Washington Post Continues McCain Smear
By Erick Posted in 2008 — Comments (54) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
ACTION NOTE: You can email the reporters here. Given the information below and their failure to be the least bit skeptical, you might want to do so.
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So much for your media friends, Senator McCain. The Washington Post piles on this morning in a most disingenuous way.
In McCain's case, the fact that lobbyists are essentially running his presidential campaign -- most of them as volunteers -- seems to some people to be at odds with his anti-lobbying rhetoric. "He has a closer relationship with lobbyists than he lets on," said Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics ["CREW"] in Washington. "The problem for McCain being so closely associated with lobbyists is that he's the candidate most closely associated with attacking lobbyists."
Michael D. Shear and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum carried this off without ever hinting that CREW might be more than what it seems.
As Green Mountain Politics notes
we think it's only fair - in the interest of sunlight - to point out that Ms. Sloan has worked in the past for Democrat John Conyers, Democrat Chuck Schumer and Democrat Joe Biden.And now Ms. Sloan wants to pass judgment on the Republican nominee for President as if her career sprang up in a vacuum?
Likewise, the reporters never mentioned CREW is heavily funded by liberal interests.
Read on . . .
In February 2006, CREW asked the Senate Finance Committee to investigate the Center for Union Facts, an anti-union group, and its sister organization, the Center for Consumer Freedom, which CREW claimed are “front organizations for for-profit industry entities.” The complaint noted that the Center for Union Facts Web site had “negative information about unions,” including the Service Employees International Union. …On Sept. 1, 2006, CREW received $75,000 from the SEIU, according to documents that the union filed with the Department of Labor.
In February 2007, CREW also asked the GAO to investigate whether broadcasts of Radio Martí beamed from Florida to Cuba violate federal laws against dissemination of propaganda in the U.S.
While CREW will not release its donor records, since 2003 the group has received $125,000 from the Arca Foundation, according to the foundation’s annual reports. Over the same period, Arca — a family foundation that has backed a host of liberal causes — has provided about $1 million to organizations to advocate opening ties to Cuba and reducing barriers to travel.
Arca also supports the Center for Independent Media, founded in 2006 to promote “citizen-driven journalism” through blogs. The center established two Web sites as test-beds — Minnesota Monitor and Colorado Confidential.
Three weeks before the 2006 Congressional elections, CREW filed a complaint with the IRS alleging that a Minnesota pastor had violated his church’s tax-exempt status by endorsing conservative Republican Michele Bachmann
The Gill Foundation is heavily invested in organizations advocating gay and lesbian rights. One of the prime antagonists of the gay rights movement is Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.), who introduced the Federal Marriage Amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
Two weeks before the 2004 election, CREW filed a complaint with the Department of Justice alleging that Musgrave’s campaign was operating out of her district office in Loveland, Colo. … The Gill Foundation donated $125,000 to CREW in 2006, according to the foundation’s annual report.
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Washington Post Continues McCain Smear 54 Comments (0 topical, 54 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
idiots...nothing about the MSM surprises me ever.
Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion
McCain flew on corporate jets, He talks to lobbyists.
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"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
And when I say "crap" I'm talking about the newspapers, not just their stories.
McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates, according to the latest finding from government watchdog group Public Citizen. The group, which advocates for public financing of elections, has identified more than 2,300 well-connected individuals, known as "bundlers," who have solicited contributions from friends and associates on behalf of a presidential candidate.
Its another to have a slumlord buy your house. Or to have your investments made good.
Its pretty obvious the Capitol was outfitted with new lightning rods before the democrats started calling culture of corruption.
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"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
Liberals like McCain in the abstract, but with reality starting to hit, so will the smears. The intensely liberal Seattle P-I refused to run the NYT story because it was "thin beer".
1. McCain, 2. Thompson, 3. Giuliani, 4. Romney
Mr. Obama nice guy is going to talk about McCain, the bamboozler and hoodwinker, all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave now and there is NOTHING that will stop him.
I'm not so sure though. When you have someone who is promising a chicken in every bucket, many don't want to hear the real truth.
Look at Obama's fundraising right now - through the roof. They want their free chicken and are willing to donate their dollars to get free stuff in the end.
Erik
But it's not only his promises that are getting his support, it's his appeal to emotion. The left runs on passion and emotion, as someone (can't remember who) once said "Republicans choose and fall behind a candidate, but Democrats fall in love with a candidate." Obama has more emotional appeal than Hillary, which is why he is where he is right now in spite of his inexperience.
Society right now, IMO, is easily swayed by passion, which is why I think Obama has a strong chance of grabbing the White House.
Faith is only as good as the object of your faith.
Semper Ubi Sub Ubi
I will absolutely agree with you on that point. The vaguest of promises and emotions have propelled him to the front of the pack.
