John McCain
From dKosopedia
John Sidney McCain III, a.k.a. John McCain is a Republican U.S. Senator from Arizona and frontrunner in the race for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. He lost the race for that nomination in 2000 because George W. Bush mobilized the masses of highly disciplined but not very discerning white fundamentalists of the Bible Belt against him. He now rarely misses an opportunity to abase himself before them.
For his 2008 Republican presidential nomination campaign has reportedly lined up Terry Nelson as his campaign manager. Nelson was national political director for President Bush's 2004 reelection campaign, he has a long record of ethically dubious activities. (Source: McCain hires lawbreaker as campaign manager - MyDD.com, Dec. 7, 2006.) McCain will be a rather elderly 72 years old on election day of 2008; in contrast, Ronald Reagan was 69 when he was elected to his first term as president. His mental fitness for the office will be an issue in the campaign.
Background
Mccain was born in the Panama Canal Zone on August 29, 1936 and did not become an American citizen for a year[1]. He attended schools in Alexandria, Va. and graduated from the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. 1958, and the National War College, Washington, D.C. 1973. He was a pilot in the United States Navy 1958-1981 and a prisoner of war in Vietnam from 1967 to 1973. He has received numerous awards, including the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and Distinguished Flying Cross. He was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House in 1982 and reelected in 1984. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1986 and reelected in 1992, 1998 and in 2004.
He's also been a polygamist [2]
2008 Presidential Campaign
McCain's advisors are predominantly from the ranks of business, lobbyists, and past Republican administrations:
Randy Scheunemannn, "Washington consulting firm," Republical legislative staffer, lobbied for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
Robert Kagan, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote Foreign Affairs article in summer 96 with William Kristol -- advocated for a US "benevolent hegemony."
Stephen E. Biegun, Ford Motor Co.
Richard S. Williamson, senior foreign policy posts under Regan, posh Bush, "and uh" Bush.
Peter W. Rodman, Brookings Institution, senior foreign policy official for five Republican administration.
Character in Question
Republican John McCain has served as a U.S. Senator from Arizona since 1987, but his presidential ambitions have always been apparent. The question is how far main street conservative McCain will bend to the wishes of the forces of intolerance and fanaticism in the Republican Party. Although the former prisoner of war demonstrated impressive strnegth of character during the 2000 presidential race that doesn't seem to be his strategy for 2008. Instead he appears willing to say or do anything to secure the nomination. In an embarrassing March 2, 2006 on-air flip-flip on NBS's Meet the Press the once proud McCain knuckled under to Republican theocrats by saying that, "I believe that the Christian right has a major role to play in the Republican Party. I met with Rev. Falwell .... We agreed to disagree on certain issues, and we agreed to move forward." How could someone so spineless be trusted to defend our civil liberties?
Hundreds of students and faculty at the New School in Manhattan have signed a petition urging that the invitation to McCain to be commencement speaker be revoked because of his homophobia, specifically his support for banning gay marriage in Arizona and his agreement to speak at Liberty University, whose founder and chancellor, Rev. Jerry Falwell, is homphobic. Source: David Epstein. "Not in D.C. Anymore." Inside Higher Education. May 5, 2006.
McCain poses as an advocate for honest government but his campaign is silent on whether he will release the tax forms he filed in 2007.
Humiliation in 2000
Unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for President in the 2000 election, a bid that garnered support of many Republican leaning independents. McCain won the New Hampshire Primary but lost a lot of support after the George W. Bush campaign resorted to vile campaign tactics in the Southern state primaries. Southern White Republicans were easy to manipulate using push-polling that exploited thier racism. Accusations that McCain had fathered a mixed race child while a POW and was mentally unstable were made during the South Carolina Republican Primary. When Bush had won sufficient convention delegates he asked McCain to be his Vice-Presidential nominee. McCain refused, leaving Bush with that old charmer Dick Cheney.
Who is McCain?
McCain is said to be a close personal friend of Sens. John Kerry and Chuck Hagel. All three served with distinction in the Vietnam War, during which McCain was a prisoner of war. But then Senators often claim to be friends in a facially collegial legislative body.
