John McCain and Cindy McCain's "marriage"

There is something disconcerting about John McCain and his relationships with the women that he is married to.  John McCain treats Cindy McCain as invisible.  It’s not that I feel sympathy for Cindy McCain, it’s that it more a sign of what kind of man John McCain is that matters to me.  If you watch John McCain and Cindy McCain, he never holds her hand as they are walking side by side, no gentlemanly attention whatsoever. In this youtube video, he accidently shakes her hand and there is no response on his part for his mistake.  I’m not even going to go into the time he called her a c**t!

http://www.youtube.com/...

His first wife Carol McCain knows first-hand what kind of man John McCain is as a husband.  While Carol McCain patiently waited for John to return as a POW, she had a bad car wreck that disabled her and she gained weight.  When John came home, "the marriage began to fray. John started carousing and running around with women.  McCain has acknowledged that he had girlfriends during this time, without going into details."  One of those girlfriends was Cindy Hensley.  She was a rodeo queen who came from a wealthy family.  He married her one month after he divorced Carol McCain.  Carol McCain was thrown under the bus because she wasn’t beautiful anymore to John.  What a PIG.

Ted Sampley, a US Special Forces Vietnam Veteran said about John McCain: ‘I have been following John McCain’s career for nearly 20 years. I know him personally. There is something wrong with this guy and let me tell you what it is – deceit.  ‘When he came home and saw that Carol was not the beauty he left behind, he started running around on her almost right away. Everybody around him knew it. ‘Eventually he met Cindy and she was young and beautiful and very
wealthy. At that point McCain just dumped Carol for something he thought was better. ‘This is a guy who makes such a big deal about his character. He has no character. He is a fake. If there was any character in that first marriage, it all belonged to Carol.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/...

To me this says a lot about John McCain.  He is not loyal to those who stand by him.  He only cares about himself and his needs.  This may seem old fashion but I do not trust a man or woman who makes a vow to be faithful to one another before God and family and then breaks it so callously.  If their "significant other" cannot trust them, I know I can’t either.  I’m sorry that is just how I feel, maybe because I’m a Scorpio... Tell me you have noticed this too!

I would venture to bet that Cindy McCain wishes that she could have realized the man she married 28 years ago is an emotional vaccum.   Tom Gosinski, who served as director of Cindy McCain’s nonprofit American Voluntary Medical Team (AVMT) wrote in his journal about the McCain marriage:

"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. http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/...

This is not a real marriage between John McCain and Cindy McCain.  Real marriages usually involve living together.  John and Cindy have not "lived" together in 20 years.  They have a ‘commuter’ marriage.

"Although the commuter marriage continues to this day, Sen. McCain said the family took two vacations together every year and Ms. McCain is the one that always made that happen." http://online.wsj.com/...

Two vacations a year...What a fake!! Nothing about this man is real.  He has no compassion, no empathy for anyone except himself.  The only real thing emotion he is capable of is anger.  The man who graduated 894th out of 899 Naval Academy students is not FIT character-wise to be President of the US.

•  Tips?

  by lvv on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:09:47 PM PDT

  •  He ain't got two neurons left to rub together...

    "Generosity, Ethics, Patience, Effort, Concentration, and Wisdom"

    by Dood Abides on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:12:26 PM PDT

    •  what's the story on the color text font(s)...n/t

      by 2questions on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:18:25 PM PDT

      •  Are you talking about links in the diary (orange)

        or the blue in Dood's sig?

        by lineatus on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:11:04 PM PDT

        •  There are other colors, you know...

          Red

          Orange

          Yellow

          Green

          Blue

          Purple

          But he has a <div style="color: #0000a0;"> in his signature for the color...

          In the body of a response, you have to do more tricky things to get past the HTML gods.

          by polecat on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:20:56 PM PDT

  •  She always looks powerless.

    More like she has no say at home.

    by christine20 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:27:44 PM PDT

    •  McCain always seems like he only likes himself---

      I've noticed how cold he is to her too---saw him jerk his arm away once when she tried to grab on.  Maybe that's why she charges $750,000/mo., with all clothing items in the $3000/per item range--- such as suits from a German designer.  Buying love.
       Oh and Obama's the elitist. (?)

      by dotster on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:33:50 PM PDT

    •  She's a fembot.

      From the future. I don't think he matters to her.  I don't see any pain on that clear face.  She probably cut him off years ago and he's bitter.

      by beans on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:37:08 PM PDT

    •  She always looks bored.

