McCain Now Opposes Equal Pay Remedy for Women

Sen. John Sydney McCain, III has announced that he opposes a bill that would allow women to sue to receive pay that is equal to that of their male co-workers. The bill "is named for Lilly Ledbetter, a supervisor at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s plant in Gadsden, Ala., who sued for pay discrimination just before retiring after a 19-year career there. By the time she retired, Ledbetter made $6,500 less than the lowest-paid male supervisor and claimed earlier decisions by supervisors kept her from making more." Yahoo News

"The bill sought to counteract a Supreme Court decision limiting how long workers can wait before suing for pay discrimination. The Supreme Court voted 5-4 last year to throw out her complaint, saying she had waited too long to sue." Yahoo News

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that if a woman must file a discrimination claim within just months of the time when the discrimination began, otherwise she loses all right to file a complaint for her lifetime. So, if a woman began to receive unequal pay in 1980 and has been paid unequally ever since, she cannot file a complaint today because the filing deadline has already run. Her time to file has run out, even if she has only now discovered the discrimination.

There were a number of legal theories the Supreme Court could have adopted to preserve the woman's right to a claim and to give her a chance at equal pay. For example, the Court could have found that Congress intended for the filing period to begin to run when the woman discovered she was being unequally paid, rather than when the unequal pay secretly began. The Court could also have found that, when the discrimination is ongoing, each successive unequal paycheck is part of a continuing act of discrimination, and the clock on the filing deadline only begins to run when on the date of the last act of discrimination, e.g. the last unequal paycheck, not the first one.

Instead, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to exacerbate the problem of unequal pay by determining that if a company can pay a woman unequally until her filing deadline runs, then they can continue to pay her unequally for the rest of her life!

What an embarrassing day in the American injustice system. What an indictment of Sen. John Sydney McCain, III, who supports this absurd decision and opposes a Congressional remedy.

Video of McCain's Biggest Flip Flops, In His Own Words

On Iraq, gay marriage and the Confederate Flag, John McCain is all double-talk.

NYT: McCain Campaign Guilty of Plagiarism

Hat Tip to Field Negro.

The New York Times reports that a prominently placed section of the John McCain website that was devoted to his wife's cooking recipes was actually copied verbatim from the Food Network:

Until early Tuesday morning, visitors to John McCain’s campaign Web site could find seven of “Cindy’s Recipes,” among them three elegant and healthful offerings: passion fruit mousse, ahi tuna with Napa cabbage slaw and farfalle pasta with turkey sausage, peas and mushrooms.

Only problem was, all three, listed as favorite family recipes of Cindy McCain, Mr. McCain’s wife, were taken verbatim from the Food Network. NYTimes

Doesn't this mean that John McCain's campaign has engaged in deliberate "plagiarism"? Cornell University's policy on plagiarism says:

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is misrepresenting somebody else's intellectual work - ideas, information, writing, thinking - as your own. In other words, it is a misuse of source material. Whether intentional or unintentional, plagiarism is a serious violation of Cornell's Code of Academic Integrity. Cornell University

For example, in the 1988 Democratic Primary race, "Democratic presidential candidate Joseph R. Biden Jr., a U.S. senator from Delaware, was driven from the nomination battle after delivering, without attribution, passages from a speech by British Labor party leader Neil Kinnock." WaPost.Com

Now we discover that McCain's campaign deliberately took entire recipes from the Food Network and presented them, on McCain's official website, as Cindy McCain's "family recipes," which was a bold-faced lie.

Also on Tuesday, the Wonkette site posted a recipe, “Cindy McCain’s 3-Minute No-Bake Cookies,” which appeared in the December 2007 issue of Yankee Magazine and was identical to a recipe from Quaker Oats. Mr. Bounds said he would look into it. NYTimes

Are John McCain's claims to "straight-talk" really just a lot of flatulence?

Of course, McCain blames the plagiarism on an intern and claims that the intern has been fired. Who is that fired intern? Is he or she available for an interview to confirm or deny the McCain campaign's version of events? Did the same low-level McCain aide plagiarize both the articles published in 2007 and those published a year later, in 2008? That strains credulity.

What's clear now is that the McCain campaign has "plagiarized" and the media, including the New York Times, is loath to use the precise term that most aptly applies.

John McCain is Older than . . . FM Radio!

This video tells all things younger than John McCain.

Could the World Survive John McCain's Temper?

If he swears at his own Republcan Senate colleagues, could he make a cautious and reasoned decision about dropping nuclear bombs on Iran?

Today, the Washington Post explores the question of whether it would be dangerous to elect John McCain president because of his explosive and sometimes uncontrollable temper.

