McCain Adviser: Terror Attack Would Help John McCain »
Posted by: ybdogsct 2 months, 1 week ago125 Comments Report this Story
Charlie Black concedes that another terrorist attack on U.S. soil "certainly would be a big advantage to John McCain." Black's lobbying firm received millions from the brutal Angolan guerrilla leader. Black was a registered foreign agent for a collection of foreign leaders whose human rights records were harshly criticized.
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ybdogsct2 months, 1 week ago
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...
"Longtime uber-lobbyist Charles R. Black Jr. is John McCain's man in Washington. Black was Jonas Savimbi's man in the capital city. His lobbying firm received millions from the brutal Angolan guerrilla leader and took advantage of Black's contacts in Congress and the White House. Black and his partners were at times registered foreign agents for a remarkable collection of U.S.-backed foreign leaders whose human rights records were sometimes harshly criticized.
What the firm achieved was quickly dubbed 'Savimbi chic.' Foreign-agent records document hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on behalf of UNITA, including $76,491 for limousines, $13,675 for photography and $216,186 for lodging at the Grand Hotel and the Waldorf-Astoria.
McCain 'portrays himself as Mr. Clean, and then he has all these lobbyists around him who are connected to a lot of not-so-clean people.'"
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aniokly2 months, 1 week ago
Are any of these "not so clean" people related to John McCain? Does any of these "not so clean" people have their own rebel Army fighting the duly elected pro-American Government in Kenya? John McCain could, if he chooses, run away from these people. Barak Hussein Obama can never relieve himself of his Muslim Kenyan relatives. These associates that you refer to are clients of Black's, not anywhere near Sen McCain. I can understand when you have nothing good to point to in your pitifully inept Candidate, that you would try to make the stretch.
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Neophile2 months, 1 week ago
McCain himself said that terrorist threats were helpful to Bush's campaign back in 2004:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/24/flashback-m...
McCain can't run away from himself.
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ybdogsct2 months, 1 week ago
http://www.newsweek.com/id/136321
"McCain, who has portrayed himself as a crusader against special interests, is surrounded by lobbyists. Doug Goodyear, McCain's selection for GOP Convention Chair, is CEO of DCI Group, a consulting firm that earned $3 million last year lobbying for ExxonMobil and GM.
Goodyear's firm was paid $348,000 to represent Burma's military junta, which had been strongly condemned by the State Department for its human-rights record and remains in power today. His firm created a PR campaign to burnish the junta's image, denouncing 'falsehoods' by the Bush administration that the regime engaged in rape and other abuses.
Goodyear's firm also pioneered so-called 527 groups, precisely the kind of operations that McCain, in his battle for campaign-finance reform, has denounced.
Ironically, Goodyear was chosen for the post after the McCain campaign nixed another candidate, Paul Manafort, who runs a lobbying firm with McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis."
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ybdogsct2 months, 1 week ago
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/201671...
"John McCain's campaign asked prominent Republican consultant, Craig Shirley, to leave. Shirley doubled as a consultant to McCain and the group Stop Her Now, a 527 group barred from coordinating its activities with presidential campaigns.
Shirley's firm, Shirley & Bannister Associates, was paid more than $22,000 by McCain for work to win conservative support. Stop Her Now has paid the firm more than $155,000 since 2007 for public relations work.
Shirley's background is in some of the hardest hitting Republican attacks on Democratic politicians. He was a member of the team that tarred Michael Dukakis with the "Willie Horton" ads in 1988, and he helped organize the press conference with Paula Jones. In 2004, his company did public relations work for a movie attacking John Kerry called, 'Stolen Honor.'"
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ybdogsct2 months, 1 week ago
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2...
"Sen. John McCain secured millions in federal funds for a land acquisition program that provided a windfall for an Arizona developer whose executives were major campaign donors.
McCain, who has made fighting special-interest projects a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, inserted $14.3 million in a 2003 defense bill to buy land around Luke AFB in a provision sought by SunCor Development.
The Air Force later paid SunCor $3 million for 122 acres near the base. It was the highest single land transaction of the private lots purchased by the government--three times the county's assessed value and twice the military's estimated value.
McCain's campaigns have received $224,000 since 1998 from donors connected to Pinnacle West, including $104,100 for his current presidential run."
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ybdogsct2 months, 1 week ago
http://news.propeller.com/story/2008/04/26/mcca...
"McCain's help for Keating came after Keating had donated $112,000 to McCain from 1982 to 1987, had taken McCain and his family on nine trips, including three to the Bahamas, and had gone in on a business deal with McCain's wife and father-in-law.
In 1982, Keating held a fund-raiser for him, collecting more than $11,000 from 40 employees of American Continental Corp. In 1983, as McCain contemplated his House re-election, Keating hosted a $1,000-a-plate dinner for him, even though McCain had no serious competition. When McCain pushed for the Senate in 1986, Keating was there with more than $50,000. By 1987, McCain had received about $112,000 from Keating and his associates.
