It's now apparent that John McCain will be the Republican candidate come November. McCain fancies himself as a "straight talker" and our collaborationist mainstream media by and large let's him get away with this.
Yet, McCain has changed positions on immigration, abortion, campaign reform legislation, gay rights, the Bush tax cuts, on whether flying the Confederate flag is divisive, on waterboarding as torture, even on Martin Luther King day as a holiday AND MORE.
McCain poses as a campaign finance reformer when it suits him but he was one of the 5 infamous "Keating Five" who took $1.3 million from the subsequently jailed Keating. The Senate Ethics Committee reprimanded McCain, called his judgment poor, and forced him to return thousands of dollars in illegal contributions. More recently, while posing as someone who is not influenced by special interests, McCain has taken more money from lobbyists (32) than any other politician.
I've put together a resume for Grandpa McCain based on extensive factual reporting of him from sources like The Arizona Republic, the Boston Globe, Wikipedia, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. The symbols (**, #) refer to sourcenotes at the end. My apologies for its length but McCain has been around almost 72 years!
RESUME
John Sidney McCain III
Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.
OVERVIEW:
I’m a much older (72 in August), grumpier, meaner, and crankier George W. Bush. Think of me as a Cheney who’s actually served in the military.
Still don’t get the picture? Then think of me as the crotchety old man in the Cowardly Dog cartoons.
My solution to most problems? Bomb, bomb, bomb them.
I took money from convicted criminal, Charles H. Keating, Jr., and I was one of the scandalous "Keating Five." *#
It’s true I was rebuked (that’s what we Senators call a slap on the wrist) by the Senate Ethics Committee for this but unlike Keating I never served time in the slammer for it. Neither did my wife for her drug addiction. ****#
I’ve been a Washington, D.C. insider for the last 22 years serving as a Congressman and a Senator and took more campaign contributors from lobbyists than any other politician.****#
I know that our country faces grave economic problems, people are losing their homes to bank foreclosures, the stock market is up and down like a yo-yo, unemployment numbers are way up, average workers’ earnings are down and people have to work 2 jobs to make due. But I’ve said publicly: "I know a lot less about economics than military and foreign policy issues. ...I still need to be educated." (McCain to Wall Street Journal, 2005)
I’ve also said, "The issue of economics is not something that I understood as well as I should. I’ve got Greenspan’s book."*
That’s my kind of "straight talk" and the collaborationist media let’s me get away with it because they don’t understand economics either. They understand Britney Spears and booze.
I’m proud to have George W. Bush’s blessings as a true conservative.
I have such a mean streak and bad temper that a fellow Republican Senator (Thad Cochran, Miss.) told the Boston Globe that the thought of me being the President "sends a cold chill down my spine." Cochran also called me "erratic," "hotheaded" and "someone who loses his temper" and "worries me". ****%
I’ve been married twice; divorced; I’ve had extra marital affairs *%; my wife Cindy is a self-confessed drug addict; ***#; I’ve been reprimanded for my role in the "Keating Five Scandal" by the Senate Ethics Committee ;reprimanded with more than 100 demerits a year while at the Naval Academy; crashed 4 or 5 jets while in the Navy; have a mean temper; but I’m still a "family values" man--especially when elections roll around.
My Motto:
More of the Same
With John McCain
EDUCATION AND MILITARY EXPERIENCE:
I’m almost 72 years old (DOB: August 29, 1936).*# I’ll be 72 ½ years old in February, 2009, if I should become the President—by far the oldest man to ever be even considered for the office.
As a child, I was known to have a quick temper and an aggressive attitude so much so that my nicknames in high school were "Punk" and "McNasty".*#
Both my father and my grandpa were 4 star admirals so I went to the Naval Academy where--unlike them--I finished 5th from the bottom of my graduating class in 1958 (894th out of 899).*#
I’m very proud of my record of misconduct at the Naval Academy: I was given over 100 demerits every year while there. A fellow midshipman accurately said of me, "being on liberty with John McCain was like being in a train wreck." (real quotation).*#
I was known as a sub par flier and had little patience to study flight manuals. During a practice run in Texas, I crashed my multimillion dollar aircraft into Corpus Christi Bay but escaped serious injury.*#
I had another close call later when my jet scrapped some power lines because I was flying too low in Spain.*#
I had another close call with death in the Fall of 1965 when another one of my planes crashed over Norfolk, Virginia, but I bailed out.*# The nice thing about the military, especially with the budgets I’ve been getting passed, is you always get a newer, more expensive model to crash the next time.