[O]ver the years, no one has written more intimately about McCain's outbursts than McCain himself. "My temper has often been both a matter of public speculation and personal concern," he wrote in a 2002 memoir. "I have a temper, to state the obvious, which I have tried to control with varying degrees of success because it does not always serve my interest or the public's."

That temper has followed him throughout his life, McCain acknowledges. He recalls in his writings how, as a toddler, he sometimes held his breath and fainted during moments of fury. As the son of a naval officer who was on his way to becoming a four-star admiral, McCain found himself frequently uprooted and enrolled in new schools, where, as an underappreciated outsider, he developed "a little bit of a chip on my shoulder," as he recalled this month.

( . . . )

"As a young man, I would respond aggressively and sometimes irresponsibly to anyone who I perceived to have questioned my sense of honor and self-respect. Those responses often got me in a fair amount of trouble earlier in life." McCain: A Question of Temperament

Whoaooooooooo now! Should a nuclear super-power elect a hot head who can't control his temper and who overreacts and personalizes slights?

Former senator Bob Smith, a New Hampshire Republican, expresses worries about McCain: "His temper would place this country at risk in international affairs, and the world perhaps in danger. In my mind, it should disqualify him." McCain: A Question of Temperament

The Washington Post retells one of many documented accounts of John McCain getting into fist fights, or nearly so, with lawmakers of his own party, who mostly vote like he does in the U.S. Congress.

John McCain cupped a fist and began pumping it, up and down, along the side of his body. It was a gesture familiar to a participant in the closed-door meeting of the Senate committee who hoped that it merely signaled, as it sometimes had in the past, McCain's mounting frustration with one of his colleagues.

But when McCain leaned toward Charles E. Grassley and slowly said, "My friend . . ." it seemed clear that ugliness was looming: While the plural "my friends" was usually a warm salutation from McCain, "my friend" was often a prelude to his most caustic attacks. Grassley, an Iowa Republican with a reputation as an unwavering legislator, calmly held his ground. McCain became angrier, his fist pumping even faster.

It was early 1992, and the occasion was an informal gathering of a select committee investigating lingering issues about Vietnam War prisoners and those missing in action, most notably whether any American servicemen were still being held by the Vietnamese. It is unclear precisely what issue set off McCain that day. But at some point, he mocked Grassley to his face and used a profanity to describe him. Grassley stood and, according to two participants at the meeting, told McCain, "I don't have to take this. I think you should apologize."

In the video above, we have reports of John McCain calling a Republican Senate colleague "chickenshit" and saying, "Fuck you! I know more about [immigration reform] than anyone else in this room. This type of speech toward elected officials used to decorum has led to more than one fist-fight or near fist fight in the US Senate. So, what would it lead to between John McCain's country and countries like Venezuela, Cuba, Iran and even France? Can we really afford the civilian death toll of World War III?

"Wow! Read all the dirt about John McCain in one place!"

The Gossiplist.com blog follows the activities of movie stars, but they're not about to let John McCain become president without a fight, and blow us all to the stars. Gossiplist.com says, "Wow! Read all the dirt about John McCain in one place!" And here's there March 25th compilation of all the dirt they've found at "Truth About McCain"!

McCain is on holiday in the Middle East playing 'pretend President'. Meanwhile, someone has written a blog containing a massive amount of dirt on him. Some of the pearls contained:

McCain Financial Scandal Cost US Treasury Two Billion Dollars - A review of New York Times archives from 1990 and 1991 shows that Senator John McCain was a subject of a major financial and bank scandal, known as the "Savings and Loan Scandal", that dominated news coverage of the US Congress during that period.

McCain Retracts "No New Taxes" Pledge After Two Weeks
McCain Received $110,000 from Bank Whose Failure Cost US Treasury 2Billion Dollars - McCain was caught "intervening with regulators on behalf of Mr. Keating at a time when his Lincoln Savings and Loan Association was on the verge of collapse."

McCain Would be the Oldest Man Ever Elected President - Now he is hoping to be the oldest man ever elected to a first term as president. Even if the melanoma returns, he would not be the first sitting president to have had cancer. - Who will be his running mate? This really matters now. The VP spot is usually worthless, but this guy is ancient and living on borrowed time anyway.

Republican Ex-Senator Bob Dole Says McCain is a Hot-Head - With a top campaign adviser and extreme religious zealots advising McCain to go to war with Iran, one wonders what would stop McCain, in a moment of stress, from starting a first strike nuclear or coventional war with Iran. And once he starts it and can't get his "mission accomplished" moment, what will he do when the war insistently refuses to live up to his expectations?

