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

Hi,

There are some things I never seem to hear about John McCain from the media. I thought you should see this list from MoveOn.org. Please check it out and pass it on!

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 makes him out to be. So forward this email to your personal network! And if you want stay in the loop on MoveOn's work to get the truth out about John McCain, sign up here:

http://pol.moveon.org/mccaintruth/

Thanks!

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.moveon.org/r?r=3519

"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/

Why Did Sen. McCain Call His Wife "Cunt" in Public?

The graphic artist is also editor of the Francis L. Holland Blog.

I apologize in advance for this graphic image of female anatomy, but I just can't think of another way of dramatizing the shock I feel that John McCain called his wife a "cunt" in public, in front of reporters. So, here's a photo of the reference McCain made to his wife in front of reporters. I hope this will spark a discussion of whether a man who says things like this should be president of the United States.

In this video, JiSM reiterates his opposition to a Congressional bill that would restore women's right to seek court redress when they discover that they are being paid less than their male counterparts for the same work. The U.S. Supreme Court has held, and JiSM agrees, that if a woman discovers she is being underpaid AFTER the filing deadline has run on her claim then she can NEVER sue about it, even if that means she will continue to be underpaid for the rest of her natural life with the employer.

Of course, employers are ecstatic with this ruling. If they can just hide from women the fact that they are being underpaid until the filing deadline on their claim expires, then they can continue to underpay these women for the rest of their lives!

JiSM called his own wife a "c*&t" in front of reporters once. Considering how little respect he has for his own wife, it's no surprise he doesn't believe women should receive equal pay for the same work.

So, who should be John McCain's vice presidential running-mate? The foremost criteria should be sanity. John McCain needs a running-mate whose level-headed sanity balances McCain's post-torture explosiveness, and McCain needs a running-mate who has never called his wife a "cunt" in public, in front of reporters.

"Bomb, Bomb" McCain has Lost His Bearings (Video)

Hat Tip to Godless Liberal Homo.

McCain Rejects Pastor's Backing Over Anti-Semetic Remarks

Now, John Sydney McCain has finally been compelled to disassociate from a minister he hugged when accepting his endorsement, because Pastor John Hagee has said that the Holocaust was ordained work of God.

By Juliet Eilperin and Kimberly Kindy Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, May 23, 2008; Page A01

STOCKTON, Calif., May 22 -- Sen. John McCain on Thursday repudiated the presidential endorsement of the Rev. John Hagee after learning about a sermon in which the megachurch pastor from San Antonio declared that God allowed the rise of Adolf Hitler because it resulted in returning Israel to the Jewish people.

The Arizona Republican's decision to distance himself from Hagee came after months of mounting criticism, particularly from Roman Catholics, over his acceptance of Hagee's endorsement in late February. Hagee has called the Catholic Church a "false religious system" and a "false cult system" and has suggested that the church played a role in the Holocaust.

Hagee, 68, is one of the country's best-known Christian television evangelists and is known for his fervent support of Israel. But he has a conflicted relationship with Jewish organizations. He spearheaded a group called Christians United for Israel, but not all Jewish groups embrace him, because he does not support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They are also leery of his support because he has suggested that their "rebellion" against "Jehovah" has caused much of their suffering, including the Holocaust. Washington Post

Some voters may draw the conclusion that JiSM is anti-Semitic because he accepted John Hagee's embrace while knowing full well of Hagee's views. Other voters will conclude that McCain, while not anti-Semitic, simply lacks a moral compass in his craven pursuit of the Oval Office.

YouTube Video: McCain, Fire Lobbyist Charlie Black!

DNC Targets McCain Campaign's Lobbyist Army

Is being a lobbyist a requirement for working on the presidential lobbying campaign of Sen. John McCain?

The Huffington Post has a story on a 1997 Bill sponsored by John McCain, which would have banned lobbyists from campaigns. This on news from this morning that his campaign manager lobbies for foreign entities without registering as a foreign lobbyist and setting up meeting between McCain and russian oligarchs.

McCain's '97 Lobbyist Bill Would Cripple Current Campaign

Senator John McCain has a lobbyist problem. This past week, as several aides resigned because of their work representing unsavory governments, his campaign implemented a new policy governing these potential conflicts of interest. That led to the departure of additional staffers, including former Rep. Thomas Loeffler, a key adviser and fundraiser.

The McCain camp has insisted that the resignations are nothing more than evidence of the Senator's sincerity in combating outside influences. But the truth, reform groups say, is far from adulatory: McCain's current policy simply doesn't compare to the ethical commitments he championed earlier in his career.