      Because she is.  She doesn't know this man and really would rather be elsewhere, methinks.

      by DrJeremy on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:33:51 PM PDT

  •  +4, rec for a non-FISA diary

    and one that draws the bead on M^cCain, to boot!

    by polecat on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:15:34 PM PDT

    •  Finally. n/t

      by DrJeremy on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:34:34 PM PDT

•  Need to be careful about

  the "commuter marriage" thing. Remember that the Obamas chose to have Michelle stay in Chicago with the girls so they could try to keep having a normal life while their father went off to serve in Washington. No, I don't think the two marriages are even roughly comparable; just saying that this aspect of it may not be something on which you want to dwell a lot.

  by bwintx on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:10:43 PM PDT

  •  More importantly

    we don't want to say ANYTHING bad about McCain because it's attacking his status as a "war hero." Yes, I know it has nothing to do with that but never mind. He's a "war hero" so he's always right. So shut up. He is off limits.

    by anastasia p on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:13:13 PM PDT

    •  OK, well, that's not what I said n/t

      by bwintx on Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 06:43:18 AM PDT

  •  MCain is scum

    And Obama isn't.

    There.

    I said it.

    I ain't scared.

    Now that that guy called kos a "blockhead."

    by eroded47095 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:29:44 PM PDT

  •  I agree. Don't go there.

    by sand805 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:30:59 PM PDT

  •  No worries.

    Obama goes home on weekends.  McCain and his wife, "vacation together twice a year"?!

    And he wasn't with her, and didn't go to be with her, when she had two miscarriages, and when she had a stroke.  And when, after the stroke, she had to teach herself to walk again, he was no where in sight.  Guess he was busy lining up replacements.  Again.

    by DrJeremy on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:36:01 PM PDT

•  Well, I normally might say

  this isn't relevant, but the standards for relevance were set by the New York Times last year when it did a lengthy, entirely speculative article on the state of the Clintons' marriage. So have at it. I don't trust the guy either for a lot of reasons.

  by anastasia p on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:10:46 PM PDT

  •  'This is my solemn vow.'

    Part of most wedding ceremonies.

    And yes, I'm serious.

    They shoulda lynched Reagan on the same grounds.

    But they wanted tax cuts.

    by eroded47095 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:31:12 PM PDT

•  Actually, I think this video reflects

  McCain's relationship with women more accurately:

  by Gramarye on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:11:03 PM PDT

  •  Interestingly, the video "is no longer available"

    by cas2 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:19:44 PM PDT

    •  Holy crap! They took it down!

      It got over 75,000 hits after I diaried about it on here a couple weeks ago:

      This McCain Video Will Give You the Heebie Jeebies

      by Gramarye on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:23:35 PM PDT

      •  I saw it once and that was ENOUGH!

        It still gives me the creeps.

        by ggwoman55 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:51:33 PM PDT

•  All one has to do is watch him

  for 5 minutes.

  It's so obvious.

  That he passes so easily is one of life's most baffling puzzles.

  by bumblebums on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:12:47 PM PDT

•  Please take this down...

  ... and post an anti- or pro-Obama FISA diary in it's place.

  Thank you for your cooperation.

  by Bob Johnson on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:15:16 PM PDT

  •  Snark! n/t

    by daulton on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:32:02 PM PDT

  •  Thanks Bob,

    that was the only chuckle I've had all evening at this site.

    by wader on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:37:33 PM PDT

•  They look like they can't stand each other

  His body language towards her is dismissive and almost hostile.  She can put on a better front but she still looks like she wonders how she ended up with this old crank.

  by chicago minx on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:15:24 PM PDT

  •  Maybe she has her own stable.

    A double crosser who's younger and much more attractive... he could be on the other side of his dishing it out days.

    by beans on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:41:46 PM PDT

    •  See I told her that our relationship has to be on

      the DL but did she listen? No she had to run her mouth, errr hold on you were guessing weren't you?  Ummmm nevermind I said anything....