John McCain was not born in the USA, he was born in Panama. According to the Constitution only US born citizens can be elected President. Read more.

Lord knows that the whitosphere and the afrosphere don't agree about everything, but there's one thing about which we are in complete agreement and allied and joined at the hip: John Sydney McCain, III must NEVER, EVER become president of these United States.

US Military Contractors lost 35 Billion Tanker Bill to France After McCain & Co.'s Lobbying for France's Airbus Corp.

Would John McCain help a French corporation get a 35 Billion dollar Defense Contract just because his top campaign aides were working for the French corporation? The Washington Post provides information supporting that conclusion:

McCain finance chairman Thomas G. Loeffler and Susan E. Nelson, who left Loeffler's lobbying firm to be McCain's finance director, both began lobbying for Airbus's parent company in 2007, Senate records show. William L. Ball III, a former secretary of the Navy and frequent McCain surrogate on the trail, also lobbied for Airbus, as did John Green, who recently took a leave from Ogilvy Public Relations to serve as McCain's legislative liaison.

"Airbus, I have to give them credit," said R. Thomas Buffenbarger, the president of the International Association of Machinists, which represents Boeing employees. "They know they need that kind of lobbying help. And they went after people who could deliver."

It is not clear what specifically the McCain campaign advisers did for Airbus. Lobbying registration documents list only "initiatives and interests regarding the KC-30 Aerial Refueling Tanker Program." Loeffler did not respond to e-mail requests for an interview. WaPost

McCain himself got involved before the contract was taken from Boeing and give to a the French:

McCain has confirmed sending two letters to Defense Department officials urging them to level the playing field for a deal that would provide a fleet of in-air refueling planes for military aircraft. In one 2006 letter, McCain urged officials to change their criteria for evaluating bidders for the tanker contract.

( . . . )

Airbus parent EADS North America more than tripled its contributions to U.S. lawmakers after 2004, as it pursued the Air Force contract, according to an analysis done by the Center for Responsive Politics. McCain was the top individual recipient of contributions from company employees and the company's political action committee in the 2008 election cycle. WaPost

McCain Deceived, then Divorced First Wife

Mother Jones says it's quite hypocritical of John McCain to cast himself as the family values candidate, when his own life evinces family disregard:

The ol' family values schtick—and McCain's family values—happen to incorporate military values. But for more on McCain and family values, let's turn to a 1999 Arizona Republic profile of McCain (which does not appear to be available on-line):

He prides himself on his personal integrity yet admits he wasn't faithful to his first wife, Carol, who was injured in a horrific car accident while McCain was in Vietnam....

McCain needed a divorce from his wife of 14 years, Carol, who had been badly injured in a car accident while McCain languished in Hanoi.

The marriage had been strained by his years of absence, along with McCain's admitted affairs after returning from Vietnam.

In February 1980, less than a year after he met Cindy, McCain petitioned a Florida court to dissolve his marriage to Carol, calling the union "irretrievably broken."

McCain's entitled to use his life's story as part of his campaign narrative. But if his campaign is going to play the family card, there's more than, as the ad references, "honor, courage, duty, perseverance and leadership" in the story of John McCain, family man. Mother Jones

Apparently, John McCain doesn't value his second wife much more than the first. He's called her a "c*nt" in public.

John McCain Attempted Suicide

Newsweek tells reports, based on John McCain's own accounts, that McCain has attempted suicide on two occasions:

After he parachuted into a lake in the middle of Hanoi, a North Vietnamese guard shattered his shoulder with a rifle butt and plunged a bayonet into his ankle and groin. Near death, McCain survived in prison camp by sheer cussedness. The same belligerence that got him into trouble in school worked to maintain his spirits as he cursed and taunted his guards in solitary confinement. Yet he discovered that he could not make it alone. He began to drift off in terrible, dangerous reveries.

"On several occasions, I became terribly annoyed when a guard entered my cell to take me to the bath or to bring me my food and disrupted some flight of fantasy," he writes. With regular beatings, the guards tried to break him and make him confess his sins as an "air pirate." Despairing, "fearing the close approach of my moment of dishonor," he climbed on his waste bucket and tried to hang himself by tying his shirt to a window shutter and wrapping it around his neck. Before he could kick the bucket, the guards stopped him. (He tried a second time, in a more halfhearted way; "I doubt I really intended to kill myself," he writes.) Newsweek

The Holy Bible says that attempting suicide is a sin:

"If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are" (1Corinthians 3:17). whatsaiththescripture.com

McCain Graduated Fifth from Last in His US Naval Academy Class

According to Newsweek, John Sydney McCain, III graduated fifth from last in his class at the US Naval Academy. So, this November may present a choice between one candidate who was editor of the Harvard Law Review and barely graduated from college at all. This will be the year in which Republicans argue that educational attainments don't matter, that meritocracy doesn't extent to electing presidents based on their academic ability, effort or attainment, but instead on two other qualities that are easier for Americans to see: being white and being a man.

