NYT: McCain "berated" Democratic Senators to Authorize Iraq

So the New York Times has a puff piece depicting John McCain as an influencial "bipartisan" Senator.

But towards the end of the piece, there are an interesting couple of paragraphs that describe how John McCain used his so-called bipartisan cred to influence issues:

Other times, however, Mr. McCain used his bipartisan appeal to put pressure on his Democratic friends on behalf of the White House. "He was a tremendous resource," said Nicholas E. Calio, a former White House legislative liaison to the Senate, adding that Mr. McCain helped round up Democratic votes for trade agreements, domestic security measures and the Iraq war.

Mr. McCain lobbied his Democratic friends to vote to authorize the invasion, even berating them, several Democrats said. "He was very forceful," said former Senator Bob Graham, Democrat of Florida. "He told me the issue was over: ‘We ought to get on with the vote, stop this meaningless pontification.’ "

Berated?  Meaningless Pontification?

I think this little tidbit, buried at the end of a largely adulatory article, is fascinating.

John McCain did not just vote for an unnecessary war or choice, he did not just say that we'll be greeted as liberators, but he also used his "bipartisan" bonifides to intimidate Democratic Senators into voting for the war.

Not only did he berate his colleagues but according to Senator Bob Graham, it appears that he tried to stifle debate as well.  He arrogantly dismissed those who voiced important concerns about entering into a foreign policy disaster as engaging in "meaningless pontification."

John McCain and the corporate media want to make this election a referendum on whether the surge has reduced some violence in Iraq, ignoring the larger questions of whether we should have diverted from Afghanistan to go in there in the first place or whether the surge has produced the political reconciliation it was supposed to.

But it's important to remember as the pundits bloviate about how Americans are supposedly comfortable with John McCain as commader in chief that he not only supported the war and parroted Bush's talking points, but he abused his "bipartisan appeal" for which the media worship him to intimidate Democratic Senators into enabling a huge mistake.  

His "bipartisanship" is nothing but a trojan horse for his neocon agenda.