      Hey look over there, it's Michael Jackson and he's playing with Stewie Griffin...

      by fromdabak on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:48:46 PM PDT

    •  Hell no, didn't you see the article in the

      Times about his lobbyist friend?  I'm sure he still gets plenty.  In Washington.  Not from his wife.

      by DrJeremy on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:37:54 PM PDT

  •  I have to confess something here

    Years ago, as best I can estimate it was late in 1999, I saw John McCain and Cindy here in Bangkok. It was at an open air (roof covered) restaurant called  Bus Stop. It's not an especially classy place or I would not have been there. Anyone familiar with the tourist areas in Bangkok might know this place on Sukhumvit Soi 4. It's still there and a second floor has been added in recent years.

    John and Cindy sat just across the way from me, maybe 20 feet away. Actually I wasn't sure it was John. At the time I had no idea who Cindy was and it was not until recent months that, upon seeing an old photo of Cindy, that I was even sure it was John McCain.

    I didn't pay a lot of attention but stole a few glances thinking - that dude sure looks a lot like John McCain. They were both dressed very casually. John had on shorts and a nondescript tee shirt and sandals, no socks. I don't recall what Cindy was wearing. At that time she had short graying hair.

    John sat leaning back in his chair, his legs stretched forward. Cindy sat upright in a normal sort of way. What I noticed most was that there seemed to be little or no conversation between them.

    No one else seemed to be paying any attention to them.

    by truong son traveler on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:46:39 PM PDT

    •  Lay off the peroxide

      Cindy. I do remember her with short graying hair. This blonde thing is just creepy as hell.

      by oak510 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:51:44 PM PDT

      •  I think she's rocking it well, but I'm a perv....

        by fromdabak on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:59:56 PM PDT

        •  This is what Barbie looks like when she gets old.

          First impression...

          by polecat on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:22:39 PM PDT

•  How cynical. Aren't you forgetting that...

  ..he got shot down? That has to count for something. They guy's a hero! He got shot down, was snarky to his North Vietnamese captors, and patriotically defended our intervention in that war years after everyone else realized that it was a tragic waste of American soldiers and cash. He understood that it enhanced our defense industry and drew a line in the sand that the Vietnamese would not cross. Have the Vietnamese tried to attack us since then (other than by capturing all of our shrimp?). I rest my case.

  And who says you have to live with a woman to love her? A truly chaste relationship is carried out over a distance of at least 1500 miles. The romance increases with every home acquired, and those facelifts are symbolic of the lift Cindy got everytime they vacationed together as a family, once a year.

  Where is your sense of romance.

  by Bensdad on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:16:37 PM PDT

  •  James Stockdale is a real hero

    by snackdoodle on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:26:25 PM PDT

  •  I never got shot down.

    Guess I'll raise my kids with the following advice:

    "You can be anything on this planet if you get shot down.  You can even be President of the United Staes of America."

    by eroded47095 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:33:11 PM PDT

    •  Helps to be captured too

      According to Bob Schieffer, being a POW means that you have been tested and that helps qualify you to be president.

      by sawgrass727 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:41:24 PM PDT

•  Cindy is lucky

  imagine that on top of you!!

  by Da Rock on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:22:30 PM PDT

  •  With the 100M at your fingertips in the bank!!!!

    by icebergslim on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:29:27 PM PDT

  •  No. I refuse to imagine that. bleaghhh.

    by lineatus on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:14:03 PM PDT

•  friends and i

  have noticed the way he treats her. She's always tagging along behind him, and he's completely unconcerned with where she is in a crowd. There is utterly no attention to her on his part. Considering the way the Obamas have been scrutinized, i'm surprised no media outlets have even bothered to examine this. Actually, no, I'm not surprised...

  by sortalikenathan on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:23:32 PM PDT

  •  John McCain is an asswipe, period.

    He is a male "old school" chauvinist.  The way he treated his first wife was horrible.  And how he got the second wife was by disrespecting the first.  Sure, things happen in marriage, but I think most women will concur he is nothing to write home about.  

    by icebergslim on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:32:37 PM PDT

    •  An ignorant asswipe

      And I think I'll steer clearo of Arizona, to boot.

      by eroded47095 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:34:04 PM PDT

    •  Don't forget the Iseman chick he was fooling with

      He doesn't care about anyone, but himself and he's willing to sell himself too!

      I don't feel sorry for either McCain.  They are both whores.

      by ggwoman55 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:59:14 PM PDT

•  "She was a rodeo queen"

  Snorffle.

  by eroded47095 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:28:11 PM PDT

  •  Ride a POW save a horse? BLAHAHAHA

    by fromdabak on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:51:22 PM PDT

•  I'm not in favor of exploiting

  Cindy McCain's emotional pain or the claims by other parties of her emotional pain to prove that Dirty McShit is a rotten person. She doesn't deserve it. And I don't need to pry into their relationship to prove what I already know. It feels unseemly to me, sorry.  

