Why did Sen. John McCain first accuse President Obama as being "directly responsible" for the Orlando carnage and then say that Obama had not been "personally responsible"?
Initially, McCain gave a rhetoric that seemed to be longer than the Capitol hallway where he addressed reporters: "Barack Obama is directly responsible for it, because when he pulled everybody out of Iraq, al-Qaida went to Syria, became ISIS, and ISIS is what it is today, thanks to Barack Obama's failures, utter failures, by pulling everybody out of Iraq. So the responsibility for it lies with President Barack Obama and his failed policies. I and others have long warned that the failure of the president's policy to deny ISIL safe haven would allow the terrorist organization to inspire, plan, direct or conduct attacks on the United States and Europe as they have done in Paris, Brussels, San Bernardino and now Orlando."
Later, Senator John McCain stuck with his blame game, though he watered down his statement.
"I misspoke. I did not mean to imply that the president was personally responsible," McCain said in a written statement issued by his office. "I was referring to President Obama's national security decisions, not the president himself."
That was a bit interesting, more because McCain did not reveal how anyone could make a decision yet not be personally responsible for it. The accusation had been hurled even as Obama was meeting the relatives and friends of the 49 killed at Orlando.
White House officials did not comment on any of the statements, so no explanation arose from there either.
The Iraqi reference was quite complicated anyway, and reminded one of the 2008 election campaign. After the former Arizona Senator lost the race to Obama, John McCain had slammed the President's foreign policy, criticising Obama for withdrawing from Iraq and plunging the country into chaos.
It was quite a non-sequitur, but McCain seemed to have lived up to his own reputation of saying rather unusual or inaccurate things, as he did this year too during other speeches.
As a commentator described his stance: "It's hard to know what's more offensive here: the shameless exploitation of a terrorist attack for political gain, the grotesque self-congratulation about a national tragedy or the brazen pretense of a non-apology."
In fact, as McCain supported the invasion if Iraq in 2003, it can be said that he is "directly responsible for the deaths of almost 4,500 US troops and more than 150,000 civilians. Oh, and Orlando too."
Hence, instead of acknowledging that the Orlando massacre was due to his party's policies, blaming the President only made his party look silly and amusing.
McCain, then, shot off from the hip what he could have avoided, and did not really cover himself with glory.
Meanwhile, Democrats dismissed his statements as from those who are "puppets of Donald Trump."
The most ironic and unexpected fallout of his statements was the benefits to the Democrats. Due to outrage over his views, donations are pouring in for his Democratic challenger, Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick.