"McCain's Temper May Become an Issue," Says WaPost.

Hat Tip to OldManMcCain.Com.

On October 13, 1999, during John McCain's first run for the presidency, the Washington Post said,

Sen. John McCain is facing questions about what some Arizona political leaders view as his quick temper – and whether it might hinder him as president.

In a front page article and separate editorial Sunday, The Arizona Republic said it wanted the nation to know about the "volcanic" temper McCain has unleashed on several top state officials.

Those who have been on the receiving end of a McCain uproar include Republican Gov. Jane Hull, former Republican Gov. Rose Mofford and former Democratic Mayor Paul Johnson of Phoenix.

Mrs. Hull, a supporter of GOP presidential front-runner George W. Bush, has acknowledged that her relationship with McCain has been cool and told an interviewer recently McCain "has to keep control" of his temper. WaPost

The Washington Post also quoted an editorial from the Arizona Republic, McCain's hometown newspaper, saying,

"If McCain is truly a serious contender for the presidency, it is time the rest of the nation learned about the John McCain we know in Arizona. There is also reason to seriously question whether he has the temperament, and the political approach and skills, we want in the next president of the United States." WaPost

John McCain snaps at female journalist on campaign plane.
At least he doesn't call her a c**nt this time.

McCain's furious temper anger and quick temper are a lifelong character flaw, according to Newsweek: "As an angry toddler, he would hold his breath until he passed out (his parents' cure was to drop him fully clothed into a bathtub of icy water)." Newsweek

A shocking anecdote from a biography of McCain, reported in the Editor at Large blog as well as elsewhere, really is something that McCain should either confirm or deny: "an excerpt from the upcoming book "The Real McCain," by John Schecter, reveals that McCain is more than just an ill-tempered ogre:"

Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain's intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, 'You're getting a little thin up there.' McCain's face reddened, and he responded, 'At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.' McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days.

"If McCain is elected president, we will all have many long days," says the Editor at Large blog.

Meanwhile, Huffington Post reports that McCain physically attacked a fellow Congressman in 2006:

Perhaps the most remarkable story of McCain's temper involved Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi. Two former reporters covering McCain, one who witnessed the following events and one who confirmed the facts provided by the first, relayed it to me as follows:

In 2006, the Arizona Republican congressional delegation had a strategy meeting. McCain repeatedly addressed two new members, congressmen Trent Franks and Rick Renzi, as 'boy.' Finally, Renzi, a former college linebacker, rose from his chair and said to McCain, "You call me that one more time and I'll kick your old ass." McCain lunged at Renzi, punches were thrown, and the two had to be physically separated. Huffington Post

Watch the video here of McCain denying this fight ever took place at all. I have come to the conclusion, based on this video and others, that you can tell when John McCain is lying (or trying desperately to control his explosive temper) because his voice becomes very impassive, even-toned, he smiles weakly, and seems to be making an immense effort to sound reasonable.

His temper lurks—controlled, but sometimes barely. I asked about a report that McCain's handlers need to caution him against blowing up during presidential debates. "No," he said. "They told me to appear presidential." McCain flashes a smile from time to time that is more like a smirk, "a defense mechanism—to smile, not appear angry or frustrated," he acknowledges. Newsweek

The uninitiated my actually be taken in by this, if they don't look out for the signs.

I haven't read much about McCain's temper in the mainstream news this go-round. Maybe that's because George W. Bush was the media's candidate for 2000 and McCain is the media's chosen candidate for 2008.

Six More Months for 100 Years? A Message from MoveOn

An e-mail blast from MoveOn:

No matter what happens in Iraq, the Bush administration and John McCain always have an answer: 6 more months.

When the "surge" began a year ago, they told America things would get better by September. In September, they said we'd know more by spring. And this week, General Petraeus is on Capitol Hill asking for—you guessed it—6 more months. Senator McCain and President Bush couldn't agree more.

They don't have a plan for getting us out of Iraq. So they're trying to sell endless war on an installment plan.

