John McCain Should Retire-- His Only Remaining Role Is Inciting Bitter Obstructionism Among His Party's Pathetic Extremists

McCain and his closeted South Carolina sidekick Lindsey Graham may have started it but Republicans are showing their instinctive hatred for women and for African Americans by jumping on the preposterous notion that Ambassador Susan Rice is unqualified to be Secretary of State. 97 bigoted extremists in the House, led by South Carolina racist Jeff Duncan, have sent Obama a letter demanding he not appoint Rice. Did any non-racists sign the letter? Not that we could find; here's the list. Let us know if you find a non-racist on it:

Jeff Duncan* (R-SC)
Michael McCaul (R-TX)
Tim Huelskamp* (R-Koch)
Lynn Westmoreland* (R-GA)
Joe Pitts (R-PA)
Steve Pearce* (R-NM)
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
John Culberson* (R-TX)
Jeff Landry* (R-LA)
Blake Farenthold* (R-TX)
Joe "You Lie!" Wilson* (R-SC)
Steve Southerland (R-FL)
Paul Broun* (R-John Birch Society)
Phil Gingrey* (R-GA)
Dan Lungren (R-CA)
Frank Lucas (R-OK)
Dan Burton* (R-IN)
Steve King* (R-IA)
Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI)
Stephen Fincher* (R-TN)
Renee Ellmers (R-NC)
Ted Poe* (R-TX)
Tom Marino (R-PA)

Steve Chabot (R-OH)
Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)
Chris Smith (R-NJ)
Todd Rokita (R-IN)
Joe Barton* (R-TX)
Marlin Stutzman (R-IN)
Michele Bachmann* (R-MN)
John Carter* (R-TX)
Phil Roe* (R-TN)
Larry Bucshon (R-IN)
Vicky Hartzler* (R-MO)
David McKinley* (R-WV)
John Fleming* (R-LA)
Louie Gohmert* (R-TX)
Mick Mulvaney* (R-SC)
Spencer Bachus (R-AL)
Bill Huizenger (R-MI)
Paul Gosar (R-AZ)
Mike Pompeo (R-Koch)
John Mica (R-FL)
Kevin Brady (R-TX)
Kenny Marchant* (R-TX)
Rob Bishop* (R-UT)
Jeff Denham (R-CA)
Jim Jordan (R-OH)
David Schweikert (R-AZ)
Tom Graves* (R-GA)
Tom Price* (R-GA)
Dennis Ross* (R-GA)
Steven Palazzo* (R-MS)
Billy Long (R-MO)
James Lankford (R-OK)
Tim Walberg (R-MI)
Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
Trent Franks* (R-AZ)
Bill Posey (R-FL)
Scott DesJarlais (R-TN)
Bill Flores (R-TX)
Ann Marie Buerkle (R-NY)
Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ)
Jeff Miller (R-FL)
Doug Lamborn* (R-CO)
Candice Miller (R-MI)
Roscoe Bartlett* (R-MD)
Michael Burgess* (R-TX)
Rich Nugent* (R-FL)
Bill Johnson (R-OH)
Robert Aderholt (R-AL)
Tom Cole (R-OK)
Chip Cravaack (R-MN)
Allen West* (R-FL)
Trey Gowdy (R-SC)
Ralph Hall* (R-TX)
Bob Gibbs (R-OH)
Nan Hayworth (R-NY)
Diane Black (R-TN)
Tim Scott* (R-SC)
Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH)
Steve Scalise* (R-LA)
Quico Canseco (R-TX)
Don Young (R-AK)
Alan Nunnelee (R-MS)
Lamar Smith* (R-TX)
Sue Myrick* (R-NC)
Cynthia Lummis* (R-WY)
Lynn Jenkins* (R-KS)
Michael Turner (R-OH)
John Campbell (R-CA)
Connie Mack (R-FL)
Sandy Adams* (R-FL)
Randy Hultgren (R-IL)
Cory Gardner (R-CO)
Tim Griffin (R-AR)
Lord Charles Boustany (R-LA)

Of the 97, just over half, 49, are Representatives from former Confederate states and many are still not reconciled to equality for African-Americans. The ones who were defeated for reelection this year or are retiring are italicized. The vast majority of the Members on this list having voting records that indicate they are adamantly opposed to equality for women. The ladies and gentlemen with asterisks next to their names are members of Michele Bachmann's crackpot Tea Party Caucus.

One of the first to sign the letter was misogynistic zealot Joe Pitts. We asked his 2012 opponent Aryanna Strader, who we expect to run against him in 2014, what she made of Pitts' participation in the anti-Susan Rice jihad by the Far Right. “If one thing is clear it is that Congressman Pitts has learned nothing with regard to how information and orders are passed down through the chain-of-command,” said Aryanna Strader. “As an Army veteran, I know that when dealing with intelligence, you have to carry out your mission with the best information available. With that, for Joe Pitts to glom onto what is nothing more than a bitter political stunt demonstrates yet another severe lapse in judgment on his part.”

Congressional women have taken to the airwaves and I saw my own Congresswoman, Karen Bass, on MSNBC this morning denouncing this stunt as vociferously as Aryanna. And Democratic Whip, Jim Clyburn, the highest ranking African-American in the House pointed out that the racist Republicans aren't fooling anyone with their use of code words. From an interview on CNN this morning:

You know, these are code words. We heard them during the campaign. During this recent campaign, we heard [Romney surrogate John] Sununu calling our President ‘lazy,’ ‘incompetent.’ These kinds of terms that those of us, especially those of us that who were born and raised in the South, we’ve been hearing these little words and phrases all of our lives. And we get insulted by them. Susan Rice is as competent as anyone you will find. And to place that word on her causes problems with people like Marcia Fudge and it certainly causes a problem with me. I don’t like those words. Say that she was wrong for doing it, but don’t call her incompetent.

Of course, if they just said what she did was wrong, they'd still be making fools of themselves, as an editorial in yesterday's NY Times pointed out.

The more it becomes clear that Susan Rice, the United Nations Ambassador, did not knowingly deceive the American public about the Benghazi consulate attack, the more Republicans accuse her of having done so. Most recently, 97 members of the House wrote to President Obama opposing her possible nomination as secretary of state since she had “propagated a falsehood.”

Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham have been banging this drum since the election. Mr. McCain and Mr. Graham are threatening a filibuster if Mr. Obama nominates Ms. Rice when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton steps down.

...As U.N. ambassador, Ms. Rice had no direct involvement in the Benghazi mess, before or during the attacks. Do Republicans hostile to her think she should have gone rogue and simply ignored her approved talking points? And let’s keep things in perspective: Ms. Rice was trying to explain an event that had already taken place; she wasn’t disseminating inaccurate information to justify a future invasion, like Colin Powell did at the United Nations in 2003.

The letter from the 97 House members says that Ms. Rice’s comments did “irreparable damage to her credibility both at home and around the world.” That’s rather audacious. Where were these defenders of American credibility when George W. Bush misled Americans about Iraq, or withheld vital information about electronic eavesdropping, indefinite detention and torture?

I have no idea if Mr. Obama really wants to nominate Ms. Rice. But if he does, he shouldn’t give into extortion by Republicans, and especially Republican House members, who have no say over who gets appointed to secretary of state or any other job.