Newsweek catches McCain: 'An apparent contradiction in his response to lobbyist story.'
By John Amato Thursday Feb 21, 2008 9:00pm
Do you want to know why John McCain looked so horrified yesterday when he had to answer questions about the NY Times story? It's interesting to me because the RW Noise machine would like nothing better than to attack the NY Times. It's their favorite pastime after all.
Are you ready? Because he now knows that reporters will be digging into his business for the past decade or so to examine how far and deep his love affair with lobbyists actually goes. Immediately, Newsweek busted John McCain over his denials that he spoke to anyone at Paxson or Alcalde & Fay.
A sworn deposition that Sen. John McCain gave in a lawsuit more than five years ago appears to contradict one part of a sweeping denial that his campaign issued this week to rebut a New York Times story about his ties to a Washington lobbyist.
But that flat claim seems to be contradicted by an impeccable source: McCain himself. "I was contacted by Mr. Paxson on this issue," McCain said in the Sept. 25, 2002, deposition obtained by NEWSWEEK. "He wanted their approval very bad for purposes of his business. I believe that Mr. Paxson had a legitimate complaint."...read on
I'll point to Glenn Greenwald's piece now:
In issuing a very specific, point-by-point denial of the NYT story, McCain specifically denied that he ever talked to Paxson's CEO, Lowell Paxson (or any other Paxson representative) about this matter:
No representative of Paxson or Alcalde and Fay discussed with Senator McCain the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proceeding. . . . No representative of Paxson or Alcalde and Fay personally asked Senator McCain to send a letter to the FCC regarding this proceeding.
But Newsweek's Mike Isikoff today obtained (or was given) the transcripts of deposition testimony which McCain himself gave under oath several years ago in litigation over the constitutionality of McCain-Feingold. In that testimony, McCain repeatedly and unequivocally stated the opposite of what he said in this week's NYT denial: namely, that he had unquestionably spoken with Paxson himself over the pending FCC matter:
While McCain said "I don't recall" if he ever directly spoke to the firm's lobbyist about the issue -- an apparent reference to Iseman, though she is not named -- "I'm sure I spoke to [Paxson]." ...read on
Check out Slate's Believability scale video during John's presser and watch as McCain's stock plummets.
Now there's another issue surfacing. John McCain refused to talk about the NY Times story today.
After no one in the audience brought up the issue, the national press tried to keep it alive, by asking him about his campaign's assaults on the Times. McCain did not bite. "I do not have any more comment about this issue," McCain said, noting that he had answered questions about the Times story Thursday morning. "I do not intend to address the issue further."
Here's the scary part of the story.
And it seemed to work.
Say what? What an embarrassing admission. Michael Scherer and the rest of the press should not let this happen and we shouldn't either. They need to treat this story like they would if they were talking to Dana Perino.
It was, all in all, a good morning, following a difficult day. The campaign is moving on, beyond the tension and relative silence that typified yesterday afternoon, when his most interesting public utterance was "Play Abba."
Are you kidding me? Michael Scherer is acting as if the press will be derelict in their duty "my friends." And that would be a shame.
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Looks like the GOP candidate for president is gonna be a guy that doesn't believe in evolution!
John McFail is screwed. It does not matter if he's guilty or not, the damaged has already been done. In my opinion, the jury of public opinion has already found him guilty, no matter if he's later found innocent.
McFail, just give up now. You do not stand a chance against Obama.
When you're 72 it's lucky if you can find the way home Expecting him to remember what he said 5 yrs. ago or running the country for that matter ,forget about it. Why is this senile old fuck putting us through this
I do not understand how anybody can be so fucking stupid and vote for a guy who's 71 to be our president.
busted.....who's got the gut's to push this hard.
It's not about sex. That is irrelevant to me. It's about continuing the hypocrisy and lies of the last 8 years. We need a freeeeking change people.
My friends, at least he has the Repub lingo down pat - "I don't recall". My friends.
buckle up pugs, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride!
http://thinkprogress.org/?s=mccain
abarts @ 6:
My friends she was a friend I have many friends my friends. My lobbyist friends are honorable and my woman friends are lobbyist, my friends.
