A Spork in the Drawer

More McSame

Gosh, it's a good thing that St. John hates lobbyists:

Sen. John McCain championed legislation that will let an Arizona rancher trade remote grassland and ponderosa pine forest here for acres of valuable federally owned property that is ready for development, a land swap that now stands to directly benefit one of his top presidential campaign fundraisers.

Initially reluctant to support the swap, the Arizona Republican became a key figure in pushing the deal through Congress after the rancher and his partners hired lobbyists that included McCain's 1992 Senate campaign manager, two of his former Senate staff members (one of whom has returned as his chief of staff), and an Arizona insider who was a major McCain donor and is now bundling campaign checks.

[...]

Betts is among a string of donors who have benefited from McCain-engineered land swaps. In 1994, the senator helped a lobbyist for land developer Del Webb Corp. pursue an exchange in the Las Vegas area, according to the Center for Public Integrity. McCain sponsored two bills, in 1991 and 1994, sought by donor Donald R. Diamond that yielded the developer thousands of acres in trade for national parkland.

[...]

As McCain positions himself as a champion of environmental causes, observers of the Yavapai Ranch swap say it shows a paradox in the senator's positions.

"Paradox"? Wouldn't it bee more accurate to just call McCain a fraud?

McCain also has been critical of government's "revolving door," which allows former government officials to position themselves as influential lobbyists. Rogers said that McCain does not recall being lobbied by his former staff members on the land swap and that "no lobbyist influenced Senator McCain on this issue."

Somebody should tell St. John about his top advisor Charlie Black.

Is the Senator involved in fleecing the American taxpayer?

A town official opposed to the swap said other Yavapai Ranch land sold nine years ago for about $2,000 per acre, while some of the prime commercial land near a parcel that the developers will get has brought as much as $120,000 per acre.

Heavens! That's an awful lot of Straight Talk!

Perhaps the corporate media will take notice of this hypocrisy.

When pigs fly.

As a side note, one of the people involved in this ripoff is Carl H. Lindner Jr of Chiquita Banana infamy.

St. John has some nice friends, no?

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St. John Roundup

Because, y'know, he's the bad guy we should be focusing on.

first up, via The Shrill One, one reason why I hate economists:

Almost half of the economists in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey decided against answering a question on which presidential candidate offers the most responsible fiscal policies. However, Sen. John McCain was the clear favorite of those who answered the question. Twenty-one economists of 75% of the respondents chose the Republican contender.

So much for higher education. Still, McSame shouldn't be too proud:

“His [policies] are the least horrible,” said James F. Smith of Western Carolina University and Parsec Financial Management.

All deride the McCain-Clinton gas tax "holiday." (The junior Senator from New York the least favorable to these financial dingbats.)

Next up, St. John's wealthy but addled wife Cindy says that she will never, ever, ever release her tax returns no matter what. Never, do you hear, NEVER! This despite the fact that the Man from Panama unethically uses her corporate jet and appears to be hiding his assets in the Beer Queen's name. How mavericky!

Finally, the senior Senator from Panama Arizona denies being old.

OK.

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What's At Stake In November

St. John makes a promise:

Republican John McCain castigated Democrat Barack Obama for voting against John Roberts as Supreme Court chief justice in a speech about the kind of judges McCain would nominate.

McCain offered an olive branch to the Christian right in a speech planned for Tuesday at Wake Forest University. The far right has been deeply suspicious of McCain, the expected GOP presidential nominee, because he has clashed with its leaders and worked against them on issues like campaign finance reform.

McCain promised to appoint judges who, in the mold of Roberts and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, are likely to limit the reach of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

Let's remember that the Roberts Court ruled that gender discrimination in pay is A-OK, that allowed non-scientific anti-choice boilerplate to determine a reproductive rights case, decided that certain classes of voters can be disenfranchised, and much, much more.

The next president will likely have the opportunity to appoint at least two justices. The country can't afford to have more Robertses, more Alitos, more Scalias, more Thomases.

