John McCain today called the Supreme Court's ruling to grand habeas corpus right to Guantanamo Bay detainees "one of the worst decisions in the history of the country," The Boston Globe's Political Intelligence blog is reporting.
The Arizona senator blasted the ruling at a town hall forum in Pemberton, N.J. today, saying it will "hurt our ability" to protect the U.S. from terrorists.
A proponent of closing the Guantanamo prison, McCain reacted more mildly to the ruling when asked about it yesterday.
"These are unlawful combatants, they are not American citizens and I think we should pay attention to Justice Roberts' [dissenting] opinion in this decision," McCain said yesterday. "But it is a decision that the Supreme Court has made. Now we need to move forward. As you know I always favored closing Guantanamo Bay and I still think we ought to do that."
See The Trail's report on McCain's initial reaction here.
As rumors circulated during the 2000 presidential campaign about then Governor George W. Bush's prior drug use, Scott McClellan claims Bush said he could not remember if he had used cocaine or not.
Political Punch highlights this excerpt from McClellan's book:
"The media won't let go of these ridiculous cocaine rumors," I heard Bush say. "You know, the truth is I honestly don't remember whether I tried it or not. We had some pretty wild parties back in the day, and I just don't remember."
I remember thinking to myself, How can that be? How can someone simply not remember whether or not they used an illegal substance like cocaine? It didn't make a lot of sense.
I think he meant what he said in that conversation about cocaine. It's the first time when I felt I was witnessing Bush convincing himself to believe something that probably was not true, and that, deep down, he knew was not true. And his reason for doing so is fairly obvious
On the same day John McCain is talking about putting partisanship aside, the President launched a cheap political attack while on a state visit honoring the 60th anniversary of Israel, one of America's greatest allies. Bush's outrageous comments are an embarrassment to our country, not based in fact and bring us no closer to our goal of ending terrorist attacks against Israel and bringing peace to the region. If John McCain is really serious about being a different kind of Republican, he'll denounce these remarks in the strongest terms possible.
President Bush has been hesitant to weigh in on any subject concerning the presidential race or the priorities of the next administration. But during an interview with Al Arabia TV, Bush didn't hesitate to offering a word of advice on the Middle East to the next President.
From the White House transcripts:
Take the Middle East seriously because that's the center of -- that's the place where people get so despondent and despair that they're willing to come and take lives of U.S. citizens.
On the other hand, be hopeful because the Middle East is full of really decent, honorable people that want to live in peace. And use our influence to promote peace, whether it would be in Iraq, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, or elsewhere.
Former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker are scheduled to attend the May 20 premiere of HBO's new movie about the 2000 Florida presidential election.
After the showing of "Recount" 20 at the Rice University Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston,Carter and Baker will hold a discussion about the federal election system. The two had served as co-chairmen of the Commission on Federal Election Reform. The movie, which stars Kevin Spacey as Democratic aide Ron Klain, Laura Dern as Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris and Dennis Leary as Democratic field operative Michael Whouley, will run on HBO on May 25.
A Democratic nominee for the Federal Election Commission has pulled his name from consideration, a move that may further prolong the Senate impasse over filling four FEC vacancies.
Democrats had hoped to return Robert Lenhard, a former chairman of the commission, to the FEC. But Lenhard no longer wants to be considered due to the delay over the nomination process, according to a letter from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten.
"[Lenhard] is exceptionally well-qualified and his nomination is not controversial," Reid wrote. "However, given the complete unwilligness among Republicans to constitute a functional FEC, I could not assure him of timely confirmation."
Senate Democrats have held up votes to confirm the four pending nominees due to their objection to Republicans' choice of Hans von Spakovsky. While Republicans have called for one vote to confirm all four nominees as a bloc, Democrats have sought a separate vote for each nominee, believing that von Spakovsky does not have enough support for confirmation. Democrats, led by Barack Obama, have concerns over von Spakovsky's voting rights record in Georgia and as a lawyer in the Department of Justice.
Reid wrote that the search for a new Democratic nominee and the process to get one confirmed typically takes seven months.
The FEC has only two current members, which isn't enough for a quorum.
John McCain's comment that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's record has sparked more talk of a McCain-Rice ticket.
"I think her overall record is really very, very meritorious," McCain told reporters during an availability on his campaign plane. Video is below.
As reported earlier, Rice has recently been making the rounds with potential VP vetter. On Sunday, Republican strategist Dan Senor told George Stephanopoulos on "This Week" that Rice has been "actively" campaigning for the VP spot.
The House Oversight Committee announced today it will hold a hearing April 22 to "examine the broad trends, incentives, and challenges present in the Defense Department
Barack Obama said John McCain's speech yesterday on the economy and mortgage crisis "offered not one policy, not one idea, not one bit of relief" during a campaign event this afternoon.
John McCain warned against any potential bail out during his speech Tuesday, saying "any assistance must be temporary and must not reward people who were irresponsible at the expense of those who weren't."
Obama classified McCain's comments as "Bush economics" and said the Bush's push for an "ownership society" has turned into a "you're-on-you're own society."
Most Viewed RSS Feed »