  Can we just agree that McCain's a pig, an ass, a dick, a prick, a rotter, a callous excuse of a man, a waste of skin, a selfish and self-centered self-delusional self-aggrandizing shit, and leave his wife out of it?

  by Uncle Moji on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:29:24 PM PDT

  •  Well they attack Michelle

    So tit for tat

    by mariachi mama on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:33:03 PM PDT

    •  "An eye for an eye will make the whole world

      blind"  Gandhi.

      The thing is, I don't Michelle would be on board with this kind of attack on Cindy McCain.  And I respect Michelle's judgement.  

      by Uncle Moji on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:45:28 PM PDT

      •  After everyone is blind then the real fun begins.

        by fromdabak on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:52:17 PM PDT

  •  I think she's having her face done

    All Republicans are scum.

    Because they think bush would make a good President.

    by eroded47095 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:35:30 PM PDT

  •  Cindy McCain has thrown herself in the fray

    by at least twice publicly attacking Michelle Obama as not being patriotic:

    (youtube xQTimZB3kTk))

    She's in the mud now due to her own behaviors, and therefore, she can have some more thrown back at her.

    by Gramarye on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:44:19 PM PDT

    •  Oops...sorry here is the video:

      by Gramarye on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:45:51 PM PDT

    •  Attack her then for her patriotism or for

      her public pronouncements, that's fair.  

      But Cindy McCain has never attacked Michelle Obama's marriage, family, or personal appearance.  And this diary makes claims about Cindy McCain's state of mind, and emotional health.  I would object to the same attacks on Michelle.  That's a cheap shot, and a low blow (to coin a cliche or two).  

      But I stated my distaste for these kinds of personal attacks because it's consistent with my support for the new kind of politics my candidate, Barack Obama, espouses and I believe in. You do as you wish.  

      by Uncle Moji on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:50:41 PM PDT

      •  Thanks Moji

        I feel the same way.
        I'm sure this kind of negativity appeals to certain people, but I just don't think it's necessary.
        Obama's good enough at what he does, he doesn't need us to do this, not only that, it just doesn't feel good.
        It just seems nasty, and small.

        by Maori on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:20:37 PM PDT

      •  How does this diary attack Cindy?

        By attacking her marriage?  That's ridiculous.  So every woman married to a jerk is at fault?

        by DrJeremy on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:41:28 PM PDT

  •  Actually, how he treats his wife is

    very relevant.  I don't think Cindy is the issue here, it's how he treats her.

    by DrJeremy on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:40:14 PM PDT

•  I am all for attacking McCain, but repeating what

  Ted Sampley says is benath our dignity. This can backfire  on us.

  Don't give right wing blowhards any more publicity than they are already getting.

  by organicdemocrat on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:30:37 PM PDT

  •  Truer Words Were Never Spoken

    ...repeating what Ted Sampley says is benath our dignity. This can backfire  on us.

    Don't give right wing blowhards any more publicity than they are already getting.

    Drop Ted Sampley like a hot potato.  He's only in this for himself.  He wants you to buy some trinkets from his website.

    And do you have any idea how Sampley treated John Kerry last cycle?  I do.

    And I can tell you this from personal, first-hand experience that resulted in death threats.  McCain's people - names you may well recognize - were working with me from behind the scenes on Kerry's behalf to successfully help combat Sampley's outrageous smears.

    Those valiant and voluntary efforts might have been from the "old" John McCain - but it's still the same Ted Sampley.  He's garbage.

    We don't need his help in order to win this election.

    by brentmack on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:18:06 PM PDT

•  I bet he has hit her a few times

  I don't know why I say this, just guessing, but she is so needy looking.

  by mariachi mama on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:31:06 PM PDT

  •  Ya know, I thought the same thing.

