An Apology That Misses the Mark

Never mind that Senator McCain's apology was overshadowed by C-PAC, particularly Gov. Palin's talk.

It was, after all, an apology, and a public one that that. Kudos, Sen. McCain.

However, it missed the mark.

I'm not saying he should not have apologized to the Senators in the filibuster. Sen McCain clearly violated Reagan's 11th commandment, and he did it on the Senate Floor.  The Wacko Birds comment was minuscule compared to the grand flogging in which he participated with Sen. Graham and Sen. Durbin on the Senate Floor, despite the fact that Sens. Paul, Cruz, Lee and others never once attacked Sen. McCain and Graham during the filibuster.  The comment by Sen. McCain  was followed up by the "Wacko Birds" comment.

However, it is good that the apology was aired on Fox News. I hope it is followed up with a statement on the Senate floor.

However, the apology missed the mark. Further, it showed that Sen. McCain remains clueless about the exact matter for which he should be apologizing.

The big event that emerged from the filibuster was not simply the lack of clarity on the drone policy. You don't have to be a member of Ron Paul's campaign to want that. That was something long overdue, but it did not need to occur during the Brennan confirmation. But there was something more important that came from the filibuster that Sen. McCain seems to still ignore: the secrecy with which policy is conducted in the United States. By policy, I don't mean necessarily merely our drone policy, but policy in all arenas, including fiscal policy.

The timing of the filibuster was crucial, for it exposed the secret meetings that Senate Republicans were having with the President on tax hikes. I would contend that the true value of the filibuster was to expose this secret meeting and to show how far our Republic has strayed from the path set out by our founding fathers.
Senator McCain may recall that there was a time in the not so distant past where fiscal policy was debated in public hearings. There was a time in the not so distant past where the question of raising taxes, cutting taxes, and the like were discussed openly in public hearings.  That seems to no longer be the case. Rather than public debate on the issue of taxation, what the filibuster highlighted was the reason why many senators were not at the filibuster: they were in a secret meeting with the President on raising taxes.

Senator McCain, Graham, et al, could have been  part of the filibuster and turning the attention of the nation on the problems with Brennan as CIA Director, the problems with our drone policy, and Benghazi. Rather, this group decided it would be better to have secret fiscal policy meetings with the President. They chose to exclude the fiscal conservatives. In doing so, they chose to be divisive, and go against their party leadership. In doing so, they decided to play President Obama's game of secrecy, rather than be part of the larger public process.

Senator McCain, why don't you apologize for what, and to whom, you should be apologizing? Apologize for dropping the ball on Benghazi when you should have been out there on this issue. Apologize for not being available to shape the conversation on the Brennan filibuster on issues related to Brennan, Benghazi, and our drone policy.

But most of all, apologize to the American people for the on-going secrecy on fiscal policy. Apologize to not holding Barack Obama accountable for not just his wrong doing in Benghazi, but in his domestic policy.

Oh, and I am still waiting for an apology on the hobbit comment. Don't worry, I won't hold my breath.

To see John McCain's Apology, click here.