Just twelve years ago, when McCain was politically recuperating from his involvement in the Keating Five scandal, he introduced legislation that would, if implemented today, cripple his presidential campaign.

In March 1996, McCain took to the Senate floor to offer a bill that, in his own words, "would ban a candidate or a candidate's authorized committee from paying registered lobbyists."

In order to root out the moneyed influences, McCain continued, Congress had to unequivocally cut off the flow of campaign cash.

"Registered lobbyists who work for campaigns as fundraisers clearly represent a conflict of interest," he added. "When a campaign employs an individual who also lobbies that Member, the perception of undue and unfair influence is raised."

The legislation, introduced twice, never passed.

Fast-forward a dozen years and the political dynamics have clearly changed. Now the GOP standard barer, McCain has 115 lobbyists either working or raising money on his behalf. Many of these individuals have taken a leave of absence from these positions in order to help with the campaign. But others have held, simultaneously, fundraising and lobbyists positions.

In addition, the Senator has 70 registered lobbyists who have bundled money on his behalf - raising at least $100,000. On top of this, the Center for Responsive Politics reports that the Arizona Republican has received more than $610,000 in direct donations - not bundled cash - from lobbyists.

His recent, self-implemented, campaign policy is designed to counteract the image that such a fundraising apparatus suggests. "No person with a McCain Campaign title or position," the document reads, "may participate in a 527 or other independent entity that makes public communications that support or oppose any presidential candidate."

But critics and reform groups not only argue that the policy is too little too late, but that McCain can no longer claim the ethical high ground on which he has built much of his political career.

"I think because Mr. McCain believes himself to be an ethical man he believes you can't question his ethics. But the fact of the matter is, he has talked a good game but he isn't walking it. And you can't be the guy who positions himself as a reformer and then plays fast and loose with the rules," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "I think he was sincere after Keating Five, and he obviously really believed in campaign finance reform, because he pushed it when it really didn't helped him. But I think over time that's changed. At the time he [made this speech] he wasn't thinking how it would affect his presidential run."

Moreover, they add, it is not just the quantity of lobbyists who have surrounded McCain. It is the quality. Indeed, some of the very people funding the Arizona Republicans run for the White House are those who would be interested in favors should he get there. As the New York Times reported in April 2008, several of McCain's bundlers have business interests before the Senator's own Commerce Committee:

Kirk Blalock, of the lobbying firm Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock, leads Mr. McCain's young professional group and has raised over $250,000 for him; his clients include Sprint Nextel and Viacom.

Kyle McSlarrow, chief of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, the lobbying arm for the cable industry, has raised over $100,000 for Mr. McCain. He and others in the cable industry recently butted heads with Mr. McCain over a proposal that would allow customers to pick and choose which channels they received.

McCain's supporters insist that his ethical compass is sound enough to ignore these potential conflicts of interest. And indeed, as McSlarrow can testify, raising money for McCain's campaign doesn't always bring with it a return of legislative favors.

"When it comes to McCain," Wayne Berman, another McCain bundler whose clients are affected by McCain's chairmanship at Commerce, told the New York Times, "there's just absolutely no concern whatsoever that he is going to be influenced by lobbyists. He takes on issues as he sees them. It doesn't matter whether his best friends are on the other side or not."

But as it stands now, critics believe that McCain's bevy of lobbyists represents a political liability. On Tuesday, Moveon.org put out one in what will likely be a series of campaign commercials, cataloging the "worlds worst tyrants" for whom Charlie Black, one of McCain's top aides, had previously worked. The list includes Ferdinand Marcos, Mobuto Sese Seko, Angolan rebel Jonas Savimbi and Ahmad Chalabi.

"Charlie Black said he didn't do anything wrong," the spot says. "John McCain should tell Black he did."

McCain's Finance Co-Chair Resigns in Ongoing Lobbyist Purge

Tom Loeffler resigned from the McCain campaign today. (Associated Press)

Why doesn't JiSM just quit?

It seems like there's a stampede out of John McCain's presidential campaign as he tries desperately to demonstrate that an entire campaign composed of lobbyists doesn't mean that he, himself, is just a informal lobbyist who has been elected to the US Senate. According to the Washington Post,

Tom Loeffler, the national finance co-chair for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, resigned from the campaign today because of his lobbying ties, a campaign adviser said.