Due to the obvious ethical and personal differences between McCain and the Bush-wing of the GOP (McCain has railed against among other things the 2003 Energy Bill, which he infamously dubbed Hooters and Polluters, and the Federal Marriage Amendment), there were persistent, at times incredibly annoying rumors throughout the first half of 2004 that McCain would join John Kerry on a so-called "unity" or "dream" ticket. Polls that showed that ticket trouncing Bush by double-digits only added fuel to the fire. But McCain and Kerry repeatedly denied the rumors, and McCain spent a considerable amount of time that summer campaigning with Bush. He also chairs the Bush/Cheney campaign in Arizona.
He was also involved in one of the most appalling partisan warfare moments in the normally publically unified GOP of 2004. His harsh criticism of the handling of the party's reckless spending during wartime led House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a chickenhawk, to question his patriotism and suggest he go see veterans at Walter Reed Hospital. McCain's response was:
"All we are called upon to do is not spend our nation into bankruptcy while our soldiers risk their lives. I fondly remember a time when real Republicans stood for fiscal responsibility. Apparently those days are long gone for some in our party."
Senator Simplistic
Apparently the solution to the Iraqi quagmire involves cursing at Iraqi leaders! Behind closed doors at the behind closed doors at the Regency Hotel on Friday May 19, 2006, McCain is reported to have said, "One of the things I would do if I were President would be to sit the Shiites and the Sunnis down and say, ‘Stop the bullshit.’" Source: Jason Horowitz. "Senator McCain Worked Blue On New York Stage." New York Observer. May 29, 2006.
Anything Israel Wants
Speaking to the January 2007 Herzliya conference by satellite feed McCain stated: "A friendly democracy under siege should be closer partners to the world's most successful security alliance. American support for Israel should intensify. The enemies are too numerous, the margin of error too small, and shared values too great." Source: Joshua Mitnick. "Candidates Cite Iran Risks." The Washington Times. January 24, 2007. News Report
On May 4, 2007 Mccain was one of 10 Republican Presidential candidates debating at the Reagan Library. McCain and former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani engaged in rhetorical out-bidding on Iran. Giuliani claimed that attacking Iran would be "very dangerous" but that allowing nuclear arms "in the hands of an irrational person" like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would be worse. McCain said that attacking Iran would be a last resort if it went nuclear but that "our intelligence tells us that this is a real threat to the state of Israel, to other states in the region." Source: Tony Czuczka. "Republican Hopefuls Blast Iran, Reject Iraq Pullout." Monsters and Critics. May 4m 2007. News Report (So why didn't McCain name the "other countries in the region?" No votes to be had from mentioning Arab countries? Or was it because Iran poses an even less plausible threat to them than it does to Israel?)
Looking for Votes in Miami
On March 21, 2007 McCain told a Miami crowd that "everyone should understand the connections" between Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales and Fidel Castro. "They inspire each other. They assist each other. They get ideas from each other. It's very disturbing." Source: Curt Anderson. "McCain Warns Against Spread of Socialism." Associated Press. March 21, 2007.
Assassination Attempt?
A missile was reportedly fired at the helicopter carrying McCain during his visit to the Republic of Georgia in the last week of August 2006. Source: Kevin Curran. "Missile Fired at McCain Escort Helicopter During European Visit." AZCentral.com September 3, 2006. Article Text
Flip-flop on Abortion
McCain has long supported Roe v. Wade on the grounds of protecting women's health, but in November 2006 he said that the Supreme Court ought to overturn it. (Source: McCain Flip-Flops, Supports Immediate Reversal of Roe v. Wade - ThinkProgress.org
Strolling through Baghdad
In March of 2007 McCain clained there are neighborhoods in Baghdad that General Petraeus' strolls through. This resulted in laughter from virtualy everyone.[3]
Within a few weeks McCain took a stroll through a Baghdad market to show that security was improving; however, he was guarded by 100 American soldiers, three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships. (ThinkProgress, April 1, 2007)
Books
- Faith of My Fathers. New York: Random House, 1999; McCain, John, with Mark Salter.
- Worth the Fighting For: A Memoir. New York: Random House, 2002; McCain, John, with Mark Salter.
- Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life. New York: Random House, 2004; McCain, John, with Mark Salter. (Note the irony in McCain's craven approach to the Christian Right!)
Dirt
- Pro-escalation
- The Real McCain
- Keating 5 scandal
- Pretended to be against torture while passing a torture bill
Analysis
- McCain_Political_Stance in June 2008 speech analysis
External Links
- McCAIN, John Sidney, III from Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-Present
- Stop John McCain 2008 Opposition Blog and Maverick Debunking
