and I agree with your assessment. I didn't realize how much he hates the Donald. He has good reason too of course, but so do many Rupub who now support him.

or have a greater motive for revenge.

I think it was a twofer.

My Grandpa was a true hero and everything Donald Trump can never be: honest, kind, decent, humble, hard-working, level-headed, rational, intelligent and wise. My Grandpa was a true All American Patriot, Benedict Barnum is a carnival barking traitor.

Your own personal family story makes the OP's speculation solid gold.

I would guess that EVERY American who served, and had the misfortune of being a POW at one time, would take offense. And rightfully so. I take offense and I've never served in the military in any capacity! I hate to see bad guys win. trump thinks because he "won" he's right and he's entitled and he's some kind of anointed one that we should all bow down to.

But he DIDN'T win, at least not legitimately. He's NOT a legitimate president. He WASN'T elected legitimately. His whole "administration" is a damn farce. I look forward to the next Democratic president and Congress undoing whatever bullshit "legacy" that this vulgar, vainglorious creep leaves behind. And for his "White House" "portrait," I suggest a photo of a pile of whatever you find in the nearest dog park.

Totally agree with what you wrote. I too look forward to electing Dems across the board in order to undo all of the bad this impostor has done.

My dad died when I was young so my grandpa was my hero. He didn't get shot and then captured and nearly starved to death in a POW camp so that this absolute LOSER could turn the USA over to the Russians! I've never been more against a politician in my life. He is beneath the dignity of the lowest common criminal.

and not just facing mortality but by all acounts his final term as a senator so more elections for him.

Regardless of the reasons, I am hoping to see more of this type of mccain going forward and push against trump. He's likely got collins and murkowski by his side, and, hopefully, can convince graham to join them as well.

Numerous Republican Senators up for re-election next year knew this was a Catch-22. IF they voted for the bill and it passed. they would definitely lose the GE. If they voted against it, they would definitely lose in a primary.

McCain gave them (his Republican party colleagues to whom he is absolutely loyal) the ability to both vote for the bill and thus not face major primary challenge and the bill not pass so the heat for their vote would not be as hot in the GE, thus giving them a much better chance of keeping their seat come January 3, 2019.

then vote yes on the the bad stuff anyway

he could have accomplished the same thing by staying home.

The motion to proceed would have lost 50 to 49, and no one would to have voted at all.

No, the reason he traveled 2,000 miles between treatments for brain cancer and one week after major surgery, was to fuck Donald Trump. Everything else was just frosting on the cake.

Think for a moment and put yourself in John McCain's place. You're on death's doorstep. The man who sits in the White House, the job you coveted, insulted your very existence and that of your comrades. This chance falls into your lap. I know one thing, I would have done just what McCain did. "I'm going to die shortly, but I'm going to fuck you before I go."

How else do you explain that McCain voted in favor of two bills that were more draconian than the "skinny repeal", but then waits to be the last Republican vote and signal that vote with a dramatic "thumbs down".

Come on, it's too obvious. I'm sure there may be other reasons, but none would incentivize his leaving Arizona to do it except revenge.

Thus he could bring it up again in this fiscal year and potentially get it passed.

By doing what he did, it cannot come up again in this fiscal year and there is no way they bring it up next year due to the toxicity during an election year.

probably would not have come up. it would have accomplished the same thing as you describe. No, the best way to get revenge was to make it go all the way to the end and then screw them.

McCain played it perfectly for revenge. Nothing else makes any sense. He could have accomplished all the other things by just staying home.

In order to raise their hopes and play them like fools, he had to do it exactly the way he did.

I think it even goes higher, straight up to McConnell. There's no way Mitch was going to allow a bill to go through that would have wrecked the insurance industry, which is the source of huge amounts of campaign contributions. McConnell's number one priority is and has always been fundraising, and there's no way he didn't hear from them before the vote.

the reason McCain voted the way he did had a lot to do with his current health situation and the thought of denying coverage to millions in the same situation he is in.

the dramatic method of his vote was a bigly fuck you to trump. A Vietnam vet, particularily one who went through what McCain with through, is never forgotten when they are insulted by an asshole like trump. McCain may have been a good boy and went along with the situation for party unity reasons, but rest assured he's wanted to knock trump halfway into next week ever since trump ran his mouth against him for his own political reasons during the primaries.

revenge being a dish best served cold and all.

He knew that because he was going to vote No on the final bill. In your face McConnell and Trump.

I think he has run out of fucks to give.

Joe's son Beau died from the same cancer.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/344476-biden-lobbied-mccain-on-healthcare-vote-report

This is your last chance to let the bad blood with Obama be over. Go over and shake some DEM hands and vote "no". Next, fly back home and leave the mess to Turtle and the Orange Turd to chug.

