Cliff Schecter: Did McCain Avoid Voting on a Key 9/11 Bill Because He's Afraid of the Neocons?

[laststeamtrain]

Did McCain Avoid Voting on a Key 9/11 Bill Because He's Afraid of the Neocons?

McCain's official calendar says he was in California on the day of a key security vote, but he was actually in the Senate, voting on 15 other bills.

By Cliff Schecter, PoliPoint Press
Posted on April 10, 2008, Printed on April 10, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/81887/

Some of John McCain's best friends are Neocons. So much so that he signed a letter in 1998 to President Clinton, that among other things stated that "the only acceptable strategy is one that eliminates the possibility that Iraq is able to use or threaten to use weapons of mass destruction." So when John McCain tells you that 9/11 changed his way of thinking, unless he's referring to 9/11/98, chalk it up to more of that famous "straight-talk."

Other signatories of this letter included a cast of characters who would become infamous for doing foreign policy the way Lindsay Lohan does driving. Including: Donald Rumsfeld, John Bolton, Richard Perle, Bill Kristol and Paul Wolfowitz. Yes, those geniuses.

So when, on March 13, 2007, he didn't show up to vote on the "Keeping America Secure Act," we learned a lot about who h. Whatever the merits of this piece of legislation, one might expect McCain, who portrays himself as a staunch defender against future 9/11s, to at least debate the issue. Upon further inspection it gets even more fishy.

McCain had 16 votes that day. He made 15 of them. The only one he missed was the one to codify the 9/11 Commission recommendations. And coincidentally, of course, Neocons hated those recommendations, because they talked about meeting with the Iranians and Syrians, for example, instead of just blowing them up. The following excerpt from my new book, The Real McCain (PoliPoint Press, 2008) explains what went down.

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http://www.alternet.org/story/81887/

[elleng]

1. Is he referring to the

PNAC letter?

I wouldn't consider that evidence that these guys are his best friends, but neither do I think the vote he missed would be so important.

'The one he missed was for an amendment (Amdt. 529) to provide $1.2 billion for the highly successful COPS program, an initiative that gives "local law enforcement critical resources necessary to prevent and respond to violent crime and acts of terrorism."'

So I dunno.