By ANASUYA DUBEY
It was just before John McCain's last run at the presidential nomination in 2000 that my husband and I vacationed in Turtle Island in Fiji with John McCain, Cindy, and their children, including Bridget (their adopted Bangladeshi child). It was not our intention, but it was our misfortune to be in close quarters with John McCain for almost a week since Turtle Island has a small number of bungalows and their focus on communal meals force all vacationers who are there at the same time to get to know each other intimately. He arrived at our first group meal and started reading quotes from a pile of William Faulkner books with a forest of Post-Its sticking out of them. As an English Literature major myself, my first thought was "if he likes this so much, why hasn't he memorized any of this yet?" I soon realized that McCain actually thought we had come on vacation to be a volunteer audience for his "readings" which then became a regular part of each meal. Out of politeness, none of the vacationers initially protested at this intrusion into their blissful holiday, but people's buttons definitely got pushed as the readings continued day after day.
Unfortunately this was not his only contribution to our mealtime entertainment. He waxed on during one meal about how Indo-Chinese women had the best figures and that our American corn-fed women just couldn't meet up to this standard. He also made it a point that all of us should stop Cindy from having dessert as her weight was too high and made a few comments to Amy, the 25 year old wife of the honeymooning couple from Nebraska that she should eat less as she needed to lose weight.
McCain's appreciation of the beauty of Asian women was so great that David the American economist had to move his Thai wife to the other side of the table from McCain as McCain kept aggressively flirting with and touching her.
Needless to say I was irritated at his large ego, and his rude behavior towards his wife and other women, but decided he must have some redeeming qualities as he had adopted a handicapped child from Bangladesh. I asked him about this one day and his response was shocking. "Oh, that was Cindy's idea - I didn't have anything to do with it. She just went and adopted this thing without even asking me. You can't imagine how people stare when I wheel this ugly, black thing around in a shopping cart in Arizona. No, it wasn't my idea at all."
I actively avoided McCain after that, but unfortunately one day he engaged me in a political discussion which soon got us on the topic of the active US bombing of Iraq at that time. I was shocked when he said "if I was in charge, I would nuke Iraq to teach them a lesson". Given McCain's personal experience with the horrors of war I had expected a more balanced point of view.
I commented on the tragic consequences of the nuclear attacks on Japan during WWII - but no, he was not to be dissuaded. He went on to say that if it was up to him he would have dropped many more nuclear bombs on Japan. I rapidly extricated myself from this conversation as I could tell that his experience being tortured as a POW didn't seem to have mellowed out his perspective but rather had made him more aggressive, and vengeful towards the world.
My final encounter with McCain was on the morning that he was leaving Turtle Island. Amy and I were happily eating pancakes when McCain arrived and told Amy that she shouldn't be having pancakes because she needed to lose weight. Amy burst into tears at this abusive comment. I felt fiercely protective of Amy and immediately turned to McCain and told him to leave her alone. He became very angry and abusive towards me and said "don't you know who I am" and I looked him in the face and said "yes, you are the biggest asshole I have ever met" and headed back to my cabin. I am happy to say that later that day when I arrived at lunch I was given a standing ovation by all the guests for having stood up to McCain's bullying.
Although I have shared my McCain story informally with friends, this is the first time I am making this public. I almost did so in 2000, when McCain first announced his bid for the Republican nomination but it soon became apparent that George Bush was the shoo-in candidate and so I did not act then. However, now that there is a very real possibility that McCain could be elected as our next president, I feel it is my duty as an American citizen to share this story.
I can't imagine a more scary outcome for America than that this abusive, aggressive man should lead our nation. I have observed him in intimate surroundings as he really is, not how the media portrays him to be. If his attitudes toward women, and his treatment of his own family are even a small indicator of his real personality, then I shudder to think what will happen to America were he to be elected as our President.
Anasuya Dubey is a clinical psychologist in California.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
2 Videos...
Sarah Palin speaks to Katie Couric on the relationship between Alaska and Russia..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhjxZGdr06I
...And to Charlie Gibson about the Bush Doctrine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z75QSExE0jU
Remember, she is ONE HEARTBEAT away if she becomes Vice President
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhjxZGdr06I
...And to Charlie Gibson about the Bush Doctrine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z75QSExE0jU
Remember, she is ONE HEARTBEAT away if she becomes Vice President
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Alaska lawmakers: McCain campaign interfering in Palin probe
from www.cnn.com
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) -- Lawmakers investigating Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner accused the McCain-Palin campaign on Thursday of stonewalling the probe by helping witnesses refuse to comply with subpoenas.
A state Senate committee subpoenaed Palin's husband, several top aides and other advisers earlier this month, but none of those served with demands for testimony appeared before the panel when it met last week.
The panel is scheduled to meet again Friday. A member of the committee said Thursday that he expects more no-shows.
In court filings, lawyers for Hollis French, the Democratic state senator overseeing the probe, and Stephen Branchflower, the attorney hired to conduct it, say Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign has moved "on many fronts" to kill the investigation since Palin became the Republican vice presidential nominee.
"Indeed, recent events demonstrate that witnesses or participants who want to stonewall Mr. Branchflower's fact-finding inquiry can count on plenty of assistance from lawyers and McCain campaign operatives," the filings state.
The filings came in response to lawsuits that Palin's allies filed last week seeking to stop the probe. The suits name as defendants the Alaska Legislative Council, the Republican-dominated committee that authorized the investigation in July, and its chairman, Democratic state Sen. Kim Elton.
The response calls the suits "clearly meritless" and "political, not legal" documents.
The McCain campaign has said that Palin will cooperate with a state Personnel Board investigation instead of the legislative probe, which the campaign has described as being "tainted" with partisan politics.
"Since Gov. Palin was named the Republican [vice] presidential nominee, it comes as little surprise that the Obama supporters leading the legislative investigation would attempt to use the proceedings to the political advantage of their candidate," said Taylor Griffin, a McCain-Palin campaign spokesman.
"All Gov. Palin is asking for is a fair and impartial review of the facts outside of the taint of partisan politics," Griffin said. "That's why she's cooperating with the Personnel Board."
Earlier this week, Democratic state Rep. Les Gara asked the state police to investigate whether state laws against witness tampering have been violated. Gara did not level allegations against a specific person, but said Republican operatives had been sent to Alaska to undermine the legislative probe.
"I think probably the McCain folks think this was just politics," Gara said Thursday. But he added, "All we know is they want to stop the investigation and suddenly the witnesses aren't talking. That's indisputable."
Ex-Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan says he was sacked in July after he refused to fire the governor's ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper who was involved in an acrimonious divorce from Palin's sister.
Palin has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that Monegan was fired for insubordination after he continued to press for funding for projects the governor opposed.
Palin initially agreed to cooperate with the legislative probe and have her staff testify. But since she became McCain's running mate, she and her advisers have argued that the state Personnel Board is the proper agency to investigate.
Campaign aides have repeatedly attacked French for a September 2 interview in which he said the investigation could lead to an "October surprise" for the GOP ticket. The aides have called the probe "a politicized kangaroo court."
French's committee issued the subpoenas September 12. State Sen. Bill Wielechowski, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said none of the seven people ordered to testify since last week have filed requests to quash the subpoenas with a state court -- but he did not expect them to show for Friday's hearing.
"They should all be there, or they're breaking the law," Wielechowski, a Democrat, said.
The full Senate would have to vote on any sanctions against witnesses who refuse to appear. It does not convene again until January.
Palin's husband, Todd, was among the people who refused to appear last week. The couple's attorney, Thomas Van Flein, filed papers arguing the Legislature had no authority to investigate Monegan's firing, and that state law prevents ethics investigations of candidates for state office. The vice presidency is a federal office, however.
The legislative inquiry is scheduled to be completed by October 10. There is no deadline for the investigator hired by the Personnel Board to look into Monegan's firing.
On Tuesday, a Palin spokeswoman said the Personnel Board's investigator has requested confidentiality. The spokeswoman indicated the campaign would no longer answer questions about the probe.
Monegan has vehemently denied charges of insubordination and has told CNN he was a "team player" who never did anything without approval.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) -- Lawmakers investigating Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner accused the McCain-Palin campaign on Thursday of stonewalling the probe by helping witnesses refuse to comply with subpoenas.
A state Senate committee subpoenaed Palin's husband, several top aides and other advisers earlier this month, but none of those served with demands for testimony appeared before the panel when it met last week.
The panel is scheduled to meet again Friday. A member of the committee said Thursday that he expects more no-shows.
In court filings, lawyers for Hollis French, the Democratic state senator overseeing the probe, and Stephen Branchflower, the attorney hired to conduct it, say Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign has moved "on many fronts" to kill the investigation since Palin became the Republican vice presidential nominee.
"Indeed, recent events demonstrate that witnesses or participants who want to stonewall Mr. Branchflower's fact-finding inquiry can count on plenty of assistance from lawyers and McCain campaign operatives," the filings state.
The filings came in response to lawsuits that Palin's allies filed last week seeking to stop the probe. The suits name as defendants the Alaska Legislative Council, the Republican-dominated committee that authorized the investigation in July, and its chairman, Democratic state Sen. Kim Elton.
The response calls the suits "clearly meritless" and "political, not legal" documents.
The McCain campaign has said that Palin will cooperate with a state Personnel Board investigation instead of the legislative probe, which the campaign has described as being "tainted" with partisan politics.