Can he grow his group through continual emotions or will some start to apply logic to the situation. The supposed objective media has already launched some critiques asking, what has he done, what is his experience? And Obama supporters look back with blank stares. I can only hope they will continue to vet him as a truly empty snake oil salesman.
Erik
Are you sure we are watching the same reality?
Kill the terrorists
Protect the borders
Punch the hippies -- Frank J
'cuz brother, you know how I feel about this electorate and unless you've put some hooch in your Starbucks lately, you and are pretty much on the same page, IIRC.
Although I may be a tad more cynical than usual. I fault Alex. He's been too positive lately. :>)
I see you are back! I've been out awhile, and may not do much for awhile while I work on some other things. Tied up with some business stuff, and generally unmotivated about what the GOP nomination process has wrought us.
That comment was for zoot.
Kill the terrorists
Protect the borders
Punch the hippies -- Frank J
of your stuff re-primaries and such.
That was an awesome article and I'd like to see some changes made so we can truly have a voice next time.
The reality I watch is the same reality that, despite many setbacks, has made the United States of America the greatest nation on earth. Unlike Michelle Obama, I have been prous of this country many, many times before.
But the electorate has been nothing short of STOOOOOOOOPID here for about the last 16 years. I have no faith that 'it'll all come out in the wash'.
Kill the terrorists
Protect the borders
Punch the hippies -- Frank J
In the last 16 years, Republicans have controlled Congress for twelve. And Republicans have controlled the White House for eight. Not to mention net gains in most statehouses over that same time period.
Granted, things could have been better -- things always could be letter -- but to say that "the electorate has been nothing short of STOOOOOOOOPID here for about the last 16 years" is flat out wrong.
I am prepared to respect you. I think your on the right page on alot of things, and I like your style.
But you can't keep holding on to this fantasy. The Republican wins have been by razor-thin margins, and CONSERVATIVE wins have been zip-zilch-nada-zero. And starting in 2006, the party is in full retreat, in terms of ability to get people to vote for them. And this, in spite of having a TOTALLY superior philosophy of governance, some fairly good front men, and the Treason Media absolutely making fools of themselves.
We lost our butts in 06, we're stuck with McCain for a candidate, and left-wing empty-suit Obama seems to have ignited something (tons, tons, tons of donations, rallies overflowing with gullible idiots) with his empty talk of "hope" and "change you can believe in" - thinly disguised big-government tyranny - and the crowds are simply eating it up. Yes, the electorate. Those guys.
D. U. M. Zoot, do NOT assume that the people "get it". They most assuredly do not.
Kill the terrorists
Protect the borders
Punch the hippies -- Frank J
Whether by 20 points or by one, a win is a win.
So even thou the Republican victories have been by razor-thin margins, they still count. Those razor thin margins allowed both Alito and Roberts on the High Court and I personally think that is a BIG win!
And not just a Republican win but a conservative win.
Yes, things could have been better -- and yes, we face an uphill battle this year -- but, ultimately, I think we are winning and will win.
Indeed, I think the major reason we got shlacked in 2006 was because we wholeheartedly left so many conservative principles. It wasn't just Iraq (which, coincidentally, I think McCain was and is right on) but more because of Republicans expanding the size of government and moral lactitude.
keep your happy-happy joy-joy attitude about our current prospects. I do not share it - and precisely because of what you say about 06.
Kill the terrorists
Protect the borders
Punch the hippies -- Frank J
I trust the American polity -- and conservtism too, for that matter -- more than I trust the Republican Party.
He's probably going to win the dem's nomination, just like Kerry, just like Gore and Dukakis, Mondale, Carter, etc. One democrat has won only two democrats have won since 1964, and Carter only served one term and defeated a weak candidate in Ford who still had the Nixon taint and Clinton never even got 50% of the vote. If your a troll, get lost, if not then just relax and see how Obama fares in the general. How can Hillary attack him and take the liberal votes away, by criticizing his plan's to meet with Castro, Iran, Syria and every other crazy leader? The lib's want that. Go after him on his desire for extreme gun control, or higher taxes, etc. All the stuff that makes him EXTREMELY vulnerable in the general is just dandy in the dem primary.
He's an empty suit who gives a good speech about nothing. That isn't going to fly in the general. I think he might be weaker than Kerry was in '04.
you might want to click on that user info button and look at the length of membership and then peruse their content a little. Given that I have been here a year longer than you, you might want to retract that.
Fredhead-yes
Rudy girl-yes
Once reluctant, now onboard McCain supporter-yes
wretched cynic-yes
troll-no
I'll await your apology.
To tell the truth, I haven't seen all that much of YOUR body of work on RedState. Mrs C is a Fredhead in long and good standing.