His is the fifth person to sever ties with the campaign amid a growing concern about whether lobbyists have too great an influence over McCain and the campaign. Last week, campaign manager Rick Davis issued a new policy that requires all campaign personnel to either resign or sever ties with lobbying firms or outside political groups. WaPost

Now, this is some fertile territory for research and someone seems already to be mining it very effectively. Let's see how many more of John McCain's top aides turn out to be mercenaries for the same large corporations that are already bleeding the US Treasury dry.

Mr. "Straight-Talk" is a Straight-up Liar

In the above video, which I found over at the AfroSpear's Jack and Jill Politics, JiSM contradicts himself about New Orleans (Bush should have been there and not at John McCain's birthday party), and he contradicts himself about the Bush tax cuts (he voted both for them AND against them, he says; and he contradicts himself about the economy ("There's an argument to be made that it has improved," but "No, I don't think it has improved," he says; and he contradicts himself about his security during his trip to Iraq (he says it was so safe that he didn't need body armor, but news clips show that he did). Oh, just watch the news clips and see for yourself.

JiSM can't can't his story straight, and that's because he lies according to needs of the moment, and then can't remember what he last said.

Oh yeah! Catch the part where John McCain says on numerous occasions that he doesn't know anything about the US economy! Just what we need, as we're slipping into a depression!

JiSM Has More Lobbyists Than Bats in His Belfry

Agent X continues on the trail of information about the lobbyist connections of JiSM, who seems to know and consort with more lobbyists than real Americans.

AgentX has left a new comment on your post "The John McCain Lobbyist Football Team":

Here's some more lobbyist dirt.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/05/15/mccains-murderers-row/#more-29220

In this posting, the guys over at Firedoglake have discovered 3 of the worst (Black, Madigan, and Loeffler). These K-streeters lobbied for Sese Seko of Zaire, Somali and Equatorial Guinea dictators, Angola's Savimbi, and Saudi Arabia and Dubai- while not a totally evil nation, he was covering their tracks over the camel jockey slavery story.

And people say William Ayers is bad.

The Washington Post is on the story as well, with rundown of all the lobbyists McCain has been forced to dismiss while insisting that his chief lobbyist buddy, his campaign manager Charles Black, is not a lobbyist at all (anymore).

UPDATE from Agent X:

The campaign against McCain is having its effects.

McCain's Lobbyist Scandals Prompt Additional Scrutiny (Huffington Post)

Basically, the article says that McCain and his non-lobbyist staff wants to find out how many lobbyists are on his campaign. Apparently, he ain't know. Well, one of his crew, Craig Shirley, has left because he was working for a 527 smear group while working for McCain. Eric Burgeson, his energy policy adviser, is also out as well.

He knows NOW that he can't get away with having scumbags on his staff. How many horses will be tossed from this ship? You'll just have to wait and see . . .

McCain's Pastor Apologizes for Calling Catholic Church a "Whore"

One of JiSM's chief religious supporters acknowledged yesterday that his hateful remarks toward Catholics were offensive and wrong:

[Y] esterday, pastor John Hagee, a McCain supporter whose controversial comments about Catholicism angered church leaders, issued a letter of apology to the president of the Catholic League, who heartily accepted it.

In the letter, Hagee admitted that he "may have contributed to the mistaken impression that the anti-Jewish violence of the Crusades and the Inquisition defines the modern-day Catholic Church. It most certainly does not."

Hagee, an evangelical who has been outspoken in his support for Israel, had enraged Catholics with statements about the "apostate church" and the "great whore." He said in his letter that he meant neither of those to apply to the Catholic Church.

Question is, why did John McCain welcome the support of John Hagee even before Hagee made this announcement? Does John McCain also hate Catholics and the Catholic Church? Or was JiSM so desperate for Hagee's help that he would accept Hagee regardless of his views? Or is that both JiSM and Hagee want to bomb Iran? Whatever the case, this just proves what all of us have been saying: John Sydney McCain, III is dangerous in his beliefs and associations to be president of the United States. Or, at least I certainly hope so!

JiSM Supports Less Pay for Women

Hat Tip to Agent X.

In this video, JiSM reiterates his opposition to a Congressional bill that would restore women's right to seek court redress when they discover that they are being paid less than their male counterparts for the same work. The U.S. Supreme Court has held, and JiSM agrees, that if a woman discovers she is being underpaid AFTER the filing deadline has run on her claim then she can NEVER sue about it, even if that means she will continue to be underpaid for the rest of her natural life with the employer.

Of course, employers are ecstatic with this ruling. If they can just hide from women the fact that they are being underpaid until the filing deadline on their claim expires, then they can continue to underpay these women for the rest of their lives!