"Since Gov. Palin was named the Republican [vice] presidential nominee, it comes as little surprise that the Obama supporters leading the legislative investigation would attempt to use the proceedings to the political advantage of their candidate," said Taylor Griffin, a McCain-Palin campaign spokesman.
"All Gov. Palin is asking for is a fair and impartial review of the facts outside of the taint of partisan politics," Griffin said. "That's why she's cooperating with the Personnel Board."
Earlier this week, Democratic state Rep. Les Gara asked the state police to investigate whether state laws against witness tampering have been violated. Gara did not level allegations against a specific person, but said Republican operatives had been sent to Alaska to undermine the legislative probe.
"I think probably the McCain folks think this was just politics," Gara said Thursday. But he added, "All we know is they want to stop the investigation and suddenly the witnesses aren't talking. That's indisputable."
Ex-Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan says he was sacked in July after he refused to fire the governor's ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper who was involved in an acrimonious divorce from Palin's sister.
Palin has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that Monegan was fired for insubordination after he continued to press for funding for projects the governor opposed.
Palin initially agreed to cooperate with the legislative probe and have her staff testify. But since she became McCain's running mate, she and her advisers have argued that the state Personnel Board is the proper agency to investigate.
Campaign aides have repeatedly attacked French for a September 2 interview in which he said the investigation could lead to an "October surprise" for the GOP ticket. The aides have called the probe "a politicized kangaroo court."
French's committee issued the subpoenas September 12. State Sen. Bill Wielechowski, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said none of the seven people ordered to testify since last week have filed requests to quash the subpoenas with a state court -- but he did not expect them to show for Friday's hearing.
"They should all be there, or they're breaking the law," Wielechowski, a Democrat, said.
The full Senate would have to vote on any sanctions against witnesses who refuse to appear. It does not convene again until January.
Palin's husband, Todd, was among the people who refused to appear last week. The couple's attorney, Thomas Van Flein, filed papers arguing the Legislature had no authority to investigate Monegan's firing, and that state law prevents ethics investigations of candidates for state office. The vice presidency is a federal office, however.
The legislative inquiry is scheduled to be completed by October 10. There is no deadline for the investigator hired by the Personnel Board to look into Monegan's firing.
On Tuesday, a Palin spokeswoman said the Personnel Board's investigator has requested confidentiality. The spokeswoman indicated the campaign would no longer answer questions about the probe.
Monegan has vehemently denied charges of insubordination and has told CNN he was a "team player" who never did anything without approval.
McCain's move: Putting priorities or politics first?
from www.cnn.com
(CNN) -- Sen. John McCain's decision to suspend his campaign is being played by Democrats as a desperate ploy from a campaign in decline and by Republicans as a courageous move to rescue the economy.
The Arizona senator said he won't show up for Friday's presidential debate if no deal is reached on the government's $700 billion bailout proposal, leading Democrats to accuse him of looking for a distraction.
"I think it shows that John McCain is becoming increasingly desperate in his campaign," said Keith Boykin, a Democratic strategist and host of BET's "My Two Cents."
"It's an indication that John McCain shoots from the hip -- or more likely shoots from the lip -- every time he speaks, and he's not a guy who's got the judgment to make decisions," he said.
Conservative writer Matt Lewis called the notion that McCain is afraid to debate "laughable."
"Everybody knows that John McCain is very, very good at actually taking tough questions. I think what we have seen here today and yesterday, though, is an example of a statesmen," he said. "I think it's ludicrous to say that by wanting to put politics aside, John McCain is somehow injecting politics into the debate."
Democratic candidate Barack Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden on Thursday accused the Republicans of looking for a "distraction." VideoWatch more on the fate of the debate »
"They don't want to debate the issues with us," he said Thursday in Louisville, Kentucky. "They don't want to debate the issues ... because they know they really literally don't have a political leg to stand on."
McCain said Thursday that Washington needs "all hands on deck" to work on the government's proposed $700 billion bailout plan.
"I cannot carry on a campaign as though this dangerous situation had not occurred, or as though a solution were at hand, which it clearly is not," McCain said in New York. "With so much on the line, for America and the world, the debate that matters most right now is taking place in the United States Capitol. I intend to join it."
Democrats have also implied that McCain is trying to buy more time for vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. McCain suggested having the presidential debate take the place of next Thursday's vice presidential debate, and moving that one to a later date.
But Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, called McCain's decision to suspend his campaign the "greatest single act of responsibility ever taken by a presidential candidate."
"It is surprisingly irresponsible and politically dangerous for the Obama campaign to try and insist on a debate Friday night," he said.
McCain says he does not think the bailout proposal will pass as is, and he is returning to Washington to push what he sees as "fundamental improvements" to the legislation. VideoWatch more on McCain's big gamble »
Obama's campaign says they can take care of the bailout proposal and still hold the first presidential debate, scheduled to take place Friday in Oxford, Mississippi.
The University of Mississippi, which is hosting the debate, has already invested millions in preparing for it.
"I think we can do both of these things at the same time. The next president is going to face multiple crises on the same day," Robert Gibbs, Obama's top adviser, said on CNN's "American Morning."
"We've got a presidential debate scheduled. We've got a stage. We'll have an audience. My guess is we'll have a moderator and at least one of the presidential candidates," Gibbs said.
But considering that Obama and McCain are senators, Republican strategist Bay Buchanan said both candidates should focus on the bailout plan because it's their job. VideoWatch analysts weigh in on McCain's decision »
"They should be doing their job, especially at a time of crises when their vote, when their leadership could really make a difference in this bill," she said. "These fellows are the senators. It is their responsibility. It's what we pay them to do."
Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist, said the debate is the most important thing the candidates could do right now.
"It's preposterous that we can't have a presidential debate in the middle of this economic crisis. We had a presidential campaign in 1864, when Sherman was marching on Atlanta. We had a presidential election in 1944, when D-Day was going on in Normandy," he said. "We can have a debate on Friday. In fact, it's probably the most important thing McCain and them could be doing, would be to debate the issues."
I-Reporters told CNN that no matter what, they want to see the debate go on.
Len Parks, an independent from Stockbridge, Georgia, said he liked both candidates, but now he will probably vote for Obama.
"It made no sense to me for him to suspend his campaign. I think he's kind of grandstanding here," Parks said.
Democrat Dereck Blackburn called canceling the debate a "political stunt."
"It's very disrespectful to the elections process and disrespectful to everyone who is involved," said Blackburn, who is from Manayunk, Pennsylvania.
And Republican Katy Brown, from Kent, Ohio, said in this situation, McCain needs to take Obama's advice.
"I want to see John McCain show up, I know he's trying to do his best, and I know it's his duty to be there for this vote on the economy and the $700 billion bailout. But he also needs to be there (at the debate) because Americans need to hear from him," she said. "So hopefully this doesn't hurt him, hopefully he takes Obama's advice and multitasks and shows up."
Alan Silverleib, CNN's senior political researcher, said only time will tell how McCain's political gamble will play out.
"What is going on here is that John McCain has been in a rut the last couple of weeks ever since this economic crisis broke. It plays to the economic advantage that Democrats have in this campaign," he said, noting that polls show that more people think Obama would do a better job handling an economic crisis than McCain.
Obama has been on a steady rise in national polls this past week. According to CNN's latest poll of polls, he now leads McCain by 5 percentage points.
"The Democrats, of course, are very afraid that McCain is going to swoop into these delicate negotiations on Capitol at last minute and when they reach an agreement, he's going to claim credit for having brought those negotiations to a successful conclusion," Silverleib said.
(CNN) -- Sen. John McCain's decision to suspend his campaign is being played by Democrats as a desperate ploy from a campaign in decline and by Republicans as a courageous move to rescue the economy.
The Arizona senator said he won't show up for Friday's presidential debate if no deal is reached on the government's $700 billion bailout proposal, leading Democrats to accuse him of looking for a distraction.
"I think it shows that John McCain is becoming increasingly desperate in his campaign," said Keith Boykin, a Democratic strategist and host of BET's "My Two Cents."
"It's an indication that John McCain shoots from the hip -- or more likely shoots from the lip -- every time he speaks, and he's not a guy who's got the judgment to make decisions," he said.
Conservative writer Matt Lewis called the notion that McCain is afraid to debate "laughable."
"Everybody knows that John McCain is very, very good at actually taking tough questions. I think what we have seen here today and yesterday, though, is an example of a statesmen," he said. "I think it's ludicrous to say that by wanting to put politics aside, John McCain is somehow injecting politics into the debate."
Democratic candidate Barack Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden on Thursday accused the Republicans of looking for a "distraction." VideoWatch more on the fate of the debate »
"They don't want to debate the issues with us," he said Thursday in Louisville, Kentucky. "They don't want to debate the issues ... because they know they really literally don't have a political leg to stand on."
McCain said Thursday that Washington needs "all hands on deck" to work on the government's proposed $700 billion bailout plan.
"I cannot carry on a campaign as though this dangerous situation had not occurred, or as though a solution were at hand, which it clearly is not," McCain said in New York. "With so much on the line, for America and the world, the debate that matters most right now is taking place in the United States Capitol. I intend to join it."
Democrats have also implied that McCain is trying to buy more time for vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. McCain suggested having the presidential debate take the place of next Thursday's vice presidential debate, and moving that one to a later date.
But Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, called McCain's decision to suspend his campaign the "greatest single act of responsibility ever taken by a presidential candidate."
"It is surprisingly irresponsible and politically dangerous for the Obama campaign to try and insist on a debate Friday night," he said.