Six more months won't change anything—except the body count and the price tag. It's critical that the news media and voters know that the Bush-McCain strategy in Iraq is to keep us there indefinitely—6 months at a time. So we've put together a video exposing their "6 month" gambit. Please check it out and pass it on:



Yesterday John McCain said the same thing he's been saying for the last 5 years: We have to stay in Iraq, but "success is in reach."

And General Petraeus told the Senate that it would be fall before he could say whether, or when, to draw down troops below the "pre-surge" levels. (Specifically, he recommended a 45-day period for "evaluation" starting in the summer, followed by an open-ended "assessment" process to decide what to do next).1

It all boils down to this: Demand more time and promise that victory is just over the horizon. Unfortunately, according to experts from the Iraq Study Group, the "surge" has gotten us "no closer to being able to leave Iraq than [we were] a year ago."2

More than 4,000 Americans are dead. We've spent almost $500 billion on this war. A year after the "surge" began, Americans are no safer, and there is no end in sight.

With the Bush-McCain wait-and-see strategy, we can expect to hear "6 more months" for years and years to come.

We can't just sit by. We've got to speak out now—please help spread the word.

Thanks for all you do,

–Nita, Justin, Eli, Marika, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008

P.S. If you had trouble clicking on the video above, try this link:
http://pol.moveon.org/sixmonths/?id=12416-9013782-LC_omn&t=3
Sources:
1. "Petraeus Calls for Troop Withdrawal Halt," Associated Press, April 8, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3556&id=12416-9013782-LC_omn&t=4
2. "Report: US No Closer to Iraq Goals," Associated Press, April 6, 2008.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3555&id=12416-9013782-LC_omn&t=5
Support our member-driven organization: MoveOn.org Political Action is entirely funded by our 3.2 million members. We have no corporate contributors, no foundation grants, no money from unions. Our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. If you'd like to support our work, you can give now at:
http://political.moveon.org/donate/email.html?id=12416-9013782-LC_omn&t=6

John McCain Calls His Wife a C**NT.

Firedoglake points out another reason why John Sydney McCain would make a dangerous president: His explosive and uncontrollable temper. Firedoglake says:

How can John McCain possibly lose in November?"

How, indeed. Maybe when he calls his wife a "c*nt" in public, that's how.*

From the upcoming The Real McCain, by everybody's favorite pit bull, Cliff Schecter, we learn that

In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c*nt." McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day.

Oh, John, you manly man! I swoon before your elegant, refined masculinity, you paragon of chivalry and courtly manners! Sir Galahad would have fallen upon his own sword rather than compete against you for the affections of the royal ladies. Sir Walter Raleigh would be forced to eat his own mud-covered cape in the face of your gentlemanly deportment!

Cliff's point about this McCain explosion (and it's a very valid one) is that it hardly bodes well for American diplomatic relations if the guy very publicly blows his stack at something as minor as his wife teasing him about his hair, not to mention that he might be especially ill-tempered if he gets a phone call at 3:00 a.m.

I would caution Democrats against believing that this, alone, would prevent McCain from becoming president. Arnold Schwartznegger had a well-documented history of misogyny when he was elected governor of the state of California. He convinced the voters that it was all in fun, that it was playful, that he had overcome and apologized for it, and that, in any case, it wasn't sufficiently relevant to governance for the voters to reject him over it. He convinced the voters, perhaps, that it was manly behavior.

John McCain could play this issue like a harp, accusing those who criticize him of being "politically correct" and demanding a place in the public square where white men like him can say whatever the fuck they want.

So, don't stop looking for the goods on John Sydney McCain, III just because the word "C*&NT" is part of his vocabulary and he calls his wife that in public.

Hat Tip to Agent X.

100 Years in Iraq? "That's Fine With Me!", Says McCain

Now, I've listened to two of the videos, one at the Derry Town Hall in New Hampshire on January 3rd, 2008, another on Face the Nation, in which John Sydney McCain, III says that sixty years or more in Iraq would be "fine with me, as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed." Well, obviously Americans ARE being "injured or harmed or wounded or killed," including 3 US soldiers killed in the "super-safe" American "Green Zone" where the US maintains its embassy in the center of Baghdad.

And then in the second video he said, " . . . I don't think Americans are concerned if we're there for a hundred years or a thousand years or ten thousand years."

