McCain contradicts himself

McCain contradicts himself

By Mark Mellman

Posted: 09/09/08 06:02 PM [ET]

John McCain offers America a welter of contradictions in both character and policy — contradictions so profound they call into question the fundamental premises of his campaign. McCain’s brash display of those contradictions suggests at best a total absence of self-awareness and at worst an even more dangerous condition. For example, what does it mean for John McCain to tell us he wants to end the “rancor” in Washington while presiding over a convention now infamous for its rancor? No one watching that convention in full possession of their faculties could have listened to the personal invective heaped upon vituperative attack, layered with scurrilous lies, leaned back and said, “There is a guy who will end the rancor in Washington and extend the hand of cooperation across the aisle.” More fundamental is the contradiction between a man who self-righteously expresses his desire to reform Washington by kicking out lobbyists and limiting special interest influence, but who has been deeply enmeshed in that system from his days as a member of the Keating Five until today, employing the very lobbyists he decries to run his campaign. McCain revels in telling Americans he has “never done any favors for anybody — lobbyist or special interest group,” an assertion as bold as it is absurd. When Charles Keating, a savings and loan magnate who used government-insured accounts to make risky real estate investments that eventually cost taxpayers nearly $3.5 billion, asked McCain to intercede with regulators, introduce legislation to benefit him and secure the nomination of a Keating associate to a regulatory board, McCain readily complied. More recently, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission publicly rebuked McCain for attempting to interfere with commission decisions on behalf of a lobbyist. McCain backed some $16 billion in tax breaks for big oil companies as they rack up record profits. Was that the national interest speaking to him, or were the million dollars in contributions from oil executives doing the talking? Perhaps most appalling is the contradiction between McCain’s call for change and his embrace of George Bush’s policies on the core issues of Iraq and the economy. Yes, there have been times when McCain visibly clashed with his own party, but on most of those issues — immigration and tax policy, for example — he has publicly recanted, begging to be readmitted to the band of loyal followers. For McCain to suggest he is an agent of change on Iraq policy is positively Orwellian. An early cheerleader for Bush’s war who has never, for even a second, entertained the possibility that it was a mistake, McCain wants to keep sending our soldiers and spending our tax dollars there, indefinitely. Of course, he wants the situation on the ground to improve (so does George Bush), but John McCain supports a long-term, even permanent, U.S. military presence in Iraq. That is not change. Throughout Bush’s second term, McCain has also steadfastly supported every single plank of Bush’s economic policy. Tax breaks for Big Oil and the wealthiest individuals — he is for them. An increase in the minimum wage — he is against it. Healthcare? McCain put forward George Bush’s healthcare plan as his own — a plan that would end the tax deduction for employer-paid health insurance, leaving millions uninsured with a $5,000 tax credit to pay for a $12,000 insurance policy. McCain lauds Sarah Palin for “taking on oil companies.” What did she do? Palin instituted a windfall profits tax, distributing the proceeds to taxpayers. But McCain explicitly rejects the very economic policy for which he lionizes Palin. McCain’s contradictions would tear a lesser man apart, but should give the rest of us great pause. Mellman is president of The Mellman Group and has worked for Democratic candidates and causes since 1982, including Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004.

You Do The Math - Why You Should Not Vote for John McCain

One of the benefits of having what is euphemistically called a "hematologic malignancy", polycythemia vera, is that you get to listen to some very, very candid stories from people during normal conversation.

Anyway, feeling somewhat strange over the course of the past week, I reported to the Moores Cancer Center at UCSD this afternoon for my weekly blood check. Well, almost weekly. I skipped it last week, as I really didn't want my dear son, whom I love more than life itself, to have to watch his father get stuck with a harpoon and bled off to the tune of something that resembled an overinflated, very small plastic pillow. Which would then be unceremoniously donated to the nearest biowaste disposal unit, the garbage.