McCain says he does not think the bailout proposal will pass as is, and he is returning to Washington to push what he sees as "fundamental improvements" to the legislation. VideoWatch more on McCain's big gamble »
Obama's campaign says they can take care of the bailout proposal and still hold the first presidential debate, scheduled to take place Friday in Oxford, Mississippi.
The University of Mississippi, which is hosting the debate, has already invested millions in preparing for it.
"I think we can do both of these things at the same time. The next president is going to face multiple crises on the same day," Robert Gibbs, Obama's top adviser, said on CNN's "American Morning."
"We've got a presidential debate scheduled. We've got a stage. We'll have an audience. My guess is we'll have a moderator and at least one of the presidential candidates," Gibbs said.
But considering that Obama and McCain are senators, Republican strategist Bay Buchanan said both candidates should focus on the bailout plan because it's their job. VideoWatch analysts weigh in on McCain's decision »
"They should be doing their job, especially at a time of crises when their vote, when their leadership could really make a difference in this bill," she said. "These fellows are the senators. It is their responsibility. It's what we pay them to do."
Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist, said the debate is the most important thing the candidates could do right now.
"It's preposterous that we can't have a presidential debate in the middle of this economic crisis. We had a presidential campaign in 1864, when Sherman was marching on Atlanta. We had a presidential election in 1944, when D-Day was going on in Normandy," he said. "We can have a debate on Friday. In fact, it's probably the most important thing McCain and them could be doing, would be to debate the issues."
I-Reporters told CNN that no matter what, they want to see the debate go on.
Len Parks, an independent from Stockbridge, Georgia, said he liked both candidates, but now he will probably vote for Obama.
"It made no sense to me for him to suspend his campaign. I think he's kind of grandstanding here," Parks said.
Democrat Dereck Blackburn called canceling the debate a "political stunt."
"It's very disrespectful to the elections process and disrespectful to everyone who is involved," said Blackburn, who is from Manayunk, Pennsylvania.
And Republican Katy Brown, from Kent, Ohio, said in this situation, McCain needs to take Obama's advice.
"I want to see John McCain show up, I know he's trying to do his best, and I know it's his duty to be there for this vote on the economy and the $700 billion bailout. But he also needs to be there (at the debate) because Americans need to hear from him," she said. "So hopefully this doesn't hurt him, hopefully he takes Obama's advice and multitasks and shows up."
Alan Silverleib, CNN's senior political researcher, said only time will tell how McCain's political gamble will play out.
"What is going on here is that John McCain has been in a rut the last couple of weeks ever since this economic crisis broke. It plays to the economic advantage that Democrats have in this campaign," he said, noting that polls show that more people think Obama would do a better job handling an economic crisis than McCain.
Obama has been on a steady rise in national polls this past week. According to CNN's latest poll of polls, he now leads McCain by 5 percentage points.
"The Democrats, of course, are very afraid that McCain is going to swoop into these delicate negotiations on Capitol at last minute and when they reach an agreement, he's going to claim credit for having brought those negotiations to a successful conclusion," Silverleib said.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Veteran senator's future on the line at trial
From Kevin Bohn
cnn.com
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The political future of one of the powerhouses of the U.S. Senate will most likely rest in the hands of a Washington jury that will begin hearing the corruption case against him Thursday morning.
Political experts say there is little doubt that the re-election campaign of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, will be determined by the jury's decision.
Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, was locked in a tight contest for his eighth term in the Senate with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich before the indictment against him was returned at the end of July.
Stevens is charged with failing to report on his congressional disclosure forms renovations to his Alaska home paid for by the Alaska-based oil services corporation VECO and other gifts from the company.
Prosecutors allege that Stevens received more than $250,000 worth of goods and services, including a new first floor, garage and deck on his home and a new Land Rover -- exchanged for an older car -- and a gas grill.
Stevens is not charged with receiving bribes, although prosecutors allege in the indictment that the senator "could and did use his official position and his office on behalf of VECO."
Known in Washington as combative and self-confident, Stevens has characteristically not backed down, maintaining his innocence and saying he paid for all bills related to the home renovation given to him. His defense attorneys pushed for a quick start to the proceedings, knowing that the charges would dominate the election campaign.
"I asked for a speedy trial because I wanted one," Stevens said Friday in Alaska. "I'm glad I'm having the chance to have one, because I have entered my plea and said I'm innocent of the charges against me. I think the trial will show that. I've urged Alaskans not to make a judgment about this situation until all the evidence is in and told them I have faith in our judicial, justice system and faith in myself."
Some legal experts believe that Stevens can beat the charges.
"How is the government going to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he knew the actual value of these renovations when he had asked, received and paid for bills for them?" former federal prosecutor Michael Levy asked, explaining the burden facing the Justice Department.
One possible tactic for the defense team, led by veteran attorney Brendan Sullivan, is to portray Stevens as a busy incumbent dealing with a multitude of important issues.
"If they paint him somewhat as a very busy or perhaps absent-minded individual who's not focused there, you could appeal to several jurors," former federal prosecutor Joshua Berman said. "After all, all of us have a lot going on in our lives, as do these jurors, and that may resonate with some of them."
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan this week granted Stevens' lawyers' request for him to miss some court sessions if there were key Senate votes happening.
"He is certainly known for being a very strong-willed man," said political analyst Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute. "Now, there is a fine line here. You do not want to suggest to jurors or to a judge that you are dissing them."
Since Stevens will have to be in court most days of the trial, which is expected to last about a month, his ability to fly to Alaska to campaign will be dramatically limited, although he did say last week that he hoped to come back to the state at least "several times" in October.
As to whether he will take the witness stand himself, the senator said Friday, "That is up to my lawyers, but that is my intention."
However, the legal experts CNN spoke to were divided about whether he would testify.
Former prosecutor Berman said Stevens testifying could be the best way to explain away some of the government's key evidence.
"It's gonna be hard for Sen. Stevens to get away from the fact that he did receive these things of value," Berman said. "Two, he did not apparently disclose them on his financial form. And three, you've got the VECO executives ... who will testify in his trial against him."
The central witness against Stevens will be a former VECO chief executive officer who has pleaded guilty to bribing several Alaska state lawmakers and who was caught by the FBI on undercover video soliciting favors from them.
"Bill Allen is going to be central to this case. He's the primary accuser against Senator Stevens," Levy said. "The government is gonna say that he's finally come forward and is telling the truth about the relationship between VECO and Sen. Stevens. The defense is gonna sit there and say this is a man who's got more than a decade of jail time hanging over his head, and the only way he can save his own skin is to sing whatever song the prosecutors want him to sing, and that's all he's doing."
Stevens is the first sitting U.S. senator to face trial since 1981, when Harrison Williams, D-New Jersey, was convicted of bribery and conspiracy.
Opening statements in Stevens trial are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. ET at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Eleven women and five men make up the jury of 12 regular and four alternates. The jurors will not be told whether they are alternates until the end of the trial.
cnn.com
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The political future of one of the powerhouses of the U.S. Senate will most likely rest in the hands of a Washington jury that will begin hearing the corruption case against him Thursday morning.
Political experts say there is little doubt that the re-election campaign of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, will be determined by the jury's decision.
Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, was locked in a tight contest for his eighth term in the Senate with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich before the indictment against him was returned at the end of July.
Stevens is charged with failing to report on his congressional disclosure forms renovations to his Alaska home paid for by the Alaska-based oil services corporation VECO and other gifts from the company.
Prosecutors allege that Stevens received more than $250,000 worth of goods and services, including a new first floor, garage and deck on his home and a new Land Rover -- exchanged for an older car -- and a gas grill.
Stevens is not charged with receiving bribes, although prosecutors allege in the indictment that the senator "could and did use his official position and his office on behalf of VECO."
Known in Washington as combative and self-confident, Stevens has characteristically not backed down, maintaining his innocence and saying he paid for all bills related to the home renovation given to him. His defense attorneys pushed for a quick start to the proceedings, knowing that the charges would dominate the election campaign.
"I asked for a speedy trial because I wanted one," Stevens said Friday in Alaska. "I'm glad I'm having the chance to have one, because I have entered my plea and said I'm innocent of the charges against me. I think the trial will show that. I've urged Alaskans not to make a judgment about this situation until all the evidence is in and told them I have faith in our judicial, justice system and faith in myself."
Some legal experts believe that Stevens can beat the charges.
"How is the government going to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he knew the actual value of these renovations when he had asked, received and paid for bills for them?" former federal prosecutor Michael Levy asked, explaining the burden facing the Justice Department.
One possible tactic for the defense team, led by veteran attorney Brendan Sullivan, is to portray Stevens as a busy incumbent dealing with a multitude of important issues.
"If they paint him somewhat as a very busy or perhaps absent-minded individual who's not focused there, you could appeal to several jurors," former federal prosecutor Joshua Berman said. "After all, all of us have a lot going on in our lives, as do these jurors, and that may resonate with some of them."
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan this week granted Stevens' lawyers' request for him to miss some court sessions if there were key Senate votes happening.
"He is certainly known for being a very strong-willed man," said political analyst Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute. "Now, there is a fine line here. You do not want to suggest to jurors or to a judge that you are dissing them."
Since Stevens will have to be in court most days of the trial, which is expected to last about a month, his ability to fly to Alaska to campaign will be dramatically limited, although he did say last week that he hoped to come back to the state at least "several times" in October.
