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Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) reacted angrily to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ken.) on the floor of the Senate on March 15. (C-SPAN)

Stop me if youve heard this before: Two Washington politicians disagree with each other. Then they call each other names.

Except this time, the name-calling got out of hand really quickly. And now, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) are just the latest example of the sorrystate of our political discourse.

Let's start from the beginning.

Wednesday afternoon,McCain was working with two Democratic senators to request a Senate vote on allowing Montenegro, a small Balkan nation, into NATO. The Senate vote is one small but important step in Montenegros nearly decade-long process to be allowed into the treaty group, which includes much of North America and Europe.

McCain spoke passionately on the Senate floor in favor of letting Montenegro in, most especially because it would serve as a direct rebuke to Russia. Russia, McCain said, wanted to kill the prime minister and overthrow the government in order to keep Montenegro from becoming part of NATO.

McCain and his two Democratic colleaguespushed for unanimous consent to approve the treaty ascension. Unanimous consent isa procedure senators can deploywhen there'shardly any opposition to their proposal. If no senatoropenly objects to it, the issue at hand will automatically pass without all 100 senators having to take a vote.

Then Paul walked in, offered his objection and walked away.

McCain was dumbfounded. And visibly angry. Here are his comments in full:

That is really remarkable. That a senator blocking a treaty that is supported by the overwhelming number, perhaps 98 at least, of his colleagues, would come to the floor and object and walk away. And walk away. The only conclusion you can draw when he walks away is he has no argument to be made. He has no justification for his objection to having a small nation be part of NATO that is under assault from the Russians. So I repeat again: The senator from Kentucky is now working for Vladimir Putin.

A United States senator is now working for the Russian president.Thats a striking thing to say on the Senate floor ever, let alone at a moment in time when Congress is investigating Russias meddling in the U.S. election and the FBI is looking into the presidents ties to Russia.

The next morning, Paul was on MSNBCs Morning Joe, where he was asked by host Willie Geist aboutMcCains comment.

Paul said:You know, I think he makes a really, really strong case for term limits. I think maybe hes past his prime; I think maybe hes gotten a little bit unhinged.

Not that anyones innocent in this, but Paul could have answered the question on the policy merits alone and avoided calling an 80-year-old senator unhinged. Something like, You know, the senator is entitled to his opinion. But heres why I oppose letting Montenegro into NATO would have worked.

Now Paul isin the position of escalating a name-calling battle. It undercuts Pauls argument that McCain went too far (and that two people who disagree can have a rational discussion on NATO). Andfrom McCains perspective, his quote about Paul and Putin being in cahoots overshadows the reason he said it.

(McCains office explained in a statement to The Fix on Thursday: Senator McCain believes that the person who benefits the most from Congresss failure to ratify Montenegros ascension to NATO is Vladimir Putin.")

Paul did go on to explain on MSNBC why he objected to allowing Montenegro into NATO. It would make the United States more vulnerable to situations where it might have to use force, said Paul. He and McCain exist on opposite ends of the spectrum of foreign policy views within their party. Where McCain believes military force abroad can be a tool for good, Paul isvery, very skeptical of its power and any circumstance that might lead the United States to have get involved in other nations affairs.

We get it.When two people disagree about important things, passions can run high, and sometimes you say stuff you regret.

But this Paul-McCain back-and-forth doesnt feel like an isolated personality-driven quarrel.

Rather, it feels like yet another marker in howour political discourse that thing that allows people to have civil disagreements without attacking each other personally. Last week it was a senator accusing the president of shamelessly lying. This week its two senators declaring each other unhinged and working for Vladimir Putin. Next week, it'll be something else, Im sure.

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Rand Paul calls John McCain unhinged after McCain says Paul ...

Louisville Business First

Rand Paul calls for greater competition to drive down health care prices Louisville Business First U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said he hopes the current Republican health care reform bill fails its vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday. Paul, R-Ky. made the remarks this morning during a gathering of about 100 people at an event hosted by the St. Rand Paul On GOP Health Care Bill: 'I Don't Think They Have The Votes'TPM At Town Hall, Rand Paul Opposes GOP Health PlanRoll Call Paul predicts GOP healthcare plan will failThe Hill Breitbart News -Normangee Star -Artesia Daily Press -Congressional Budget Office all 1,998 news articles »

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Rand Paul calls for greater competition to drive down health care prices - Louisville Business First

The Senator called the Republican-backed repeal of the Affordable Care Act "Obamacare Lite." Marty Pearl/Special to C-J

Senator Rand Paul spoke to a group gathered in the St. Matthews Community Center on Monday about the process of overhauling the Affordable Care Act. 3/20/17(Photo: Marty Pearl/Special to The C-J)Buy Photo

Senator Rand Paul vowed to vote "No" on a Republican-backed plan to repeal-and-replace the Affordable Care Act, adding that he doesn't currently think the GOP has enough votes to pass the legislation that he calls "Obamacare Lite."