We began this afternoon in somewhat of a dark place; the humor is almost a mask for the terror we all really feel, but it's life and we do indeed laugh. We have to, because having to actually go to a cancer center is the pits. It's not good. At 47, I never imagined it'd be me who would have to report goings on from that sort of place. And I am here reporting to you from a place that, I pray, has no windows directly into your lives at this point. As a result of the situation, I am fortunate to get to watch as people who are usually quite a bit older than me come in. There are plenty of WWII veterans in there on any given day. Being a student of WWII, I love to talk to them about their exploits. I can tell that those old men, many of whom willingly and gladly shed blood for an America that fough and killed the Japanese on one side of the world and the Germans on the other, having gone to war in many cases for reasons bigger than they are - for their country and for freedom -- and the freedom of a lot of people from evil -- really knew how to live their lives having faced imminent and very often painful death in the face. This is what I witness and have witnessed for the past two years. Basically, I get to see people who are too busy for bullshit. They know how precious this life is - not just the physicality of life, but the concept of life itself. They have known it since at least they left the armed forces after WWII and in many cases, on top of making friends with the grim reaper later on in life, they knew deprivation during the great depression of 1929, which eventually lasted until the country went to an all-out war footing after 1941. Combat soldiers and the elderly in general command my respect and admiration, for the most part.

Through humor we and nurses who know, laugh back at the world that we will all leave behind to our children. We all realize the beauty of the world, of music and of life that must be lived
always and despite, for something bigger, because it is from places like this that we grow out of ourselves and into something that is clearly bigger and more important than our own physical selves. Or at least yearn for that kind of sense of immanence, when you think, but aren't quite sure, that it all makes sense that it makes no sense. I report here in the hope that you will live every moment before your life too becomes measured and partially defined but totally governed by date of diagnosis. I'm 2004. Pleasure to meet you.

Somehow or another the topic of Mr. McCain's Vice Presidential pick came up this afternoon as I was trying vainly to make myself comfortable on the hospital-cheesy plastic faux LAZ-Boy. As my nurse prepped my arm and got ready to stick me with Lidocaine to numb the skin before the harpoon goes in (would that the whales at the time of Moby Dick and Herman Melville had the same privilege), one of the other nurses, whose name will herein remain nameless, says out loud in not quite the tone of Charlie Brown's teacher and the tenor of a fairly nasal, down to earth person's pitch: "I've heard it's somethin' like 20:1 MEN in Alaska! Dont'cha know what's happenin' in the PALIN house?! And I mean BOTH OF THEM. Bristol AND Sarah!"

There are approximately 600,000 people in Alaska. You do the math. Good for them. It's the Von Palin- Schtupp Family! They aren't Catholic, but every sperm is sacred. Every sperm is great. They think that if a sperm is wasted, God will get quite irate. What kind of aria will they sing? Monty Python needs to re-do that skit and feature the Von Palin-Schtupp Family. You heard it here first. And if Monty Python don't do it, I'll faux pledge to make that opera come to life as my gift to the world.

I received a comment from a reader yesterday that was quite interesting. He says all the sexual activity in the Palin household is a good thing, because that way, we can start to repopulate the earth with white people and Jews to counterbalance the ever-increasing rise of what I presumed he meant to say "the Moslem Hordes". Fabulous. We can bring orgies officially back to the White House. Sex will once again be back in vogue. As in the time of the Third Reich it will be a National Security issue and therefore an obligation. We should pursue that worthy agenda with American gusto. We should pursue it with the same intensity that we are beginning to fight foreign domination of the oil we need. Many of the the present economic woes are directly traceable back to foreign domination of the oil we need, so sex and oil are at the top of any McCain/Palin ticket. They can come to Washington and show the white establishment how it's meant to be done and prove that it can be done and done well. Then and only then will mankind come to terms with itself as far as its priorities are concerned. All of our citizens will be reasonably hot, horny or powerful.