As to whether he will take the witness stand himself, the senator said Friday, "That is up to my lawyers, but that is my intention."
However, the legal experts CNN spoke to were divided about whether he would testify.
Former prosecutor Berman said Stevens testifying could be the best way to explain away some of the government's key evidence.
"It's gonna be hard for Sen. Stevens to get away from the fact that he did receive these things of value," Berman said. "Two, he did not apparently disclose them on his financial form. And three, you've got the VECO executives ... who will testify in his trial against him."
The central witness against Stevens will be a former VECO chief executive officer who has pleaded guilty to bribing several Alaska state lawmakers and who was caught by the FBI on undercover video soliciting favors from them.
"Bill Allen is going to be central to this case. He's the primary accuser against Senator Stevens," Levy said. "The government is gonna say that he's finally come forward and is telling the truth about the relationship between VECO and Sen. Stevens. The defense is gonna sit there and say this is a man who's got more than a decade of jail time hanging over his head, and the only way he can save his own skin is to sing whatever song the prosecutors want him to sing, and that's all he's doing."
Stevens is the first sitting U.S. senator to face trial since 1981, when Harrison Williams, D-New Jersey, was convicted of bribery and conspiracy.
Opening statements in Stevens trial are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. ET at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Eleven women and five men make up the jury of 12 regular and four alternates. The jurors will not be told whether they are alternates until the end of the trial.
Rove: McCain went 'too far' in ads
from www.cnn.com
(CNN) -- Former Bush adviser Karl Rove said Sunday that Sen. John McCain had gone "one step too far" in some of his recent ads attacking Sen. Barack Obama.
Rove has leveled similar criticism against Obama.
"McCain has gone in some of his ads -- similarly gone one step too far," he told Fox News, "and sort of attributing to Obama things that are, you know, beyond the '100 percent truth' test."
The Obama campaign immediately leaped on the quote.
"In case anyone was still wondering whether John McCain is running the sleaziest, most dishonest campaign in history, today Karl Rove -- the man who held the previous record -- said McCain's ads have gone too far," said campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor, in a statement sent to reporters minutes after Rove's on-air comments. Rove masterminded both of President Bush's successful White House bids.
Rove said both candidates need to "be careful" about their attacks on each other.
"They ought to -- there ought to be an adult who says, 'Do we really need to go that far in this ad? Don't we make our point and won't we get broader acceptance and deny the opposition an opportunity to attack us if we don't include that one little last tweak in the ad?' " he said.
Obama on Saturday accused McCain and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin of avoiding the issues to "distort" his record.
"They're going to talk about pigs, and they're going to talk about lipstick; they're going to talk about Paris Hilton, they're going to talk about Britney Spears. They will try to distort my record, and they will try to undermine your trust in what the Democrats intend to do," he said at a stop in Manchester, New Hampshire.
McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds criticized Obama for showing "zero restraint," considering what Gulf Coast residents were facing after Hurricane Ike. Bounds said the "attacks mark a new low from Barack Obama."
The Obama campaign shot back and accused McCain of "cynically running the sleaziest and least honorable campaign in modern presidential campaign history."
McCain said last week that he thinks the tone of the campaign would be different had Obama agreed to appear with him in town hall meetings across the country.
Both McCain and Obama laid low on Sunday. McCain attended a NASCAR race in Loudon, New Hampshire.
Obama had no public events scheduled, but Sen. Hillary Clinton hit the trail for him in Akron, Ohio.
Clinton repeated her campaign one-liner -- "No way, no how, no McCain, no Palin."
The New York senator said "all that McCain and Palin offer is four more years of the same failed policies and wrong direction and disappointment and difficulties that have confronted our country."
"Barack and I may have started out on two separate paths, but we are on one journey now," she said.
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign announced Sunday that it had raised $66 million in August. The new total bests the campaign's previous high of $55 million, which came in February during his tough primary fight with Clinton.
The Obama campaign said more than half a million new donors contributed in August, when the Illinois senator accepted the Democratic presidential nomination and named Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware as his running mate. The campaign had more than $77 million in cash on hand at the end of August, compared with about $66 million in July.
On September 1, McCain's campaign reported raising $47 million in August. That haul also set a monthly record for the Arizona senator, whose campaign says it received a financial shot in the arm after McCain picked Palin to join the ticket.
Obama has rejected public financing, calling the system "broken" -- a decision that frees him to continue raising money for November.
McCain has accepted federal matching funds for his general election campaign, giving him $84 million to spend for November. The money comes with strict spending limits, but the Republican National Committee's victory fund can continue to raise and spend money on his behalf.
With Palin on the campaign trail, McCain has been seeing increased numbers and energy at his campaign events.
The two will hold joint town hall meetings sometime early this week.
A McCain adviser said early plans are to hold the town halls in western Michigan and Wisconsin, although the exact details of where and when they will be held are still being worked out.
(CNN) -- Former Bush adviser Karl Rove said Sunday that Sen. John McCain had gone "one step too far" in some of his recent ads attacking Sen. Barack Obama.
Rove has leveled similar criticism against Obama.
"McCain has gone in some of his ads -- similarly gone one step too far," he told Fox News, "and sort of attributing to Obama things that are, you know, beyond the '100 percent truth' test."
The Obama campaign immediately leaped on the quote.
"In case anyone was still wondering whether John McCain is running the sleaziest, most dishonest campaign in history, today Karl Rove -- the man who held the previous record -- said McCain's ads have gone too far," said campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor, in a statement sent to reporters minutes after Rove's on-air comments. Rove masterminded both of President Bush's successful White House bids.
Rove said both candidates need to "be careful" about their attacks on each other.
"They ought to -- there ought to be an adult who says, 'Do we really need to go that far in this ad? Don't we make our point and won't we get broader acceptance and deny the opposition an opportunity to attack us if we don't include that one little last tweak in the ad?' " he said.
Obama on Saturday accused McCain and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin of avoiding the issues to "distort" his record.
"They're going to talk about pigs, and they're going to talk about lipstick; they're going to talk about Paris Hilton, they're going to talk about Britney Spears. They will try to distort my record, and they will try to undermine your trust in what the Democrats intend to do," he said at a stop in Manchester, New Hampshire.
McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds criticized Obama for showing "zero restraint," considering what Gulf Coast residents were facing after Hurricane Ike. Bounds said the "attacks mark a new low from Barack Obama."
The Obama campaign shot back and accused McCain of "cynically running the sleaziest and least honorable campaign in modern presidential campaign history."
McCain said last week that he thinks the tone of the campaign would be different had Obama agreed to appear with him in town hall meetings across the country.
Both McCain and Obama laid low on Sunday. McCain attended a NASCAR race in Loudon, New Hampshire.
Obama had no public events scheduled, but Sen. Hillary Clinton hit the trail for him in Akron, Ohio.
Clinton repeated her campaign one-liner -- "No way, no how, no McCain, no Palin."
The New York senator said "all that McCain and Palin offer is four more years of the same failed policies and wrong direction and disappointment and difficulties that have confronted our country."
"Barack and I may have started out on two separate paths, but we are on one journey now," she said.
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign announced Sunday that it had raised $66 million in August. The new total bests the campaign's previous high of $55 million, which came in February during his tough primary fight with Clinton.
The Obama campaign said more than half a million new donors contributed in August, when the Illinois senator accepted the Democratic presidential nomination and named Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware as his running mate. The campaign had more than $77 million in cash on hand at the end of August, compared with about $66 million in July.
On September 1, McCain's campaign reported raising $47 million in August. That haul also set a monthly record for the Arizona senator, whose campaign says it received a financial shot in the arm after McCain picked Palin to join the ticket.
Obama has rejected public financing, calling the system "broken" -- a decision that frees him to continue raising money for November.
McCain has accepted federal matching funds for his general election campaign, giving him $84 million to spend for November. The money comes with strict spending limits, but the Republican National Committee's victory fund can continue to raise and spend money on his behalf.
With Palin on the campaign trail, McCain has been seeing increased numbers and energy at his campaign events.
The two will hold joint town hall meetings sometime early this week.
A McCain adviser said early plans are to hold the town halls in western Michigan and Wisconsin, although the exact details of where and when they will be held are still being worked out.
FREE SARAH PALIN
Campbell Brown
(c) www.cnn.com
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Frankly I have had it, and I know a lot of other women out there who are with me on this. I have had enough of the sexist treatment of Sarah Palin. It has to end.
She was in New York on Tuesday meeting with world leaders at the U.N. And what did the McCain campaign do?
They tried to ban reporters from covering those meetings. And they did ban reporters from asking Gov. Palin any questions.
I call upon the McCain campaign to stop treating Sarah Palin like she is a delicate flower who will wilt at any moment.
This woman is from Alaska for crying out loud. She is strong, she is tough, she is confident. And you claim she is ready to be one heartbeat away from the presidency. If that is the case, then end this chauvinistic treatment of her now. Allow her to show her stuff.
Allow her to face down those pesky reporters just like Barack Obama did today, just like John McCain did today. Just like Joe Biden has done on numerous occasions. Let her have a real news conference with real questions.
"No bias, no bull"
By treating Sarah Palin differently from other candidates in this race, you are not showing her the respect she deserves.
Free Sarah Palin.
Free her from the chauvinistic chains you are binding her with.
Sexism in this campaign must come to an end. Sarah Palin has as much a right to be a real candidate in this race as the men do.
So let her act like one.
