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Flashback: McCain Objected To Granting Dem Senator More Time (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | December 18, 2009, 6:39PM

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Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

Al Franken, Chris Matthews, Hardball, Joe Lieberman, John McCain

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On Hardball this evening, Chris Matthews dug up the video to prove that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) wasn't being totally truthful when he complained that he'd never seen anything like when Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) denied Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) more time to speak -- in fact, McCain himself has done it.

Yesterday, McCain vehemently protested when his friend was denied an extra moment to finish his speech, claiming that it had never happened before and damaged the comity of the Senate. (Franken said he had been instructed by the leadership to hold people to their time limits, as the presiding officer.)

"I've been around here 20-some years. First time I've ever seen a member denied an extra minute or two to finish his remarks," McCain said indignantly. "And I must say that I don't know what's happening here in this body. But I think it's wrong."

But as Think Progress pointed out, McCain certainly had seen it happen before -- and in fact had perpetrated it in 2002, when he lodged an objection and thus denied extra time to then-Sen. Mark Dayton (D-MN) during debate on the Iraq War.

Matthews tonight provided the video. "And now John McCain says this has never happened before, he's never seen anything like it," Matthews observed wryly, "when in fact he did it."

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7 comments

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Larry Linn

December 18, 2009 8:37 PM

Gee! Franken wants to make the Senate more productive, and enforces the protocal. Meanwhile Liberman and McCain want to babble on not supporting people with Alheimers, or something else that they forgot about. This should not bother McCain, the taxpayers have paid for his healthcare all of his life, as well as his father, and his grandfather. He is someone that has lived off the taxpayer since he was concieved. Lieberman, he does not know what he wants, other than to satisfy his indecisive ego.

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Jon-P

December 18, 2009 10:48 PM

seems like the MSM is starting to figure out that McCain and Lieberman are hypocritical jerks.

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LeeJo

December 19, 2009 1:21 AM

Sadly the clip that is shown here is of Sen. Robert Byrd or West Virginia talking and while you can hear someone object to Sen. Byrd's request for more time you can not see who make the objection. The clip does not show Sen. Dayton at all. While McCain is a twit, we should get it right before we start trying to prove a point.

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Bull Schmitt

December 19, 2009 12:33 PM in reply to LeeJo

It sure sounded like McCain to me, and (relatively speaking) I imagine this happens a lot more than "this has never happened before in the Senate".

This came up on the Maddow show last night, it turns out that about 2 minutes of the tape in the C-SPAN archives of McCain objecting to Sen. Dayton are mysteriously missing, Rosemary Woods-style. Just the part where Ol' Walnuts is actually objecting to giving a Senate colleague another minute to finish a statement.

Of course it's apparently too much for Matthews (or his guests) to notice that in the clip shown, McCain is objecting to that totally obscure, and long-since-forgotten Sen. Byrd.

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mamiller

December 19, 2009 1:31 AM

You mean you found a situation where McCain was disengenuous?I am shocked.

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Falconcrest

December 19, 2009 3:36 PM

This is alot to read, but I think the point is, why are we having this fight about health coverage for Americans. If we can spend money to go to war, we should spend money to keep all Americans healthy.

From think progress
On October 10, 2002 — just ahead of the looming mid-term elections — the Senate rushed a debate on a war authorization giving President Bush the power to use force against Iraq. The resolution ultimately passed the Senate after midnight on an early Friday morning by a vote of 77-23.
During the course of the frenzied floor debate, then-Sen. Mark Dayton (D-MN) spoke in favor of an amendment offered by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) that would have restricted Bush’s constitutional powers to wage war against Iraq. After a minute and a half, Dayton ran out of time, prompting this exchange:
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator’s time has expired.
Mr. DAYTON. I ask for unanimous consent that I have 30 seconds more to finish my remarks.
Mr. McCAIN. I object.
Byrd stepped in to grant Dayton time to finish his remarks. But just moments later, Byrd asked for more time to speak for himself. Again, McCain objected, prompting Byrd to chide him for doing so. “This shows the patience of a Senator,” Byrd said. “This clearly demonstrates that the train is coming down on us like a Mack truck, and we are not even going to consider a few extra minutes for this Senator

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fafner1

December 20, 2009 3:14 AM

Okay, first off McCain said he had never seen a Senator shut down when he asked for an extra minute or two. But Dayton only asked for 30 seconds.

Going further, McCain said "he had never seen", but it is apparent he really meant "he couldn't remember". It's kind of unfair to be so hard on a senior citizen slipping into the early stages of dementia.

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