged Senator
Collins to schedule a hearing upon the Senate's return in January.

Furthermore, I have consistently maintained that any lobbying
reform proposal be bipartisan. The bill Senators Joe Lieberman
and Bill Nelson and I have introduced is evidence of that
commitment as is my insistence that members of both parties be
included in meetings to develop the legislation that will
ultimately be considered on the Senate floor. As I explained
in a recent letter to Senator Reid, and have publicly said
many times, the American people do not see this as just a
Republican problem or just a Democratic problem. They see it
as yet another run-of-the-mill Washington scandal, and they
expect it will generate just another round of partisan
gamesmanship and posturing. Senator Lieberman and I, and many
other members of this body, hope to exceed the public's low
expectations. We view this as an opportunity to bring
transparency and accountability to the Congress, and, most
importantly, to show the public that both parties will work
together to address our failings.

As I noted, I initially believed you shared that goal. But I
understand how important the opportunity to lead your party's
effort to exploit this issue must seem to a freshman Senator,
and I hold no hard feelings over your earlier
disingenuousness. Again, I have been around long enough to
appreciate that in politics the public interest isn't always a
priority for every one of us. Good luck to you, Senator.


  Sincerely,
  John McCain