.... would kill it.

I think it's much more complicated. Yes, you are right about his feelings towards Trump. You are also right about his feeling his mortality - he's got 1 good year left and does not need to worry about repercussions. I'm also sure that seeing one's mortality and living the nightmare of health care and understanding and in having candid conversations with his family, doctors and other patients makes one a bit more open. But there is more to it.

He's part of the old Senate generation, those who did work in a bipartisan nature and more importantly cultivated friendship with other Senators. I'm sure part of what is going on also includes giving shade to several other Senators who needed to vote for repeal, but would if forced have voted against it. He can take that hit for them. This no vote I'm sure was a vote against a lot of things which have happened lately. It was a finger to Trump, McConnell, Cornyn and Ryan.

Do I think highly of McCain and agree with his politics? Not really. I think McCain prefers the Senate of the late 1980's - and I would agree with him it was a far more deliberative body with the likes of Byrd and Kennedy than McConnell, Rand, and Cruz.

He needed assurance that Dems would come to the table. And Dems, clearly the more capable party when it comes to governing, agreed.

Ergo Schumer's "cut the shit" wave to kill reaction after McCain's vote, Pelosi's reach-across-the-aisle letter, etc.

And I don't think McCain is done fucking Trump and McConnell quite yet. Best be careful Paul Ryan, he's teeing you up as well.

I have no doubt his attempt here is not only patriotic, but also ultimately strengthen the GOP.

Good luck to him on both accounts (though less so on the former).

"I'm not sure if it's really being appreciated just how comprehensively the Republicans were just fucked over.

See, the Republicans have been trying to pass these godawful healthcare bills through a process called budget reconciliation, which, among other things, protects the bill from being filibustered in the Senate and only requires a simple majority of 50 votes (rather than 60, which the Republicans don't have).

The thing is, the Senate can only consider one budget reconciliation bill per topic per year. Of course, if the bill dies in committee and never comes to an official vote, it doesn't count- which is why they've been able to keep hammering away at the issue.

This bill, though, was allowed to come to the Senate floor, because the Republicans thought they'd secured the votes. Collins, Murkowski and the Democrats would vote no, everyone else would vote yes, and Pence would break the tie. And then McCain completely fucked them. And it was almost certainly a calculated move; he voted to allow the bill to come to the floor. Had McCain allowed it to die in committee, McConnell could have come back with yet another repeal bill; but he let it come to a vote, and now they can't consider another budget reconciliation bill for the rest of the fiscal year. The Senate needs 60 votes to pass any kind of healthcare reform now.

So now they're caught between a rock and a hard place. Either they concede defeat on the issue and try again later (causing a big, unpopular stink that could damage elections if they try it before the midterms, or risking losing the slim majority they already have if they wait) or they actually sit down with the democrats like adults and write a halfway decent healthcare bill.

This is amazing.
"

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=9387508

.....I think reasons of personal vendetta and revenge are really beneath what a Senator who represents millions of people is supposed to do. Doing the right thing for the good of the people should, be all that guides a Senator. Never much entered McCain's head before.

I think it's more likely that his own current brush with death and the health care system made very real to him how if the skinny bill went through, people suffering just like him, will be harmed.

McCain has stated in the hours since his no vote that he is dedicated to repealing Obama Care. He wants there to be "more competition". He says some other things that are more reassuring, but taken together, I think he's still a Repug---in this instance only slightly better than the hoard of them.

McCain could have accomplished the same thing by staying home.

No sir. He voted to proceed and then voted for 2 bills that sucked worse than the "Skinny Repeal". Then he waited to be the last Republican vote and gestured with a thumbs down.

That was done for a purpose and it was more than just to allow Obamacare to survive. It was done to make a statement.

But it seemed more directed at Turtle in that moment. The way McCain faced him directly. I think there's real history between these two. But that refers to form (drama) rather than to content (not allowing a skinny repeal). I suspect McConnell has been a sabotager of help to Vets.

Doing a fast research on google, there was this from The Hill:

"Mitch McConnell blocked $21 billion for veterans.” The bill especially blocked medical help for Vets suffering from agent orange.

I just don't think McCain put his thumb down because Trump personally dissed him. The Skinny repeal was just too cruel. I'll bet it hurt Vets badly.

(As an aside, I'm still mad as hell at McCain for Palin. Obama himself has said she set the stage for a candidate like Trump. McCain's choice broke the mold for our standards of competency. He's a complex guy. No doubt about that.)