Neither Hillary nor Obama may be liberals in any real sense but either is a damn sight better than McCain.

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An Annual Spring Ritual Returns

Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran:

A second American aircraft carrier steamed into the Persian Gulf on Tuesday as the Pentagon ordered military commanders to develop new options for attacking Iran. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports that the planning is being driven by what one officer called the "increasingly hostile role" Iran is playing in Iraq - smuggling weapons into Iraq for use against American troops.

[...]

Targets would include everything from the plants where weapons are made to the headquarters of the organization known as the Quds Force which directs operations in Iraq. Later this week Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is expected to confront the Iranians with evidence of their meddling and demand a halt.

If that doesn't produce results, the State Department has begun drafting an ultimatum that would tell the Iranians to knock it off - or else.

You just know that St. John would love a little October Surprise. And with this administration running things...

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Throw The Dogs A Bone

James Fallows on the McCain-Clinton "gas tax holiday" scheme:

The pandering and ignorance-across-party-lines represented by the John McCain-Hillary Clinton united front for a temporary reduction in the gasoline tax should make Americans hold their heads in their hands and moan. No one who has thought about this issue thinks that it will actually reduce prices or -- more important -- help the the people disproportionately hurt by $100+/barrel oil and $4 gasoline. And to the extent it has any effect on America's long-term approach to energy policy, transportation, oil dependence, and climate change, the effect will be perverse.

I can imagine that John McCain, who boasts about his sketchy command of economics, might consider this a good idea. But the master of policy, Hillary Clinton??

Even Hillary supporter Paul Krugman is scratching his beard:

Is the supply of gasoline really fixed? For this coming summer, it is. Refineries normally run flat out in the summer, the season of peak driving. Any elasticity in the supply comes earlier in the year, when refiners decide how much to put in inventories. The McCain/Clinton gas tax proposal comes too late for that. So it’s Econ 101: the tax cut really goes to the oil companies.

The Clinton twist is that she proposes paying for the revenue loss with an excess profits tax on oil companies. In one pocket, out the other. So it’s pointless, not evil. But it is pointless, and disappointing.

I agree that Hillary is too intelligent and knowledgeable to believe that this is a good idea. St. John, of course, is neither. So the only conclusion is that Hillary is engaging in a standard pander, possibly a double-pander: Fool the rubes with a simplistic "fix" for economic woes and maybe throw a few more subsidized dollars to the oil companies.

And everybody knows they need it.

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And Speaking Mavericky McMaverick...

Kevin Drum makes the point:

Can we stop pretending to be children about this? There's only one reason for a politician to make sure that all his assets are in his wife's name: it's to make sure that no one knows anything about his assets. It's not as if McCain is the first pol to try this, after all.

(Kevin then goes on to ask the stunningly dense rhetorical question, "Is the press really going to let him get away with this?" Duh.)

Anyway, perhaps St. John can come up with an explanation for this whilst flying in luxury on his wife's jet. Perhaps the answer lies in the Beer Baroness' tax returns.

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They're Terrified

That's the only explanation for the massive freakout by the RNC and Barbecue McMaverick over this perfectly accurate ad by the DNC:

They know that the more people hear about McCain's "100 Years" the more people will turn away in horror. (Then again, Paul "Comblicker" Wolfowitz claimed yesterday yesterday that the US occupation of Iraq ended nearly four years ago so...)

Oh, and how can we miss the delicious richness of the Republican National Committee complaining about 'distortions." When they saw that ad they probably said "rats!".

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St. John Has Problems

Will Jenna Bush vote for St. John? "I don't know."

Ungrateful whelp! After all McCain has done for her father!

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Pulling My Leg

And thus it begins:

The N.C. Republican Party says it will not back away from a planned TV ad that uses footage of Barack Obama's controversial former minister, despite objections from the expected GOP presidential nominee, John McCain.

The ad, released Wednesday on the Internet, tries to link the minister to two Democratic candidates for governor, both of whom have endorsed Obama.

Republican chairwoman Linda Daves said she would not bow to pressure from the Republican National Committee and others to pull the ad.