(c) www.cnn.com
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Frankly I have had it, and I know a lot of other women out there who are with me on this. I have had enough of the sexist treatment of Sarah Palin. It has to end.
She was in New York on Tuesday meeting with world leaders at the U.N. And what did the McCain campaign do?
They tried to ban reporters from covering those meetings. And they did ban reporters from asking Gov. Palin any questions.
I call upon the McCain campaign to stop treating Sarah Palin like she is a delicate flower who will wilt at any moment.
This woman is from Alaska for crying out loud. She is strong, she is tough, she is confident. And you claim she is ready to be one heartbeat away from the presidency. If that is the case, then end this chauvinistic treatment of her now. Allow her to show her stuff.
Allow her to face down those pesky reporters just like Barack Obama did today, just like John McCain did today. Just like Joe Biden has done on numerous occasions. Let her have a real news conference with real questions.
"No bias, no bull"
By treating Sarah Palin differently from other candidates in this race, you are not showing her the respect she deserves.
Free Sarah Palin.
Free her from the chauvinistic chains you are binding her with.
Sexism in this campaign must come to an end. Sarah Palin has as much a right to be a real candidate in this race as the men do.
So let her act like one.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
A Serious Foreign Policy Gaffe
A Serious Foreign Policy Gaffe
9/18/08
(http://www.nsnetwork.org)
John McCain last night refused to say whether he would invite Spain’s Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to the White House. The interview - conducted in English and translated into Spanish – was with the Florida affiliate of Spain’s Union Radio. In the interview McCain appeared to have no idea who Prime Minister Zapatero was, apparently assuming he was a Latin American leader who might or might not be a friend of the United States. This confusion occurred despite the reporter explicitly saying “I’m talking about Spain.” Ironically, just before McCain was asked about Prime Minister Zapatero, he asserted “I know the issues, I know the leaders.” McCain’s confusion puts that statement in serious doubt. Spain is an important NATO ally, plays an extremely influential role in Latin America, was brutally attacked by Al Qaeda terrorists in 2004, has nearly 1000 troops in Afghanistan, has lost more than 20 soldiers in Afghanistan, and has the eighth largest economy in the world. Senator McCain has campaigned for President on his foreign policy experience. Such confusion over the leader of a very important ally raises serious doubts about John McCain’s foreign policy competence.
John McCain displays confusion over U.S. relations with Spain, a NATO ally. In an interview with a Spanish news outlet, John McCain “made a series of bizarre responses to a question regarding that country's prime minister.” The exchange comes at a sensitive time for the U.S.-Spanish relationship. In spite of Spain’s decision to withdraw troops from Iraq, the US has sought, starting last year, according to Secretary of State Rice, to look forward “to areas on which we can cooperate and work together.” The transcript follows:
Reporter: Let’s talk about Spain, if you are elected President would you be willing to invite Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to the White House to meet with you?
McCain: I would be willing to meet with those leaders who are friends and want to work with us in a cooperative fashion. And by the way President Calderon of Mexico is fighting a very very tough fight against the drug cartels... I attend to move forward with relations and invite as many of them as I can, of those leaders, to the White House.
Reporter: Would that invitation be extended to the Zapatero government, to the President, itself.
McCain: Uhh.. I honestly have to look at the relations and the situations and the priorities but I can assure you I will establish closer relations with our friends and I will stand up to those who want to do harm to the United States of America. I know how to do both.
Reporter: So you have to wait and see if he’s willing to meet with you…will you be able to do it in the White House?
McCain: All I can tell you is that I have a clear record of working with leaders in the Hemisphere that are friends with us and standing up to those who are not and that’s judged on the basis of the importance of our relationship with Latin America and the entire region.
Reporter: Okay what about Eur… I am talking about the President of Spain.
McCain: What about me what?
Reporter: Are you willing to meet with him if you are elected President?
McCain: I am willing to meet with any leader who is dedicated to the same principles and philosophy that we are for human rights democracy and freedom and I will stand up to those that do not.
[Huffington Post, 9/18/08. Interview with Condoleezza Rice, 6/01/07. Radio Caracol Miami, 9/17/08]
The weakened state of U.S. global relationships must be addressed, but John McCain has a poor history of working with our allies. Only 30 percent of Germans now have a positive view of the United States, down from 78 percent before President Bush took office in January 2001. In Turkey, a Muslim democracy and NATO ally, only 9 percent now have a favorable view, down from 52 percent in late 2001. Most alarming is that just 51 percent of Britons - our partner in Iraq and our most reliable ally - now hold favorable views of the United States, down from 75 percent before the invasion of Iraq. Though Senator McCain has called for re-invigorating U.S. standing in the world, his history shows him to be reckless and abrasive, even with regard to our most historic partnerships. “Speaking at an international security conference in Germany a month before the war, a frustrated McCain lashed out at our European allies, calling them ‘vacuous and posturing.’ Later that year, in an interview, he referred to the French and Germans as ‘our adversaries.’” [NSN, 3/26/08. IHT, 6/27/07. Pew Global Attitudes Project, 6/27/07. NY Times, 2/07/08. The New Republic, 5/07/08]
The many challenges facing the U.S. require that it work more effectively with allies, but McCain’s foreign policy leaves little room for cooperation. On several critical foreign policy issues, John McCain has taken a confrontational, unilateral position, most recently with Russia, where he responded to the recent crisis between Russia and Georgia by warning of a “dramatically different relationship.” But an effective approach toward Russia requires developing a common strategy with our European allies. McCain’s calls for NATO membership with Georgia and his statement that “we are all Georgians” created fears in Europe of new Cold War. Additionally, several former Secretaries of State, said such a confrontational approach toward Russia would dramatically limit U.S. capacity to confront its most pressing dilemmas. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger recently told a panel that “the United States needs ‘Russia for resolution of the Iranian problem. We may need Russia if Pakistan evolves in some of the directions that it might.’” [US News and World Report, 8/14/08. Jamie Rubin, Huffington Post Op-ed, 9/18/08. CNN, 9/16/08]
9/18/08
(http://www.nsnetwork.org)
John McCain last night refused to say whether he would invite Spain’s Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to the White House. The interview - conducted in English and translated into Spanish – was with the Florida affiliate of Spain’s Union Radio. In the interview McCain appeared to have no idea who Prime Minister Zapatero was, apparently assuming he was a Latin American leader who might or might not be a friend of the United States. This confusion occurred despite the reporter explicitly saying “I’m talking about Spain.” Ironically, just before McCain was asked about Prime Minister Zapatero, he asserted “I know the issues, I know the leaders.” McCain’s confusion puts that statement in serious doubt. Spain is an important NATO ally, plays an extremely influential role in Latin America, was brutally attacked by Al Qaeda terrorists in 2004, has nearly 1000 troops in Afghanistan, has lost more than 20 soldiers in Afghanistan, and has the eighth largest economy in the world. Senator McCain has campaigned for President on his foreign policy experience. Such confusion over the leader of a very important ally raises serious doubts about John McCain’s foreign policy competence.
John McCain displays confusion over U.S. relations with Spain, a NATO ally. In an interview with a Spanish news outlet, John McCain “made a series of bizarre responses to a question regarding that country's prime minister.” The exchange comes at a sensitive time for the U.S.-Spanish relationship. In spite of Spain’s decision to withdraw troops from Iraq, the US has sought, starting last year, according to Secretary of State Rice, to look forward “to areas on which we can cooperate and work together.” The transcript follows:
Reporter: Let’s talk about Spain, if you are elected President would you be willing to invite Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to the White House to meet with you?
McCain: I would be willing to meet with those leaders who are friends and want to work with us in a cooperative fashion. And by the way President Calderon of Mexico is fighting a very very tough fight against the drug cartels... I attend to move forward with relations and invite as many of them as I can, of those leaders, to the White House.
Reporter: Would that invitation be extended to the Zapatero government, to the President, itself.
McCain: Uhh.. I honestly have to look at the relations and the situations and the priorities but I can assure you I will establish closer relations with our friends and I will stand up to those who want to do harm to the United States of America. I know how to do both.
Reporter: So you have to wait and see if he’s willing to meet with you…will you be able to do it in the White House?
McCain: All I can tell you is that I have a clear record of working with leaders in the Hemisphere that are friends with us and standing up to those who are not and that’s judged on the basis of the importance of our relationship with Latin America and the entire region.
Reporter: Okay what about Eur… I am talking about the President of Spain.
McCain: What about me what?
Reporter: Are you willing to meet with him if you are elected President?
McCain: I am willing to meet with any leader who is dedicated to the same principles and philosophy that we are for human rights democracy and freedom and I will stand up to those that do not.