I'll be honest, I just enjoy stories where people turn out to be hypocritcal pieces of trash. No, but seriously, I don't understand McCain's stock. He was a war-veteran. He was tortured. How does that form the character we see today? I don't get it. Is it a lack of solidity, what is it? I just want to know. I want someone to write a book detailing John McCain's life and his transformations, because I want to know how you go where he's gone and get to where he is. It seems to be like a constant tragedy, a constant struggle. I don't get it, in the least, and I want to. I deeply want to, but I don't think he's in a position to genuinely share, to give me the insight that would let me say 'yeah, I see it.' The only thing left is speculation, but with that much possibility, I don't want to speculate. I want to know. I want to know what the real stock in this man is and how it got to be that way, and there's no way of finding that out, and it's endlessly frustrating to me.
...and then there's this:
Paxson Contradicts McCain Campaign on Meetings
Broadcaster Says He Met with Senator Several Weeks Before Letters to FCC Were Sent ~ WAPO
[Deleted. Off topic-Sitemonitor]
HappySurge @ 9:
McCain is rotten from way back.
He got into flight school, and he kept on being shot from the sky, or basically setting its own its own carrier on fire. The guy is either really unlucky, or really stupid. Take your pick.
He was at the Hanoi Hilton for a while, but so were a bunch of other peeps. Rumour has it that the buckled under pressure and signed all the anti-American crap. Obviously it was after tons of torture, so it is not a big deal. What I find amusing is that he milked his stay at the Hanoi Hilton in order to catapult his political career.
So where does his character come from? Well, for starters he divorced his first wife for a much younger replacement. Ironically his 1st wife stood by him through all his captivity. Moral fiver right there, eh?
He has pandered to anyone and everyone in order to a) make a buck, and b) earn a vote. He was, is, and will be a whore. Plain and simple. The whole myth about McCain is unfunded, and frankly he has managed to ride the coal tails of his prison stay for as long as he could...
you stepped in it this time Johnny.
what are the odds Mittens gets back in the race?
Yeah, he's definitely history.
The anti lobbyist surrounds himself with lobbyists and rubber stamped all the pork when the gop had the majority.
His message is he is a hypocrite.
Gomers says shazam.
The war on drugs HA!...Thank Nancy Reagan. She was bored and thought up DARE along with Daryl Gates. (remember him?)
25 years and 250 Billion dollars later, drug use is worse, prisons are full, ages are younger and everyone is laughing. This has gone down as the least successful government program in the history of the United States. If the republicans stay in charge The invasion of Iran and Iraq will eclipse that blunder.
HappySurge @ 9:
That's the point. He's like a 'heel' wrestler turned 'babyface'. We always root for the redeemed badguys more than we do the straight-and-narrow heroes -- see Darth Vader.
There must be millions of republicans very pissed off right now.
WHOOOSH! , there goes their chance.
I sometimes go to a con site,and they hated McCain well before this came up.
I must admit,I'm getting a sense of satisfaction from all of this.
Because he now knows that reporters will be digging into his business for the past decade...
Quite right!
Chris Matthews is still intoxicated by McCain's smell.
It has to be drummed into voters heads:
McCain = GW Bush 2.0 - More of the same: warmongering, lying, greed, corruption, incompetence.
mudshark @ 18:
It ain't over yet. The Democratic self-destruction apparatus has yet to be activated.
McCain will self destruct before November. I don't think he can handle the pressure that will follow him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Number of Operations Iraq Freedom and Enduring Freedom casualties
as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 4428
McMuffin is overcooked. Let's all meet over at Huckabee's for some shakes and fries (and bible talk).
I still say the republican party should be prosecuted using RICO act.
We could throw a lot more of them in prison where they belong.
Better yet, put them in "club gitmo" as Rush would say.
McCain: I am truly surprised that the astute columnist and sharp readers of this blog fail to recognize a "cleansing" operation when they see one. This has been going on since Watergate on through Ollie North but particularly evident during Rove and Bush. It's been called variously "straw man," "free national TV airtime" "chance to defend your record" and "thwarting off our enemies." All done with a teary eyed defense and forthright talk.
You divulge a controversy (remember who told the Iseman tale to the reporters in the first place).
You distort the controversy into something related which can't be proved or disproved (e.g. sex in this case to make the candidate appear more virile).
You deny it, thereby diverting the people who then get tired of hearing about and it dies for a lack of hard evidence.
