In a preview of the coming spectacle of a sitting president being undermined by prominent leaders of his own party, John McCain has thrown down the gauntlet. The mavericky Arizona Senator is full of piss and vinegar after nailing down his SIXTH term and is steaming back to Washington on a collision course with Donald Trump.

McCain has chosen to use the Trump’s campaign trail support for the practice of waterboarding ISIS terrorists as his opening gambit because we sure wouldn’t want to treat his jihadist buddies with anything less than the utmost of respect.

The Guardian is reporting “John McCain: ‘I don’t give a damn – no waterboarding’ under Trump”:

A leading Republican voice on national security matters says he doesn’t care what president-elect Donald Trump says, the United States will not reinstate waterboarding.

Senator John McCain of Arizona, chairman of the armed services committee, said on Saturday that any attempt to bring back harsh tortures such as waterboarding, which simulates drowning, would quickly be challenged in court.

“I don’t give a damn what the president of the United States wants to do or anybody else wants to do. We will not waterboard. We will not do it,” McCain said to applause during a panel discussion at the Halifax international security forum.

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McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, said waterboarding didn’t work and made it hard for the US to claim moral superiority.

“What does it say about America if we’re going to inflict torture on people?” he asked.

McCain also expressed support for the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico and said the United States should not back out of the not-yet-implemented Trans-Pacific Partnership. As a candidate, Trump said Nafta should be renegotiated and opposed the TPP, arguing that such trade agreements cause significant job losses in the US.

“I think we are going to pay a terrible price for abandoning the TPP,” McCain said.

McCain’s defense of the job-destroying, sovereignty-shredding Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) aka Obamatrade – a deal with the devil vehemently opposed by Trump – will guarantee that he gets plenty of media airtime as the globalists are prepared to move heaven and earth to jump start the greatest sellout of all time. President Trump had better watch his back and the most dangerous enemies will be the ones within his own foxhole.

Senator McCain has long reveled in draping himself in the flag and grandstanding for media attention. With his positioning of himself at the head of the pack of Trump’s critics he should easily extend his already unbreakable record as the king of the Sunday morning shows.

Normally a political party would be lined up in unified support behind their new president as he works to get his agenda passed but McCain has a history of collaboration with Democrats. Look for the “Gang of Eight” to saddle up early and lead the way for the anti-Trump lynch mob.

If Trump is wise he could lay a trap for the recalcitrant old bastard by using him as the poster boy for a constitutional amendment on term limits.

Originally published at Downtrend.com