    She's go that weird, haunted look about her that says the man is no piece of cake to be around.  I don't get it.  Why stay with a man who treats her so vilely in public never mind how he must treat her in private?

    by Amor Y Risa on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:35:16 PM PDT

    •  See.. as much as I hate Bush

      Laura doesn't have that look. I don't think he ever hit her, in fact I think he loves her. McCain, not so much.

      by mariachi mama on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:47:59 PM PDT

      •  I think she hits him.... He has that weird look.

        by fromdabak on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:53:52 PM PDT

        •  No, I think he comes by that naturally.

          by Amor Y Risa on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:55:02 PM PDT

          •  Not the stupid look, I mean the please don't make

            any quick movements looks when she's around him...

            by fromdabak on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:56:46 PM PDT

            •  More like 'no sudden moves' when Dick is around.

              by shpilk on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 11:22:42 PM PDT

              •  Randomly, dude, can you

                help me out here?  This is sick.  
                Link

                by DrJeremy on Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 01:17:48 AM PDT

        •  that's from falling off Segways and

          being attacked by killer pretzels ..

          by shpilk on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 11:21:54 PM PDT

      •  Laura and Cindy stay married for the same

        reason - the presidency.  What else could Cindy want?  She has plenty of money, and she clearly shares nothing, anymore, with this man.  As for Laura, she has pretty much always been in her own world, but if they divorced, she wouldn't have to worry about her financial future.  And it's not like there's love of companionship in either marriage, both women live their own lives, in their own worlds.

        by DrJeremy on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:43:12 PM PDT

•  Republicans have a record of abusing wives

  There was Nixon who reportedly beat Pat.

  And there are rumors about George and Laura being in a loveless marriage.

  And there was that public event where John verbally abused Cindy.

  by daulton on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:31:24 PM PDT

  •  Yeah, called her the "c" word...

    and you know it is true, when the candidate can't even DENOUNCE it.

    by icebergslim on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:36:51 PM PDT

    •  He called her a Caucasian? That rat bastard....

      Wait is she an albino or something?

      by fromdabak on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:57:46 PM PDT

  •  He tosses that c-word because he's a maverick

    A scumbag littledicked warmongering bombIraning slimeball cowardly little maverick.

    This is fun!

    Hey BillO, PICK ME!

    by eroded47095 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:37:30 PM PDT

    •  Bill O wouldn't pick you because he can relate to

      the little dick part....

      by fromdabak on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:55:01 PM PDT

  •  I hate to say this, but Democrats also have

    marriages that don't work. There are also Democrats who abuse their wives. So I don't think that spousal abuse correlates positively to GOP partisan affiliation.

    by oceanstar17 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 10:17:11 PM PDT

•  With all the rich targets around McCain

  is it really necessary to go into the gutter with diaries like this?

  by ActivatedbyBush on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:36:13 PM PDT

  •  We all need a "McCain is Scum" Diary

    I'm sure there are some pure places to hang out at.

    There should be one each day.

    As well, of course, as "rich targets" diaries.

    Variety is the magazine that is the spice of life, after all.

    by eroded47095 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:40:40 PM PDT

  •  Maybe not

    But, then again, it's merely bringing out more of the personality that's attempting to run for office.  Food for thought, at the very least.

    There's plenty of reports beyond his marriage to womanizing, carousing, using his position to host parties on government time and even pissing off Nancy Reagan (apparently, due to his treatment of Carol) to help fill out this one aspect of his personality: he cares about his character image, but that character is primarily fiction.

    Does that potentially imply anything about his veracity in other areas of public scrutiny, perhaps?

    by wader on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:41:45 PM PDT

  •  Well maybe through repeating we can get the

    American public to understand what a narsacist JOhn McCain is .. and do we really want a person with a personality disorder rujnning the country . . . I mean after Bush

    by Clytemnestra on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:44:08 PM PDT

•  Well, McCains in Mexico

  Watched the TV coverage when they visited the Basilica and poor Cindy was left behind, McCain was basically holding hands with Lieberman and Cindy was in the background. And she looks like a walking skeleton. I feel sorry for her.

  by mariachi mama on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:37:44 PM PDT

  •  Protocol Drode

    is the only words I could come up with to discribe how I see her walk behind her husband.  She stops when he stops, goes when he goes and is always the same distance behind him.

    by Clytemnestra on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:46:18 PM PDT

•  John McCain is a NARSACIST????

  OMG say it isn't so

  /snark

  http://en.wikipedia.org/...

  You know Narcissism is a personality disorder

  Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance and a deep need for admiration. They believe that they're superior to others and have little regard for other people's feelings. But behind this mask of ultra-confidence lies a fragile self-esteem, vulnerable to the slightest criticism.
  http://www.mayoclinic.com/...

  yup, sounds like John McCain

  by Clytemnestra on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:40:17 PM PDT

•  Something you should know...