I’m proud of having crashed 4 fighter jets at great financial cost to the U.S. Treasury and the taxpayers of America. But I’m still a proud Reagan Republican and oppose needless spending.
After yet another crash and rocket accident occurred involving my plane on the USS Forrestal killed132 sailors and injured 62 others and destroyed at least 20 aircraft worth hundred of millions of dollars. After this, I told the New York Times: "But now what I’ve seen what the bombs and the napalm did to the people on our ship, I’m not so sure that I want to drop any more of that stuff on North Vietnam."*# (Actual quotation).
But I found the courage to continue dropping napalm on the men, women and children of Vietnam. I also had the courage to call them "gooks." Gooks don’t vote—how’s that for straight talk?
I was shot down over Vietnam in October, 1967 after having flown 23 bombing missions. *#
I supported completely Richard Nixon’s handling of the Vietnam War. In fact, I completely supported Richard Nixon as President.
At a time in 1977 when I was jobless and thinking of being a politician in Florida, I became the Navy’s liaison to the U.S. Senate.*# It helped that my daddy was a 4 star Admiral as was my grandpa.
PERSONAL:
After I was commissioned an Ensign, I earned a reputation as a party animal and dated an exotic dancer named "Marie the Flame of Florida." *#
On July 3, 1965 I married a model, Carol Shepp, who came from Philadelphia. *#
I’m sorry to say that my marriage began to falter. I have written, "My marriage’s collapse was attributable to my own selfishness and immaturity... ." *# (Actual quotation).
I filed for divorce from Carol on April 2, 1980. Carol attributed our breakup to "John turning 40 and wanting to be 25 again... ." *# (Actual quotation).
I married for the second time on May 17, 1980: my new bride was Cindy Lou Hinsley—17 years younger than me-- whose daddy was a wealthy Anheuser-Busch distributor in Arizona. *#
My wife Cindy is a self-confessed and sentenced drug addict. She also stole drugs from her non profit charity, the American Voluntary Medical Team, and has been investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. ***#
Cindy never served any time for her drug addiction (like me with the Keating scandal). Because she was married to me, a U.S. Senator, and because she was wealthy and had connections, she "entered a diversion program"; defense lawyers said if she had been poor, she likely would have been locked up. ***# No matter that I’m always complaining about judges being too liberal; I don’t want a hard-ass judge when it comes to sentencing my wife, do I?
Despite my having been implicated in scandals and being divorced, I’m big on "family values". That slogan really helped me get elected.
Gary Hart, the future contender for the Democratic Presidency, was my groomsman. My children by my former marriage were upset and did not attend the wedding.*#
I’m proud that a 2006 Washingtonian survey of Capitol Hill staff ranked me as having the 2nd "Hottest Temper" in the Senate.*# Rest assured, I’m shooting for #1.
I accurately said that "I’m older than dirt and have more scars than Frankenstein."*# (Actual quotation).
POLITICAL CAREER:
Having crashed all those navy jets, I went to work for my new father-in-law’s beer dealership in Arizona. One of my buddies was Charles H. Keating, Jr. (who later bankrupted lots of savings and loan institutions and was put in prison for fraud and racketeering). Keating gave me piles of money and helped my political rise. *#
With the help of a $167,000 loan from my wife, and the support of special interest groups including the powerful Phoenix 40 (all the big shots in that city) I outspent my opponents to win a Congressional seat from Arizona even though I had spent zero time there prior to my marriage.* My opponents had called me a carpetbagger. # , **#
\
In 1986, I ran for Barry Goldwater’s senatorial seat after he retired. I won despite my friendship with Duke Tully, a powerful newspaper publisher who made up his own heroic war record and despite my father-in-law’s brushes with the law (he was convicted of filing false liquor records and conspiracy in the illegal distribution of liquor)**#) and despite my role with Charles Keating Jr. and his fraudulent savings and loan practices. *# , **#
I was Chairman of Veterans for George H. W. Bush in 1988.*#
I courageously supported the hard-drinking and womanizing Senator Tower of Texas in his doomed attempt to be U.S. Secretary of Defense in 1989.*# What’s wrong with having an alcoholic as our Defense Secretary?
"Family values" has to be overlooked for realities sometimes; that’s part of the "vision thing" that my pal George W. Bush had down so well.
I boldly criticized Paul Weyrich, Founder of the Moral Majority in 1989, who opposed John Tower’s nomination as Defense Secretary, for being a "pompous, self-serving son of a bitch."*# (Actual quotation).