You re-introduce it again ten years later and repeat steps one, two and three.
As long as you've buried your dead bodies deep enough, it works.
The entire (211) current (as of Friday 12:01am pst) McName List:
Will check back in an hour or so...
Richard Ray Harris @ 25:
Exactly.
Focus on the goddamned lobbyist, people. Write a blog? Downplay the sex; explicitly mention what McCain is doing. Get it out that it is not about the sex. My God, this is just another chance for McCain to once again 'repent. Don't let it happen.
Keating 5. The non-maverick maverick. Get your acts together.
[Deleted-Sitemonitor]
It doesn't matter what the truth is. McCain has allegedly materially contradicted himself under sworn testimony on a matter of interest to criminal investigators, Congress, the media, and the public at large. Where is the grand jury indictment in re alleged perjury, and conduct unbecoming a Member of the Senate?
RickinSF @ 21:
yeah, I know you're right Rick.But please allow me a few moments of satisfaction.I know they won't last long.
I am concerned that they(dems) will shoot themselves in the foot again.
but even then, I just can't see a repub winning this upcoming election.
John and Cindy McCain have more skeletons in their closets than the law allows. Many known and probably many not known. He was running around on his first wife with Cindy. Then divorced his first wife and married Cindy. It stands to reason he has cheated on Cindy also. Poor Cindy got hooked on painkillers and stole them from a charity she was involved with at the time. Of course, she was given a pass. About the same time she was stoned on painkillers and stealing them, he was involved in the Keating Five Scandal. These two are really something.
How can you expect McCain to remember all the bullshit he's said over the years!!!
You Democraps and your Gotcha politics. All you want to do is make a war hero look bad.
Sure he has a long history of corruption but who hasn't? That's how you get things done in Warshington. Ask Hillary!
Why don't you all just give him a break!!! he's had a hard life, and he's old... come on
Hello, McFly: Paxson himself is NOT a lobbyist. It was his company on the line.
I'm not commenting on the propriety of what McCain did; simply correcting the misstatements above.
This feels like a stealth Republican attack on a less than ideal Republican candidate. Or damn. Maybe just reporters doi ng their jobs?
Begin backwarded message @ 34:
I'm sorry,but did you just say he's corrupt?
ok,I get it......................you're for Obama.
> conduct unbecoming a Member of the Senate?
Is there such a thing?
Mr Mccain is one of the last of his breed, if the promise of Obama and others comes true.
His old game is to let people know in not so subtle terms that he can manipulate, lie and get away with it. That's called raw power in Washington D.C. and that's how the Bushes display it. It's ok if you boast the unfairness and double standard, you see. That raises money for you in the right places. The premise to the public is, a bastard is needed to protect us from what we are told are even worse bastards.
I still say the republican party should be prosecuted using RICO act.
We could throw a lot more of them in prison where they belong.
Better yet, put them in “club gitmo” as Rush would say.
Exactly what has the GOP done that would justify a RICO prosecution?
Honestly: wrongdoing should be punished. Throwing ridiculous accusations around doesn't do anyone any good.
Richard Ray Harris @ 39:
If the dems we elected to congress had some spine, it wouldn't have to be this way. But as they say cash is king.
don't forget that the "war hero" is a convicted war criminal.
C'mon folks, go a little bit easier on mccain.
How can anyone expect an inveterate liar to remember each and every lie he has told over a period of 30 - 40 years? And mccain has told plenty, however eventually, especially at age 70+, the mind tends to go a bit spongy, and one simply cannot be expected to remember absolutely everything.
I don't really care who is behind this, be it huckabee, dobson, rove, bush, the democrats, or whomever - I just find all of this particularly amusing. Maybe someone is trying to provoke mccain's vitriolic temper, handing him enough rope that he will eventually hang himself.
Can we talk about McCain's wife's make up for a little bit?
I think she needs help.
tr @ 42:
That's a "confessed war criminal."