I looked up at one of the nurses and said: "Did you see the picture of Bristol Palin on the cover of the UT? (They charge .75 for that rag? People pay money for that? In this town? No wonder it's dying.) I saw it out in the waiting room. "She's a .....cow", I thought to myself feeling kind of weird even rendering an opinion. She wouldn't stand a chance of sex in California, so the fact that she is fat tells me that a powerful woman is quite an attractive thing. I guess she wasn't that fat.

Apparently, this abstinence-educated, reasonably mature young woman of 17 was never told by her mother or her father to watch out and be careful not to get knocked up. She was never told that there are boys that would love to do so to the governor's daughter. This is the reason not to vote for John McCain. A woman and a man who are either morons or completely disconnected from their kids will be a breath away from the most powerful position on earth. This is that upon which he bases his "country first" boast? This election is too important to momentarily or remotely think about leaving this country to ideological, disconnected morons again. I hope Bristol Palin lives through the bullshit that they are dragging her through. She can't help herself, and neither could the kid who is likewise dragged into this mess as the father. I feel worst for her and him. Neither of them signed up for any of this. Not a bit. They're just in high school. We, alas are not. I know.

Randy Shiner

McCain's Lili Von Schtupp

More musings on Ms. Palin:

I know you remember the great 1974 Mel Brooks classic "Blazing Saddles". Who could forget the campfire scene with Mongo (Alex Karras, former Detroit Lions offensive lineman) and the rest of the hapless gang rooting and tooting after a whole lotta pork and beans. Mainly beans.

Then there was Hedley LaMarr, played with hysterical overacting and mustache-twitching by the late Harvey Korman, whose muse in the saloon theater is the incomparable Lili Von Schtupp, who is utterly perfect when she says "Oh Hedwey, it's twue, it's twue, it's weawy twue!" And look up and instead of Madeline Kahn's face, it's...Sawah Paywin! Phew! I feel wefweshed!

Skit script to follow.

Randy Shiner

What is McCain Thinking? One Alaskan’s Perspective

What is McCain Thinking? One Alaskan’s Perspective.

29 08 2008

Lovely Downtown Wasilla, Alaska

“Is this a joke?” That seemed to be the question du jour when my phone started ringing off the hook at 6:45am here in Alaska. I mean, we’re sort of excited that our humble state has gotten some kind of national ‘nod’….but seriously? Sarah Palin for Vice President? Yes, she’s a popular governor. Her all time high approval rating hovered around 90% at one point. But bear in mind that the 90% approval rating came from one of the most conservative, and reddest-of-the-red states out there. And that approval rating came before a series of events that have lead many Alaskans to question the governor’s once pristine image.

There is no doubt in my mind that many Alaskans are feeling pretty excited about this. But we live in our own little bubble up here, and most of the attention we get is because of The Bridge to Nowhere, polar bears, the indictment of Ted Stevens, and the ongoing investigation and conviction of the string of legislators and oil executives who literally called themselves “The Corrupt Bastards Club”.

So seeing our governor out there in the national spotlight accepting the nomination for Vice Presidential candidate is just downright surreal. Just months ago, when rumors surfaced that she was on the long version of the short list, she was questioned if she’d be interested in the position. She said she couldn’t answer “until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day. I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here….”

There is no doubt that Palin has fierce territorial loyalties. When elected governor there was much concern because she came right out and said she would favor her own home town of Wasilla (where she was mayor) and its surrounding environs collectively known as “the Valley” while leading the state. And it’s obvious from her statement that Alaska was on her mind when accepting the VP nod (see my emphasis above).

So what is it that we’re “trying to accomplish up here”?

• Palin is currently in the middle of a controversial gas pipeline project in Alaska. She’s favored the ‘Trans Canada’ proposal that will run the pipeline through Canada, in effect shipping US jobs over the border. Many Alaskans, including former governors, have favored the “All Alaska Route”.
• She is also sueing the federal government over listing the polar bears as a threatened species. The science was even compelling enough to convince the Secretery of the Interior that the bears needed to be listed. But acknowlegement of this issue, and the potential disruption to development on Alaska’s oil-rich north slope spurred Palin to attempt to stop the listing.
• Does she want to open ANWR? Yes. Every politician in Alaska wants to open ANWR. It’s basically a requirement if you ever hope to get elected for anything. Even Mark Begich, the progressive Democrat running against the indicted Senator and Alaskan institution Ted Stevens, is pro-drilling. That’s the sea we swim in up here. There are a few anti-drilling folks, but you have to look hard to find them, and work hard to have them admit it.