From 1982-1987, I received over $112,000 in political contributions from Charles Keating, Jr., whose savings and loan collapsed due to bad loans and mismanagement.*#
In addition, my wife and father-in-law invested almost $400,000 in a shopping center being built by Keating.*#
My wife and father-in-law retained an 8 percent interest in a shopping center project put together by Keating in 1986 until the project was sold in 1998. **#
Profits from the sale of the McCain-Keating shopping center totaled between $100,000 and $1 million. **#
My career benefited from the support of the powerful Phoenix 40 group—the leading big shots of that city—a group started by Dan Quayle’s grandpa. **# But you guessed it, I portray myself as an opponent of special interests in politics and the media eats this up.
I, my wife and our baby sitter made at least 9 trips at Keating’s expense on his jet.*#
Federal regulators filed a $1 Billion racketeering and fraud case against Keating and me and 4 other senators for siphoning savings and loan assets into our political coffers. None of us senators was convicted.*#
The Keating Five scandal in 1989 implicated me and 4 other senators in strong-arming federal officials to back off their investigation of Charles Keating, former Chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan association. In exchange, it is uncontested that we 5 senators reportedly received close to $1.3 million in campaign contributions from Keating.*#
I was rebuked by the Senate Ethics Committee for my dealings with Keating for bad judgment and forced to pay back thousands of dollars.*#
I survived the political scandal surrounding Charles Keating Jr. in part by sucking up to the press big time and becoming "a straight talker". **%
I’m a good friend of Sen. John Kerry although I hated him at first.
Despite my own dealings with Charles Keating and involvement with the Keating Five Scandal, I have worked with Sen. Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin on campaign reform: you know, the McCain-Feingold Bill.*#
That is, I used to support major campaign-finance reform measures that bore my name. In June 2006, I flip-flopped and announced my opposition to a major McCain-Feingold provision.**
I sponsored in 2006 legislation to require grassroots lobbying coalitions to reveal their financial donors. In 2007, after receiving "feedback" on the proposal, I told far-right activist groups that I now oppose the measure I'd backed, another flip-flop.**
I have positioned myself as a champion of campaign finance reform and an opponent of special interests. But the New York Times wrote of me: "Yet a look at his rapid ascension shows that his early career was founded on special-interest money, and that he might never have emerged from the competitive world of Arizona politics without the steadfast backing of this city's (Phoenix) political and business establishment. "
My father’s beer distributorship in Arizona was accused in 1992 by a former lobbyist of making contributions to state legislators in the names of its employees, an illegal tactic known as bundling. **#
Company officials denied the accusation, the former lobbyist withdrew it, and no one from the company was charged with any wrongdoing. **#
I count more than 30 lobbyists among my chief fundraisers, more than any other presidential candidate. ****#
I’ve spent a career decrying "special interests" in politics and attacking politicians who offer special access to them in order to raise money, yet I routinely court lobbyists and their wealthy clients.****#
I took a break from the presidential campaign trail in March 2007 to fly to a posh Utah ski resort (Deer Valley) where I mingled with hundreds of top corporate executives assembled by J.P. Morgan Chase. Shortly after, J.P. Morgan executives donated more than $56,250 to me. ****#
My campaign manager described it like this, "We were very much in the friend-making business." ****# Isn’t it nice to be called a campaign finance reformer by the media and get easy money like this at the same time?
A recent study (2007) by the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute and the advocacy group Public Citizen found that I have more lobbyists raising funds for my presidential bid than do any of my rivals. I have 32 "bundlers" of donations who are lobbyists. Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani (R) is the closest to me with 29 lobbyist bundlers, followed by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) with 18. ****#
My campaign manager is a former lobbyist who represented major telecommunications companies. My campaign's senior adviser is Charles R. Black Jr., chairman of BKSH & Associates, which represents drug companies, an oil company, an automaker, a telecommunications company, defense contractors and the steel industry, among others.
Some of my other advisors have included former congressman Tom Loeffler (R-Tex.) Chairman of the Loeffler Group, whose clients include oil, auto and telecommunications companies as well as a tobacco firm and an airline client. Others include :
the lobbyists Timothy P. McKone of AT&T, Robert S. Aiken of Phoenix-based Pinnacle West Capital, John W. Timmons of the Cormac Group and John Green of Ogilvy Government Relations. Also at Ogilvy is a major McCain fundraiser, Wayne L. Berman. ****#
Their firms' clients have been a significant source of campaign contributions to me. Executives for the clients of Ogilvy Government Relations gave at least $271,000 for my presidential bid (as through 2007). Loeffler Group client employees donated $118,500, according to a Washington Post analysis. BKSH clients' executives gave $24,000. ****#
But believe me (wink, wink) these guys don’t expect anything from me in return. They just want to see me as the next President, that’s all.