Would John McCain's election result in perpetual war in Iraq and elsewhere? Well, just look at what John McCain's chief adviser has to say about that. John McCain's chief policy adviser is Douglas Holz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, heads the Greenberg Centre for Geoeconomic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, and here's what he says about the loss of Americans lives and the economic cost of the war:

[T] he current and future budget cost and loss of life and health probably give the right magnitude. If so, the annual war bill represents only about one cent of the $12,000bn of national income each year, and the total military cost at most, a nickel. And that is the right lesson: the foundation of US international influence is its large, powerful economy which can absorb the narrow, resource costs of war and free the US to pursue strategic [WAR, WAR, WAR] and security goals. FinancialTimes.Com (emphasis added)

John McCain is always wrong about Iraq, and his errors are very dangerous. As when,

. . . he said the war would be “brief” and be paid for by Iraqi oil revenues. Or as he was in the 1990s, when he championed extravagant State Department funding for the war instigator Ahmad Chalabi, who’d already been branded untrustworthy by the C.I.A. (The relationship between Mr. Chalabi and the former lobbyist Charles Black, now a chief McCain campaign strategist, is explored in a new book, “The Man Who Pushed America to War,” by Aram Roston.) NYTimes

Read the whole article. With McCain's chief adviser's reasoning, we can expect even more wars like the one in Iraq under a McCain Administration, since the Iraq War continues to be such a great bargain for America, both in terms of loss of life and expense to the US Treasury.

MoveOn's "Ten Things to Know About McCain"

This post is courtesy of Electronic Village.

Dear MoveOn member,

For all the coverage this week of Senator John McCain's background, there are some important things you won't learn about him from the TV networks. His carefully crafted positive image relies on people not knowing this stuff—and you might be surprised by some of it.

Please check out the list below, and then forward it to your friends, family, and coworkers. We can't rely on the media to tell folks about the real John McCain—but if we all pass this along, we can reach as many people as CNN Headline News does on a good night.

Click here to tell us how many people you can pass it on to—and to see our progress nationally:

http://pol.moveon.org/mccain10/?id=12407-9033399-v59CAU&t=231

10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don't):

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.¹

2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."²

3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.³

4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."⁴

5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.⁵

6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations.⁶

7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."⁷

8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.⁸

9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false cult."⁹

10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.¹⁰

John McCain is not who the Washington press corps make him out to be. Please help get the word out—forward this email to your personal network. And if you want us to keep you posted on MoveOn's work to get the truth out about John McCain, sign up here:

http://pol.moveon.org/mccaintruth/?id=12407-9033399-v59CAU&t=232

Thank you for all you do.

–Eli, Justin, Noah, Laura, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Saturday, April 5th, 2008

Sources:
1. "The Complicated History of John McCain and MLK Day," ABC News, April 3, 2008
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/04/the-complicated.html

"McCain Facts," ColorOfChange.org, April 4, 2008
http://colorofchange.org/mccain_facts/

2. "McCain More Hawkish Than Bush on Russia, China, Iraq," Bloomberg News, March 12, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aF28rSCtk0ZM&refer=us

"Buchanan: John McCain 'Will Make Cheney Look Like Gandhi,'" ThinkProgress, February 6, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/06/buchanan-gandhi-mccain/

3. "McCain Sides With Bush On Torture Again, Supports Veto Of Anti-Waterboarding Bill," ThinkProgress, February 20, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/20/mccain-torture-veto/

4. "McCain says Roe v. Wade should be overturned," MSNBC, February 18, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17222147/

5. "2007 Children's Defense Fund Action Council^® Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard," February 2008
http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?pagename=act_learn_scorecard2007

"McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion," CNN, October 3, 2007
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/03/mccain.interview/

6. "Beer Executive Could Be Next First Lady," Associated Press, April 3, 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h-S1sWHm0tchtdMP5LcLywg5ZtMgD8VQ86M80

"McCain Says Bank Bailout Should End `Systemic Risk,'" Bloomberg News, March 25, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aHMiDVYaXZFM&refer=home

7. "Will McCain's Temper Be a Liability?," Associated Press, February 16, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=4301022

"Famed McCain temper is tamed," Boston Globe, January 27, 2008
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/27/famed_mccain_temper_is_tamed/

8. "Black Claims McCain's Campaign Is Above Lobbyist Influence: 'I Don't Know What The Criticism Is,'" ThinkProgress, April 2, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/02/mccain-black-lobbyist/

"McCain's Lobbyist Friends Rally 'Round Their Man," ABC News, January 29, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4210251

9. "McCain's Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam," Mother Jones Magazine, March 12, 2008
http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/03/john-mccain-rod-parsley-spiritual-guide.html

"Will McCain Specifically 'Repudiate' Hagee's Anti-Gay Comments?," ThinkProgress, March 12, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/12/mccain-hagee-anti-gay/

"McCain 'Very Honored' By Support Of Pastor Preaching 'End-Time Confrontation With Iran,'" ThinkProgress, February 28, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/28/hagee-mccain-endorsement/

10. "John McCain Gets a Zero Rating for His Environmental Record," Sierra Club, February 28, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/environment/77913/

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Look, John McCain Has Voted Like a Color-Aroused Hater.