JiSM called his own wife a "cunt" in front of reporters once. Considering how little respect he has for his own wife, it's no surprise he doesn't believe women should receive equal pay for the same work.

John McCain Celebrated While New Orleans Was Inundated

by Not Brit, at DailyKos

This story originally posted at DailyKos by its author, Not Brit.

Mon May 12, 2008 at 09:36:23 PM PDT

I know the photo of McCain hugging Bush is popular around here, but this may be the most powerful image for the general election:

Just for a bit of history, this is President George W. Bush in Phoenix as he joined John McCain in a small celebration of McCain's 69th birthday Monday, Aug. 29, 2005. The President later spoke about Medicare to 400 guests at the Pueblo El Mirage RV Resort and Country Club in nearby El Mirage.

As if it were bad enough, I copied and pasted the above text directly from WhiteHouse.gov.

Here's what else was happening that day:

• Not Brit's diary :: ::
• 
  

All of these photos were literally taken the same day. Our president was too busy to worry about any of it. He had a party to attend. And a speaking engagement. About Medicare.

And the Republican's current nominee for president? Well, he was just fine. Celebrating.

There are more than a few reasons we should be using this photo all the damn time. Here's a start:

#1 It ties McCain to President Bush. Better than the hug photo in my opinion.

#2 It represents the Republican's complete incompetence. Remember, this photo was taken 4 days after Katrina first landed in Florida.

#3 McCain voted against relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

#4 It highlights McCain's domestic agenda. More precisely, his total lack thereof.

#5 It correctly paints McCain as the complete opposite of a Maverick. (Can we please start calling it the Straight Jacket Express?)

#6 It reminds us that McCain is older than the polio vaccine (They were celebrating his 69th birthday... 3 years ago)

#7 Let them eat cake.

#8 The emperor fiddled while Rome burned.

#9 John McCain doesn't always wear an American flag lapel pin.

#10 "Judge me on my own record..."

Would anyone like to add to the list?

#11 (ht ThatSinger) Reminds us of McCain's endorcement from John Hagee.

#12 (ht fhcec) Exposes Republican hypocrisy on Myanmar, etc.

#13 (ht soul creator) ...doesn't care about black people.

#14 (ht Norm DePlume) That the media conveniently under-reports actual tragedies perpetuated by our elected officials while bombarding us with trivialities.

#15 (ht DocGonzo) New Orleans is still fucked. (Please read his entire comment here)

#16 (ht ImpeachKingBushII)

#17 (ht CineJay)

Tags: John McCain, 2008, Katrina, George W. Bush, Recommended (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions

The John McCain Lobbyist Football Team

Agent X says in comments here,

In today's update, it has come to my attention that McCain has more lobbyists than a football team.

Speaking of those lobbyists, one of them worked for the infamous regime in Burma.

He has since left the campaign after that was revealed, but this gives me an idea; Mr. Holland, if someone gave you a list of McCain lobbyists, would you go on a 'fishing expedition' to find out what these guys have REALLY been up to? I'm sure you'd find another Burma up in there...

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Republican's Party Down, and McCain's Out of His Mind

Politico.Com says that the Republican Party is tanking in special elections and in opinion polls in the run-up to the November General Election, [which bodes ill for John McCain, particularly since he is simultaneously losing his bearings.]

By JIM VANDEHEI & DAVID PAUL KUHN | 5/10/08 12:49 PM EST

Text Size:

McCain risks looking inauthentic and conventional if he solidifies standing with conservatives and then races back to the middle to appeal to swing voters. Photo: AP

John McCain is planning to run as a different kind of Republican. But being any kind of Republican seems like some sort of death sentence these days.

In case you’ve been too consumed by the Democratic race to notice, Republicans are getting crushed in historic ways both at the polls and in the polls.

At the polls, it has been a massacre. In recent weeks, Republicans have lost a Louisiana House seat they had held for more than two decades and an Illinois House seat they had held for more than three. Internal polls show that next week they could lose a Mississippi House seat that they have held for 13 years.

In the polls, they are setting records (and not the good kind). The most recent Gallup Poll has 67 percent of voters disapproving of President Bush; those numbers are worse than Richard Nixon’s on the eve of his resignation. A CBS News poll taken at the end of April found only 33 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the GOP — the lowest since CBS started asking the question more than two decades ago. By comparison, 52 percent of the public has a favorable view of the Democratic Party. Politico.Com

In a way, Hillary Clinton has been right in her analysis. Blacks will certainly vote for Obama, as will the whites who have put Obama over the top in the polls. In the current environment many Independents and even some Republicans will support Barack Obama for president. So, the only question is whether white voters who support Hillary Clinton would rather elect the first Black president or would rather vote to continue the Iraq War for 100 years, while also starting a fresh war with Iran before the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are concluded. The answer will tell us an awful lot about the progressive bonafides of Hillary Clinton supporters.