The Arizona Republic revealed that McCain's wife and her father had invested $359,100 in a Keating shopping center."
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libsRfunny2 months, 1 week ago
"McCain 'portrays himself as Mr. Clean, and then he has all these lobbyists around him who are connected to a lot of not-so-clean people.'"
Compared to Obama, he is "Mr. Clean"
As for his aide's statement, it was a dumb one, and McCain reprimanded him for it.
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Lurch2 months, 1 week ago
> As for his aide's statement, it was a dumb one, and McCain reprimanded him for it.
As Obama did for Wright months ago, but that never stopped you all from trying to continue the smear campaign. Putting aside the Hagee, Parseley, Moonie hypocrisy for the moment.
You think that only cons are allowed to smear somebody and the Left/Center cannot attack back?? I know this is a shock for you, but you better get used to it because we are so sick & tired of the hypocrisy and BS. The cons will get at least as bad as they give this time. It is the only message they understand.
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NoSpinDave2 months, 1 week ago
So let me get this straight....
This guy is asked a question and he gives an honest, straight forward answer? So now the political correct loons on the left are going to give this guy grief for TELLING THE TRUTH?? WTF?
Its not like he said he WANTED an attack to happen.
Liberal lunacy at its finest being displayed here as per usual.
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UnusualSuspect2 months, 1 week ago
It's too bad Charlie Black did say that...another attack, heaven forbid, would not do McCain any good at all as it would be associated with Bush, whose sole claim to fame has been that there haven't been any more attacks since 9/11.
Another attack during Bush's watch would mean disaster for McCain, and he knows it.
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Lurch2 months, 1 week ago
> So now the political correct loons on the left are going to give this guy grief for TELLING THE TRUTH?? WTF?
> Its not like he said he WANTED an attack to happen.
> Liberal lunacy at its finest being displayed here as per usual.
Tell me you never attacked Michelle for saying she`s, "really proud of America".
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not2needy2 months, 1 week ago
lol, so are they planning or orchestrating a terrorist attack before November? Wouldn't they think that was somewhat questionable.
You know what?
There are probably cons who are praying for an attack or who would actually attempt to pull one off in order to keep control of the WH. When it comes to the cons, i don't doubt or rule out anything. They are completely unscrupulous.
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Spadecaller2 months, 1 week ago
Yes, I am sure there are enough cons who long for those first days after 9-11 when a vulnerable broken-hearted nation could once again come together in unity and be tricked into sending American troops into another glorious war of greed. And, McCain will be leading the charge just like GWB did.
Will Johnny get his old jump suit out of the closet and get it re-tailored, so that he can land on a carrier dressed for another glorious photo op too?
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walden32 months, 1 week ago
You ever see the graph of Bush popularity? He was never as popular as he was when America was attacked and Americans were slaughtered in their cubicles. He did get a bounce when we bombed Baghdad.
http://www.germane-software.com/~ser/BushMeter/
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tanglang2 months, 1 week ago
You know rimbaud I agree with the first part. Which I might add puts me in the same boat as Democratic strategist Bob Beckel. A terrorist attack would almost certainly hurt McCain for several reasons. The republicans could no longer claim that we are attack free since 9/11. And because enough people would buy into Senator Obamas speech addressing the attack where he would say that we were attacked because of the war in Iraq.
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CHAM2 months, 1 week ago
Not2needy
Unscrupulous is the dead on word to describe them. Has anyone noticed that this Bush bunch is also wanting to re-write the Gitmo charges against detainees because now that they are going to have to go to court, and have to prove their charges, they are going to look like the criminals they are.
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wtagg2 months, 1 week ago
Though Mr. Black is certainly of concern, my fear is that whoever is president, these types of lobbyists have access to levels of our government that citizen do not have. Money talks and our votes do not. That is a problem that needs to be solved if we ever want our government to represent us.
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cowboygrandpa2 months, 1 week ago
Sorry but I disagree.
A terrorist attack right now would do more harm to the neocons.
It would prove how ineffective Bush and his leadership has been.
I think they are hearing something and want to spin it in their favor.
Don't buy into their crap. Don't let them spin this one way or another.
I was listening to the radio tonight and these far right pastors are saying it is right to fight Bushes war. I wonder where most of their funding comes from?
These people are relentless. They feel they are right. They can't see the error in their way.
Don't fall for their bilge. That is what happened to Eve in the Garden. The serpent was a smooth liar and and challenged Gods' word in a way that enticed her.
Don't keep getting fooled.
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libsRfunny2 months, 1 week ago
"Bush and his administration is caught red handed with so many proofs that the 9/11 was their handiwork."
Someone's gone off the deep end.
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Lurch2 months, 1 week ago
Thanks for giving him the opportunity to prove you wrong.
What part about Obama says anything besides `change`?
The fact he is half black?
The fact his father left when he was a child?
The fact he was on food-assistance as a child and never saw a silver spoon in his life?
The fact he actually earned his money the old-fashioned way, he earned it, instead of dumping the mother of his three kids to marry some rich, young home-wrecker?