[Huffington Post, 9/18/08. Interview with Condoleezza Rice, 6/01/07. Radio Caracol Miami, 9/17/08]
The weakened state of U.S. global relationships must be addressed, but John McCain has a poor history of working with our allies. Only 30 percent of Germans now have a positive view of the United States, down from 78 percent before President Bush took office in January 2001. In Turkey, a Muslim democracy and NATO ally, only 9 percent now have a favorable view, down from 52 percent in late 2001. Most alarming is that just 51 percent of Britons - our partner in Iraq and our most reliable ally - now hold favorable views of the United States, down from 75 percent before the invasion of Iraq. Though Senator McCain has called for re-invigorating U.S. standing in the world, his history shows him to be reckless and abrasive, even with regard to our most historic partnerships. “Speaking at an international security conference in Germany a month before the war, a frustrated McCain lashed out at our European allies, calling them ‘vacuous and posturing.’ Later that year, in an interview, he referred to the French and Germans as ‘our adversaries.’” [NSN, 3/26/08. IHT, 6/27/07. Pew Global Attitudes Project, 6/27/07. NY Times, 2/07/08. The New Republic, 5/07/08]
The many challenges facing the U.S. require that it work more effectively with allies, but McCain’s foreign policy leaves little room for cooperation. On several critical foreign policy issues, John McCain has taken a confrontational, unilateral position, most recently with Russia, where he responded to the recent crisis between Russia and Georgia by warning of a “dramatically different relationship.” But an effective approach toward Russia requires developing a common strategy with our European allies. McCain’s calls for NATO membership with Georgia and his statement that “we are all Georgians” created fears in Europe of new Cold War. Additionally, several former Secretaries of State, said such a confrontational approach toward Russia would dramatically limit U.S. capacity to confront its most pressing dilemmas. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger recently told a panel that “the United States needs ‘Russia for resolution of the Iranian problem. We may need Russia if Pakistan evolves in some of the directions that it might.’” [US News and World Report, 8/14/08. Jamie Rubin, Huffington Post Op-ed, 9/18/08. CNN, 9/16/08]
McCain Aide’s Firm Was Paid by Freddie Mac
September 24, 2008
By JACKIE CALMES and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
(c) 2008 New York Times Company
WASHINGTON — One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement.
The disclosure undercuts a statement by Mr. McCain on Sunday night that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with the company for the last several years.
Mr. Davis’s firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the people said.
They said they did not recall Mr. Davis’s doing much substantive work for the company in return for the money, other than speak to a political action committee of high-ranking employees in October 2006 on the approaching midterm Congressional elections. They said Mr. Davis’s firm, Davis & Manafort, had been kept on the payroll because of Mr. Davis’s close ties to Mr. McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, who by 2006 was widely expected to run again for the White House.
Mr. Davis took a leave from Davis & Manafortfor the presidential campaign, but as a partner and equity-holder continues to benefit from its income. No one at Davis & Manafort other than Mr. Davis was involved in efforts on Freddie Mac’s behalf, the people familiar with the arrangement said.
A Freddie Mac spokeswoman said the company would not comment.
Jill Hazelbaker, a spokeswoman for the McCain campaign, did not dispute the payments to Mr. Davis’s firm. But she said that Mr. Davis had stopped taking a salary from his firm by the end of 2006 and that his work did not affect Mr. McCain.
“Senator McCain’s positions on policy matters are based upon what he believes to be in the public interest,” Ms. Hazelbaker said in a written statement.
The revelations come at a time when Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama are sparring over ties to lobbyists and special interests and seeking political advantage in a campaign being reshaped by the financial crisis and the plan to bail out investment firms.
Mr. McCain’s campaign has been attacking Senator Barack Obama, his Democratic rival, for ties to former officials of the mortgage lenders, both of which have long histories of cultivating allies in the two parties to fend off efforts to restrict their activities. Mr. McCain has been running a television commercial suggesting that Mr. Obama takes advice on housing issues from Franklin D. Raines, former chief executive of Fannie Mae, a contention flatly denied by Mr. Raines and the Obama campaign.
Freddie Mac’s roughly $500,000 in payments to Davis & Manafort began immediately after Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in late 2005 disbanded an advocacy coalition that they had set up and hired Mr. Davis to run, the people familiar with the arrangement said.
From 2000 to the end of 2005, Mr. Davis had received nearly $2 million as president of the coalition, the Homeownership Alliance, which the companies created to help them oppose new regulations and protect their status as federally chartered companies with implicit government backing. That status let them borrow cheaply, helping to fuel rapid growth but also their increased purchases of the risky mortgage securities that were their downfall.
On Sunday, in an interview with CNBC and The New York Times, Mr. McCain responded to a question about Mr. Davis’s role in the advocacy group through 2005 by saying that his campaign manager “has had nothing to do with it since, and I’ll be glad to have his record examined by anybody who wants to look at it.”
Such assertions, along with McCain campaign television ads tying Mr. Obama to former Fannie Mae chiefs, have riled current and former officials of the two companies and provoked them to volunteer rebuttals. The two officials with direct knowledge of Freddie Mac’s post-2005 contract with Mr. Davis spoke on condition of anonymity. Four other outside consultants, three Democrats and a Republican also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the arrangement was widely known among people involved in Freddie Mac’s lobbying efforts.
As president of the Homeownership Alliance, Mr. Davis got $30,000 to $35,000 a month. Mr. Davis, along with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have characterized the alliance as a coalition of many housing industry and consumer groups to promote homeownership, but numerous current and former officials at both companies say the two mortgage companies created and bankrolled the operation to combat efforts by competitors to rein in their business. They dissolved the group at the end of 2005 as part of cost-cutting in the wake of accounting scandals and, at Freddie Mac, a lobbying scandal that forced out its former top Republican lobbyist.
On Monday, the McCain campaign accused The New York Times of bias for reporting the payments to Mr. Davis for the alliance work from the mortgage giants. Mr. Davis said that he had worked not for the two companies but for the advocacy group, which included other nonprofit organization as well, and was focused only on promoting homeownership.
After the Homeownership Alliance was dissolved, Mr. Davis asked to stay on a retainer, the people familiar with the deal said. Hollis McLoughlin, who was chief of staff to Richard F. Syron, Freddie Mac’s chief executive, arranged for a new contract with Davis & Manafort, at the reduced rate of $15,000 a month, they said. Mr. Syron lost his job in the government takeover this month. Mr. McLoughlin, who through a spokeswoman declined to comment, was a former chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady in the first President Bush’s administration, and has longstanding Republican ties.
Mr. Davis was hired as a consultant, not a lobbyist, the officials said. Davis & Manafort in recent years has filed federal lobbying reports for a number of companies but not Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.
Later in 2006, Mr. Davis was working on Mr. McCain’s emerging presidential campaign, as chief financial officer. The only thing that Freddie Mac officials could recall Mr. Davis doing for the company was the October 2006 pre-election forum with mid-level and senior executives who contribute to Freddie PAC, the company’s political action committee.
An electronic invitation to the employees, read by an official to the New York Times, said “Please join us for political food for thought” with Paul Begala, a longtime Democratic consultant, “and Rick Davis, former 2000 presidential campaign manager and current advisor to Senator John McCain.” Mr. Begala, who also was a paid consultant to Freddie Mac until this month, confirmed that the event took place.
At least two other people associated with Mr. McCain have ties to either Freddie Mac. The lobbying firm of the Republican that Mr. McCain has enlisted to plan his transition to the White House should he be elected, William Timmons Sr., earned nearly $3 million from Freddie Mac between 2000 and its seizure, federal lobbying records show. Mr. Timmons is founder of Timmons & Co., one of Washington’s best-known lobbying shops. The payments were first reported by Bloomberg News.
Mark Buse, Mr. McCain’s chief of staff for his Senate office, also is a Freddie Mac alumnus. He and his former lobbying employer, ML Strategies, registered to lobby for the company in July 2003, and received $460,000 before the association ended after 2004.
Mr. McCain and his advisers have argued that whatever connections Mr. Davis and other McCain campaign officials have had to the mortgage giants, Mr. McCain in the Senate has been an advocate for reforming them. And they have suggested that Mr. Obama is linked to the companies through donations from their employees ties to former officials there, including James Johnson, another former chief executive of Fannie Mae who was the head of Mr. Obama’s vice presidential search team until stepping aside after coming under criticism for getting a mortgage on favorable terms.
Since his first campaign for the Senate in 2004, Senator Obama has received about $126,000 in contributions from employees of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while Senator McCain, over the last decade, has received about $22,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
By JACKIE CALMES and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
(c) 2008 New York Times Company
WASHINGTON — One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement.
The disclosure undercuts a statement by Mr. McCain on Sunday night that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with the company for the last several years.
Mr. Davis’s firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the people said.
They said they did not recall Mr. Davis’s doing much substantive work for the company in return for the money, other than speak to a political action committee of high-ranking employees in October 2006 on the approaching midterm Congressional elections. They said Mr. Davis’s firm, Davis & Manafort, had been kept on the payroll because of Mr. Davis’s close ties to Mr. McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, who by 2006 was widely expected to run again for the White House.
Mr. Davis took a leave from Davis & Manafortfor the presidential campaign, but as a partner and equity-holder continues to benefit from its income. No one at Davis & Manafort other than Mr. Davis was involved in efforts on Freddie Mac’s behalf, the people familiar with the arrangement said.
A Freddie Mac spokeswoman said the company would not comment.
Jill Hazelbaker, a spokeswoman for the McCain campaign, did not dispute the payments to Mr. Davis’s firm. But she said that Mr. Davis had stopped taking a salary from his firm by the end of 2006 and that his work did not affect Mr. McCain.
“Senator McCain’s positions on policy matters are based upon what he believes to be in the public interest,” Ms. Hazelbaker said in a written statement.
The revelations come at a time when Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama are sparring over ties to lobbyists and special interests and seeking political advantage in a campaign being reshaped by the financial crisis and the plan to bail out investment firms.
Mr. McCain’s campaign has been attacking Senator Barack Obama, his Democratic rival, for ties to former officials of the mortgage lenders, both of which have long histories of cultivating allies in the two parties to fend off efforts to restrict their activities. Mr. McCain has been running a television commercial suggesting that Mr. Obama takes advice on housing issues from Franklin D. Raines, former chief executive of Fannie Mae, a contention flatly denied by Mr. Raines and the Obama campaign.
