Attacking McCain

It's time to take off the jacket and go after the heel, John McCain.

McCain is now dredging and throwing dirt in ever-increasing clumps. It's no more "Mr. Nice Guy." McCain no longer gets the benefit of the doubt. McCain's life is up for grabs.


Let's begin here with the United States Navy.

John McCain is not very bright. He graduated 5th from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy and would have been thrown out on his ass if his daddy had not been a Naval poohbah.

His reputation as a pilot stinks. He was more concerned about chasing women than serving his country even while in the Navy. Most young men in back in the 1960s would have considered a career as a Navy pilot to be a dream come true. McCain's naval aviation career is a nightmare:

1. In 1960, McCain slammed his AD-6 Skyraider into Corpus Chrisi Bay. He said the engine quit. An investigation showed no evidence of engine failure. The 23-year old screwball "wasn't paying attention and erred in using 'a power setting to low to maintain level flight in a turn.'"

2. Sometime around December 1961, McCain was "clowning" around in a Skyraider over Spain and flew into electrical wires, causing a blackout.

3. On Nov. 28, 1965, McCain claimed he heard an explosion in the engine of his T-2 trainer jet and lost power. He bailed and the plane crashed in the woods. Investigators could find no evidence of a power failure or explosion. But they said McCain had made several errors.

4. In 1967, off Vietnam, his plane was destroyed in an explosion on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

5. In October 1967, McCain was flying over North Vietnam - his 23rd bombing mission. A surface-to-air missile hit his A-4 attack jet at 3,000 feet above Hanoi. Aviators were told to stay at 4,000 feet! His plane crashed.

The Los Angeles Times, upon compiling a report detailing McCain's aviation mishaps concluded that the "examination of his record revealed a pilot who early in his career was cocky, occasionally cavalier and prone to testing limits."

Today, someone with McCain's record would be tossed out of the Navy.


After the Navy

McCain came home from Vietnam to toss out his wife, Carol, who had been maimed and disfigured in a car accident. He had several affairs, including one with a Brazilian woman, and one with his current wife, Cindy Helmsley, some 25 years his junior.

He divorced Carol so he could marry Cindy. Some reports indicate an overlap. He actually may not have been legally divorced when he married Cindy.

McCain went to work for Cindy's dad's Budweiser beer distributorship. Before long he was looking at a political career, backed with Helmsley's money.


The Keating Affair

This affair had nothing to do with sex. It had to do with money. Lots of it. McCain and other members of Congress tried to help out old Charles Keating who stole tons of taxpayer money in the Savings and Loan scandal. Their motivation derived from the fact that Keating had provided the senators with 1.3 million in campaign contributions. Keating had also put money into McCain's political races. So they "used their influence to get regulators to back off their investigations of Lincoln Savings and Loan, owned by Keating." Cindy McCain made out big time. The Ethics Committee determined that John used "bad judgment." You think?

Let's see: John got $133,000 in campaign contributions from Keating. He "and his family made nine trips aboard Keating's private jet to various vacation spots, including three to Keating's own retreat in the Bahamas."

Three of the others involved retired from Congress when their term was up.

McCain apologized and said he'd never do anything like that again. He lied. For years he's been the best friend a Washington lobbyist could ever have. Today his campaign is run by some of the biggest corporate lobbyists in the country, including his campaign manager, Rick Davis.


The U.S. Council for World Freedom

This is an extremist right-wing crackpot group with ties to rightwing death squads in Central America.

McCain served on the Council's board in 1984, but said he resigned that year because he became "uncomfortable" with the group's activities.

But John was lying again. His name appears on the group's letterhead up until 1986. "He also attended the group's 'Freedom Fighter of the Year' award ceremony on Oct. 3, 1985."

Someone should ask old John just what he did for this group. What exactly were his responsibilities? Why did he join such a group in the first place?

Talk about "palling" around with terrorists!


There's more coming in the future.