Oh yes, I'm sure St. John and the RNC really, really want this ad removed from the airwaves. I'm sure they really, really believe that this sort of guilt-by-association has no place in political campaigns.

Yes, we can expect this all the way to November:

Independent Group: Look at our new smear ad!

McCain: I object! Take the ad down!

Independent Group: No.

McCain: Darn. I tried.

Politics is fun!

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Things The World Doesn't Need II

Campaign songs.

Written by Orrin Hatch:

Not content to sit on the sidelines, longtime senator and one-time presidential hopeful Orrin Hatch has penned a song for his Senate buddy John McCain in hopes of helping his White House bid.

Really, he did.

Hatch - a Utah Republican who won a platinum award for helping co-write lyrics for a song that sold more than a million records - crafted a tune called "Together Forever" for the presumptive Republican nominee.

"Forever together / America is the land we're fighting for / There's a time in history / for a hero's destiny / together forever more," says Hatch's song, co-written with composer Philip Springer, famous for the Christmas song, "Santa Baby."

This is the part that made me fall over laughing:

"We'll see Barack Obama's Bruce Springsteen endorsement and raise them an Orrin Hatch," a spokesman said.

The Boss has nothing on the mad songwriting skillz of MC Orrin! Check out the reviews:

And, according to Hardball, while Hatch's office says he was aiming for an upbeat song that would appeal to the youth vote, the song doesn't mimic anything found on the Top 40 - or even the next 40.

Jason Mattera, spokesman for the conservative Young America's Foundation, says the lyrics are fine but the beats and tempo are "not appealing to young people.

"Hatch's heart is in the right place, but he has the wrong decade," Mattera says, noting that the message to attract young people is that liberalism oppresses people, stifles freedom and causes "pervasive destitution. I give him credit for trying, though," Mattera adds.

Still, a guy's gotta dream:

Nonetheless, Hatch says the song should get good reviews.

"It has been very enjoyable to write this song, and I think most people will like it."

I'd be interested to hear Hatch's definition of "most people."

The question yet to be answered: Will Hatch displace John Ashcroft at the top of the charts?

[Via DHinMI at the Great Orange Satan.]

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Fair's Fair

Since this morning's This Week will feature only one guest - St. John (what a shock!) - Cliff Schecter, author of The Real McCain, offers up 12 questions that Snuffleupagus should ask but won't. An example:

3. Doesn’t your confusion regarding basic facts about the war in Iraq, including repeatedly citing a nonexistent Al Qaeda-Iran alliance, make you unfit for command?

On four occasions in one month, you confused friend and foe in Iraq by describing Sunni Al Qaeda as being backed by Shiite Iran. Then you showed a misunderstanding of the U.S. chain of command when you claimed you would not back shifting forces from Iraq to Afghanistan “unless Gen. [David] Petraeus said that he felt that the situation called for that,” a decision which Petraeus himself told you and your Senate colleagues only the week before rests not with him but with his superiors. Doesn’t your lack of understanding and judgment when it comes to basic facts of America’s national security disqualify you as commander-in-chief?

If video is more your thing Robert Greenwald offers up a fantasy version of the interview.

---

ADDED: Now St. John is whinging about being quoted accurately.

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The Intellectual Bankruptcy Of The American Right

Evidence:

QUESTION: How does your background in history influence your political ideas?

GINGRICH: If you think about the current situation, it helps to remember Harry Truman running in 1948, or even Sarkozy in France. Sarkozy distanced himself from Chirac without being hostile. That’s what McCain has to do with Bush. And what McCain is trying to achieve by explaining the dangers of the world to the public is like what Lincoln had to do in the Civil War.

QUESTION: McCain doesn’t exactly have Lincoln’s rhetorical skills.

GINGRICH: In style he’s closer to Truman, who did not have the rhetorical skills, but had passion.

I'm just happy that I never had Newt as a history prof.