The fact he lived abroad and had parents of mixed religion?
The fact he earned his way into Harvard Law and based on his grades and character, he not only graduated magna cum laude but was voted editor of Harvard Law Review by his incredibly competitive classmates?
The fact he gave up guaranteed fortune and/or power and chose to become a church-based community activist for an underrepresented Chicago neighborhood (read loyalty and integrity)?
No legacy MBA. No legacy military school. Just hard work and great character.
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DeadXXXManXXXTalkin2 months, 1 week ago
''It would prove how ineffective Bush and his leadership has been.''
I agree that Bush's leadership has been ineffective
However I think the idea that terrorist attacks can be prevented categorically is wrong
We can comfort ourselves with the notion that we have the power to prevent attacks, but if someone's already here in the US and decides to commit a terrorist act, there's not much we can do
Look at the unibomber
they woulda never caught that SOB if his brother wouldn'ta turned him in
now granted he was smarter than the average guy, but in a display of impotence the Times printed his manifesto in hopes he'd quit
That's how much power we have to stop these terrorists without a tip or memo
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DeadXXXManXXXTalkin2 months, 1 week ago
Now what we CAN do is watch our borders and instead of spending billions abroad d!cking around with the WOT, we could use those funds to tighten our borders and build our infrastructure and research methods to keep people here at home safe, instead of throwing them in harm's way and saying that they are dying there to prevent us dying here
I don't want no kid dying to make me feel safer while US borders are a sieve. I don't want no kid dying there to keep maybe and might be things from happening here. I would feel guilty for spouting 'better there than here'-it's like saying 'better to get someone else for sure killed just in case it helps me from possibly maybe getting killed'
I do not want my fears washed away with my brother's blood
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Daylight2 months, 1 week ago
Bush and his administration is caught red handed with so many proofs that the 9/11 was their handiwork. Now they are planing another terror attack, may be their negotiating with Osama to get some people to attack America so that the Neocons can have a another 4 years of comfortable life at the expense of the American taxpayers money. GOP is getting exposed to the gullible American public. The Fox News has to work very hard to prove to the world that they are not lying to the world.
Check this out how the CIA and FBI lie through their teeth:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gtwKRM1fOFY
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walden32 months, 1 week ago
Mr. Black speaks the truth.
"Mr. Bush had repeatedly promised to run an overall budget surplus at least as large as the Social Security surplus, except in the event of recession, war or national emergency. "Lucky me," he remarked to Mitch Daniels, his budget director. "I hit the trifecta."
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=...
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bigurn2 months, 1 week ago
I suspect Mr. Black is right, in the intellectual sense. If a terror attack happened, voters would look to the person they believed could prosecute a sustainable defense. McCain would win this.
That having been said, the guy needs to focus on policy. Even a hint that a terror attack is a positive is shameful.
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bonaroo2 months, 1 week ago
You mean like Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld did? Basically they said, lets stop by Iraq and fill up our oil tanks on the way to get Bin Laden, In the mean time letting him escape. I would feel much safer with Obama over McCain who is as beholding to special interests just like the above three stooges.
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Candida2 months, 1 week ago
bigurn: "Even a hint that a terror attack is a positive is shameful.
I guess that's why Mr. McCain was so quick to distance himself from it.
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Lurch2 months, 1 week ago
> If a terror attack happened, voters would look to the person they believed could prosecute a sustainable defense. McCain would win this.
Not disagreeing with your perception of that general perception. That perception is certainly out there, but for the life of me I cannot understand why anyone would think McCain would be a good leader to have in case of national emergency.
He does not have the cognizant ability to analyze all the facts and make the right choice. Look at his confusion over Shiite, Sunni, AQ, and Iranians after FIVE years of cheerleading the war.
Sure he`ll have a temper tantrum and bomb somebody, but any idiot can do that. This is chess, not checkers, and McCain is no chess player.
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JohnQPublicComment removed: User banned.2 Replies
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Poulenc2 months, 1 week ago
But OF COURSE a terrorist attack would send voters to the Big Daddy Repub side.
One should NEVER underestimate the fearfulness--and concomitant scene of powerlessness--of most people, and particularly of the authoritarian right (redundant, I believe) for whom an enemy is almost a requirement to make the exercise of might necessary--and therefore provide a sense of "safety."
Don't believe me? Check out AG's latest post, in which she brandishes an "article" claiming that Obama will, if elected, "disarm" America.
(Well, he IS disarming, but....)
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Lurch2 months, 1 week ago
Why don`t we just put a gorilla in the WH? They react swiftly with instantaneous temper tantrums and zero to little regard for consequences.
The WOT is a chess match ani, you and McCain would not understand that I know, but just trust me. You have to be able to see the consequences of multiple moves in the future, which is exactly what lawyers are trained to do.
No, Obama is definitely and without a doubt the better CinC of the two.
Why do you think the military contributes more to Obama than McCain? Event our own military doesn`t trust McCain with the keys to the WH.
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