If McCain just wanted the bill(s) to fail, he could of just stayed home. There was no need to travel, in the midst of his diagnosis and treatment, just to defeat the bill(s).

His vote was only necessary for the motion to proceed to the motions on the floor. There was no way the Republicans get to 50 votes on anything without him.

When they needed McCain most, on the "skinny repeal", he fucked them. Why did McCain vote "yes" in the previous two votes, for outright repeal and the Senate bill, both worse than the skinny repeal? The answer, his vote didn't matter. They were defeated by margins in which his vote didn't matter. It was the "skinny repeal" that mattered. His vote was the one they needed. That's when they were counting on McCain, he knew it, and he fucked them in dramatic fashion.

His revenge is all that makes sense to me.

It's why he was so dramatic about it, and the thumbs down was a proxy middle finger.

that seriously fucked with Trump, I'd sure as hell do it. Wouldn't you?

Probably thinking about his mortality. His diagnosis is a difficult one. But his thumbs down is a big fuck you to Trump. I come from a large military family and I have great respect for those who serve. And when that POS Trump said that about McCain, I was appalled. He endured a tremendous amount of pain and suffering while Trump dodged the draft. So it's fine with me if he gets to have a moment to savor stomping on Trump. I wish him well with his chemo.

I think it's correct that what he did was ensure it went to a vote, so that it can't get passed by 50 votes anytime soon and will have to go through a regular procedure of working on it among the Republicans and with some Democrats.

The Repubs were ticked at McConnell for the secretive way this was handled, and crafted by only a few Republicans w/no info given to the Senate, or even to the other Republicans.

Evidence of this is the strong point that McCain talked about during the press conference: that he, Graham, Johnson & others had good ideas for a hc plan that he thought some Democrats would agree with, that he had an amendment drafted by his governor's office and which he had presented but which had not even been considered....he said that this bill should be worked on in the open and with all the members of the Senate able to contribute.

That's what this was, IMO. A F-U to McConnell and to the manner at which McConnell tried to force this down their throats. But McCain really did believe that it should be an openly debated bill and Democratic Party approval at least sought...so that's mainly what he was doing. F-U to McConnell because he was the one who prevented normal procedure.

The F-U to Trump was just a perk that I'm sure makes him smile to himself.

Rec

On Friday DUer flaleftist reported on a very interesting theory about what McCain may have been up to:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029387508

This theory as I understand it is that since the vote was taken under Senate reconcilition procedures, the actual defeat of the skinny repeal bill means that the reconcilition procedures (which require only 51 votes) cannot be used for the rest of this congress with regard to a bill on the same topic (health care).

Assuming McCain understood this, then his "yeah" vote on the procedural question of taking up the bill might well have been a trap. His "nay" on the actual bill under this theory means that until the next congress is in place (2019) an Obama Care repeal bill is subject to the "regular order" that McCain talked about in his speech last week (i.e. Filibuster rules - 60 votes).


Does anyone have knowledge as to whether this theory holds ANY water? If it does then McCain's stock with me goes up a couple of notches.

accomplishments.

Did McCain blindside him? I hope so! I truly detest that fucker. It was also reported that McCain huddled up with Democrats before the vote even putting his arm around Diane Feinstein. Pence watched all this and then brought his phone to McCain with a call from the Traitor-in-Chief. I wonder what was said? God, this is delicious! K&R

For once, the using of disadvantaged results in positive so there's that.

WASHINGTON – Just before he cast the deciding vote on the Senate’s latest health care repeal bill, Sen. John McCain turned and whispered something in Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s ear: “I’m going to vote ‘no.’?”

It was past 1 a.m. Friday and weary senators had gathered in the chamber, waiting for the roll call. Vice President Mike Pence was walking around the Senate floor, ready to break the anticipated 50-50 tie if Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins joined every Senate Democrat in voting against the so-called “skinny repeal” of select parts of the Affordable Care Act.

(snip)

After tipping off Klobuchar and her colleagues, McCain glanced up at the reporters hanging over the Senate press gallery railing overhead, watching avidly.

“I hope they don’t read lips,” McCain joked.

After a while, Pence pulled McCain into the hall and Klobuchar’s cellphone started blowing up with texts from reporters eager to find out what McCain had said to her.

A few minutes later, after the vote was underway, McCain returned to the chamber. C-SPAN footage shows Klobuchar rising to her feet in anticipation, nudging her colleagues that something extraordinary was about to happen. McCain stretched out his arm and gave the bill a thumbs-down, and it went down to defeat 49-51.

http://www.startribune.com/mccain-s-heads-up-to-klobuchar-i-m-voting-no/437209543/