Most everyone knows all about Cindy McCain's drug problem. Well, maybe not everything. For example, I never knew that the only reason we ever found out about it at all was so that John McCain could save his own ass.
To hear Cindy tell the tale, she bravely confessed so she could inspire others to turn their lives around. Follow below to find out why that couldn't be further from the truth.
I just can't put this any better than the write-up in The Phoenix New Times:
You're U.S. Senator John McCain, and you've got a big problem.
Your wife, Cindy, was addicted to prescription painkillers. She stole pills from a medical-aid charity she heads and she used the names of unsuspecting employees to get prescriptions.
The public is about to find out about it.
Until now, you've managed to keep it all quiet. When Tom Gosinski, a man your wife fired, sued for wrongful termination and threatened to expose the whole sordid story, you didn't hesitate to call in the big guns.
I know... it's hard to believe; "Mr Straight-Talk Express" immediately called his old buddy John Dowd - the lawyer who came to his rescue during the Keating Five scandal - and who also came riding back to town to help his old friend.
What Mr. Dowd did would've made Karl Rove proud. He managed to somehow turn everything around! Well, at first, anyway:
To help maintain your reputation and discredit your wife's accuser, Dowd called Maricopa County Attorney Richard Romley and complained that Gosinski was trying to extort money. Romley, your Republican ally, promptly launched an extortion investigation.
But darn the luck! That same, pesky newspaper - New Times - made a public request for documents in the extortion case. Except there is no extortion because that was all just a lie.
Ruh-row! The Maverick decides that Cindy's got some jonesing to do!
Apparently, after a brief pow-wow, Senator McCain decides his wife will come clean, after he conveniently ignored her addiction for years. But now she could "confess" in style:
Here's what the senator does.He calls in another big gun, political strategist Jay Smith, who conceives a rather remarkable plan.
On August 19--just three days before the records are to be made public--Smith parades your wife before a select group of journalist friends. She tells a tale of pain and triumph, and, incredibly, all the reporters agree to sit on the story until August 22. When Cindy McCain says her confession is intended to quell rumors and to inspire other druggies to turn their lives around, the journalists lap it up. They write about her "bravery." The first round of stories is one-sided. There is no mention of Tom Gosinski or Romley's extortion investigation.
This was a confession of convenience - John McCain's political convenience. And if things had gone just a wee bit differently - and the McCains had their way - you would have never known this ever happened at all. There was nothing altruistic about Cindy McCain's admission.
In addition to the moral failure of Cindy McCain raising her children while loaded on stolen Vicodin, she also broke numerous laws, not the least of which was forging prescriptions. If you or I did that, we'd go to jail. The McCains bought and lied their way out.
And the lying didn't really stop at Cindy's drug addiction press extravaganza. And it didn't stop when McCain's attack-dogs were called on an innocent man, wrongly accusing him of extortion. And it didn't stop when both John and Cindy McCain blatantly LIED about her reasons for coming clean.
No, the pattern of lies continues. According to the New Times Cindy McCain lied about the "residential" drug treatment program she claims to have undergone and she lied about her status with federal prosecutors.
Every single time either one of them have spoken about this entire incident they have lied. Yes, I know it sounds impossible since he was a POW, but it's true. If asked about this again, he will lie about it again.
Incidentally, them man who threatened to expose Cindy McCain - the employee who McCain's lawyer accused of extortion, is Tom Gosinski. He was hired by Cindy McCain in 1991 as the director of government and international affairs for the American Voluntary Medical Team, which did relief and medical volunteer work in third world countries.
Here's what he had to say about the McCains, quite some time ago:
I have always wondered why John McCain has done nothing to fix the problem. (Cindy's drug use) He must either not see that a problem exists or ... not choose to do anything about it. It would seem that it would be in everyone's best interest to come to terms with the situation. And do whatever is necessary to fix it. There is so much at risk: The welfare of the children; John's political career; the integrity of Hensley & Company [Cindy's parents' business]; the welfare of Jim and Smitty Hensley [Cindy's parents]; and the health and happiness of Cindy McCain.
The aforementioned matters are of great concern to those directly involved but my main concern is the ability of AVMT to survive a major shake-up. If the DEA were to ever conduct an audit of AVMT's inventory, I am afraid of what the results might be ... It is because of [Cindy McCain's] willingness to jeopardize the credibility of those who work for her that I truly worry.
During my short tenure at AVMT I have been surrounded by what on the surface appears to be the ultimate all-American family. In reality, I am working for a very sad, lonely woman whose marriage of convenience to a U.S. Senator has driven her to: distance herself from friends; cover feelings of despair with drugs; and replace lonely moments with self-indulgences.
So I'd really rather not hear this crap about John McCain's honesty and integrity being beyond reproach. Simply ask him about this sordid tale and he'll lie about it again.