  ...about Ted Sampley, quoted by the Daily Mail in the first blockquote in the diary.  He's a lot more than just a "US Special Forces Vietnam Veteran":

  (Quoting an article written at the time of the smear campaign against John Murtha)
  "The latest salvo appears to be a new smear site, MurthaLied.com," Bob Geiger wrote June 27, 2006, in AlterNet, "which is about to be drawn out from under a rock and it certainly has all the looks of the same people who brought you pure fiction about Kerry in 2004. The website is run by a woman named Amanda Doss, who has a long alliance with—guess who?—the Swift Boat Liars and a whack job named Ted Sampley [2], who runs the hate site, The U.S. Veteran Dispatch."

  Note: The MURTHALIED.COM website was inactive as of July 5, 2006.

  Geiger wrote June 25, 2006, in AlterNet that Sampley's "name may sound familiar to you. This is the same guy who once wrote of John McCain as 'The Manchurian Candidate' and suggested that McCain had been brainwashed during his lengthy captivity while a POW in Vietnam. Oh, yeah, he also said McCain was a KGB Spy. It's also the same Sampley who headed Vietnam Veterans Against Kerry and was responsible in 1992 for faking a photo of Kerry allegedly shooting an American MIA in Vietnam. [See below.]

  "It was Republican McCain who called Sampley 'one of the most despicable people I have ever had the misfortune to encounter' and said 'Sampley has a nose for publicity and knack for making money from invented controversies'," Geiger wrote.
  SourceWatch

  Ted Sampley, while he may be no friend of McCain's, is no friend of ours, either.

  Not that I would necessarily be particularly appalled if Sampley's anti-McCain crap found its way into the indoxes of the people who keep sending out the anti-Obama crap.  Hypothetically speaking, of course.

  by dsteffen on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 08:43:03 PM PDT

  •  Hey, McCain drew Obama out on his war policy

    when he tried to equibicate.

    I guess he's betting conditions will continue to improve.

    by breezeview on Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 05:43:15 AM PDT

    •  Equivocate?

      When the fuck did Obama equivocate?  He's said all along that he will get out on a timetable that protects the troops and allows time for training of Iraqi forces and doesn't let Al Qaeda establish a base of operation.  He's said that how fast that happens depends on what is happening on the ground, hence the need to possibly "refine" our plans.  And as he's said, once you've driven the bus off into the ditch, you've limited your options.  I didn't hear anything different than what I've heard before.

      This is all just more phony Fox hand-wringing and the McCain camp trying to twist Obama's most innocuous statements into the outrage du jour.

      May I offer you some smelling salts and a fan, bv?

      by dsteffen on Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 06:22:52 AM PDT

•  Throws his wife under the bus?

  Serial adulterer?  Treats his wife like dirt?  Calls her a c**t to her face, in front of others?
  You gotta understand.....to a wingnut, this just makes John McCain a real man.

  by jazzmaniac on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:02:47 PM PDT

•  Sampley isn't the best person to cite

  Although I don't know much about the POW/MIA issue, from what I've heard, Sampley has extreme disagreements with both John Kerry and John McCain. Apparently the three of them had a falling out when Sampley wasn't pleased with how they conducted POW/MIA hearings. Sampley seemed to be very obsessed. So I wouldn't necessarily quote him.

  As for the other parts of the story what you say about Cindy and John McCain doesn't surprise me. I used to respect McCain until about 2000-2004. When he not only endorsed Bush, but aggressively campaigned for him after what happened four years earlier in the SC primary, I turned against him. When he supported the torture bill after being a POW I lost respect for him.

  In regard to Cindy McCain I don't get a good vibe from her. She seems like a stuck up woman. I could be totally wrong, but she just doesn't seem like a nice person.

  by oceanstar17 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:12:58 PM PDT

•  You call it right: A weird scene.

  Ignoring the juicy gossip about McCain's womanizing and treatment of his first wife to concentrate on what I can see for myself....John McCain ignores his wife in public, treats her rudely, and they never make eye contact or smile at each other.  She dresses up every day in Barbie Doll style to stand at attention on stages around the country without the least bit of affect on her face. She seems tragically unhappy and/or drugged.
  Has anyone ever seen their kids?  Do they work on the campaign?  Has there ever been a photo shoot of the McCain family at home?  ..the contrast with the Obamas...and even with the Huckabees and Romneys is stark. Maybe the family values crowd will get a clue but I doubt it.

  by cas2 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:13:04 PM PDT

  •  There's a photo out there somewhere of McCains

    waist-deep in a stream, John and one of the sons wrestling, another looking over them at the camera, I forgot if there's a third kid, and Cindy McCain standing nearby. Everyone looks like a good time is being had by all.