Freddie Mac’s roughly $500,000 in payments to Davis & Manafort began immediately after Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in late 2005 disbanded an advocacy coalition that they had set up and hired Mr. Davis to run, the people familiar with the arrangement said.
From 2000 to the end of 2005, Mr. Davis had received nearly $2 million as president of the coalition, the Homeownership Alliance, which the companies created to help them oppose new regulations and protect their status as federally chartered companies with implicit government backing. That status let them borrow cheaply, helping to fuel rapid growth but also their increased purchases of the risky mortgage securities that were their downfall.
On Sunday, in an interview with CNBC and The New York Times, Mr. McCain responded to a question about Mr. Davis’s role in the advocacy group through 2005 by saying that his campaign manager “has had nothing to do with it since, and I’ll be glad to have his record examined by anybody who wants to look at it.”
Such assertions, along with McCain campaign television ads tying Mr. Obama to former Fannie Mae chiefs, have riled current and former officials of the two companies and provoked them to volunteer rebuttals. The two officials with direct knowledge of Freddie Mac’s post-2005 contract with Mr. Davis spoke on condition of anonymity. Four other outside consultants, three Democrats and a Republican also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the arrangement was widely known among people involved in Freddie Mac’s lobbying efforts.
As president of the Homeownership Alliance, Mr. Davis got $30,000 to $35,000 a month. Mr. Davis, along with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have characterized the alliance as a coalition of many housing industry and consumer groups to promote homeownership, but numerous current and former officials at both companies say the two mortgage companies created and bankrolled the operation to combat efforts by competitors to rein in their business. They dissolved the group at the end of 2005 as part of cost-cutting in the wake of accounting scandals and, at Freddie Mac, a lobbying scandal that forced out its former top Republican lobbyist.
On Monday, the McCain campaign accused The New York Times of bias for reporting the payments to Mr. Davis for the alliance work from the mortgage giants. Mr. Davis said that he had worked not for the two companies but for the advocacy group, which included other nonprofit organization as well, and was focused only on promoting homeownership.
After the Homeownership Alliance was dissolved, Mr. Davis asked to stay on a retainer, the people familiar with the deal said. Hollis McLoughlin, who was chief of staff to Richard F. Syron, Freddie Mac’s chief executive, arranged for a new contract with Davis & Manafort, at the reduced rate of $15,000 a month, they said. Mr. Syron lost his job in the government takeover this month. Mr. McLoughlin, who through a spokeswoman declined to comment, was a former chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady in the first President Bush’s administration, and has longstanding Republican ties.
Mr. Davis was hired as a consultant, not a lobbyist, the officials said. Davis & Manafort in recent years has filed federal lobbying reports for a number of companies but not Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.
Later in 2006, Mr. Davis was working on Mr. McCain’s emerging presidential campaign, as chief financial officer. The only thing that Freddie Mac officials could recall Mr. Davis doing for the company was the October 2006 pre-election forum with mid-level and senior executives who contribute to Freddie PAC, the company’s political action committee.
An electronic invitation to the employees, read by an official to the New York Times, said “Please join us for political food for thought” with Paul Begala, a longtime Democratic consultant, “and Rick Davis, former 2000 presidential campaign manager and current advisor to Senator John McCain.” Mr. Begala, who also was a paid consultant to Freddie Mac until this month, confirmed that the event took place.
At least two other people associated with Mr. McCain have ties to either Freddie Mac. The lobbying firm of the Republican that Mr. McCain has enlisted to plan his transition to the White House should he be elected, William Timmons Sr., earned nearly $3 million from Freddie Mac between 2000 and its seizure, federal lobbying records show. Mr. Timmons is founder of Timmons & Co., one of Washington’s best-known lobbying shops. The payments were first reported by Bloomberg News.
Mark Buse, Mr. McCain’s chief of staff for his Senate office, also is a Freddie Mac alumnus. He and his former lobbying employer, ML Strategies, registered to lobby for the company in July 2003, and received $460,000 before the association ended after 2004.
Mr. McCain and his advisers have argued that whatever connections Mr. Davis and other McCain campaign officials have had to the mortgage giants, Mr. McCain in the Senate has been an advocate for reforming them. And they have suggested that Mr. Obama is linked to the companies through donations from their employees ties to former officials there, including James Johnson, another former chief executive of Fannie Mae who was the head of Mr. Obama’s vice presidential search team until stepping aside after coming under criticism for getting a mortgage on favorable terms.
Since his first campaign for the Senate in 2004, Senator Obama has received about $126,000 in contributions from employees of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while Senator McCain, over the last decade, has received about $22,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
PBS Survey!
Yes, I know this is only a survey by PBS but people react and at this point this poll says Palin is qualified (The Right is having people vote that Palin is qualified…). We know she is NOT. Please do the poll. It takes one second, literally. Then please tell all your friends!!!!
http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html
http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html
Sarah Palin- An Insider's Perspective
ABOUT SARAH PALIN
I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992.
Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a
first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her
father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a
first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more
City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the
residents of the city.
She is enormously popular; in every way she's like the most popular girl
in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won't
vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because she is a
"babe".
It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She
kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents
for seven months.
She is "pro-life". She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby.
There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.
She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.
She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just "puts things out
there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.
Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a
champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin's kind of job is highly
sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his work
schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or so in
summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their
major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything
like that of native Alaskans.
Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.
She's smart.
Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000
(at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about
670,000 residents.
During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running
this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been
pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had
gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had
given rise to a recall campaign.
Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a "fiscal conservative". During her 6
years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over
33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City
increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation
(1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a
regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she
promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they
benefited residents.
The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration
weren't enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed
money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it
with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage
the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said
she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a
new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a
multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of
property that the City didn't even have clear title to, that was still
in litigation 7 yrs later--to the delight of the lawyers involved! The
sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge
money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it would be. She also
supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that could have been done in
5-7 yrs without any borrowing.
While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office
redecorated more than once.
These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.
As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus
in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will make
us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she proposed
distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.
In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she
recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while she
proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today's surplus,
borrow for needs.
She's not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas
or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren't generated by her
or her staff. Ideas weren't evaluated on their merits, but on the basis
of who proposed them.
While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected
City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from
the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents
rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin's attempt
at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her
termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian
are on her enemies list to this day.
Sarah complained about the "old boy's club" when she first ran for
Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys". Palin
fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as
Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people,
creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally
grateful and fiercely loyal--loyal to the point of abusing their power
to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the
case of pressuring the State's top cop (see below).
As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla's Police Chief because he "intimidated"
her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska's top
cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure and
she had every legal right to fire him, but it's pretty clear that an
important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn't
fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation
for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts
were made between her staff and family to the person that she later
fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to
replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded
for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her
support.
She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in
help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town
introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council
became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She
abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn't like
the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.
Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything
publicly about her.
When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got
the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one
of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no
background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great job
which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the high
salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the structured
hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this Commission
(who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party)
engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some
undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all
her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and
garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a
gutsy fighter against the "old boys' club" when she dramatically quit,
exposing this man's ethics violations (for which he was fined).
As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from
Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel
politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the "bridge to
nowhere" after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.
As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget
guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing
projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative
action restored most of these projects--which had been vetoed simply
because she was not aware of their importance--but with the unobservant
she had gained a reputation as "anti-pork".
She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party
leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated
them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a
fiscal conservative.
Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah.
They call her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her unbridled ambition and
predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly
stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made
point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah's
mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and
experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.
As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package
of legislation known as "AGIA" that forced the oil companies to march to
the beat of her drum.
Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to
global warming. She campaigned "as a private citizen" against a state
initiaitive that would have either a) protected salmon streams from
pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the
state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State's
lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior's decision to list polar bears
as threatened species.
McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a
heartbeat away from being President.
There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more
knowledgeable and experienced than she.
However, there's a lot of people who have underestimated her and are
regretting it.
CLAIM VS FACT
*"Hockey mom": true for a few years
*"PTA mom": true years ago when her first-born was in elementary
school, not since
*"NRA supporter": absolutely true
*social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill
that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships
(said she did this because it was unconsitutional).
*pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to
promote it.
*"Pro-life": mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby
BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life
legislation
*"Experienced": Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has
residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska.
No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on
supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city
administrator to run town of about 5,000.
*political maverick: not at all
*gutsy: absolutely!
*open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at
explaining actions.
*has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
*"a Greenie": no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores
and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
*fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
*pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city
without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built
streets to early 20th century standards.
*pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on
residents
*pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city
government in Wasilla's history.
*pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union
doesn't make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim
that she is pro-labor/pro-union.
WHY AM I WRITING THIS?
First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed
voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting
programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny +
Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local
government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.
Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad things happen
when good people stay silent". Few people know as much as I do because
few have gone to as many City Council meetings.
Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me out
of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no
fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will
cost me somehow in the future: that's life.
Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100
or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah's
attempt at censorship.
Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to
say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.
CAVEATS
I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in
spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor)
from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of
Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust
for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible
for a private person to get any info out of City Hall--they are
swamped. So I can't verify my numbers.
You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the
population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to 9,000. The
day Palin's selection was announced a city official told me that the
current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was
5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to
2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90's.
