The Dismantling of John McCain

[berni_mccoy]

You can find much material here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain#U.S._Senator and here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Hensley_McCain#_note-cnn112299

John McCain has been a Senator since 1987.

He's served on the Senate Armed Services Committee from the beginning, and yet, how has our military been improved? Our national defense is being dismantled in favor of private military organizations that aren't being held accountable like Blackwater and Haliburton. Our veterans must suffer poverty, homelessness and no healthcare, or worse, be submitted to the disgraceful failure that is the Walter Reed Medical Center. He's refused to perform his duty to oversee that our soldiers get body armor and properly armored vehicles. And he's only shown a token effort to tell Bush that torture is WRONG.

He's served and serves on the Indian Affairs committee but just how exactly have the lives of Native Americans been improved from his service? Native Americans suffer the lowest life expectancy of any people. And they continue to be taken advantage of by the likes of criminals such as Abramoff and the Republican swine who set them up with false pretences.

He was one of the Keating Five who were responsible for the Savings and Loan crisis in the 80's. What did they do exactly? They took money from banks to pass legislation that allowed banks to overextend aggressive loans for commercial real-estate. That's right folks, nearly the same damn issue as the sub-Prime lending crisis in this country now. Later, he had the audacity to put his name on 'campaign finance reform'. Well, it actually has done nothing to improve the system and lobbyists still give money to politicians as they hand lawmakers the bills they want passed.

And what happen when his wife, Cindy McCain was caught in the midst of this scandal? She became addicted to drugs and as the accountant for the American Voluntary Medical Team, she stole drugs from the AMVT she worked for. When she was caught red-handed in 1992 by Tom Gosinski, the director of government and international affairs for AVMT, McCain had Gosinski terminated. Her activities violated federal statutes, so a federal investigation was conducted. McCain's defense team secured an agreement with the U.S. Attorney's office that limited her punishment to financial restitution and enrollment in a diversion program, without anything being made public. Isn't that nice?

John McCain is a failure as a senator and a wolf in sheeps clothing when it comes to reaching out to Independents. He is as corrupt and as vile as they get in the GOP.

On Edit: corrected Cindy's position with AMVT.

[speedoo]

1. K&R, and bookmarked.

Thanks for this.

[caseycoon]

2. Know thy enemy! OMG!

I confess to total ignorance of most of this info.
What a slime ball!
:puke:
Thanks for posting this!
Looks like our nominee will have some real ammo on this creep.

[troubleinwinter]

3. You will NOT find McCain's name in any of these articles.

Enron prosecutor takes on Navajo uranium cleanup

The tribe hires John C. Hueston to press the U.S. to remove toxic material from its land.
By Judy Pasternak, Times Staff Writer
February 25, 2007 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-navajo25feb25,1,1353535.story?ctrack=3&cset=true

Company joins Navajo fight for uranium cleanup

A former uranium mill operator is suing U.S. agencies over pollution.
By Judy Pasternak, Times Staff Writer
May 17, 2007 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-navajo17may17,1,7448411.story?ctrack=4&cset=true


Navajos seek funds to clear uranium contamination

Tribal officials ask Congress for $500 million to deal with wastes left by mining for bombs, nuclear power plants.
By Judy Pasternak, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 24, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Navajo tribal officials asked Congress on Tuesday for at least $500 million to finish cleaning up lingering contamination on the Navajo reservation in the American Southwest from Cold War-era uranium mining, an industry nurtured by its only customer until 1971: the United States government. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-navajo24oct24,1,6858582.story?ctrack=5&cset=true

Still no toxic cleanup plan for Navajos
The EPA plans to resume long-stalled testing for uranium mine hazards, but a coordinated federal strategy is still lacking, lawmakers told.
By Judy Pasternak, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 7, 2007 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-navajo7dec07,1,4290038.story

BLIGHTED HOMELAND
A peril that dwelt among the Navajos

During the Cold War, uranium mines left contaminated waste scattered around the Indians. Homes built with the material silently pulsed with radiation. People developed cancer. And the U.S. did little to help.
By Judy Pasternak, Times Staff Writer
November 19, 2006 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-navajo19nov19,1,3773810.story

Navajos' desert cleanup no more than a mirage

Through a federal program, decontamination seemed possible. But delays and disputes thwarted the effort.
By Judy Pasternak, Times Staff Writer
November 21, 2006 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-navajo21nov21,1,693604.story?ctrack=8&cset=true

Oases in Navajo desert contained 'a witch's brew'

Rain-filled uranium pits provided drinking water for people and animals. Then a mysterious wasting illness emerged.
By Judy Pasternak, Times Staff Writer
November 20, 2006 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-navajo20nov20,1,234850.story?ctrack=7&cset=true

Mining firms again eyeing Navajo land

Demand for uranium is soaring. But the tribe vows a 'knockdown, drag-out legal battle.'
By Judy Pasternak, Times Staff Writer
November 22, 2006 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-navajo22nov22,1,1152358.story