Is John McCain "Losing His Bearings"?

The question we need to ask about John McCain is whether he is emotionally stable enough to be president, or whether he is, instead, progressively and implacably "losing his bearings"?

NEW YORK - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Thursday that Republican John McCain was "losing his bearings" for repeatedly suggesting the Islamic terrorist group Hamas preferred Obama for president.

That brought an angry response from McCain's campaign, which accused Obama of trying to make an issue of McCain's age.

Age is a touchy subject for McCain, who turns 72 in August and would be the oldest person to be sworn in as president if elected. Yahoo News

That McCain surrogate Joe Lieberman (Lieberman Party :)) sped to John McCain's defense shows the McCain's campaign's fear that this particularly issue will lead to his defeat in November.

In my opinion, John Sydney McCain's age alone should not make him ineligible for the presidency, unless there is strong evidence that McCain's advancing age is exacerbating an already unstable personality. And so we have to review the evidence and ask ourselves, is John McCain mentally stable enough to be president of a nuclear country? Or, is John Sydney McCain "losing his bearings"?

John Sydney McCain ("JiSM") called his wife a "cunt" in front of several reporters. He doesn't deny it.

"McCain's Temper May Become an Issue," says the Washington Post, because John McCain has shown an increasingly explosive temper over the years.

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 . . . " WaPost

Even conservative blogs and websites and US Senate colleagues have offered convincing evidence that John McCain has at least one longstanding mental problem: he just cannot control his burning temper:

"I have witnessed incidents where he has used profanity at colleagues and exploded at colleagues," said former Senator Bob Smith, a New Hampshire Republican who served with McCain on the Senate Armed Services Committee and on Republican policy committees. "He would disagree about something and then explode. It was incidents of irrational behavior. We've all had incidents where we have gotten angry, but I've never seen anyone act like that." Red State Patriot

The Red State Patriot offers a litany of other examples of JiSM behavior showing that he flies off the hook in all sorts of situations, particularly when people make him mad.

Robin Silver and Bob Witzeman, both medical doctors, met with McCain at his Phoenix office to discuss the endangered Mount Graham red squirrel. At the mention of the issue, McCain erupted.

"He slammed his fists on his desk, scattering papers across the room," Silver said. "He jumped up and down, screaming obscenities at us for at least 10 minutes. He shook his fists as if he was going to slug us."

After Silver pointed out that his behavior was inappropriate, "He apologized and was contrite," Silver said.

Indeed, senators joke among themselves about their collection of "McCain Notes" — apologies McCain sends after he has unleashed a tirade. The question on the minds of those who know him is whether a man who seems so out of control should have the authority to unleash nuclear weapons.

"I think he is not fit to be president," said former congressman LeBoutillier. Red State Patriot

Is this all of the evidence? With such a profoundly important decision to make, shouldn't we be looking at the whole record, as well as John McCain present behavior, to discern whether John McCain is "losing his bearings"?

100 more years in Iraq, says J.S.M

How much longer should U.S. troops be in Iraq? 50 years? "Maybe a hundred, that's find with me," says John McCain in the above video.

Voiceover: If all John McCain offers is more of the same, is John McCain the right choice for America's future? That's a lot of JiSM! Hat Tip.

McCain Persecuted Non-Profit Employee Who Disovered Wife Addiction, Theft of Controlled Drugs

According to the Pheonix New Times, John McCain had to know his wife was addicted to prescription drugs, and he may well have known she was stealing those drugs from an international medical charity in which she was involved. But, because of the family's wealth and connections, Mrs. McCain waltzed away from the scandal with no prison time, while others broke rocks in the pen:

From September 1991 to January 1993, Tom Gosinski was the director of government and international affairs for the American Voluntary Medical Team, a nonprofit organization headed by Cindy Hensley McCain.

Gosinski says McCain started behaving erratically in the summer of 1992. He says he and other AVMT staff members became convinced she was addicted to the prescription narcotics Percocet and Vicodin. They believed she was obtaining these drugs illegally in the names of her employees and the public charity she founded.