By Color of Change:

JOHN MCCAIN: WRONG ON KING HOLIDAY

As John McCain heads to Memphis on the anniversary of Dr. King’s death, it’s worth noting his record on the issue of a holiday in King’s honor. When he was a Congressman in 1983, McCain voted against creating a federal Martin Luther King Holiday and his home state rescinded recognition of the holiday in 1987. While he has claimed his position has ‘evolved’ and that his original vote was ‘wrong’ his record of support for racist individuals, and his consistent votes against civil rights legislation belie that claim. And he has employed controversial individuals on his own campaign whose own nasty comments about Martin Luther King undermine McCain’s claims of inclusivity and evolution.

McCain’s Contorted Position on Federal King Holiday

McCain Voted Against Creating Martin Luther King Holiday. In 1983, McCain voted against a motion to suspend the rules and pass a bill to designate the third Monday of every January as a federal holiday in honor of the late civil rights leader, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The motion passed 89-77. [HR 3706, Vote 289, 8/2/83; CQ 1983]

McCain Said His Position Has ‘Evolved.’ During a 2000 interview, McCain compared his evolution on this issue to former Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater. "I believe that Barry Goldwater, to start with, regretted his vote on the 1964 Civil Rights Act," McCain said. "I think that Barry grew, like all of us grow and evolve. In 1983, when I was brand-new in the Congress, I voted against the recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King. That was a mistake, OK? And later I had the chance to ... help fight for ... the recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King as a holiday in my state." [ www.salon.com 4/18/00; Accessed 4/2/08]

Arizona Governor Rescinded Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In 1987, One of newly elected Governor Evan Mecham’s first acts in office was to rescind Arizona’s recognition of the Martin Luther King Holiday. “Mecham strikes many voters as a simpleminded ideologue who is giving a bad name to the nation's second-fastest-growing state. After rescinding the Jan. 19 holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., Mecham defended the use of the term "pickaninnies" for blacks.” [Time 11/9/87]

McCain Said He Thought Governor Was Correct in His Decision According to the Huffington Post, “In 1983, McCain voted against passing a bill to designate the third Monday of every January as a federal holiday in honor of King. Four years later, then-Arizona Governor Evan Mecham rescinded Martin Luther King Day as a state holiday, saying it had been established through an illegal executive order by his Democratic predecessor. McCain said he thought Mecham was correct in his decision.” [Sam Stein, Huffington Post, 4/1/08]

McCain: Wrong on Key Issues for People of Color

McCain Consistently Voted Against The Civil Rights Act Of 1990. In 1990, McCain voted against a bill designed to address employer discrimination at least 4 times. According to the Washington Post, the “Civil Rights Act of 1990 is designed to overturn several recent Supreme Court rulings that made it much more difficult for individual employees to prove discrimination. The legislation, being fought by business, also would impose new penalties on employers convicted of job discrimination.” [S 2104, Vote #304, 10/24/90; Vote #276, Vote #275, 10/16/90; Vote #161, 7/18/90; Washington Post, 7/9/90]

McCain Avoided Directly Answering Question on Affirmative Action, Finally Said He Opposed Quotas. While appearing on Hardball, McCain was asked about his views on affirmative action. After criticizing teachers’ unions, McCain said, “I want to test voucher programs. Cindy and I have chosen to send our 15-year-old daughter to a Catholic school, because we think that's the best.” He added that he’d ensure that, “Every school and library in America is being wired to the Internet… But, no, I do not support quotas, and have seen the results of it.” [NBC, “Hardball,” 2/9/00]

McCain Would Not Support Affirmative Action for College Admissions. In a 2004 questionnaire, Senator McCain indicated he would not support affirmative action policies in public college admissions. [2004 National Political Awareness Test- Senator McCain]

McCain Voted Against Addressing The Disproportionate Number Of Minority Children In Prison. In 1999, McCain voted to table an amendment that required States to address juvenile delinquency prevention efforts and system improvement efforts designed to reduce, without numerical standards or quotas, disproportionate number of juvenile members of 'racial minority groups' who come in contact with juvenile justice system. The motion to table passed 52-48. [S 254, Vote #130, 5/19/99]

