McCain Attended Zero Afghanistan Hearings In Last Two Years

ABC News reports that McCain has attended zero of his Senate committee's six hearings on Afghanistan in the last two years:

The McCain campaign criticism of Sen. Barack Obama's hearing record on Capitol Hill led us to put the shoe on the other foot.

It turns out that presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain, has attended even fewer Afghanistan-related Senate hearings over the past two years than Obama's one. Which is a nice way of saying, McCain, R-Ariz., the top Republican on the Senate Armed Service Committee, has attended zero of his committee's six hearings on Afghanistan over the last two years...

...The findings are surprising given the fact that the McCain campaign loudly criticized Obama this week for failing to schedule any hearings on Afghanistan in the last year and a half. Obama chairs the European Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which has oversight of military operations in Afghanistan.

The American public believes the war in Afghanistan is far more essential to the war on terror than the war in Iraq: 51% believe the U.S. must win the war in Afghanistan to succeed in the war on terror, whereas only 34% feel the same about the Iraq war.

Comments

[calichic]

The corporate media espouses Cain's nam experience as an advantage over Obama in the arena of "national security" and "the war on terror". But in 04 Kerry's nam experience was denigrated and ignored as an advantage over Bush in this realm. Then, ironically, the media endlessly ponder why the polls show the public trust Cain to "keep us safe".

[cassidynj]

Well, the McCain campaign has been asking for more coverage..­..here it is!

[TocinoHumano]

People can't even show up to do their jobs as Senators and they want us to elect them President? Here is a list of the top ten vote-missers in the US Senate. Notice who is #2 and who is #4. This information was current as of February, 2008.

Here is a list of the ten members of the US Senate with the highest number of missed votes.

1) Tim Johnson (D-SD) 68.5% (311 votes missed out of 454 total votes)
(Johnson suffered a brain hemorrhage on Dec. 13, 2006, and has not returned to the Senate.)

2) John McCain (R-AZ) 56.6% (257 votes missed out of 454 total votes)

3) Joseph Biden (D-DE) 38.5% (175 votes missed out of 454 total votes)

4) Barack Obama (D-IL) 38.3% (174 votes missed out of 454 total votes)

5) Christopher Dodd (D-CT) 36.6% (166 votes missed out of 454 total votes)

6) Sam Brownback (R-KS) 30.0% (136 votes missed out of 454 total votes)

7) Hillary Clinton (D-NY) 24.7% (112 votes missed out of 454 total votes)

8) Roger Wicker (R-MS) 16.7% (2 votes missed out of 12 total)

9) Daniel Inouye (D-HI) 9.7% (44 votes missed out of 454 total votes)

10) Craig Thomas (R-WY) 9.4% (17 votes missed out of 181 total votes)

Source:

Washington Post: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/senate/vote-missers/

[django707]

But he already knows everything there is to know about Afghanistan, so why bother attending any stupid hearings?

And he's already figured out how to cut the deficit, win the war in Iraq, find Osama, and get medicare subsidies for viagra. Only a fool wouldn't vote for him!

I think there are a bunch of cynics on this site. Don't you know a red-blooded, All Amurkin Maverick when you see one?

He's a maverick man is what he is, by gosh!

[NorVaGal]

Maybe McCain was on his way to the Afghan hearings, but lost his bearings. Hey, sheet happens, you know.

[HumeSkeptic]

Hey! AbolishTheFed:

Your friend Hume here.

Hey! the asylum guys called. You're supposed to be back before they close the gates in ten minutes.

.

[LMT]

I think he was freely shopping in the markets of Iraq at the time.

[SCG]

The press happily went on that trip, as I recall.

[maxdenn]

We must vote our conscience this November. We must cast our ballot for our children. I know I will. Goodnight.

[SCG]

If that doesn't work.....b­ang pots and pans or work stoppages like Poland. Nite Max.

[Querent]

I don't know about your children, but I certainly don't want my children in charge of the country. Maybe when they learn to clean their rooms.

[greekdish]

LOL. How pathetic. So McCain didnt attend a HEARING. Its nothing he was gonna VOTE on, unlike Nobama. So if McCain didnt attend the absurd and comical baseball steroid hearings, you would all crucify him for that too?? LOL. Nitpicking again I see. What a bunch of hateful lefties here.

[CrapWhisperer]

Hello.....­.........?

[SouthFloridaDem]

Hahahahahahahah!

Boy, the hits just keep on coming!

[VolvoBirkenstock]

McPinata

[SCG]

Mr. Maverick couldn't attend, he needed his nap. Besides what is there in Afghanistan to interest any lobbyists?

[GrouchoMarxist]

But Magoo is filled with so much mavericky goodness that he doesn't just disagree with his party. He can actually disagree with something that he, himself said earlier in the day. Now that's some mavericky maverickness, right there.

[SCG]

That or memory loss?

Anyway, they've ditched Reagan (not polling so well), and moved back to Teddy Roosevelt as his newest incarnation. I didn't realize Teddy was a right wing puppet?

Wake me, if they reach Lincoln.

[NorVaGal]

McCain's maverickosity knows no bounds. He's the maverickiest of 'em all. Fortunately for us, he holds the monopoly on mcmaverickism.

[Pyrrhus]

opium

[calichic]

Does the CIA have lobbyists?

Air America

[brainuser]

Didn't he declare victory over there around 2005 or 2006? So why go to any hearings after that?

[NoblesseOblige]

Who wants this nincompoop as the POTUS? I shudder to think he could "win" the election like Bu$h did in 2000.

Folks, if that happens, we're all the proverbial "toast". Think about it.

[shades3]

But.......­.....but..­..........­but.......­...HE WAS A POW!!
Isn't that enough?? He shouldn't have to actually attend any meetings of any committees­..........­..should he??
His entire patriotism is composed of having been a POW.
Although we shouldn't dismiss that, and it must have been horrible, horrible for him, it WAS forty years ago.
He may very well have been a warrior then. But this is now.
Being President of the United States is not about being a soldier.
It's about being Chief Exectutive, with a finger on the button that starts wars......­.....or knows how NOT to start wars.
A soldier knows about war. He is not trained to wage peace. He is trained to kill.
Isn't it about time that a President actually found a way to wage peace??

[only1Demvoter]

NoblesseO. : Yep...

They'll come after us with everything they've unConstitutionally heisted.


-ralph

[Bettysdad]

Why would Flyboy, or any Republican, want to be confused by the facts?

[GrouchoMarxist]

They don't want to be...they prefer faith-based reality. Just believe what Dear Leader and his proxies tell you.

[suzyhein]

crashboy