Speaking to an invite-only crowd at the St. Matthews Chamber of Commerce's "Legislative Coffee" event, the Kentucky Republican said he feels the plan doesn't do enough to fix flaws in the current version of the federal health care law, which is also known as Obamacare.

"We've been talking about 'Let's Make America Great Again.' Let's determine how we got great in the first place. And why we are so wealthy as a country is freedom freedom of the marketplace, free to trade with your neighbor, and the government doesn't determine the price. That's what we need to do with health care," Paul said to the crowd of more than 100 local business owners and politicians.

During a news conference followingtheevent, Paul specifically detailed his concerns with the legislation championed by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, saying he feels it would increase insurance costs andcause continued losses for insurance companies. He added that he feels it doesn't do anything to get new people insured.

"I don't think they have the votes to pass it right now. If the conservatives stay solid, the bill will be at least temporarily defeated and then the real negotiations begin," Kentucky's junior senator said. "Conservatives will only have a seat at the table if they can stop the initial Ryan plan from going through."

Senator Rand Paul clarifies statements made during a stop at the St. Matthews Community Center on Monday. 3/20/17(Photo: Marty Pearl/Special to The C-J)

Paul said he wants health care to place more of an emphasis on competition and choice, and that his biggest concern is continued reliance on an individual insurance market. He said he envisions a network of associations such as the St. Matthews Chamber of Commerce which could provide health insurance, as well as the expanded use of health savings accounts.

Paul headed to Washington D.C. following the event, just hours before President Donald Trump plannedto speak at a campaign rally at Freedom Hall. Trump and Paul have disagreed in recent weeks over the Trump-backed repeal-and-replace effort.

Paul said that he was headingback to Washington D.C. because "I've got to work." He said that he welcomes the president to Kentucky a state where he got 62.5 percent of the vote during the 2016 Presidential Election.

"I've got to get to Washington so I can work on the coalition that is trying to defeat the bill," the senator said. "We're not exactly on the same page on this. I do think ultimately that we are on the same page in that we want repeal of Obamacare. I think that there's not unity onreplacement,though."

Reporter Justin Sayers can be reached atjsayers@gannett.com or 502-582-4252. Follow him on Twitter at @_JustinSayers.

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Sen. Rand Paul says he's a 'no' on GOP plan to replace Obamacare ... - The Courier-Journal

During a House hearing on Monday, FBI Director James Comey disputed President Trump's claim that his predecessor "wiretapped" him during the presidential campaign.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) joined Neil Cavuto this afternoon and argued that Trump's allegation is true, since there was surveillance on former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, which was subsequently leaked to the press.

"Everybody admits that somebody spied on Mike Flynn, and he was part of the Trump campaign," Paul said. "It sounds like what the president said has already been proven to be true."

He said that the media is confused, because they think that wiretapping means placing an "old-fashioned bug" on someone's telephone.

"If you haven't looked recently, most of our telephones don't have wires," Paul said. "'Wiretapping' is a broad term for surveillance."

Cavuto said that surveilling Flynn is one thing, but he pressed Paul if Trump himself was tapped.

"I think 'wiretapping' to Donald Trump probably meant spying. And I think 'Donald Trump' or the 'campaign' also probably meant Mike Flynn," Paul said. "So I think really we're arguing circles around something that most people are admitting."

"Somebody was spying on the Trump campaign and ... Mike Flynn lost his job because of an illegal felony in which somebody released the results of spying on the Trump campaign."

Watch more above.

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Paul on Wiretapping Dispute: 'Somebody Was Spying on Trump Campaign' - Fox News Insider

During an appearance on ABCs This Week, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) expressed deep concern about government surveillance and the intelligence community leaking information to the press.

With discussion among conservatives shifting more and more towards the deep state in recent weeks, Paul told host George Stephanopoulos that itsknown that the Obama administration spied on former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. He was referring to transcripts of pre-inauguration phone calls between Flynn and the Russian ambassadorbeing discussed with the press, as the envoy was being surveilled by the U.S. Those calls led to Flynns resignation.

It is very, very important that whoever released that go to jail, Paul said. Because you cannot have members of the intelligence community listening to the most private and highly classified information and then releasing that to The New York Times.

The Kentucky lawmaker also noted there areonly be a handful of people who could have done this. Therefore, he wants them all to come in and take lie detector tests to get the the bottom of this all.

Paul appears to be parroting much of what weve heard from the Trump administration and other top Republicans, like House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes,in terms of leaks to the media being the real issue at play. The presidenthas taken to Twitter and utilized press conferences to rail against leaks.

Watch the clip above, via ABC News.

[image via screengrab]

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Rand Paul: It is 'Very Important' That Whoever Released Flynn ... - Mediaite