    For all we know, the guy's a great father. I feel like as much as we should feel free to kick him in the nuts over the things he has said and done, we should offer him the benefit of the doubt where evidence is lacking. I donno. I was one of those kids labeled "troublesome" and assumptions were made, you know? And I only got into three fights in twelve years. That wasn't fair. I have mixed feelings about pointing fingers at McCain, too, over this.

    His wife, definitely, something is up there - it might be as simple as she doesn't trust him because he cheated before, though.

    by Shaviv on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 10:11:22 PM PDT

    •  I agree Shaviv, he could be a "great father"...

      ...there is no 'evidence' he isn't and no evidence he is. I was trying to avoid conjecture by commenting just on what I've seen (any evidence of affection between the parents or any pictures of their kids).  After I wrote the comments last night, I did a search for McCain family pics...and got not a plethora but a few that were all formal  professional shots, plus a picture tour of McCain's AZ home with furniture but no people. If he is a great father, they're keeping it quiet.  

      by cas2 on Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 05:09:40 AM PDT

  •  Meghan McMain

    is campaigning and blogging for her father.

    by Mariken on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 11:26:11 PM PDT

•  Also

  I think that John McCain does pay for his first wife's medical bill, but what you say he did to her was cruel. It kind of reminds me of Newt Gingrich, who divorced one of his many wives when he found out that she was dying from cancer.

  by oceanstar17 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:30:24 PM PDT

  •  Part of the divorce settlement.

    The medical bills.  And they're not big.

    by DrJeremy on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:45:24 PM PDT

    •  Carol McCain has always been charitable

      to her ex-husband and holds no ill will, per the articles that I've read; but that could be because she is dependent on him for help with his medical bills.

      by oceanstar17 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:51:38 PM PDT

      •  From the article I read, it's because she still

        has deep feelings for him.  Could be the med bills too though.  $20k or so per year is nothing to him, could be a lot for her.

        She also totally forgives the cheating, and the dumping her for Cindy, so she's not exactly seeing him clearly.

        by DrJeremy on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:54:54 PM PDT

        •  Well

          I am not going to defend what McCain did, but you do have to keep in mind that he was a POW. And perhaps, when someone has been away that long, life changes on both ends. What seems to be cruel, though, is how he didn't divorce her immediately but cheated on her.

          It is kind of like the Colombian hostages. One of them was engaged to a woman who had twin boys. That woman has since married someone else and moved on. That situation will be equally sticky.

          But she might see a part of him that we don't. Or maybe she is just a very forgiving person. I don't know.

          by oceanstar17 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 09:58:06 PM PDT

          •  No.

            She was in touch with him.  She knew he was alive, and he knew she was waiting for him.  She even specifically asked the military to not tell him about her car accident, because she didn't want to upset him.  

            She was thrilled to have him back, was willing to overlook the cheating because she thought it was a phase, and when he asked for a divorce, it came as a total shock to her, and to the Reagans, who were good friends and have also gone on record about this.

            He always has been a cheat, always will be.  Another spoiled rich party boy with daddy issues.

            by DrJeremy on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 10:03:43 PM PDT

            •  I didn't know that

              So what did the Reagans think about the McCains? Or were they neutral?

              by oceanstar17 on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 10:13:23 PM PDT

          •  Speaking of prisoners,

            there's an excellent short story called "The Time Traveler". It's not exactly PC, but the fundamental part of it - about a man taken hostage in war, and kept in isolation for ten years - is how disoriented he is by the way things changed, from before he left home until he returned.

            It's not excellent writing and if you have an aversion to puns, don't go for it, but the story is pretty solid. It's by Spider Robinson.

            So - who knows what people taken prisoner, and isolated for extended periods of time, go through? Especially when they return, and find that the world has moved on without them.

            by Shaviv on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 10:18:35 PM PDT

•  Bitch Patrol (McCain Div), Reporting for Duty. nt

  by valion on Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 10:13:27 PM PDT