And Fred-heads are the good people here. Do not forget that.
Troll? Dude, back off.
Kill the terrorists
Protect the borders
Punch the hippies -- Frank J
Well tis true, I'm not tall, heh.
"Do not yield. Do not flinch. Stand up. Stand up with our President and fight. We're Americans. We're Americans, and we'll never surrender. They will."-John McCain
McCain/Rudy 08-kill the terrorists and punch the hippies.
And to let out a little secret, I top off at 5-9 myself.
Ah, but in the heart, I'm 6-2, and can 2-handed dunk without a running start...
Kill the terrorists
Protect the borders
Punch the hippies -- Frank J
I too am the next coming of Jordan height wise and ability wise in my mind, although I've alwasy aspired more to be Mike Singletary....
"Do not yield. Do not flinch. Stand up. Stand up with our President and fight. We're Americans. We're Americans, and we'll never surrender. They will."-John McCain
McCain/Rudy 08-kill the terrorists and punch the hippies.
McCain might prove as strong as Hoover was in '32.
You greatly underestimate Obama's chances. The pendulum always swings and the public is real down on republicans for the moment.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
And fight with words, and money (unless McCain takes public funding, then donate to the appropriate 527).
Erik
Obama will be facing some fairly thorough scrutiny about his "accomplishments", his statements and his "experience", and I'll be one of them doing the scrutiny.
1. McCain, 2. Thompson, 3. Giuliani, 4. Romney
How is the WP article on McCain a smear if the facts it presents are accurate? Whether we like it or not, the fact of the matter is that McCain's campaign is loaded with lobbyists and McCain has been getting more bundled donations from lobbyists than any other candidate. Now, I ask, how in the world would he be able to run as someone who will free Washington from the grip of special interests when he's knee-deep in lobbyists and lobbyist money? Do we have any doubt that the Democrats would hammer McCain on these points?
There seems to be this herd, stampede mentality that we don't want to ask tough questions about McCain anymore, even though he can still be stopped.
Mike Griffith
Let Freedom Ring website
http://ourworld.cs.com/mikegriffith1/id47.htm
Interestingly enough, David McCumber, Editor at the Seattle PI, brings this up in the article referenced here:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/132415.asp
Quoting CREW about John McCain is approximately equivalent to quoting freerepublic.com about Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.
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Finrod's First Law of Bandwidth:
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it takes the bandwidth of ten thousand.
I give David McCumber of the Seattle PI credit. These stories from the NY Times and Washington Post are just trash.
Same crap, different flush!
The Wash Post runs McCain gossip a day after it's printed in the Times. That gives the impression the Post is taking its lede from the Times - a position the Post usually tries to avoid.
So what in the world would make Washington genuflect to New York this time? Here's my theory. Panic.
It's beginning to dawn on the liberal media that Obama is a hot air balloon, but he won't pop until AFTER he's won the nomination, thus clearing the way for McCain and the Republicans to keep the White House.
That's enough to keep Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. and Boisfeuillet Jones, Jr. tossing and turning all night in the bed my sources say they share.
Dan Friedman
NYC
The "lobbyist girlfriend" stuff may be gossip, but McCain's relationship with lobbyists and his campaign are most certainly not, regardless of how liberal the messenger. Mr. Straight Talk is going to have some tough sailing reconciling his image vs. the reality, and that is nobody's fault but his own.
Buckle in, it's going o be a wild ride.
Any limousine back seat bribes from Indonesian billionaires among them? Contributions from China, communist Vietnam?. Any hint of illegality at all?
If the differences between McCain's case and #42 don't make you gag then the comparison between reactions on the truly insane left should.
Lobbyists lobby, they lobby for favors, they lobby for favors because of the nature and size of the government we have, that nature and size something liberals love and crave more of. Of 535 members of both houses their isn't one who doesn't keep the door open to them. This is a scandal?
McCain has this to be said for him, unlike the rest he has been consistent in his criticisms of spending, which the WaPo and NYT wouldn't care to point out right now. And as George Will, and anybody else this side of an asylum, could and did point out, if you want to cut down on lobbying, cut down on spending and the size of dafedralguvmint.
I wonder how Melanie Sloan would react to that, we already know how Barack and Hillary think.
"a man's admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him". Tocqueville
But since when is guilt by association accepted as fact? I mean.. I keep hearing and reading people say the baaad press was McCain's friends. Excuse me? The press is nobody's friend and it is a complete insult to any thinking person to insinuate that good press means the person who gets it is friends with the press. Then to turn around like Limbaugh did yesterday (which is a totally ignorant form of logic) and imply that this is what McCain gets because he was 'friends' with the media is just plain stupid. No politician is the friend of any media. Now that the NYTimes is once again showing its true colors is no secret to McCain or any other thinking person. It has never been anything else. To assume that McCain is getting what he deserved for being 'friends' with the Times is simply....... ridiculous.