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A Tale Of Two Candidates

On Monday Barack Obama and John McCain appeared before a gathering of the nation's newspaper editors. The WaPo's Dana Milbank reports:

At a luncheon for the editors hosted by the Associated Press, AP Chairman Dean Singleton quizzed Obama about whether he would send more troops to Afghanistan, where "Obama bin Laden is still at large?"

"I think that was Osama bin Laden," the candidate answered.

"If I did that, I'm so sorry!" Singleton said.

"This," Obama told the editors, is "part of the exercise that I've been going through over the last 15 months."

Compare and contrast:

McCain's moderators, the AP's Ron Fournier and Liz Sidoti, greeted McCain with a box of Dunkin' Donuts. "We spend quite a bit of time with you on the back of the Straight Talk Express asking you questions, and what we've decided to do today was invite everyone else along on the ride," Sidoti explained. "We even brought you your favorite treat."

McCain opened the offering. "Oh, yes, with sprinkles!" he said.

Sidoti passed him a cup. "A little coffee with a little cream and a little sugar," she said.

Not to put too fine a point on it but Milbank notes, "McCain got a standing ovation -- an honor Obama did not receive when his turn came two hours later."

This, "my friends", is going to be the pattern all the way to November so get used to it. More importantly, I hope that Obama is ready to fight against it.

The irony, of course, is that we'll also be treated to more than six months of Republican whinging about the Librul Media hating on Republicans in general and St. John in particular. They have even less shame than the reporters and editors and producers of our esteemed Fourth Estate.

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Why Does St. John Hate The Troops?

There's a proposal in Congress to enact an updated GI Bill (the original, enacted after WWII, went a long way to building the American Middle Class - the backbone of the country). One would think that Mr. Integrity would see this as a great way to help troops returning from the battlefields. One would think:

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, seemed to give a thumbs down to bipartisan legislation that would greatly expand educational benefits for members of the military returning from Iraq and Afghanistan under the GI Bill.

Both Hillary and Obama - along with 53 other Senators - have signed on as co-sponsors.

In fairness, St. John says that he will introduce his own proposal. We'll see.

Both the White House and the Pentagon oppose the bill because, as Wes Clark and John Soltz noted last week, "...if returning troops are offered a good education, they will choose college over extending their service." Apparently, the future of our military lies with mercenaries and indentured servants.

Hell of a way to run a republic.

It's also worth noting that an uneducated populace is less likely to ask questions.

(For more information visit GIBill2008.org or click the button on the upper left of your screen.)

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Destroying The Democratic Party

Hillary attacks Al Gore and John Kerry.

Remember this when McCain is sworn in as president.

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John And Cindy McCain - Plagiarists At Large

Via Election Central, this can't be called an accident:

This past Sunday, Lauren Handel, an eagle-eyed attorney from New York, was searching for a specific recipe from Giada DeLaurentis, a chef on the Food Network. Yet whenever she Googled the different ingredients in the recipe, the oddest thing happened: not only did the Food Network's site come up, as expected, but so did John McCain's campaign site.

On a section of McCain's site called "Cindy's Recipes," you can find seven recipes attributed to Cindy McCain, each with the heading "McCain Family Recipe." Ms. Handel quickly realized that some of the "McCain Family Recipes," were in fact, word-for-word copies of recipes on the Food Network site.

At least three of the "McCain Family Recipes" appear to be lifted directly from the Food Network, while at least one is a Rachael Ray recipe with minor changes.

Perhaps Cindy's excuse will be that she's popping pills again.

Meanwhile, by way of Think Progress, it would appear that Mr. Experience has no clue about what St. Petreus's job is:

Speaking Monday at the annual meeting of the Associated Press, McCain was asked whether he, if elected, would shift combat troops from Iraq to Afghanistan to intensify the search for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

“I would not do that unless Gen. [David] Petraeus said that he felt that the situation called for that,” McCain said, referring to the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Petraeus, however, made clear last week that he has nothing to do with the decision...Decisions about Afghanistan would be made by others, he said.

So now we can add the military to the long list of things about which McCain knows nothing.

3AM? More like 3 minutes to midnight.