McCain Strategist Opposed King Holiday

McCain Defended Controversial Spokesman Richard Quinn, McCain's who called the MLK Holiday "Vitriolic and Profane." Richard Quinn, was a South Carolina "strategist" for McCain in the 2000 campaign. In a Partisan View column, Richard Quinn wrote, "King Day should have been rejected because its purpose is vitriolic and profane. By celebrating King as the incarnation of all they admire, they [black leaders] have chosen to glorify the histrionic rather than the heroic and by inference they spurned the brightest and the best among their own race. Ignoring the real heroes in our nation's life, the blacks have chosen a man who represents not their emancipation, not their sacrifices and bravery in service to their country; rather, they have chosen a man whose role in history was to lead his people into a perpetual dependence on the welfare state, a terrible bondage of body and soul.” Quinn has also advocated electing David Duke, and sold T-Shirts through his magazine celebrating Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. [Partisan View, Southern Partisan, Fall, 1983; Partisan View, Southern Partisan, Winter, 1989, PFAW Release, 2/17/00] [Spartanburg Herald-Journal, 12/23/05; Vanity Fair, 11/04]

McCain Defended Quinn as ‘Respected’ and a ‘Fine Man.” Despite Mr. Quinn’s writings and history of racial insensitivity, McCain defended him as a ‘respected’ and ‘fine man’ and refused to fire him. [Associated Press, 2/18/00; New York Times, 2/8/00]

McCain Is the Same As Bush: Wrong on Key Progressive Issues

McCain on Iraq: “I Don’t Think Americans Are Concerned If We’re There For 100 Years or 1,000 Years or 10,000 Years.” In an interview on “Face the Nation,” host Bob Scieffer asked McCain about staying in Iraq for 100 year. McCain responded, “We’ve got to get Americans off the front line, have the Iraqis as part of the strategy, take over more and more of the responsibilities. And then I don’t think Americans are concerned if we’re there for 100 years or 1,000 years or 10,000 years. [CBS, “Face the Nation,” 1/06/08]

McCain Housing Speech Blamed Americans Who “Bought Homes They Couldn’t Afford” and Argued Against Vigorous Federal Intervention. On March 25^th, John McCain delivered a speech on the housing crisis. According to the New York Times, “McCain appeared to be trying to confront questions about his dexterity in dealing with the economy, a subject that he has admitted is not his strongest suit.” During the speech, McCain said, “Some Americans bought homes they couldn'’t afford, betting that rising prices would make it easier to refinance later at more affordable rates.” The New York Times reported, “Mr. McCain argued this week against a vigorous federal intervention to address the crisis, saying Washington should not bail out banks and homeowners who in his view had knowingly taken on risky mortgages.” [New York Times, 3/26/08; 3/28/08]

McCain’s Plan: Tax Cuts To For Businesses. According to the Associated Press, John McCain proposed a long-term economic plan that would lower the corporate income tax rate and provide several other tax breaks for businesses. McCain proposed cutting the corporate tax rate to 25 percent from 35 percent. McCain said that his plan was “pro growth, less taxes and less spending” versus “the Democrats’ tired ideas of tax and spend.” [Associated Press, 1/17/08]

McCain Repeatedly Voted Against Raising The Minimum Wage. In the senate, John McCain voted at least eight times against measure to increase the minimum wage. [HR 2, Vote #23, 1/24/07; S.Amdt. 44 to S. 256, Vote #26, 3/07/05; S.Amdt. 128 to S. 256, Vote #27, 3/07/05; S.Amdt. 3079 to S.Amdt. 2951 to S.Con.Res. 101, Vote #76, 4/07/00; S.Amdt. 1383 to S. 1429, Vote #239, 7/30/99; S. 96, Vote #94, 4/28/99; S .Amdt. 3540 to S.Amdt. 3559 to S. 1301, Vote S.Amdt. 4272 to H.R. 3448, Vote #183, 7/06/96]

NOW: In A “Breathtaking Turnabout” McCain “Embraced” the Bush Tax Cuts. The New York Times reported, “But an equally breathtaking turnabout occurred earlier in the year, when Mr. McCain embraced the Bush tax cuts he had once denounced as an unaffordable giveaway to the rich. In an interview with National Review, Mr. McCain justified his reversal by saying, ‘Tax cuts, starting with Kennedy, as we all know, increase revenues.’” [New York Times, 10/9/07]

THEN: McCain Voted Against the Bush Tax Cut Citing Benefits For The Wealthy. In 2001, John McCain voted against final passage of the Bush tax cut. McCain said, “I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans who need tax relief.” [H.R. 1836, Roll Call Vote #170, 5/26/01; Los Angeles Times, 5/27/01]