I pushed through a line item veto act for the President in 1996 but this bill was later declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.*#
I was the only Republican Senator to vote against the Freedom to Farm Act in 1996. *#
I nominated Robert Dole for the Republican presidency in 1996.*#
I accepted funds and donations from powerful businesses and corporations being regulated after becoming Chairman of the powerful Senate Commerce Committee in 1997.*#
I explained to the people that this is o.k. because "Literally every business in America falls under the Commerce Committee." My attitude is that since I was regulating all these business, I could take money from all of them too. How about that for straight talk? And see, I understand economics as long as it benefits me.
In 1999, I wrote a letter as Commerce Committee Chairman on behalf of my longtime political supporter Lowell "Bud" Paxson, urging the FCC to vote on a long-delayed decision whether to approve the sale of a Pittsburgh television station to Paxson's company. I had flown on Paxson's corporate jet four times to appear at campaign events around that time, and had received $20,000 from campaign donations from Paxson and its law firm, the Boston Globe reported. The FCC chairman at the time, William Kennard, called my intervention "highly unusual," but of course I denied doing any favors. ****#
In 2003 and 2004, for example, as Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee I took two actions favorable to Cablevision, the cable TV company, while Davis, my chief political strategist at the time, solicited the company for a total of $200,000 for the Reform Institute, a tax-exempt group that advocated an end to outsize political donations. ****#
Davis, my strategist, solicited an initial donation from Cablevision chief Charles Dolan a week after Dolan testified before the Senate Commerce Committee in favor of a position backed by me. Davis said there was no connection between the testimony and the solicitation. ****#
I’ve claimed that I never asked for a single earmark or pork barrel project for Arizona, my state. But in 2006, I attempted to funnel $10 million of US taxpayer dollars into the University of Arizona to set up an academic center. The National Taxpayers Union even questioned why I was making federal taxpayers foot the bill for the center. **&
In 1992 I privately pressed the Republican administration of President Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, to secure such a $5 million earmark for a wastewater project in Arizona after Congress had rejected the request in its own spending bill. Spurned by my colleagues, I took my case to the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"I would like to request that EPA either re-program $5 million out of existing funds or earmark the amount from an appropriate account," I wrote in my Oct. 9, 1992 letter to then-EPA Administrator William K. Reilly, calling the earmark "crucial to protecting the public health and the environment." ***&
In 2003, I also slipped $14.3 million into a defense appropriations bill to
create a buffer zone around Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. That’s an earmark, baby. **&
During the South Carolina Primary in 2000 when I was running against W, I changed my position on flying the Confederate Flag at the state capital from its being a "very offensive" "symbol of racism" to its being "a symbol of heritage."*# Hell, otherwise I would have lost. But I lost anyway to W despite my Johnny Reb flip-flop.
I later wrote about the "flag incident" that, "I chose to compromise my principles." *# (actual quotation)
I accused W. Bush of being anti-Catholic for visiting Bob Jones University during the 2000 primaries. *#
I opposed gun legislation sponsored by George W. Bush after Bush was elected president in 2000. *#
I proudly voted against Bush’s tax cut bill in May 2001. *#
In May and June 2001, conservatives in my state of Arizona attempted to recall me from office. *# Imagine that! Something the national press don’t talk about either.
I have strongly supported our country’s invasion of the sovereign state of Iraq. *#
I agreed with George W. Bush’s assertions in 2003 that Americans would be greeted as liberators by the people of Iraq, *# though it sure didn’t turn out that way. Take it from me, the "surge" is working too, it just might not occur in my lifetime or my son’s either.
I unequivocally stated that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. *#
I was often spoken of as a possible vice-presidential candidate for John Kerry on the Democratic ticket in 2004. *#
I co-sponsored controversial legislation with Senator Ted Kennedy known as the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 which would have allowed tens of millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States a path to citizenship. *#
I have been a lifelong supporter of judges "who strictly interpret the U.S. Constitution" and I supported Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas’s appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court. *#
Even though I voted against tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 saying they were indefensible while we were at war and unfair to the middle class *#, I supported George W. Bush’s tax cut bill in 2006 *# even though we were still at war and the tax cuts still benefited the wealthy. The press still calls me a "straight talker" despite such flip-flops because I buy them a lot of booze when I have the money.