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Trainwreck

This morning I opened my e-mail box and found this:

Standard rightwing attack on Soros. Except that...oops.

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St. Johm?

Caught by Instaputz:

[Via Greg Sargent.]

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A Terrified Nation Begs For Them To Stop

The McCain Girls are back. This time I made it 47 seconds into the video before I plucked my eyes out and injected bleach directly into my cerebrum.

God have mercy on our souls.

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Classy

McCain: Democrats' stance on Iraq flawed

Speaking of flawed:

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.

Hey, Cindy, classy husband you got there.

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I Never Thought Of It This Way

Beer executive could be next first lady

The Ice Queen may be worth as much as $100,000,000. That'll buy a lot of elections.

No wonder St. John dumped his loyal first wife for Cindy.

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Sarcasm

Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill on Defib Dick:

NYT: Have you seen Dick Cheney since he fired you?

O'Neill: I have been to a few events where the vice president was there, but we both did our best to ignore each other. You know, I was a pallbearer, and he was a pallbearer, too.

NYT: You mean at President Ford’s funeral?

O'Neill: Yes.

NYT: And you didn’t say hello?

O'Neill: Nope. It was a good time to be alone together.

O'Neill on St. John:

NYT: McCain recently confessed in public that his grasp of economics is limited.

O'Neill: Yeah. That’s a great place to start from, isn’t it?

O'Neill on BushCo™:

NYT: Do you feel bitter about your service for the Bush administration?

O'Neill: No. I’m thankful I got fired when I did, so that I didn’t have to be associated with what they subsequently did.

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Pissy

Remember that uh, interesting McCain fan video? Well, the lead "McCain Girl" is none too happy with the ridicule heaped upon it:

You have to be a special kind of person to be so proud of something so astoundingly, mind-bogglingly, stunningly awful.

(As a side note, I've still not made it past the 57-seconds mark of the video.)

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Ye Olde Mailbag

From Jane and Markos:

Dear michael,

John McCain is breaking the law.

When McCain's presidential campaign was in trouble, he opted-in to public financing through the primary, limiting him to a $54 million spending cap.

But laws aren't for "mavericks"...

McCain's latest spending report, filed by his own campaign, shows he has spent in excess of $58 million so far -- a public admission by his own hand that he has broken the law.

We filed a formal complaint to Federal Election Commission yesterday, and we want you to sign-on for a second delivery of signatures later this week.

Please read and co-sign the letter to the FEC right now.

http://action.firedoglake.com/mccainfec

We've had a number of co-singers to the document already including:

MoveOn.org Political Action
Matt Stoller
John Amato
Robert Greenwald
Jerome Armstrong

All that's missing is your name.

View the signers and add your name to theirs right now.

http://action.firedoglake.com/mccainfec

If you sign right now, your name will be included in our larger delivery later this week.

Sincerely,

Markos and Jane

P.S. We've got video of our first delivery up, and you can expect an update with video of the delivery.

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Democratic Self-Destruction Watch™

Gallup:

A sizable proportion of Democrats would vote for John McCain next November if he is matched against the candidate they do not support for the Democratic nomination. This is particularly true for Hillary Clinton supporters, more than a quarter of whom currently say they would vote for McCain if Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee.

Unsurprisingly, the Clinton's have the lion's share of petulant little egomaniacs.

But no worries, it's only the future of the country at stake.

[Via John Cole.]

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Democratic Self-Destuction Watch™

I hope everyone will be satisfied with President John McCain:

In a sign of just how divisive and ugly the Democratic fight has gotten, only 53% of Clinton voters say they'll vote for Obama should he become the nominee. Nineteen percent say they'll go for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and 13% say they won't vote.

Sixty percent of Obama voters say they'll go for Clinton should she win the nomination, with 20% opting for McCain, and three percent saying they won't vote.

Good job as usual, Democrats.

[Via Keystone Politics.]

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Oh, Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh

Nonononono...

Oh, nonononono...

[Via Matt Yglesias.]

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McCain Makes Three

Hat trick.

Independent investigation, please.

