John McCain “Pals Around” With Felons

( – promoted by undercovercalico)

Inspired by this little comment right here:

“We see America as the greatest force for good in this world,” Palin said at a fund-raising event in Colorado, adding, “Our opponent though, is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country.”

linky: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITI…

Now, CNN goes on to explain that:

…the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called ‘somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.’ ”

Several other publications, including the Washington Post, Time magazine, the Chicago Sun-Times, The New Yorker and The National Review, have debunked the idea that Obama and Ayers had a close relationship.

But, if Sister Sarah wants to go there…

…let’s look at who John McCain “pals around” with.

First off, Mark Foley. Remember that guy? Mr. I-like-my-male-teenage-pages-just-a-little-tooooo-much? What’s the connection to John McCain? Well, they’re both Republicans, and the when you google “Mark Foley John McCain” over 380,000 entries show up.

380,000 entries! OMG! Why, that’s almost as deep a connection as owning a house on the same street with the guy!

But, Foley, after all, was never convicted for any criminal wrongdoing. And, for those of you who seem skeptical about this one…

…Let’s talk Jack Abramoff. Now, this guilt-by-connection has a little more meat on its bones. As blogger dengre points out in this Daily Kos post:

McCain has an agreement with the Democrats that the Abramoff documents held by the Indian Affairs Committee can not be released unless both sides of the aisle agree to release them. In other words, McCain has a hold on releasing any of these documents.

This gives him great power within a weakened and corrupt Republican Party.

Perhaps it is why only “C” list Republican back benchers and gadflies challenged him in the Republican primary. All the “players” knew that McCain could release a new wave a scandal by leaking selective Abramoff documents. His control of the Abramoff documents has been his greatest tool in lining the Party up behind him.

Obstruction of justice and intentionally covering up the Abramoff scandal is John McCain’s Abramoff problem.

John McCain needs to be held accountable for his actions.

link: http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

So, the new standard bearer of the GOP is a shadowy, J. Edgar Hoover-type character whose main claim to power is that he knows where all the skeletons are hidden. That might prove fertile ground for any “guilt-by-association” pushback that folks may want to engage in after the new anti-Obama smears get released by the McCain campaign.

But, of course, the creme de la creme of all John McCain scandals – and this one ain’t no “guilt by assocation”, “I own a house on the same block as this guy” or “I shook his hand at a party once” thing. And no, I’m not talking Charles Keating (as damaging as that one is).

I’m talking about his marriage. His first marriage. To a woman who waited for him the entire time he was in Vietnam, who was sick when he returned. This is John McCain discussing his first marriage on CNN:

This isn’t “guilt by assocation”. This is guilt-by-being-you. Look at the footage of Carol McCain – she was recovering from a car accident when McCain came back. She needed him to be forty and he wanted to be twenty-five.

How does McCain explain this? “He takes full responsibility for the breakup of his marriage.”

Good. for. you.

But honestly, what does that say about McCain moving forward? What does it say about a man who cheats on his wife with a young, rich heiress while still living with his wife?

What does it say about a man who – when presented with documents that illustrate how he lied about this time in his life

– just blows it off with a shrug and says “that was thirty years ago”?

What does it say about this same man who reaches for straws in his flailing attempt to chase the White Whale of a White House that has been evading him, what does it say about this man’s character when he smears, and lies, and deceives the public about his political opponent? When he’d rather make this race about personalities instead of issues, at a time when our economy is failing and we have a war we still, to this day, haven’t resolved?

Sure, John McCain isn’t a felon. But he is immoral. And when he’s running a “holier than thou”, country-first smear machine…well…let’s just say that candidates in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.