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.