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Gonna Party Like It's 1992

For those who don't remember in 1992 George the Elders State Department was did something illegal:

That is why the late-night pre-election search through Bill Clinton's passport file by State Department employees caused such deep embarrassment at the agency, the White House and the National Archives.

An internal State Department review concluded that the search took place in violation of agency regulations and, "more disturbing," for political purposes.

President Clinton chose not to prosecute anyone for this gross violation of the Privacy Act. Big mistake:

Two State Department employees were fired and a third has been disciplined for improperly accessing Sen. Barack Obama's passport file, the State Department announced last night.

Now for an interesting tidbit:

Senior department officials said they learned of the incidents only when a reporter made an inquiry yesterday afternoon. They said an initial investigation indicated that the employees -- all of whom worked on contract -- were motivated by "imprudent curiosity."

How did the reporter, Glenn Kessler, learn about this? Who spilled and why? And does anyone believe that State Department higher-ups had no idea until informed by Kessler?

Josh takes note of the dates:

A few more details about the Obama passport breach. According to a new piece out in the Post from Glenn Kessler, the breaches occurred Jan. 9th, Feb. 21st and March 14th.

That would be the day after the New Hampshire primary, the day of the Democratic debate in Texas and the day the Wright story really hit.

emptywheel wonders who benefits:

I'm rather more interested in two of the dates on the Republican side. The day after the New Hampshire primary (when it became clear McCain's campaign was far from dead), and the day of the Texas primary (when McCain sealed the nomination). After all, New Hampshire was a set-back for Obama. Why would a Democrat waste bribes to do oppo research on Obama when it looked, once again, like Hillary would win the primary? But I can understand why McCain would start doing oppo research at a time when his chances started looking up.

Though, I would still have to explain the February 21 date.

Back to the WaPo story:

Kennedy said the contract employees -- who helped process some of the 18 million passport applications the department handles every year -- had access to personal records as part of their jobs in data entry, customer service and other administrative tasks. He said that contract employees undergo "public integrity checks," such as a review of police records, but that the department does not examine political affiliation. "That would be inappropriate," he said.

Noooo, BushCo would never, ever politicize government departments or agencies.

Perhaps a special counsel is warranted, yes?

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Monday Poll

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(shhhhh...secret!)

(john mccain is in Iraq but it's a secret. shhhhh!)








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English As A Second Language

Pierce:

Listening to John McCain discuss domestic policy is like listening to someone who learned English phonetically, and a half-hour ago.

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That Worked Out As Planned, Didn't It?

It's 3AM:

Rasmussen Reports says this morning that when it surveyed Americans about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's 3 a.m. ad and asked which candidate voters would want to answer the telephone when the White House is alerted to a crisis the answer that came back from the greatest number of folks was Sen. John McCain.

Whoopsie!

[Via John Cole.]

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Memo To Hillary

Please stop telling us that St. John would make a fine president.

That is all.

Love and kisses,

spork.


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Headlines That Frighten

Portman backs McCain

It turns out that it's referring to Rob Portman, the director of the OMB.

At first I thought it was referring to a different Portman.

(This post wasn't an excuse to put up a picture of Natalie Portman. Well, not entirely, at least.)

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No One Could Have Imagined

St. John of MarverickStraightTalk a liar?

Paxson said he talked with McCain in his Washington office several weeks before the Arizona Republican wrote the letters in 1999 to the FCC urging a rapid decision on Paxson's quest to acquire a Pittsburgh television station.

Paxson also recalled that his lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, likely attended the meeting in McCain's office and that Iseman helped arrange the meeting. "Was Vicki there? Probably," Paxson said in an interview with The Washington Post yesterday. "The woman was a professional. She was good. She could get us meetings."

The recollection of the now-retired Paxson conflicted with the account provided by the McCain campaign about the two letters at the center of a controversy about the senator's ties to Iseman, a partner at the lobbying firm of Alcalde & Fay.

St. John of MaverickStraightTalk is ethically challenged?