Gosinski's multiple claims--the knowledge of which, he says, led McCain to fire him in January 1993--were central to a federal investigation, a civil lawsuit, the extortion investigation and, finally, a statewide media circus.

( . . . )

New Times obtained a copy of Gosinski's private journal. It covers the period from early July 1992 through January 1993. Gosinski did not grant New Times permission to print excerpts from the journal, but neither did he disavow their accuracy. The 52 journal entries, recorded during Cindy McCain's drug meltdown, paint a disturbing picture.

July 27, 1992: I have always wondered why John McCain has done nothing to fix the problem. He must either not see that a problem exists or does not choose to do anything about it. It would seem that it would be in everyone's best interest to come to terms with the situation. And do whatever is necessary to fix it. There is so much at risk: The welfare of the children; John's political career; the integrity of Hensley & Company; the welfare of Jim and Smitty Hensley; and the health and happiness of Cindy McCain.

The aforementioned matters are of great concern to those directly involved but my main concern is the ability of AVMT to survive a major shake-up. If the DEA were to ever conduct an audit of AVMT's inventory, I am afraid of what the results might be. . . . It is because of CHM's willingness to jeopardize the credibility of those that work for her that I truly worry.

During my short tenure at AVMT I have been surrounded by what on the surface appears to be the ultimate all-American family. In reality, I am working for a very sad, lonely woman whose marriage of convenience to a U.S. Senator has driven her to: distance herself from friends; cover feelings of despair with drugs; and replace lonely moments with self-indulgences. Pheonix New Times

McCain, Campaign Manager Met with Russian Billionaire Suspected of Organized Crime Links

McCain's Keating five scandal (McCain Received $110,000 from Bank Whose Failure Cost US Treasury 2Billion Dollars) is not his only link to mafia-like swindles. The Pheonix Times reports:

As I mentioned in a February 5 blog item, The Washington Post recently reported on McCain's meeting with Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who had his visa revoked by the U.S.government because of his "suspected links to anti-democratic and organized-crime figures." McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis assisted in putting the two men together in 2006.

Davis told the Post that his contacts with Deripaska "all relate to my private business and have nothing to do with Senator John McCain." The Post said there was no evidence of wrongdoing, or of some sort of tit-for-tat. Still, such coziness with a billionaire recalls a certain coziness with a high-roller named Charles Keating.

Indeed, the ghost of the Keating Five scandal is always close by McCain. I was reminded of this in watching grizzled old legal warhorse Robert Bennett being pulled out of the barn to defend McCain in this recent joust with The New York Times. Attorney Bennett (who's famous for defending Bill Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky case), led the Senate ethics investigation in the Keating affair back in the '80s. Bennett was criticized by another member of the Keating Five, Senator Dennis DeConcini, in his recent memoir, Senator Dennis DeConcini: From the Center of the Aisle.

In the book, DeConcini, a centrist Dem, charged that Bennett was attempting to make the controversy a "Democrat scandal" by steering it away from McCain, the scandal's sole Republican. DeConcini asserts that McCain was knee-deep in guilt. As I wrote in the Bird column "McCain Shame,"

McCain made out like a bandito, scoring a whopping $112K from Keating's [fundraising]efforts. Indeed, McCain and the slimy S&L-er were thick as thieves. While serving in the House from 1983 to 1986, McCain flew with Keating to the latter's private retreat in the Bahamas aboard Keating corporate aircraft. And the senator's trophy wife, Cindy McCain, along with her pops, invested $359K in a Phoenix shopping mall developed by an offshoot of Keating's American Continental Corporation.

McCain Campaign's Arizona Co-Chair Indicted for Extortion, Money Laundering

The Pheonix Times reports,

McCain's corruption eruptions are more serious than those of the bimbo persuasion.

Take the very fact that Congressman "Slick" Rick Renzi's the AZ co-chair of McCain's campaign. Everyone here in Sand Land knows Renzi's ethically-challenged, and today's indictment of Renzi and two business associates by the U.S. Attorney's office on numerous counts including "wire fraud, extortion and money laundering, and conspiracies to engage in these acts" is no surprise. Most with a political clue knew Renzi was the target of an ongoing corruption probe by the Feds. Last summer, Renzi announced he wouldn't run for Congress again, probably because he was aware something like this was coming.

So why would McCain be so stupid as to make Renzi his co-chair in AZ? I could understand the misstep if Renzi was an unknown pol repping him in some other state, but this is in McCain's own back yard. Renzi and the allegations swirling around him have been well-reported. It certainly makes you wonder if McCain has a political blind spot large enough to blot out the very state he represents.

