Ellington

Ladies and gentlemen, let the gloves come off! In the high tension of Washington politics, especially in the shadow of the Abramoff scandal, a war of words has erupted between two of the more statesman-like Senators in the Capitol. It is something I never thought I would see. I'll let you be the judge of how this is playing out. Go to this link:
http://obama.senate.gov/letter/060206-sen_obama_and_sen_mccain_exchange_letters_on_ethics_reform/index.html

Previous Comments

ID

170081

Comment

McCain really comes across like a jerk here. It's clear that, rather than favoring a truly bipartisan arrangement, he's joining in the political effort to marginalize the majority of Democrats in the Senate by bringing on board two token blue dogs--Lieberman and Nelson--and declaring the resulting legislation to be bipartisan, and then touting the fact that the majority of Democrats voted against the new ethics rules throughout the 2006 election cycle. It's a clever approach, but said majority of Democrats have beaten him to the punch by introducing S. 2180 before he can introduce a less strict "bipartisan" bill, forcing Republicans to explain which parts of the more stringent proposed ethics rules they would rather not have to follow. Now it's a liability for Republicans going into the election cycle, at least for the time being--McCain and company are bright boys, and will probably find a way to pull their fat out of the fire. I'm pretty sure nobody involved in the ethics reform process is actually thinking about ethics reform, because it's nine months til November, when 33 senators and 435 representatives will be up for reelection. What we're witnessing on both sides is simple chess strategy. Nothing more. Yesterday, the Democrats were in check. Today, the Republicans are in check. Now each side is planning its next move carefully. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-02-07T00:12:41-06:00

ID

170082

Comment

I heard about this little tiff on CBS tonight, and I was greatly disappointed. I always held Sen. McCain in high regard, and I figured that after the POW thing, he wouldn't have an immature bone in his body. Oh, well... I have a new slogan: Don't mess with my mama, and don't mess with Obama! :-P

Author

L.W.

Date

2006-02-07T00:17:57-06:00

ID

170083

Comment

Well, it looks like Obama and McCain have kissed and made up. Here is the story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060209/ap_on_go_co/mccain_obama BTW, Obama, will be in Memphis on the 20th to support Harold Ford, Jr. Don't hold your breath about him coming here.

Author

Rep. Erik Fleming

Date

2006-02-09T06:30:51-06:00

ID

170084

Comment

Well, isn't that the sweetest thing? I'm sure McCain's PR person was all over him. After all, Obama was on Oprah, and you never go against someone who's like by Oprah..except maybe for James Frey. (Glad she woke up on that issue.)

Author

L.W.

Date

2006-02-09T08:26:14-06:00