But when McCain huddled with his closest advisers at his rustic Arizona cabin last weekend to map out his presidential campaign, virtually every one was part of the Washington lobbying culture he has long decried. His campaign manager, Rick Davis, co-founded a lobbying firm whose clients have included Verizon and SBC Telecommunications. His chief political adviser, Charles R. Black Jr., is chairman of one of Washington's lobbying powerhouses, BKSH and Associates, which has represented AT&T, Alcoa, JPMorgan and U.S. Airways.

[...]

But even as Black provides a private voice and a public face for McCain, he also leads his lobbying firm, which offers corporate interests and foreign governments the promise of access to the most powerful lawmakers. Some of those companies have interests before the Senate and, in particular, the Commerce Committee, of which McCain is a member.

Black said he does a lot of his work by telephone from McCain's Straight Talk Express bus.

St. John of MaverickStraightTalk did favors for a felon?

Iseman and her colleagues had been lobbying the FCC, the House of Representatives, and the Senate (including John McCain, with whom McCain's advisors believed Iseman had an inappropriate relationship at the time) to win approval for the foreign purchase of American broadcast companies--that is, Conrad Black's properties, which were headquartered in Chicago.

The Straight Talk Express has blown a tire and slid into a ditch.

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It's Not The Sex...

...it's the ethics. Or lack thereof. First the NYT then the WaPo (apparently more to follow) report on St. John's "inappropriate" "relationship" with a telco lobbyist named Vicki Iseman.

There's even a Pittsburgh angle. Via smintheus at dkos we find that:

On November 17, 1999 the Senator and Presidential candidate instructed the FCC commissioners to take action on the deal no later than December 15, 1999. "If in your judgment the Commission cannot meet this request, please advise me of this fact in writing, with a specific and complete explanation, no later than November 18, 1999," wrote McCain.

In a second letter, dated December 10, 1999, written to FCC Chair William Kennard, McCain was even more forceful in his resolution. He demanded, "if the license applications were not acted upon" that Chairman Kennard "...explain why." Obviously feeling the pressure, the commissioners voted to approve the application. However, the FCC press release indicated that the 30-page opinion included four separate dissenting opinions.

Kennard responded to McCain's letter by saying, "It is highly unusual for the commissioners to be asked to publicly announce their voting status on a matter that is still pending." He said such inquiries "could have procedural and substantive impacts on the Commission's deliberations and, thus, on the due process rights of the parties."

Save Pittsburgh Public Television campaign's director Jerry Starr, said, "This is the latest and most flagrant example of Washington insiders riding rough-shod over community sentiment. The pressure to resolve this by December 15th comes from the applicants, Paxson Communications, WQED, and Cornerstone TeleVision, whose contract expires at the end of the year." Starr added, "McCain is making big statements about taking the money out of politics, but we have discovered that Paxson, his people and his attorneys have contributed at least $15,000 to McCain's campaign in the past few months."

(Paxson and Cornerstone are fundie outfits; WQED is the local PBS station.)

I don't really care if McCain was having it off the Ms. Iseman (it wouldn't be the first time he's done such a thing) but I'd hope, tough wouldn't bet, that this puts to rest his image of Mr. Ethical Maverick Straight Talk Express. That's almost entirely a creation of the "liberal" media. However, they have there narrrative and they'll likely stick to it.

Jane: "No jokes about "lobbyists" and "pork.""

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ADDED: JMM:

Reading all of this stuff I have the distinct feeling that only a few pieces of the puzzle are now on the table. Given unspoken understandings of many years' duration, a lot of reporters and DC types can probably imagine what the full picture looks like. But we're going to need a few more pieces before the rest of us can get a sense of what this is all about.

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Inevitable Parody

You might recall the near-brilliant Obama video from last week. Get ready because here's the St. John McCain version:

Heh.

[Via AmericaBlog.]

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GOP Vote Rigging

Against one of their own?

Short version: Mike Huckabee was closing in on John McCain in Saturday's Washington caucus (after winning Louisiana and Kansas) when the chair of the state GOP suddenly declared the vote counting over. With 13% of the precincts uncounted.