Will all this wash with voters in the ‘Lower 48′? Time will tell.

18 Million Cracks in the Glass Ceiling

It was obvious anyway, but became beat-you-over-the-head-with-a-two-by-four obvious when Palin referenced the ‘glass ceiling’ line, that this choice is a blatant pander to women. I would like to believe that women will actually feel insulted by this. Yes, it would have been historic if Hillary had gotten the nomination. It was historic that she made it as far as she did. Yes, it would be great to have a woman in the oval office, or in the VP slot if they are the right woman…a woman who got there with her own drive, grit, determination, intelligence, skill and merits. When you’re hand-picked by a man to win votes simply because you are a woman, that doesn’t count, and it doesn’t break any kind of ceiling. Would we have had a Stan Palin as our VP pick? No. So choosing a woman because you think her gender will get votes is insulting.

Governor “Squeakyclean”….or not.

Another focus of Palin’s introduction today was her reform image. Listen to John McCain and you’ll hear about a maverick reformer who took on big oil, took on corrupt Alaska politicians, and whose ethics are unquestioned.

Alaskans really want to like Sarah Palin. In a state where corruption is the rule, and the same faces keep recycling over and over and over again like a bad dream, a new face, with a promise of reform seemed like a breath of fresh air. Palin defeated incumbent governor Frank Murkowski (father of Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski who he appointed to his own Senate seat when he was elected governor) because he was such an obnoxious, bloviating, downright BAD politician. This staunchly republican state voted with relief, not having to cross over and vote Democratic, but still able to get Murkowski the hell out of office. In the general election Palin swept into office running against a former Democratic governor, Tony Knowles, who was capable but came with baggage. And he represented to Alaskans more of the same, tired old-style politics, and special interests that we have come to loathe.

So, if McCain had made his selection six months ago, the squeaky-clean governor meme would have made a little more sense. But, Sarah Palin is currently under an ethics investigation by the Alaska state legislature. The details of this investigation read like a trashy novel, and I suspect that the players will soon have newfound celebrity on the national stage. I’ll try to explain for all you non-Alaskans who suddenly have good reason to want to know more about Sarah Palin. For those of you not interested in trashy novels, feel free to skip ahead. Here it is…what we in Alaska call “TrooperGate”.

Sarah Palin’s sister Molly married a guy named Mike Wooten who is an Alaska State Trooper. Mike and Molly had a rocky marriage. When the marriage broke up, there was a bitter custody fight that is still ongoing. During the custody investigation, all sorts of things were brought up about Wooten including the fact that he had illegally shot a moose (yes folks this is Alaska), driven drunk, and used a taser (on the test setting, he reminds us) on his 11-year old stepson, who supposedly had asked to see what it felt like. While Wooten has turned out to be a less than stellar figure, the fact that Palin’s father accompanied him on the infamous moose hunt, and that many of the dozens of charges brought up by the Palin family happened long before they were ever reported smacked of desperate custody fight. Wooten’s story is that he was basically stalked by the family.