(Edit to add that the Navajo are the people McCain is supposed to represent in his state of Arizona)

[berni_mccoy]

5. THANK You! There is a wealth of info in these articles.

[troubleinwinter]

9. Here is a short video

(in two parts) giving some background on the native people and issues that McCain does not care about in his state. You will NOT see McCain at all. You will see the UN Commission on Human Rights come to hold a summit with the people. No McCain. McCain's interest is to shove native people off their lands in order to dig coal and pollute and poison the lands and waters with coal and uranium mining.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs2DXHUKASA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpM6nFWqaQI&feature=related

[RuleOfNah]

4. McCain/Castro is McCain's only hope.

He was one of the Keating Five who were responsible for the Savings and Loan crisis in the 80's

As much as I like to joke about McCain's sweater vest fetish, the S&L 5 will be McCain's undoing. The economy will be a huge issue, young voters will be learning pertinent history (S&L, IranContra, Watergate, etc), and uninvestigated and unprosecuted Republican crimes will be widely discussed.

McCain/Castro is McCain's only hope.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=7486539&mesg_id=7486539

[McCamy Taylor]

6. Please check out my journal entry with some suggestions on how

to approach John McCain.

It is tricky dealing with a war hero, but it can be done in a way that no one will find offensive. Obama is the very best candidate to contest McCain. I think when Rove selected Obama, he was thinking that Guiliani would be the nominee. Guiliani would have been a better match up for the GOP against Obama, since he could afford to use aggressive smear tactics to hurt Obama's character without damaging his own reputation (which, face it, is that of a mafioso). Hillary is the one they would have wanted against McCain (her "politics as usual" versus his "war hero"). Too late for them now. Main thing is for Obama supporters not to tar their candidate as mean or vindictive by framing their criticism of McCain in a mean or vindictive way. Anything that needs to be said can be said like this:

"McCain did a great service for his country, but he is out of touch..."

or

"McCain is a hero, but he is not equipped to handle the problems that plague our economy...."

I will link this thread to my journal.

[berni_mccoy]

8. Excellent Journal Entry! Holy Cow. You've done some great research.

Thanks!

[blondeatlast]

13. "McCain served his country bravely but seemd to learn none of the tragic lessons of war."

This is a good framing exercise--I'll keep thinking about it.

[blondeatlast]

7. The charity for drugs scandal ruined lives and involved some powerful local

bigwigs. Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley bent over backwards to prosecute the whistleblowers.

MCain is as corrupt as the day is long. Get the word out--he's never been shy about using he and Cindy's VERY powerful political and money connections to do their dirty work--and she's just as ambitious and driven as Hillary Rodham Clinton, she just seems to be timid and gracious. The Hensleys are enormously powerful--and she's up to her neck in the power as well.

[Hawaii Hiker]

10. Don't forget this, shows what a mean-spirited bastard John McCain is

http://www.salon.com/news/1998/06/25newsb.html

Chelsea was like 18 at the time to....

Sorry, link didn't work first time...

[williesgirl]

11. Thanks for the research. rec'd

[Irishonly]

12. K&R

Great Post

[Disturbed]

14. “Hypocrisy, my friends, is the most obvious of political sins — and

the people will punish it,” John McCain

John McCain Hypocrite
by Doug Ireland

John McCain, the media's darling, has found a clever way around his own campaign finance reform law to take big corporate bucks in furtherance of his political ambitions while carrying water for the corporate mammoth providing the dough. But the national press is ignoring the story.


The Associated Press first ran the story of John McCain's odorous but lucrative Senatorial service to the communications giant Cablevision on the afternoon of March 7. But, while some local papers in McCain's home state (like the East Valley Tribune) have run the story, nothing has as yet made it into the print editions of the New York Times, the L.A. Times, the Washington Post, or any of the half-dozen other big city dailies I checked (although, if one searches the hundreds of AP stories available on the Post's website on its Politics page by clicking on "Latest Wire Reports," one can find it there--but how many readers would bother to do that?) One notable exception: the Kansas City Star.


Here's what the AP's investigation found:


McCain repeatedly intervened on behalf of a policy Cablevision favored -- one which "congressional and private studies conclude could make cable more expensive" -- while his chief political adviser, Rick Davis (who's masterminding McCain's probable '08 presidential rerun) solicited $200,000 in contributions from Cablevision to an institute that promotes McCain and pays Davis a $110,000 annual salary.


The Reform Institute was set up to promote McCain and his issues--especially campaign finance reform, embodied in the famous McCain-Feingold law. This Institute is "a tax-exempt group that touts McCain's views and has showcased him at events since his unsuccessful 2000 presidential campaign," and it "often uses the senator's name in press releases and fund-raising letters and includes him at press conferences," the AP says. And, of course, it provides a cushy sinecure with no heavy lifting for McCain's main man, Davis, as he prepares the pontificating Senator's next presidential run. Cablevision's contributions account for a whopping 15% of the Institute's budget.


http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0309-35.htm