Anne Kilkenny
I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992.
Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a
first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her
father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a
first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more
City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the
residents of the city.
She is enormously popular; in every way she's like the most popular girl
in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won't
vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because she is a
"babe".
It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She
kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents
for seven months.
She is "pro-life". She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby.
There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.
She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.
She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just "puts things out
there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.
Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a
champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin's kind of job is highly
sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his work
schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or so in
summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their
major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything
like that of native Alaskans.
Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.
She's smart.
Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000
(at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about
670,000 residents.
During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running
this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been
pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had
gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had
given rise to a recall campaign.
Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a "fiscal conservative". During her 6
years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over
33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City
increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation
(1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a
regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she
promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they
benefited residents.
The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration
weren't enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed
money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it
with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage
the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said
she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a
new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a
multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of
property that the City didn't even have clear title to, that was still
in litigation 7 yrs later--to the delight of the lawyers involved! The
sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge
money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it would be. She also
supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that could have been done in
5-7 yrs without any borrowing.
While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office
redecorated more than once.
These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.
As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus
in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will make
us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she proposed
distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.
In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she
recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while she
proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today's surplus,
borrow for needs.
She's not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas
or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren't generated by her
or her staff. Ideas weren't evaluated on their merits, but on the basis
of who proposed them.
While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected
City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from
the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents
rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin's attempt
at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her
termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian
are on her enemies list to this day.
Sarah complained about the "old boy's club" when she first ran for
Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys". Palin
fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as
Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people,
creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally
grateful and fiercely loyal--loyal to the point of abusing their power
to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the
case of pressuring the State's top cop (see below).
As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla's Police Chief because he "intimidated"
her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska's top
cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure and
she had every legal right to fire him, but it's pretty clear that an
important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn't
fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation
for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts
were made between her staff and family to the person that she later
fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to
replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded
for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her
support.
She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in
help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town
introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council
became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She
abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn't like
the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.
Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything
publicly about her.
When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got
the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one
of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no
background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great job
which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the high
salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the structured
hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this Commission
(who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party)
engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some
undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all
her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and
garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a
gutsy fighter against the "old boys' club" when she dramatically quit,
exposing this man's ethics violations (for which he was fined).
As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from
Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel
politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the "bridge to
nowhere" after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.
As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget
guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing
projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative
action restored most of these projects--which had been vetoed simply
because she was not aware of their importance--but with the unobservant
she had gained a reputation as "anti-pork".
She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party
leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated
them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a
fiscal conservative.
Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah.
They call her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her unbridled ambition and
predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly
stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made
point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah's
mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and
experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.
As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package
of legislation known as "AGIA" that forced the oil companies to march to
the beat of her drum.
Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to
global warming. She campaigned "as a private citizen" against a state
initiaitive that would have either a) protected salmon streams from
pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the
state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State's
lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior's decision to list polar bears
as threatened species.
McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a
heartbeat away from being President.
There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more
knowledgeable and experienced than she.
However, there's a lot of people who have underestimated her and are
regretting it.
CLAIM VS FACT
*"Hockey mom": true for a few years
*"PTA mom": true years ago when her first-born was in elementary
school, not since
*"NRA supporter": absolutely true
*social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill
that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships
(said she did this because it was unconsitutional).
*pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to
promote it.
*"Pro-life": mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby
BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life
legislation
*"Experienced": Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has
residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska.
No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on
supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city
administrator to run town of about 5,000.
*political maverick: not at all
*gutsy: absolutely!
*open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at
explaining actions.
*has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
*"a Greenie": no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores
and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
*fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
*pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city
without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built
streets to early 20th century standards.
*pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on
residents
*pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city
government in Wasilla's history.
*pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union
doesn't make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim
that she is pro-labor/pro-union.
WHY AM I WRITING THIS?
First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed
voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting
programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny +
Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local
government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.
Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad things happen
when good people stay silent". Few people know as much as I do because
few have gone to as many City Council meetings.
Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me out
of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no
fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will
cost me somehow in the future: that's life.
Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100
or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah's
attempt at censorship.
Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to
say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.
CAVEATS
I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in
spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor)
from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of
Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust
for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible
for a private person to get any info out of City Hall--they are
swamped. So I can't verify my numbers.
You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the
population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to 9,000. The
day Palin's selection was announced a city official told me that the
current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was
5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to
2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90's.
Anne Kilkenny
The Spin...
THE SPIN:
Black teen pregnancies? A 'crisis' in black America.
White teen pregnancies? A 'blessed event.'
If you grow up in Hawaii you're 'exotic.'
Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential 'American
story.'
Similarly, if you name your kid Barack you're 'unpatriotic.'
Name your kids Trig and Track, you're 'colorful.'
If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the
individual you're 'reckless.' A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a
'maverick.'
If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organization from
a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, then become the
first black President of the Harvard Law Review,create a voter registration
drive that registers 150,000 new African American voters, spend 12 years as a
Constitutional Law professor,then spend nearly 8 more years as a State
Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman
of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly
4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13
million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs,
Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you are
woefully inexperienced.
If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town
with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state
with 650,000 people, you've got the most executive experience of anyone on
either ticket, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are
well qualified to lead the nation should you be called upon to do so because
your state is the closest state to Russia.
If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with millions of people
you are an 'arrogant celebrity'. If you are a popular Republican female
candidate you are 'energizing the base'.
If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself and makes his own
decisions you are 'presumptuous'. if you are an older male candidate who
makes last minute decisions you refuse to explain, you are a 'shoot from the
hip' maverick.
If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are 'an elitist 'out of
touch' with the real America. if you are a legacy (dad and granddad were
admirals) graduate of Annapolis, with multiple disciplinary infractions you
are a hero.
If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you are an 'empty
suit'.If you are a part time mayor of a town of 7000 people, you are an
'experienced executive'.
If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are 'extremist'.
If you believe in creationism and don't believe global warming is man made,
you are 'strongly principled'.
If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your
disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years with whom you are
raising two beautiful daughters you're 'risky'.
If you're a black single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after her water
breaks to seek medical attention, you're an irresponsible parent,
endangering the life of your unborn child.
But if you're a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you're spunky.
Black teen pregnancies? A 'crisis' in black America.
White teen pregnancies? A 'blessed event.'
If you grow up in Hawaii you're 'exotic.'
Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential 'American
story.'
Similarly, if you name your kid Barack you're 'unpatriotic.'
Name your kids Trig and Track, you're 'colorful.'
If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the
individual you're 'reckless.' A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a
'maverick.'
If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organization from
a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, then become the
first black President of the Harvard Law Review,create a voter registration
drive that registers 150,000 new African American voters, spend 12 years as a
Constitutional Law professor,then spend nearly 8 more years as a State
Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman
of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly
4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13
million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs,
Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you are
woefully inexperienced.
If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town
with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state
with 650,000 people, you've got the most executive experience of anyone on
either ticket, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are
well qualified to lead the nation should you be called upon to do so because
your state is the closest state to Russia.
If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with millions of people
you are an 'arrogant celebrity'. If you are a popular Republican female
candidate you are 'energizing the base'.
If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself and makes his own
decisions you are 'presumptuous'. if you are an older male candidate who
makes last minute decisions you refuse to explain, you are a 'shoot from the
hip' maverick.
If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are 'an elitist 'out of
touch' with the real America. if you are a legacy (dad and granddad were
admirals) graduate of Annapolis, with multiple disciplinary infractions you
are a hero.
If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you are an 'empty
suit'.If you are a part time mayor of a town of 7000 people, you are an
'experienced executive'.
If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are 'extremist'.
If you believe in creationism and don't believe global warming is man made,
you are 'strongly principled'.
If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your
disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years with whom you are
raising two beautiful daughters you're 'risky'.
If you're a black single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after her water
breaks to seek medical attention, you're an irresponsible parent,
endangering the life of your unborn child.
But if you're a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you're spunky.
The man who said "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should, and "I believe the fundamentals of this economy are strong," cries "economy!"
The man whose running mate denies manmade global warming cries "environment!"
The man with ZERO executive experience cries "executive experience!"
The man who chaired the committee that set a record for unauthorized appropriations cries "I'll make them famous!"
The man who voted with George W. Bush 90% of the time cries "change!"
The man who knowingly spreads malicious lies cries "honor!"
The man whose campaign is run by lobbyists cries "no more lobbyists!"
The man whose running mate has a pregnant, unmarried 17-year-old daughter cries "abstinence!"
The man who cheated on his ailing wife cries "family values!"
The man who can't tell Sunni and Shia apart cries "judgment!"
The man who picked the least experienced VP candidate in history cries "country first!"
The man who got caught in the Keating Five scandal cries "integrity!"
The man who joked about Chelsea Clinton being "ugly" cries "offensive!"
The man whose party mocks service cries "service!"
The man who supported abolishing the Department of Education cries "education!"
The man whose family was targeted by Karl Rove in 2000 cries "get me Karl Rove!"
The man who fought against the Bush tax cuts cries "permanent Bush tax cuts!"
The man who called Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson "agents of intolerance" cries "I love evangelicals!"
The man who cried "no Iraq timetables" STILL cries "no Iraq timetables!"
A man who touts his running mate as a "reformer" cries "get me more Bush veterans for her staff!"
A man who wants to overturn Roe v. Wade cries "I'm the candidate for women!"
...and America eats it up.
