McCain and Graham appeared to temper their criticism of Rice over the weekend, but the hour-and-a-half long meeting Tuesday only seemed to reignite their fury.
My guess? Susan Rice baited them. She entered this morning's meeting on an aggressive, combative footing and never relented. Expecting little but obedient back-shuffling from a mere U.N. ambassador, nothing would steam the august good old boys of John McCain and Lindsey Graham more than a young black woman's suggestion that these two almighty U.S. senators simply shove and then privately store their raving paranoia in an unlit, malodorous place.
Rice was baiting them. And McCain and Graham were too damn dumb to perceive it. That's my guess.
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p.s.: I suppose in this increasingly bizarre case I should add what seems like the obvious, which I'm generally loathe to do.
By now, the White House must be loving this. There appear to be sufficient votes in the Senate to confirm Rice as secretary of state; meanwhile McCain and Graham (and Ayotte) are only further contaminating the GOP brand. Hence the longer they embarrass themselves, the stronger the WH's position becomes. In short, Rice had good reason for doing what I suspect she did.