I have worked with Senator Edward Kennedy for immigration reform. *# Now that I am running for the President, I want to convince everyone I will stand for a firm line on closed US borders and oppose amnesty to aliens. Can you say immigration "Flip-flop "?
I co-sponsored the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants' kids who graduate from high school. In 2007, to make the far-right base happy, I voted against the bill I had taken the lead on.*** That’s a man-crush of a flip-flop.
I recently visited Baghdad and declared it terrorist free even though I had to wear a flak jacket at the time and was surrounded by hundreds of heavily armed troops and uncounted tanks and helicopters. It made for a nice photo op picture for my friends in the collaborationist media who are always anxious to dress up in combat gear and play along with the military industrial elite.
I gave the commencement address at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University in May, 2006 (Even though I had called Falwell an "agent of intolerance" in 2000). *# That’s my Christian right-wing Flip-flop!
I have relied as a senator on more lobbyists as fundraisers than any other senator.
As a politician, I have an 82 per rating from the American Conservative Union. *#
My record in the 109th Congress was the second most conservative among senators according to voteview.com.
Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck have said that if I’m nominated the Republican candidate for president, they will vote for Hillary. Rush even offered to help Hillary raise money.
I said before the war in Iraq, "We will win this conflict. We will win it easily." Four years later, I said I knew all along that the war in Iraq war was "probably going to be long and hard and tough."*** How’s that for a flip-flop that the press sells as straight talk?
When President Bush talked about staying in Iraq for 56 years, I said "Make it a hundred. We’ve been in Japan for 60 years, we’ve been in Korea for 50 years or so."
I favored Roe vs. Wade on women’s rights to abortion in 1999, but changed my position in 2007 when I said, "it should be overturned." *#, *** A woman crush flip-flop.
I went from saying gay marriage should be allowed, to saying gay marriage shouldn’t be allowed.*** Dare I say "straight talk" for this gay flip-flop?
I decided in 2000 that I didn’t want anything to do with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, believing he "would taint the image of the ‘Straight Talk Express.’" Kissinger is now the Honorary Co-Chair for my presidential campaign in New York. Call it my "Dr. Strangelove"flip-flop.***
I opposed a holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., before I supported it.*** A black leader flip-flop.
I have e earned an F- rating for my gun control positions from the Gun Owners of America but I have opposed the federal ban on assault weapons and the Brady Bill.
I’m a big believer in fortune tellers and lucky charms. *# I guess that’s what really makes me a Reagan Republican since Nancy and Ron were superstitious too.
My bad temper has put me atop insiders’ lists of being the most difficult politician in Washington to deal with. I’ve called myself "a wise ass" and have said that, "Occasionally my sense of humor is ill-considered or ill-timed and that can be a problem." *#
One of my Republican supporters in the 2008 campaign, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania has said I have a bad temper and "I think it is a legitimate cause of concern."
I was the subject of a 2007 AP story entitled, " McCain’s WMD is a Mouth that Won’t Quit." *#
In my 1986 Senatorial campaign, I spoke about a retirement community, named "Leisure World," and described it as "Seizure World." (real quote). I also said that 97% of the people there vote and the other 3% are in intensive care. I never apologized for these remarks. *# Who cares? These people are mostly basket cases, and hell, most of them probably died soon after any ways.
I also made this joke in 1998 at a Republican fundraiser: "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno." *# (Actual quotation). Hah! Hah! But I did apologize to the Clintons for this; I feel Bill’s pain!
I have openly used the word "gook" to describe Vietnamese. *# There aren’t many Asians in Arizona you see.
I have also used the racist term "Tar Baby" *# but hey, I apologized later and feel their pain just as much as Bill Clinton does.
I have supported Alabama Lt. Governor candidate George Wallace Jr., a man who has given four speeches to the racist Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC).****
I told Senator John Cornyn of Texas, a Republican, "Fuck You" during a discussion on immigration in 2007. *# (Actual quotation)
My bold plan for keeping the world safe is to "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran..." *# (Actual quotation).
I have admitted that I don’t know much about business or the economy. ****% Do you think George W. Bush does?
I skipped voting on the proposed economic stimulus package of 2008 on whether to make 20 million seniors and 250,000 disabled veterans eligible for rebate checks. I was in D.C. at the time, and originally said I would vote but was just "too busy." (and didn’t want to go on record too!). (Actual quotation, Source: Yahoo News, 2-07-08). Also, see *****%. How’s that for "straight talk"?
