10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don't)

Posted by: fred simon on 06 April 2008



10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don't):

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.

2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."

3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.

4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."

5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.

6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations.

7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."

8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.

9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false cult."

10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.


Sources:

1. "The Complicated History of John McCain and MLK Day," ABC News, April 3, 2008
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/04/the-complicated.html

"McCain Facts," ColorOfChange.org, April 4, 2008
http://colorofchange.org/mccain_facts/

2. "McCain More Hawkish Than Bush on Russia, China, Iraq," Bloomberg News, March 12, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aF28rSCtk0ZM&refer=us

"Buchanan: John McCain 'Will Make Cheney Look Like Gandhi,'" ThinkProgress, February 6, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/06/buchanan-gandhi-mccain/

3. "McCain Sides With Bush On Torture Again, Supports Veto Of Anti-Waterboarding Bill," ThinkProgress, February 20, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/20/mccain-torture-veto/

4. "McCain says Roe v. Wade should be overturned," MSNBC, February 18, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17222147/

5. "2007 Children's Defense Fund Action Council® Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard," February 2008
http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?pagenam..._learn_scorecard2007

"McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion," CNN, October 3, 2007
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/03/mccain.interview/

6. "Beer Executive Could Be Next First Lady," Associated Press, April 3, 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h-S1sWHm0tchtdMP5LcLywg5ZtMgD8VQ86M80

"McCain Says Bank Bailout Should End `Systemic Risk,'" Bloomberg News, March 25, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aHMiDVYaXZFM&refer=home

7. "Will McCain's Temper Be a Liability?," Associated Press, February 16, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=4301022

"Famed McCain temper is tamed," Boston Globe, January 27, 2008
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/27/f...ain_temper_is_tamed/

8. "Black Claims McCain's Campaign Is Above Lobbyist Influence: 'I Don't Know What The Criticism Is,'" ThinkProgress, April 2, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/02/mccain-black-lobbyist/

"McCain's Lobbyist Friends Rally 'Round Their Man," ABC News, January 29, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4210251

9. "McCain's Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam," Mother Jones Magazine, March 12, 2008
http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/03/...spiritual-guide.html

"Will McCain Specifically 'Repudiate' Hagee's Anti-Gay Comments?," ThinkProgress, March 12, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/12/mccain-hagee-anti-gay/

"McCain 'Very Honored' By Support Of Pastor Preaching 'End-Time Confrontation With Iran,'" ThinkProgress, February 28, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/28/hagee-mccain-endorsement/

10. "John McCain Gets a Zero Rating for His Environmental Record," Sierra Club, February 28, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/environment/77913/


Posted on: 13 April 2008 by Audio Visionary
The fact remains that none of us can predict the future nor what kind of a leader the three Presidential candidates might be. However, surely everyone can see what the Republican Party's President has done to the American economy and the position of America in the eyes of the world and the decline in the power of the US dollar in the past eight years. Americans often think that their elections are nobody's business but their own, while similtaneously thinking the world revolves around America. And there is unfortunate truth to that situation. Many Americans continually vote for the Party not the candidate, and should there not be some punishment for the Republican Party for the lies, half truths and the fall of the American economy of the past two four year terms? Some voters are like car buyers who always buy the same make of car - regardless of how often it broke down and left them by the side of the road. The US economy was certainly better under the Democrats and surely the Republicans should sit out for at least the next four years for their transgressions even if Mr McCain is not a bad guy. Are Republicahs truly pleased at the changes of the past eight years? What terrors does a political party have to commit that would make them see that they do not deserve to be re-elected at this time? Just because Robert Mugabe can twist the electoral truths to stay in power does not mean he should be given the chance to rule again. Nor should the Republicans continue to rule at this time. One thing is certain, America has been a shining beacon for most of the past century but just not the past eight years and with the right policies and politicians it can shine again.

I think it is time for change.

Bryan
Posted on: 14 April 2008 by Mick P
Jay

You said ... "At least I exhibit fair mastery of my own language."

Yes and another patronising boast on top of your 10 stint of studying biochemistry.

Your sort give rise to the term "big mouthed yank" that crops up all over the world.

I really think that you and I had best just continue thinking each other a couple of fools and let it rest at that. One one else is interested in an old English fool arguing with a patronising yank

We can just ignore each other.

Regards

Mick
Posted on: 14 April 2008 by Mick P
Bryan

You said ... One thing is certain, America has been a shining beacon for most of the past century but just not the past eight years and with the right policies and politicians it can shine again.

I do not think anyone will disagree with that. Unfortunately America is blowing its inheritance down the pan. Europe is embracing China in virtually every industry and we are rapidly losing interest in America which is being seen as slow dying duck. When America once sneezed, the rest of the world caught a cold, today we are only having a sniffle.

To be honest, I think America is buggered and whoever wins the next election will make very little difference in the over scale of things.

Republican or Democrat, the slide will continue with a pick up in a couple of years from now but Europe, China and India will do much better.

I read somewhere a couple of months ago, that for the first time ever, the average Brit is now living as well as the average Yank and the trend is for us to overtake.

Regards

Mick
Posted on: 14 April 2008 by Exiled Highlander
Mick
quote:
One one else is interested in an old English fool arguing with a patronising yank
Quote of the year so far...It's half right anyway! Smile

One thing though, this quote
quote:
When America once sneezed, the rest of the world caught a cold, today we are only having a sniffle.
seems to be at aodds over your argument about the sub-prime fiasco.

Also
quote:
the average Brit is now living as well as the average Yank and the trend is for us to overtake.
Nah, not yet, but the gap is closing.

Cheers

Jim
Posted on: 15 April 2008 by djftw
quote:
Just a pity about how the City Council has allowed the once proud Union St to become like Any High St, Anywhere.


True, mind you at at least that was the worst of it with the Lib/Tory administration, and Labour before them. The new Lib/SNP administration are really buggering things up, there are about 10 empty shops right now, including what was Esslemont and Mackintosh.
Posted on: 15 April 2008 by Noopz
quote:
Originally posted by Mick Parry:
you come across as someone who thinks himself soooooooo intelligent and hence patronises.Mick


That statement made me laugh out rather loud.