After all this, Wooten was investigated and disciplined on two counts and allowed to kept his position with the troopers. Enter Walt Monegan, Palin’s appointed new chief of the Department of Public Safety and head of the troopers. Monegan was beloved by the troopers, did a bang-up job with minimal funding and suddenly got axed. Palin was out of town and Monegan got “offered another job” (aka fired) with no explanation to Alaskans. Pressure was put on the governor to give details, because rumors started to swirl around the fact that the highly respected Monegan was fired because he refused to fire the aforementioned Mike Wooten. Palin vehemently denied ever talking to Monegan or pressuring Monegan in any way to fire Wooten, or that anyone on her staff did. Over the weeks it has come out that not only was pressure applied, there were literally dozens of conversations in which pressure was applied to fire him. Monegan has testified to this fact, spurring an ongoing investigation by the Alaska state legislature. But, before this investigation got underway, Palin sent the Alaska State Attorney General out to do some investigative work of his own so she could find out in advance what the real investigation was going to find. (No, I’m not making this up). The AG interviewed several people, unbeknownst to the actual appointed investigator or the Legislature! Palin’s investigation of herself uncovered a recorded phone call retained by the Alaska State Troopers from Frank Bailey, a Palin underling, putting pressure on a trooper about the Wooten non-firing. Todd Palin (governor’s husband) even talked to Monegan himself in Palin’s office while she was away. Bailey is now on paid administrative leave.

As if this weren’t enough, Monegan’s appointed replacement Chuck Kopp, turns out to have been the center of his own little scandal. He received a letter of reprimand and was reassigned after sexual harrassment allegations by a former coworker who didn’t like all the unwanted kissing and hugging in the office. Was he vetted? Obviously not. When he was questioned about all this, his comment was that no one had asked him and he thought they all knew. Kopp, defiant, still claimed to have done nothing wrong and said to the press that there was no way he was stepping down from his new position. Twenty four hours later, he stepped down. Later it was uncovered that he received a $10,000 severance package for his two weeks on the job from Palin. Monegan got nothing.

After extensive news coverage about all this nasty behind-the-scenes scandal, which is definitely NOT squeaky clean, Palin’s approval ratings fell to 67%, still high, but a far cry from the 90% number that’s being thrown around so glibly by the Republicans today. Alaskans are quickly becoming disillusioned once again.

“Executive Experience”

Before her meteoric rise to political success as governor, just two short years ago Sarah Palin was the mayor of Wasilla. I had a good chuckle at MSN.com’s claim that she had been the mayor of “Wasilla City”. It is not a city. Just Wasilla. Wasilla is the heart of the Alaska “Bible belt” and Sarah was raised amongst the tribe that believes creationism should be taught in our public schools, homosexuality is a sin, and life begins at conception. She’s a gun-toting, hang ‘em high conservative. Remember…this is where her approval ratings come from. There is no doubt that McCain again is making a strategic choice to appeal to a particular demographic - fundamentalist right-wing gun-owning Christians. And Republican bloggers are already gushing about how she has ‘more executive experience’ than Obama does! Above is a picture of lovely downtown Wasilla, for those of you unfamiliar with the area. Behind the Mug-Shot Saloon (the first bar I visited when I moved to Alaska long ago) is a little strip mall. There are street signs in Wasilla with bullet holes in them. Wasilla has a population of about 5500 people, and 1979 occupied housing units. This is where your potential Vice President was two short years ago. Can you imagine her negotiating a nuclear non-proliferation treaty? Discussing foreign policy? Understanding non-Alaskan issues? Frankly, I don’t even know if she’s ever been out of the country. She may ‘get’ Alaska, but there are only a half a million people here. Don’t get me wrong….I love Alaska with all my heart. I’m just saying.

I, and all Alaskans will be interested to see how this whole process unfolds. This is definitely a gamble for McCain, and in my humble opinion, a gift to Obama and to Joe Biden who just got thrown a big hunk of red meat for the vice presidential debate.

This is the wedge-issue, desperate ’Hail Sarah’ pass of the McCain campaign.

Now I’m off to get some Jiffy Pop.

The Official TPM Tally: The McCains Own Eight To Eleven Houses

View from a booth:

I have absolutely nothing against wealthy people. Nothing. But if it's your campaign mantra that you are not a latte sipping, arugula-eating, pencil-headed intellectual, in touch with Joe Lunchbucket, and you are running for President of the United States, somebody ought to give a clue to Mr. McCain that you should be able to know the number of homes he owns. The answer is embarrassing for him, and illuminates the fact that there are two different economies at work in the US: the one for people who are above the vicissitudes of the economy and those of us who have to ride it out like holding onto an angry bull. That would describe most people that I know.