McCain Joke Calls Hillary an Ugly Lesbian

Slate reports, "When [John McCain] got caught telling a dumb, nasty joke about Chelsea Clinton--the kind of crack that might cripple the career of someone else in Congress--he apologized immediately, was forgiven by the president." "The idiotic joke, which McCain told at a Republican fund-raiser, went something like this:"

"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father and Hillary Clinton is her mother." Audience members gasped.

John McCain Twice Opposed Commission to Study Katrina Response

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109^th Congress - 2^nd Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary

Question: On the Motion (Motion to Waive CBA Clinton Amdt. No. 2716 )
Vote Number:	6	Vote Date:	February 2, 2006, 07:51 PM
Required For Majority:	3/5	Vote Result:	Motion Rejected
Amendment Number:	S.Amdt. 2716 to S.Amdt. 2707 to H.R. 4297
Statement of Purpose:	To establish a congressional commission to examine the Federal, State, and local response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Region of the United States especially in the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and other areas impacted in the aftermath and make immediate corrective measures to improve such responses in the future.

Vote Counts:	YEAs	44
	NAYs	53
	Not Voting	3

Vote Summary

By Senator Name

By Vote Position

By Home State

John McCain (AZ): NAY, don't study Bush's greatest domestic failure!

	Home > Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote
	U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 1st Session as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate Vote Summary Question: On the Motion (Motion To Suspend Paragraph 4, Rule XVI RE: Clinton Amdt. NO. 1660 ) Vote Number: 229 Vote Date: September 14, 2005, 01:06 PM Required For Majority: 3/5 Vote Result: Motion Rejected Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 1660 to H.R. 2862 Statement of Purpose: To establish a congressional commission to examine the Federal, State, and local response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Region of the United States especially in the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and other areas impacted in the aftermath and make immediate corrective measures to improve such responses in the future. Vote Counts: YEAs 44 NAYs 54 Not Voting 2 Vote Summary By Senator Name By Vote Position By Home State John McCain (AZ): NAY, don't study Bush's greatest domestic failure!

NYT Addresses McCain's Embrace of Pastor John Hagee, Catholic-Hater

Here's what Frank Rich of the New York Times has to say about one pastor whose embrace John McCain has received warmly, perhaps because they agree that the US should start a first-strike nuclear war with Iran:

Mr. McCain has been shocked to learn that his clerical ally has made many other outrageous statements. Mr. Hagee, it’s true, did not blame the American government for concocting AIDS. But he did say that God created Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for its sins, particularly a scheduled “homosexual parade there on the Monday that Katrina came.”

Mr. Hagee didn’t make that claim in obscure circumstances, either. He broadcast it on one of America’s most widely heard radio programs, “Fresh Air” on NPR, back in September 2006. He reaffirmed it in a radio interview less than two weeks ago. Only after a reporter asked Mr. McCain about this Katrina homily on April 24 did the candidate brand it as “nonsense” and the preacher retract it.

Mr. McCain says he does not endorse any of Mr. Hagee’s calumnies, any more than Barack Obama endorses Mr. Wright’s. But those who try to give Mr. McCain a pass for his embrace of a problematic preacher have a thin case. It boils down to this: Mr. McCain was not a parishioner for 20 years at Mr. Hagee’s church.

That defense implies, incorrectly, that Mr. McCain was a passive recipient of this bigot’s endorsement. In fact, by his own account, Mr. McCain sought out Mr. Hagee, who is perhaps best known for trying to drum up a pre-emptive “holy war” with Iran. (This preacher’s rantings may tell us more about Mr. McCain’s policy views than Mr. Wright’s tell us about Mr. Obama’s.) Even after Mr. Hagee’s Catholic bashing bubbled up in the mainstream media, Mr. McCain still did not reject and denounce him, as Mr. Obama did an unsolicited endorser, Louis Farrakhan, at the urging of Tim Russert and Hillary Clinton. Mr. McCain instead told George Stephanopoulos two Sundays ago that while he condemns any “anti-anything” remarks by Mr. Hagee, he is still “glad to have his endorsement.” NYT

As Rich says in this essay, "If we’re to judge black candidates on their most controversial associates — and how quickly, sternly and completely they disown them — we must judge white politicians by the same yardstick."

McCain declines to deny calling his wife a "cunt."

In the above video, a questioner at a McCain town hall meeting asks McCain, "Is it true you called your wife a cunt" in public?

