April 28, 2008
Recently, the focus of the general presidential campaign has turned to who the
candidates know and what they say or do. I find this to be a troubling
development, and not only because I have a long history of associating with
shady people. While most of these ill-advised contacts have occurred late at
night in bars I can't remember, I feel that I should set the record straight by
pointing out the following; I once flew from Atlanta to Austin on a flight with
former President Jimmy Carter, I met Jerry Jones (owner of the Dallas
Cowboys) in a night club rest room, I saw the former WWE wrestler The Rock
at an airport, I met the singer and guitarist from the Divinyls (you know, the
band that sang the song "I Touch Myself") at an amusement park, and I was
threatened with a bar stool by Evan Dando of the band the Lemonheads.
But these incidents and encounters pale in comparison to the chicanery and
tomfoolery being foisted upon the American public by the other leading
candidates. I should reiterate that I find this whole witch hunt to be ridiculous
and counter-productive to the larger debates we as a nation should be holding.
That being said, if we're going to play this game then there are a few more
relationships that I believe bear a bit more scrutiny.
Everyone is all over Barack Obama for going to a church where a
loud-mouthed preacher sometimes offends. They're attacking him for serving
on a board with a fellow who once belonged to a radical 60's terroristic
organization, and for doing real estate deals with a shady real estate developer
(in his defense, are there any real estate developers who aren't shady?)
Hillary continues to get flack (albeit less flack) for her involvement in the
Whitewater real estate scandal (again with the real estate!), and for her
husband's pardons of disreputable persons like international financier and
fugitive Marc Rich, a CIA director who mishandled classified documents, a
prosecutor convicted of mail fraud, and even her brother. To make matters
worse, many of those degenerates (my editorial opinion, for the record) are
major contributors to her presidential campaign.
But in my opinion, Republican presumptive nominee John McCain is the one
who deserves the most scrutiny for questionable relationships. His
involvement in the Keating 5 (where he was one of 5 Senators who intervened
on behalf of a banker, in an allegedly corrupt way, to help his bank stay
solvent), his acceptance of endorsements from the (allegedly) anti-Catholic,
anti-Muslim Reverend John Hagee, and his association with his very wealthy
wife whose corporate jet he has been using at steeply discounted rates as his
campaign struggled to pay its bills.
Most damaging, though, is his long relationship with his Viet Cong captors as
a prisoner of war for 5 1/2 years. While he and his handlers try to position him
as some kind of war hero, or American patriot, nobody has come forward to ask
the hard questions of the Senator. Think about it...if we're going to hold
Obama accountable for what his minister says (a guy who he spends an hour
with every Sunday), and we're going to hold Hillary responsible for the
actions of a guy who served as a bureaucrat in her husband's administration,
then surely we should take a closer look at McCain's time in the Hanoi Hilton.
I mean, he spent 5 and 1/2 years with nothing but his Vietnamese captors; he
only talked to Viet Cong soldiers, he only ate Viet Cong food, and I can only
assume that he watched only Viet Cong television and listened only to Viet
Cong music. Now I don't know a lot about the Viet Cong, but it's my
understanding that they really hate America.
Ask Obama about Reverend Wright, and ask Hillary about Marc Rich and her
husband's pardons. But please remember to ask McCain about his association
with the Viet Cong as well. And of course you should remember to ignore the
sordid skeletons in my closet, because unlike my competitors, they are in no
way, shape or form a reflection of who I am and what I stand for.
Recently, the focus of the general presidential campaign has turned to who the
candidates know and what they say or do. I find this to be a troubling
development, and not only because I have a long history of associating with
shady people. While most of these ill-advised contacts have occurred late at
night in bars I can't remember, I feel that I should set the record straight by
pointing out the following; I once flew from Atlanta to Austin on a flight with
former President Jimmy Carter, I met Jerry Jones (owner of the Dallas
Cowboys) in a night club rest room, I saw the former WWE wrestler The Rock
at an airport, I met the singer and guitarist from the Divinyls (you know, the
band that sang the song "I Touch Myself") at an amusement park, and I was
threatened with a bar stool by Evan Dando of the band the Lemonheads.
But these incidents and encounters pale in comparison to the chicanery and
tomfoolery being foisted upon the American public by the other leading
candidates. I should reiterate that I find this whole witch hunt to be ridiculous
and counter-productive to the larger debates we as a nation should be holding.
That being said, if we're going to play this game then there are a few more
relationships that I believe bear a bit more scrutiny.
Everyone is all over Barack Obama for going to a church where a
loud-mouthed preacher sometimes offends. They're attacking him for serving
on a board with a fellow who once belonged to a radical 60's terroristic
organization, and for doing real estate deals with a shady real estate developer
(in his defense, are there any real estate developers who aren't shady?)
Hillary continues to get flack (albeit less flack) for her involvement in the
Whitewater real estate scandal (again with the real estate!), and for her
husband's pardons of disreputable persons like international financier and
fugitive Marc Rich, a CIA director who mishandled classified documents, a
prosecutor convicted of mail fraud, and even her brother. To make matters
worse, many of those degenerates (my editorial opinion, for the record) are
major contributors to her presidential campaign.
But in my opinion, Republican presumptive nominee John McCain is the one
who deserves the most scrutiny for questionable relationships. His
involvement in the Keating 5 (where he was one of 5 Senators who intervened
on behalf of a banker, in an allegedly corrupt way, to help his bank stay
solvent), his acceptance of endorsements from the (allegedly) anti-Catholic,
anti-Muslim Reverend John Hagee, and his association with his very wealthy
wife whose corporate jet he has been using at steeply discounted rates as his
campaign struggled to pay its bills.
Most damaging, though, is his long relationship with his Viet Cong captors as
a prisoner of war for 5 1/2 years. While he and his handlers try to position him
as some kind of war hero, or American patriot, nobody has come forward to ask
the hard questions of the Senator. Think about it...if we're going to hold
Obama accountable for what his minister says (a guy who he spends an hour
with every Sunday), and we're going to hold Hillary responsible for the
actions of a guy who served as a bureaucrat in her husband's administration,
then surely we should take a closer look at McCain's time in the Hanoi Hilton.
I mean, he spent 5 and 1/2 years with nothing but his Vietnamese captors; he
only talked to Viet Cong soldiers, he only ate Viet Cong food, and I can only
assume that he watched only Viet Cong television and listened only to Viet
Cong music. Now I don't know a lot about the Viet Cong, but it's my
understanding that they really hate America.
Ask Obama about Reverend Wright, and ask Hillary about Marc Rich and her
husband's pardons. But please remember to ask McCain about his association
with the Viet Cong as well. And of course you should remember to ignore the
sordid skeletons in my closet, because unlike my competitors, they are in no
way, shape or form a reflection of who I am and what I stand for.
| "Guilty by Association" - April 28, 2008 |
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