Our sad small town newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star, published a “puff piece” about Rep. Martha McSally (R) (the “R” stands for property of Raytheon) that reads as if it was taken directly from a McSally press release. McSally instrumental in keeping missile system in production.
I don’t know if this is just bad political reporting, or it was an editorial decision made by an editor of the Star.
The Star report entirely glosses over this part of the Raytheon town hall: “McSally also took a handful of questions from the audience at the end of the town hall, but sidestepped a question on which presidential candidate would be best in terms of protecting national security.”
Well, luckily the Arizona Republic sent a real reporter to the town hall to report the news that the Arizona Daily Star clearly does not want its Southern Arizona readers to know. McSally: Presidential race ‘like a WWF tournament’:
U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., said Thursday that she is troubled by positions taken by both fellow Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton and lamented that the presidential race has become “more like a WWF tournament than a serious discussion.”
Sorry, but no. That would be World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), of which Donald Trump is a member of its Hall of Fame. Donald Trump’s greatest WWE moments; 6 ways Donald Trump’s wrestling career previewed his campaign.
But McSally, who has yet to say if she will support her party’s presumptive nominee for president, declined to identify the issues that concern her.
Same old Martha McSally, still avoiding answering questions from her constituents and the media. I have never encountered a candidate who avoids answering questions as much as Martha McSally.
“Who do you think would be the better president from understanding the military and funding it the way we would like it to be?” a Raytheon Co. employee asked McSally after listening to her deliver a speech on military and foreign policy at the company’s Tucson-based missile-systems subsidiary.
“There is no way I’m going to answer that,” McSally groaned, after joking about her discomfort talking about the presidential race.
“My disappointment so far in this process has been that it seems more like a WWF tournament than a serious discussion about who should be the next commander in chief and leader of the free world,” she said.
“I really hope the debate and the discussion starts to be more about issues,” McSally, a retired Air Force officer, continued. “We need to demand that. We need to be part of that. We can’t be bystanders.”
But with the opportunity in front of her, McSally failed to specify issues that Trump or Clinton should talk about. She did say the country faces threats including terrorism, cybersecurity and North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
And she declined to comment on Trump’s controversial foreign-policy proposals, such as pulling the United States out of the NATO alliance, even though minutes before McSally had praised NATO-member Norway as a beneficial ally to the U.S.
“I continue to hope and pray that something will shift,” she said, adding later, “I’m concerned about a lot of the positions of both of the presumptive nominees.”
McSally criticized Trump last year for advocating a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S. And last month she said Trump’s statements about women concerned her. She has refused to say if she would endorse the presumptive GOP nominee.
“I’ll spend the next six months if needed, watching closely, learning more about him and determining what kind of man he is before I decide whether to give him my vote,” McSally said in a written statement in May. (May 23).
Here’s her written statement:
“I recently returned from Afghanistan to the political news and like many Republicans, am still trying to make sense of it all. We’re in unchartered waters with two presumptive nominees who are viewed unfavorably by the majority of Americans. More specifically I have concerns about statements Mr. Trump has made regarding women, but I also respect the will of the voters.So I’ll spend the next six months if needed, watching closely, learning more about him and determining what kind of man he is before I decide whether to give him my vote.We have serious issues ahead of us and I hope this election becomes more about a battle of ideas and solutions while making the case for who should be the next Commander in Chief in a dangerous world.Southern Arizonans elected me to do a job representing them, not because of my affiliation with any past or future presidential candidate, and I am all-in on doing that job. I have spent my whole life defying stereotypes and labeling and I’m going to continue to be that independent voice for Southern Arizonans regardless of who wins the White House.”
Could McSally vote for Clinton? On Thursday, she left open that possibility.
Whaaa? That will make Tea-Publicans go crazy and reconsider their support for McSally.
Asked if she might skip voting for president in November if she continues to have concerns about both candidates, she shut the door on that idea.
“I put the uniform on every single day and risked my life in order to make sure we defend our freedoms. And one of those freedoms and responsibilities is to vote,” she said.
And one of the responsibilities of an elected member of Congress is to answer questions from their constituents and the media, something you studiously refuse to do.
So it’s time to put up or shut up, Rep McSally: Do you endorse Donald Trump, or not? No more of your hemming and hawing and avoiding answering this question.
I have real issues with any politician that chooses to use this generalizing statement as if “They” know what our citizens want. I pulled this out of Ms. McSally’s statement: “We’re in unchartered waters with two presumptive nominees who are viewed unfavorably by the majority of Americans. ” So just how does she see the glass? Half empty or half full? By using the word “majority” one gets the idea it’s half empty and if it gets any lower then lord help us. She appears to pay much more attention to corporate interest than that of the community at large. She is caught between the rock and the hard place with her party affiliations. Because of the GOP philosophy “right or wrong we must all stick together” I fear that she does not have what it takes to make a decision that supports our country’s interest best. Fear levels are high for the GOP and this comes from years of poor decisions. Many are already taking up the cloak of being more independent thinking, time will tell. At some point she will probably come out for Trump, the peer pressure will dominate.
“Fear levels are high for the GOP and this comes from years of poor decisions.”
And the truth bomb goes “boom”.
Well said, Robert Francis.
You wonder what concerns McSully?
TO get re-elected and continue to get the perks that come with the position!