In his book The Real McCain, author Cliff Schecter claims that John McCain made extremely ugly remarks about his wife Cindy McCain during a tirade witnessed by three reporters and two aides. "At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, 'You're getting a little thin up there,'" Schechter writes. "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." Drudge Report

In the above video, McCain does not deny the accusation, but instead says the question is inappropriate at a town hall meeting. If so, then it would also be inappropriate to hurl that epithet at your own wife in front of a bunch of reporters, a public meeting with the media, right?

The US Supreme Court has declared that "a person accused of crime in a public forum would ordinarily deny or explain the evidence against him if he truthfully could do so". If he doesn't deny an accusation made in public, it may well be because the accusation is demonstrably true and all denials would be futile.

And therefore,

. . . failure to explain or to deny by his testimony any evidence or facts in the case against him may be commented upon by the court and by counsel, and may be considered by the court or the jury. GRIFFIN v. CALIFORNIA, 380 U.S. 609 (1965)

The Comments to the Federal Rules of Evidence say that:

(B) Under established principles an admission may be made by adopting or acquiescing in the statement of another. While knowledge of contents
would ordinarily be essential, this is not inevitably so: "X is a
reliable person and knows what he is talking about." See McCormick Sec.
246, p.527, n.15. Adoption or acquiescence may be manifested in any
appropriate manner. When silence is relied upon, the theory is that the
person would, under the circumstances, protest the statement made in his presence, if untrue. The decision in each case calls for an evaluation
in terms of probable human behavior. FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

If someone asked me in public whether, in public, I had called my wife a "cunt", then I would certainly deny it unless it were manifestly and undeniably true. If you apply the above rule to McCain's failure to deny a damning accusation in the above video, it can only mean that McCain DID call his wife a "c*nt". If he denies it, he know the public will find out the truth between now and the election, and then he'll be proved a straight-up liar as well as an abusive cad to his wife.

McCain Pastor Says America is Damned!

If you're a Republican presidential candidate and your skin is white, then your pastor can curse and damn America as much as he wants, and the media doesn't care. Take John McCain's favorite pastor, John Hagee. Apparently whitosphere blogger Bruce Wilson at Propeller.com has read from Hagee's 1997 book, "Day of Deception", and here's what he found, and his comments:

"As a nation, America is under the curse of God, even now." That ominous slam at America came from Pastor John Hagee, whose endorsement Republican presidential candidate John McCain sought, secured, and recently affirmed to ABC News that he is "glad to have." Hagee claims God's "curse" and "doom" is upon America because of two key issues: reproductive freedom and broad support for the teaching of the theory of evolution.

Although Senator McCain recently told George Stephanopoulos in an interview that his seeking of Hagee's endorsement was "probably" a mistake, he then doubled back to affirm his approval of Hagee's endorsement, stating, "I'm glad to have it.

"If McCain did not know of Hagee's belief that God is against America, he should have: Hagee's pronouncement of God's "curse" and "doom" on our nation was not a passing comment. It was a major theme of Hagee's book, Day of Deception (1997). In fact, Hagee devotes a whole chapter to it. Here's the curse and doom quote in context:

In "America Under a Curse," a seventeen page chapter in "Day of Deception" ($0.01 cents used at Amazon.Com), John Hagee wrote, "As a nation, America is under the curse of God, even now. Look at the scriptures and see for yourself. The stand we have taken on abortion, the stand we have taken against God in our classrooms, just may have sealed or doom."

( . . . )

America is also collectively cursed for specific reasons, such as legalized abortion and a Supreme Court decision against sectarian Bible classes in public schools but also, more generally, for rebelling against God. As a consequence of America's disobedience and rebellion, according to McCain-endorser John Hagee, God's has cursed America and that curse has caused American military defeats, in Korea and Vietnam, plagues such as AIDS and social blights like violent crime. God's curse on America has also led "hundreds of thousands" to secretly sacrifice children to the devil. Propeller.com

If John McCain and John Hagee were Democrats or, even worse, Black Democrats, then this would be big news. As a professor once told me in law school, if you want to convince the public of something, you have to base it on a theme in which they already believe. Since many white people already believe that Blacks aren't really American (we're not white afterall), it's a simple matter to convince them that we're unpatriotic and anti-America.

If John McCain and John Hagee were Democrats or, even worse, Black Democrats, then this would be big news. After all, the Rev. John Hagee, founder of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, "has called the Catholic Church "the great whore of Babylon" and "the anti-Christ." But, since they're white men, they can damn America as much as they want. It's their country, afterall?

The author is the editor of the Truth About McCain Blog and the American Journal of Color Arousal (AMJCA).