As Josh says, Bush v. Gore this ain't but something's rotten in the state of Washington.

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UPDATE: The Huckster calls in the lawyers.

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Multiplication

St. John's agenda:

As in the primary, McCain plans to draw on his Vietnam veteran biography and decades of experience on military matters to argue that he alone is the most qualified to be a wartime commander in chief. He long ago started contrasting his embrace of a continued troop presence in Iraq, for an indefinite period of time, with Democratic calls for withdrawal.

Yesterday:

Four of the five U.S. soldiers who died Friday were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb during a combat patrol northwest of Baghdad, according to a U.S. military statement.

The fifth was killed by an explosion near the soldier's vehicle in Tameem province, north of Salaheddin province. Three other soldiers were wounded.

Multiply that by 100 years and you can see where a President McCain will lead us.

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Fair And Balanced

From C&L, Fox "News" does it again:

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And Then There Was One

Willard saves Tagg's inheritance and cedes the field to St. John.

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ADDED: What class!

"If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror."

To be blunt: Every Republican is a mendacious asshole.

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There Goes The Canine-American Vote

Noted dog-torturer Willard Romney has received the coveted endorsement of noted dog-lover (ahem) and former Senator Rick Santorum.

To say that Li'l Ricky hates, but hates, John McCain would be an understatement. Mike Lux explains.






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Well Then

Ann Coulter (yes, that Ann Coulter) endorses Hillary Clinton for president.

Apparently, to Ann John McCain is just too liberal.

Things are passing strange.

C&L has the vid.

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The End Of Willard?

Or a very clever strategy of competing without competing?

Several officials said that on the heels of a defeat in Tuesday's Florida primary, Romney's campaign was not attempting to purchase television advertising time in any of the 21 states on the calendar for Feb. 5.

Mittens dropping out would indeed be bad news as that would make St. John the nominee. Bad news in that an awful lot of self-identified moderates and even more than a few liberals thing that McCain is an OK guy. Why they think that is beyond my comprehension.

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Not A Promise

A threat:

Sen. John McCain told a crowd of supporters on Sunday, "It's a tough war we're in. It's not going to be over right away. There's going to be other wars." Offering more of his increasingly bleak "straight talk," he repeated the claim: "I'm sorry to tell you, there's going to be other wars. We will never surrender but there will be other wars."

Remember, kids: St. John is the "reasonable and moderate" Republican. Yeah, right. All of those Democrats who say "I'll vote for McCain if (Hillary/Obama) is our candidate!" might want to keep this in mind.

[Via Election Central.]

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The Real McCain

For reasons that continue to elude me many self-described moderates (and even some liberals) see St. John as a viable alternative to whichever Democratic candidate they hate. Not only is he far right on the vast majority of issues (although his American conservative Union rating has dropped), not only does he want to continue the Iraq War for a hundred or a million years, not only does he want to bomb bomb bomb Iran, but now we find out that ultra-rightist Sen. Sam Brownback will advise him on Supreme Court choices and that his model justices are Alito and Scalia.

So, all you nominal Democrats who will vote for McCain (or sit on your hands) because (Hillary/Obama/Edwards) was mean to (Hillary/Obama/Edwards) think about what you're doing. You don't want to be the Naderites of 2008. There's too much at stake.

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Turds Of A Feather

It would be fitting:

There’s been plenty of speculation since self-described Democratic-independent Sen. Joe Lieberman started stumping for Sen. John McCain in December that Al Gore’s 2000 runningmate might reprise that role for his Republican friend.

[...]

“He’d be a great partner in any endeavor, including joining America together,” McCain said in response to a question on the Lieberman factor. “Let’s reach across the aisle, let’s work together for America. That’s what Joe Lieberman is all about.”

'nuff said.

[Via Think Progress.]

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Wow

I can't stand John McCain but this is about as vile an attack as I've ever seen. Greg Sargent:

This is ugly even by South Carolina standards: John McCain is being targeted by a nasty flyer th