Sadly, there is no Friday night news dump today. Mr. Obama has not announced his VP choice. I'm betting on Biden, as I have from the beginning. He brings closure to Obama's "experience" issue and will stuff both John McCain and Mitt Romney (McCain's eventual choice, I am guessing) like Michael Jordan did a basketball, flying in from the free-throw line.

Randy Shiner

The Official TPM Tally: The McCains Own Eight To Eleven Houses

By Eric Kleefeld and Lila Shapiro - August 22, 2008, 10:05AM

Here it is: The official TPM tally of precisely how many homes the McCains own. Everyone -- apparently including McCain himself -- has been working feverishly since yesterday to nail down this elusive number, with varying results.

And the grand total of houses the McCains own is...

...anywhere from eight to eleven homes, depending on how you count it.

The McCain campaign claims the Arizona Senator has four residences: Condos in Arlington, VA., and Coronado, CA., the main McCain residence in Phoenix, AZ., and a ranch in Sedona, AZ. A McCain adviser says the rest of the McCain properties are "some investment properties and things like that."

Not so much.

Here's our official list:

Arlington, VA: The McCains have a three-bedroom condo in Arlington, Virginia, for when McCain is in the DC area. It is valued at nearly $850,000. Total: One.

Arizona: Here's an example of how hard it is to keep track of how many houses McCain owns: The Arizona Republic reported in 2006 that the McCains bought two adjacent condominiums for $4.66 million, so they could combine them into a single mega-condo of over 6,000 square feet, for use as their main residence in Arizona. That's either one or two more. Total: Two to three.

Arizona: Cindy's corporation later bought another condo in the same building as the mega-condo, only on a different floor. Total: Three to four.

Coronado, CA: Then there are the two vacation condos they own in Coronado, California, which total $4.7 million. They initially just bought the first one, but Cindy decided to buy a second when her children began using the first one much more frequently. "So I bought another one," Cindy told Vogue. Total: Five to six.

Sedona, AZ: The McCains own a lot of three houses in their "Hidden Valley Ranch" area of Sedona, totaling over $1,081,000 in value, according to county records. This is the rustic location where McCain often entertains reporters and other guests. You can count this as anywhere from one to three houses -- one of them is a main residence, and the others are for guests and servants. Total: Six to nine.

La Jolla, CA: There's also their property in La Jolla, California, valued at over $1 million, where Cindy's aunt reportedly lives. (Fun fact: This is the same property for which the McCains were delinquent on their property taxes.) Total: Seven to 10.

Phoenix, AZ: Cindy's family trust also owns a $700,000 loft in Phoenix, which was purchased for use by their daughter Meghan after she graduated from college. As GQ put it, "the interior looks like a spaceship furnished by West Elm." Total: Eight to 11.

As it happens, there's still more. Cindy also owns other properties through her family corporations. But many of these are rental properties for homes and businesses. We've decided to take the conservative road, and not count rental properties towards the total, as they aren't really homes -- they're investments or sources of income.

So, depending on how you count it, the grand total of homes owned by the McCains is...

Eight to 11. At a combined value of $12,991,000.

Good for John McCain's Speech?

John McCain said the right thing in his speech. This is an attack on democracy in the region. We will see what actual steps are taken as Putin replaces Shlakishashvili. We cannot do anything. Nothing. So yes, bluster, because there is no meat on the bones any more. What have we become as a country? A toothless paper tiger.

There is a criminal amount of negligence on the part of the entire state department not to understand what has been happening in Georgia for the last five years and more importantly, just how willing Putin is evidently able to act unilaterally. The problem with honesty is that we are, for the first time in history, unable to affect the rise of authoritarianism, both in China and in Russia.

This is a sad truth that we must face intelligently or not at all. And all the bluster and bluff is so much national self-delusion.

But for the want of a nail, a kingdom was lost.

Randy Shiner