“Now or never”
John http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3277 is a maverick senator, Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war for 5 years in North Vietnam. In 2000, he nearly beat George W. Bush by being an outspoken, even honest politician, which stunned everybody. He also is known for bipartisan approaches to issues such as smoking and campaign reform.
This time around though, at 71, he apparently decided “now or never” and seems to have http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3172, suddenly adopting a bunch of boilerplate conservative positions he was brave enough to resist 8 years ago. Now, conveniently, he’s even claiming to be a Baptist instead of an Episcopalian.
It doesn’t look like anyone’s buying it though. McCain went from front runner to 3rd or 4th in various polls, spent all of his huge pile of cash and lost most of his staff. Maybe he’ll be a maverick in a new way — curing Republicans of their tendency to elect the candidate who “has earned it” by loyalty and longevity even if doomed to failure (e.g. Bob Dole.)
Here are some negative allegations: That New Time Religion
John McCain grew up Episcopalian. He went to an Episcopalian high school. For at least 15 years, he has been listed as an Episcopalian in authoritative directories such as the Almanac of American Politics and Congressional Quarterly’s Politics in America 2008. He told a reporter from McClatchy News Service in June 2007 that he was an Episcopalian.
Suddenly, in September 2007, he’s campaigning in South Carolina, the heavily Baptist state where George W. Bush barely managed to stop McCain’s presidential campaign 8 years ago. And guess what? McCain tells a reporter “By the way, I’m not Episcopalian. I’m Baptist.”
When pressed, he said he’s attended the North Phoenix Baptist Church in Arizona for more than 15 years, though he has never been baptized in that church. Now see, that’s exactly the problem. Baptism is kind of a big thing in the Baptist Church. (That’s how they got the name.) No baptism, not Baptist.
Anyway, details aside, this is one very clear indication of how McCain has changed. Now, he’s just another hungry politician, happy to pander if it helps him win. Which eliminates the very reason people were excited about him in 2000 — his honesty.
Founding Member of the Keating Five
Back in the old days, defendants in famous trials got numbers — the Chicago Eight, the Gang of Four, the Dave Clark Five, the Daytona 500. McCain was one of the “Keating Five,” congressmen investigated on ethics charges for strenuously helping convicted racketeer Charles Keating after he gave them large campaign contributions and vacation trips.
Charles Keating was convicted of racketeering and fraud in both state and federal court after his Lincoln Savings & Loan collapsed, costing the taxpayers $3.4 billion. His convictions were overturned on technicalities; for example, the federal conviction was overturned because jurors had heard about his state conviction, and his state charges because Judge Lance Ito (yes, that judge) screwed up jury instructions. Neither court cleared him, and he faces new trials in both courts.)
Though he was not convicted of anything, McCain intervened on behalf of Charles Keating after Keating gave McCain at least $112,00 in contributions. In the mid-1980s, McCain made at least 9 trips on Keating’s airplanes, and 3 of those were to Keating’s luxurious retreat in the Bahamas. McCain’s wife and father-in-law also were the largest investors (at $350,000) in a Keating shopping center; the Phoenix New Times called it a “sweetheart deal.”
Mafia ties:
In 1995, McCain sent birthday regards, and regrets for not attending, to Joseph “Joey Bananas” Bonano, the head of the New York Bonano crime family. Another politician to send regrets was Governor Fife Symington, who has since been kicked out of office and convicted of 7 felonies relating to fraud and extortion.
Family Problems
McCain has a reputation as a politician who has difficulty keeping his pants zipped, according to Republican sources. He acknowledges that his adultery broke up his first marriage. His second wife Cindy, the daughter of a wealthy Budweiser beer distributor, was addicted to prescription narcotics and even stole hard drugs from a medical charity that she ran. McCain acknowledges that she didn’t want him to run, and only agreed once he promised that she doesn’t have to go to New Hampshire or Iowa.
Quotes:
– Leonardo DiCaprio is “an androgynous wimp.” — McCain.
http://www.realchange.org/mccain.htm
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