OMFG! Did ANYONE read the f!@#$ story?! It's not about sex! It's about hypocrisy and self delusion.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/us/politics/21mccain.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

There's the link. Please, no comments unless you have actually read the story.

It is about McCain's obstinacy and powers of self delusion concerning his own behaviors where there is sometimes at least the appearance of impropriety that he himself is impervious to.

I think every single commentator has missed the point of the story. McCain holds everyone BUT himself to his own high ethical standards.

[Debi]

1. Yep. Sweep it under the rug b/c there is no 'sex scandal' there

And ignore the questioinable ethics boiling below the surface.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

17. Strange that she was a lobbyist?

[thepurpose]

2. The commentators are showiing their true colors and they should be embarssed.

But we all know they won't be. MSBNC are pretenting to report the story, but everyone they bring on poop poops it likes it no big deal. If this was the Clintons the tone would be a lot different and these assholes know it.

[Lint Head]

3. I read it. He had sex with her and feels he is so above it no one can touch him.

:dem:

[stevedeshazer]

4. You're right

Furthermore, it's about power and influence.

But most folks will only think about Grampa and his zipper, which is fine with me.

Yeah, I read the whole thing.

[Coexist]

5. the part that everyone should read -

A champion of deregulation, Mr. McCain wrote letters in 1998 and 1999 to the Federal Communications Commission urging it to uphold marketing agreements allowing a television company to control two stations in the same city, a crucial issue for Glencairn Ltd., one of Ms. Iseman’s clients. He introduced a bill to create tax incentives for minority ownership of stations; Ms. Iseman represented several businesses seeking such a program. And he twice tried to advance legislation that would permit a company to control television stations in overlapping markets, an important issue for Paxson.

In late 1999, Ms. Iseman asked Mr. McCain’s staff to send a letter to the commission to help Paxson, now Ion Media Networks, on another matter. Mr. Paxson was impatient for F.C.C. approval of a television deal, and Ms. Iseman acknowledged in an e-mail message to The Times that she had sent to Mr. McCain’s staff information for drafting a letter urging a swift decision.

Mr. McCain complied. He sent two letters to the commission, drawing a rare rebuke for interference from its chairman. In an embarrassing turn for the campaign, news reports invoked the Keating scandal, once again raising questions about intervening for a patron.

Mr. McCain’s aides released all of his letters to the F.C.C. to dispel accusations of favoritism, and aides said the campaign had properly accounted for four trips on the Paxson plane. But the campaign did not report the flight with Ms. Iseman. Mr. McCain’s advisers say he was not required to disclose the flight, but ethics lawyers dispute that.

[KoKo]

21. and a little more of his stuff...here..Corporate Jets with Murdoch and Boomberg..

But the concerns about Mr. McCain’s relationship with Ms. Iseman underscored an enduring paradox of his post-Keating career. Even as he has vowed to hold himself to the highest ethical standards, his confidence in his own integrity has sometimes seemed to blind him to potentially embarrassing conflicts of interest.

Mr. McCain promised, for example, never to fly directly from Washington to Phoenix, his hometown, to avoid the impression of self-interest because he sponsored a law that opened the route nearly a decade ago. But like other lawmakers, he often flew on the corporate jets of business executives seeking his support, including the media moguls Rupert Murdoch, Michael R. Bloomberg and Lowell W. Paxson, Ms. Iseman’s client. (Last year he voted to end the practice.)

Mr. McCain helped found a nonprofit group to promote his personal battle for tighter campaign finance rules. But he later resigned as its chairman after news reports disclosed that the group was tapping the same kinds of unlimited corporate contributions he opposed, including those from companies seeking his favor. He has criticized the cozy ties between lawmakers and lobbyists, but is relying on corporate lobbyists to donate their time running his presidential race and recently hired a lobbyist to run his Senate office.

“He is essentially an honorable person,” said William P. Cheshire, a friend of Mr. McCain who as editorial page editor of The Arizona Republic defended him during the Keating Five scandal. “But he can be imprudent.”

Mr. Cheshire added, “That imprudence or recklessness may be part of why he was not more astute about the risks he was running with this shady operator,” Charles Keating, whose ties to Mr. McCain and four other lawmakers tainted their reputations in the savings and loan debacle.

[Olney Blue]

6. He has lost his "moral highground" on ethics.

Just like his role model, the chimp, lost our country's moral highground in the world.

[MadMaddie]

11. McCain lost his moral ground when he didn't defend his family

against Rove. Oh wait there is more..the Birthday hug from * while people died during Katrina.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

7. There was a sprinkling of abuse of powers tossed if for spice too.

He's quite a piece of work, isn't he?

[JohnnyLib2]

8. Well, thank you!

I've reread the NYT story twice, trying to pin down some of the Viagra-ized comments here tonight. Pun intended. The only lasting aspects I can find are dubious ethics and McCain's blind spots. which seem to be considerable. That's important in itself, and needs more attention.

Sensationalism burns out quickly.... :shrug:

[KatyaR]

9. He sounds just like Shrub--

"do as I say, not as I do."

[blocker]

10. There goes the American hero!

wow, this could break Mcain, seriously if they find the smoking gun!

[L0oniX]

18. I am tired of him being called a hero. It's a lie. He murdered women and children in Vietnam.

Vietnam ...another illegal war where there were free fire zones and whole villages and people were destroyed, and it wasn't just that one massacre. It happened many more times than anyone will ever admit too. This is why Vietnam vets for the most part will not talk about that war or what they did in it.

[KAZ]

12. Of course you're right,but I've dreaded this story.

I would like to run against McCain, not Huck or whomever. I hope it's cleaned up soon.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

13. MSNBC just captioned this story :Straight Shooter McCain's Ethics Questioned"

which was exactly my point.

Focus on the sexy part and you lose the larger picture.

Every candidate ends up with a label - McCain's will be "hypocrite".

I actually think "Compartmentalizer" would be more accurate.

[Barack_America]

14. Yes, that is obviously where the language of the piece is trying to lead us...

...but do the facts presented warrant that conclusion? I'm not sure.

[TexasObserver]

15. McCain has that same I'M ALWAYS RIGHT attitude Bush has.

He's a world class jerk, and always has been.

[NEDem]

16. I have a feeling we're going to be hearing a whole lot more

about this kind of behavior for the next several months.

This story will have legs.

[Warren Stupidity]

19. Actually it is about sex and corruption

His staff was worried about both the fact that it was apparent that they were having a romantic relationship and that she was lobbying committees that he was sitting on. He has been caught with one and in the till and the other in the bush. It could not be jucier. Plus we get to see the snarly John McSame go live! Oh my.

[KoKo]

20. Thank sfor the link...it's interesting how it's been covered on the tube...

I didn't get around to a search so good to have the link here. :thumbsup:

[Jim Lane]

22. The inclusion of the sex angle actually benefits McCain

The evidence that he committed adultery is pretty flimsy. He can focus on indignation about that charge and deflect attention from the unimpeachable evidence of hypocrisy and corruption.

Plus, of course, the idea that he actually had an affair with this woman will help him with some voters by countering the "too old" idea.