I pledged before the Conservative Political Action Conference in February 2008 to make the Bush tax cuts permanent and cut the corporate tax rate from 35 to 25% (at a time when Exxon Mobil has reported all time profits of $40.6 billion dollars in 2007 and $27.6 Billion in 2007). *****
I’ve also missed all 8 senatorial roll call votes in 2008. ***** Who wants to get pinned down by positions in an election year?
I’ve lavished praise on Karl Rove calling "Turd Flower," "one of the smartest political minds in America" and saying "I’d be glad to get his advice." **, ***
I’m proud to have the support of that great American, Senator Joe Lieberman. We stand for war together, forever, and ever and ever.
I flip-flopped my position on torture and voted the GOP party line instead, voting no on the conference report containing the torture ban language in Feb, 2008.******
This is my "water-boarding" flip-flop.*******, *****%, *%
Shortly after calling Mitt Romney a phony, flailing flip-flopper, I proudly accepted his endorsement for the Republican nomination. ****%, *****% That’s just one of my campaign flip-flops.
I’ve accused Democrats critical of the war in Iraq of surrendering. *****
When asked on Meet the Press whether I would have still invaded Iraq based on what we know now, I said, "The invasion was not a mistake." *&
I’ve supported "free trade" pacts (that undermine jobs of American workers) with overseas governments like Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Thailand.***%
REFERENCES (Please contact):
Charles H. Keating, Jr. (who admitted to having committed bankruptcy fraud and served 4 years in prison for it).
The other Keating 5 senators (of course, I was one too):
Sen. Alan Cranston (Ca); Sen. Dennis DeConcini (Az.); Sen. John Glenn (Oh.); Sen. Douglas Riegle (Mi.).
Also: Jerry Falwell; Sen. Joe Lieberman; Karl Rove; my good old friend, George W. Bush; and, Mitt Romney *****% (yes, the champion flip-flopper is now aboard my campaign even though he really thinks I’m a douche bag).
SOURCES:
*(Source, "Fact Checking McCain," http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/...
**Joshua Holland, "John McCain, The GOP Nominee? Bring Him On!" (Feb 4, 2008) http://www.alternet.org/...
*** http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com...
**** http://209.85.175.104/...
*****http://www.democracynow.org/2008/2/8/will_conservative_republicans_back_mccain_following
******"McMaverick toes the line for torture "
http://www.dailykos.com (accessed 14 February 2008) "
******* "Maverick Fails The Test: McCain Votes Against Waterboarding Ban, "
http://thinkprogress.org/...
*#:
"John McCain" entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/...
**# Douglas Frantz, "THE 2000 CAMPAIGN: THE ARIZONA TIES; A Beer Baron and a Powerful Publisher Put McCain on a Political Path" (Feb. 21, 2000) New York Times
http://query.nytimes.com/...
***# Amy Silverman, "How Cindy McCain was outed for drug addiction ", Salon (October 18, 1999), http://www.salon.com/...
****#Jeffrey H. Bimbaum and John Solomon, "McCain’s Unlikely ties to K Street; 32 Lobbyists Aiding Industry’s Longtime Foe", Washington Post (Dec. 31, 2007), http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
*% Dan Nowicki, Bill Muller, "John McCain Report—Arizona, the Early Years," (March 1, 2007) The Arizona Republic http://www.azcentral.com/...
**%Nowicki and Muller, "John McCain Report—Overcoming Scandal, Moving On" (march 1, 2007) The Arizona Republic
http://www.azcentral.com/...
***%"McCain Wants Thai FTA, Obama Opposes It", Bangkok Post (16 February 2008),
http://www.bangkokpost.com/...
****% Mark Leibovich, "A Smiling McCain Learning to Reign Himself In," The New York Times (Feb. 17, 2008), http://www.nytimes.com/...
*****%Gail Collins, "The Mittification of McCain," The New York Times (Feb. 16, 2008) http://www.nytimes.com/...
*& Derrick Z. Jackson, "McCain Drops the Torture Ball" in The Boston Globe (Feb. 16, 2008) http://www.boston.com/...
**& "McCain Falsely Claims He Has ‘Never Asked For A Single Earmark Or Pork Barrel Project’ For His State" http://thinkprogress.org/...
***&John Solomon, "An Old Earmark of McCain’s Surfaces" The Washington Post, (December 31, 2007)
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/...