ariz

From the front page of Today's Washington Post:

A Republican congressman knew of disgraced former representative Mark Foley's inappropriate Internet exchanges as far back as 2000 and personally confronted Foley about his communications.

A spokeswoman for Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) confirmed yesterday that a former page showed the congressman Internet messages that had made the youth feel uncomfortable with the direction Foley (R-Fla.) was taking their e-mail relationship. Last week, when the Foley matter erupted, a Kolbe staff member suggested to the former page that he take the matter to the clerk of the House, Karen Haas, said Kolbe's press secretary, Korenna Cline.

This is rather interesting. I don't know why the only openly gay Republican in Congress is now coming forward on this. Could he be trying to show that there was a wide knowledge of Foley for years? This adds one of the most interesting aspects to the whole scandal yet.

You know it is bad for McCain when you got NewsMax going after him with this little piece:

McCain's Out-of-Control Anger: Does He Have the Temperament to Be President?

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is considered a front-runner for the 2008 race, but does McCain have the temperament to be president?

As portrayed by the mainstream media, McCain is an engaging war hero, a man of political moderation positioned between the left and the right.

But to insiders who know him, McCain has an irrational, explosive side that make many of them question whether he is fit to serve as president and be commander in chief.

Nowhere is that sentiment stronger than in the Senate, where McCain has few friends or supporters. In fact, when McCain ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2000, only four Republican senators endorsed him.

"I have witnessed incidents where he has used profanity at colleagues and exploded at colleagues," said former Senator Bob Smith, a New Hampshire Republican who served with McCain on the Senate Armed Services Committee and on Republican policy committees. "He would disagree about something and then explode. It was incidents of irrational behavior. We've all had incidents where we have gotten angry, but I've never seen anyone act like that."

It is true - these radical right wingers will eat their young. Funny how this comes out a day after an article comes out about Grover Norquist being pissed at McCain. So either NewsMax is a major follower of old Grover (and his corruption) or Grover has some major pull in NewsMax.

When Bush signed the torture ban into law in December he used his "executive privilege" to make sure that a he could pick and choose where it applies. It seems like he wasted no time either:

Bush administration lawyers, fighting a claim of torture by a Guantanamo Bay detainee, yesterday argued that the new law that bans cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees in U.S. custody does not apply to people held at the military prison.

In federal court yesterday and in legal filings, Justice Department lawyers contended that a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, cannot use legislation drafted by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to challenge treatment that the detainee's lawyers described as "systematic torture."

Washington Post article continues here.

It was just a matter of time when he would invoke that privilege. With reports coming out everyday of how Republicans are loosing their trust in Bush, this should cause even one of their staunches supporters, John McCain, to distance himself from the administration more.

Wake up Republicans - you got a rogue President in the White House and he needs put back under control.

We now have at least one republican in Senate joining the fight with
Democrats to investigate the pre-war intelligence. That Senator is none other
than John McCain:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has emerged as a leading opponent of the
Bush administration’s policy on interrogating detainees in the war on
terrorism, wants Senate investigators to interview senior administration
officials about their statements regarding the threat posed by Saddam
Hussein before the war.

McCain backed Democratic calls for interviews of top-level administration
officials in an interview last week. But his position is at odds with many
in his party, including Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), chairman of the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence, and Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), whom McCain
may face in the 2008 GOP presidential primary.

Lawmakers facing a difficult reelection in 2006 and have an eye on the
2008 presidential election seem torn between McCain and their party line.
Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), a centrist Republican on the Senate Intelligence
Committee who is one of the chamber’s most vulnerable incumbents, said he
would reserve judgment on whether senior administration officials should
testify before the intelligence panel. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), who is
also expected to run for president in 2008, noted that Roberts is his
home-state colleague and deferred comment until he learned more about the
matter.

Article continues

here.