Washington, DC. If anybody thought John McCain was a stable, normal and responsible person, were they surprised when he displayed his inner crazy personna and turned it lose on a former Boeing executive trying to become a top Trump official.
In the US Senate all hell broke loose at a confirmation hearing Tuesday, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., berated the deputy defense secretary nominee, Patrick Shanahan, for a wishy-washy answer to whether, in his position, he would advocate for providing lethal defensive aid to Ukraine.
McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, even threatened to block Shanahan’s nomination. McCain is a long standing recipient of Ukrainian lobbyist funding and has done all possible to start a war in Ukraine for years now.
“Not a good beginning. Not a good beginning,” McCain cautioned at one point. “Do not do that again, Mr. Shanahan, or I will not take your name up for a vote before this committee. Am I perfectly clear?” by this point McCain seemed on the verge of a stroke, with obviously a highly elevated blood pressure.
Shanahan, a Boeing executive, provided a prewritten answer on the subject of arming Ukraine, which is battling Russian-backed separatists in its east. He said he would have to look into the issue more before taking a stance. McCain, who supports giving more military aid to Ukraine, called that response “inexplicable.”
“It’s not satisfactory, Mr. Shanahan,” McCain said in an even but stern tone. “Would you wish to abridge or amend your statement?” McCain imparted in a leading tone, as if verbally dragging Shanahan where he wanted the Boeing official to go in his remarks.
“I support equipping the Ukrainians,” Shanahan responded.
Later in the exchange, McCain contended that Shanahan’s position at Boeing should beget more knowledge on the issue and unloaded on the nominee in a manner that convinced many that Senator McCain is truly a sick man in need of help.
“Your response to that question was, frankly, very disappointing to me,” he began. “You have been associated for the last I don’t know how many years with one of the five corporations that provide 90 percent of the defensive weaponry to defend this nation. And your answer was, ‘Well, I’d have to look at the issue.’ It’s not good enough, Mr. Shanahan. McCain stuttered, with dribble clogging his microphone.
“I’m glad to hear you have changed your opinion from what was submitted, but it’s still disturbing to me,” he said. “It’s still disturbing to me after all these years that you would say that you have to look at the issue.” McCain was physically twitching and appeared to take a pill or tablet at this point.
McCain finally lost control and went on a verbal tirade upon Shanahan, “Have you not been aware of the issue? Have you not been aware of the actions of the Senate Armed Services Committee? Have you not been aware of the thousands of people that have been killed by Vladimir Putin? Have you missed all that in your duties at one of the major defense corporations in this country?”