Proudly Supporting Patriots At http://www.countryaboveself.com
Another inductive and ignorant assumption. There are NO politicians who are NOT in anyway connected in some way to a lobbyist. Lobbyists are not evil people. Some are, but not all. To assume, like the liberal lunatics who made up this story line, that Johnny knows and even associates lobbyists (which all politicians do) and all lobbyists are bad, therefore Johnny is bad is a poster child for inductive reasoning, which is the primary fatal flaw of liberalism. Please people.. stay focused. Don't assume what you read or hear is the facts until you reason it out and that requires deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning is suicide to the thinker.
Proudly Supporting Patriots At http://www.countryaboveself.com
"Too often the special interest lobbyists with the fattest wallets and best access carry the day."
That's from McCain's website. But no, he doesn't say that they are evil. Bogus steamy relationships aside, there isn't anything "made up" about the conflict between the talk and the reality when it comes to McCain and lobbyists.
But the NYT may have well messed up - now all the focus will be on the bogus "girlfriend" story instead of his actual record.
Note to NYT: She ain't no Lewinsky!
Newsweek is reporting that McCain testified in a deposition five years ago that he personally spoke with the CEO of Paxson Communications regarding Paxson's business before the FCC. This flatly contradicts McCain's denial yesterday that he'd had any contact with Paxson or his representatives regarding the matter.
McCain flatly denied yesterday that he'd been asked to write a letter to the FCC either by Paxson or his representatives. McCain's campaign continues today to insist that McCain never spoke personally with Paxson or his lobbyists regarding this matter. But here's McCain's own testimony in a deposition in 2002:
Q: "Do you know were they got the information?"
McCain: "No. But I would add, I was contacted by Mr. Paxson on this issue."
Q: "You were?"
McCain: "Yes."
Q: "Can you tell us what you said and what he said about it?"
McCain: "That he had applied to purchase this station and that he wanted to purchase it. And that there had been a numerous year delay with the FCC reaching a decision. And he wanted their approval very bad for purposes of his business.I said I would be glad to write a letter asking them to act. But I will not write a letter, I cannot write a letter asking them to approve or deny, because then that would be an interference in their activities. I think everybody is entitled to a decision. But I can't ask for a favorable disposition for you."
Q: "Did you speak to the company's lobbyist about these matters?"
McCain: "I don't recall if it was Mr. Paxson or the company's lobbyist or both."
Q: "But you did speak to him?"
McCain: "I'm sure I spoke with him, yes."
The deposition was given in connection with a lawsuit by Mitch McConnell that challenged the McCain-Feingold legislation. McConnell's lawyer, Floyd Abrams, was questioning McCain about his efforts on behalf of Paxson in an effort to demonstrate that McCain himself engaged in the kind of lobbyist driven efforts that he purported to abhor.
Let's see how this develops.
See newsweek.com for full piece and additional testimony
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"If we want to take this party back, and I think we can someday, let’s get to work." – Barry Goldwater
Despite the fact that, for many, the "Messiah" is the reincarnation of all things glorious, and hopeandchange, that McCain is within striking distance in the polls is encouraging to me. I,too, have confidence in enough of the American people to see through the hot air.Hilliary hasn't been able to question him because she has the same positions.
We shall see in Nov.
The Battle of Mollwitz was fought on April 10, 1741 and was the first battle fought by Frederick II the Great of Prussia.
Early in the battle the Austrian calvary charged into the Prussian calvary and swept the latter off the field. Frederick the Great was so alarmed and dismayed that he fled the field of battle and spent the rest of the afternoon huddled in his tent contemplating surrender. But early in the afternoon, his field commander, Marshall Schwerin, came to him as said, "We have driven the Austrians from the field. What are your orders."
What happened was when the Austrian calvary drove the Prussian calvary from the field and turned upon the flank of the Prussian infantry, the Prussian infantry thoroughly repulsed the Austrian calvary and then proceeded to overrun the Austrian infantry.
Marshall Schwerin's famous quote when asked about retreating when the Austrian calvary turned upon his flank was, "We'll retreat over the bodies of our enemies."
That evening, Frederick the Great swore he would never again leave the field of battle before the outcome was certain.
Conservative principles and the American polity are far better than even the Prussian infantry of Frederick the Great.
with the same lack of facts and the same soft sources?
That is the real question.
Some paper tiger phony lefty group pretending to be a public interest group is meaningless.
The irony of this is that the Congress, in restricting campaign donations and permitting the frankenstein of anonymous-donor funded political attack machines, has brought us to this low point.
And who was behind some of the worst abuses of political censorship?