The Bully in Fiji- My Holiday with McCain

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.

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

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.

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.