He so full of shit i hope the news papers investigate the hell out of him
It was Drudge, not the NY Times who broke this story and he broke it back in December 2007. McCain responded to it. Drudge reported that the Times was investigating the story and that the McCain campaign was strenuously trying to stop the Times from continuing with the story. McCain hired Bennett back in December over this, so McCain had PLENTY of time to get his spin in place for this. Politico.com says McCain spoke with Bill Keller of the Times about it back then
Here is a link to Drudge's original story about McCain and his closeness to the lobbyist
MEDIA FIREWORKS: MCCAIN PLEADS WITH NY TIMES TO SPIKE STORY
http://www.drudgereport.com/flashnyt.htm
And here is politico.com's followup to this story:
McCAIN RESPONDS TO DRUDGE
John McCain denies that he did legislative favors for a lobbyist, and says his campaign didn't try to spike the story.
On Thursday, John McCain responded to an unsubstantiated story on the Drudge Report that alleged his campaign was trying to convince The New York Times to spike a story on legislative favors for a lobbyist.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7499.html
can we please cut out the ageist remarks
we will all be that age sooner than you think....and being in your 70s doesnt make you infirm or incompetent
and mccain's age has nothing to do with his problems
his problems stem from the fact that mr straight talker has always been a crook
41 or 71....he is a crook
What, a republican political figure lied? yawn.....so what? I've not met or seen an honest one in more than a generation.
Still...grab pitchforks, tar and feathers....there's another asshat to run out of town.....
bt @ 47:
question...who leaked the story to drudge
i dont read drudge, but why did no other blog pick up on this?
if the right really wanted to kill him off...why didnt they run with the story?
Bottom Line: Would you trust nuclear weapons in the hands of your Grandfather or maybe your Great Grandfather?
Who's the woman standing next to him? Is she that blonde lobbyist Iseman chick?
Quote,
" Has anyone ever heard of that old song, " Bomb-Bomb-bomb, Bomb-bomb the (NY) Times " ?
Unquote, John McCain
"#52 murray hall Says: Who’s the woman standing next to him? Is she that blonde lobbyist Iseman chick?"
No it is not Iseman. She is the woman that McCain left his wife for and married.
It is human nature to get the masses to go against a cause, rather to get them to go for a cause. In the case of these republicans that is the only unifying cause celebre. They have no hope, their "cause" is always self-serving and I dare say, sooooo this current American (its all about me) culture. What have we taught our children. Thank God (if you believe in that) that there are thinking Americans like ourselves that look beyond the me, and look toward justice for all. It is a sad statement that we Americans rally behind McCain just because the justified opposition questions his morals, especially as he runs as the "party of morals". A sad statement, but so true of us all (not us).
I liked your chevy duster
I liked your brand new trailer
I liked your colour tv
But you looked at that colour tv
More than me
More than me
4 cindy
If this story is not true, why is he acting like a guilty man? He should be fighting mad about this story.
I wonder if Billo is going to have his "body language expert" report on this. According to my Michael Chertoff gut, he's guilty as sin.
Ragnar @ 35:
Hello, McFly, learn to read.
Unless you believe that the owner of a company isn't a "representative" of his company, then McLame lied.
I just listened to that presser (without looking at video), and man, he sounds just like a poor guy who lost everything in a tornado--no hope, no fight left in him at all.
"...Goin' down the road, feelin' bad, bad, BAD. Don't wanna be treated this way..."
My friends, I don't know what McCain did while his pants were off, but I know who will get screwed if he becomes President
At the press conference Cindy seemed poised to peel off her human mask, revealing the lizard beneath, before devouring John like a rat-head.
I know, I know, it's not about the sex, but somebody better tell that to Cindy...
mudshark @ 37:
No I’m for McCain.
You must be for McCain too
you seem very clever.
Golly Gee if this was a story about one of the CLINTONS they'd already be tarred,feathered, and run out of town on a rail...but to see the great white whale Limbaugh finding a way for McCain to "redeem" himself in all of this is beyond comical! STICK A FORK IN RUSH...he's done!
To all those Clinton or Obama supporters who are worried that the "wrong" democrat will lose the general election (and that includes me), it's becoming clear that McCain is an exceptionally weak candidate who can't help but lose in a landslide. Drooling, worshipful cable pundits only have the power to make up a couple percentage points of that landslide.
[Deleted. Off topic-Sitemonitor]
theWalrus @ 23:
Don't forget to toss another squirrel on the Barbi
The most amazing thing about this story is how the right wing ass licking pundits are so viciously attacking the NY Times. These fuckers do this shit all the time. Attack! attack! attack! Roger Clemmens tried this method. What about the simple merit of the story? What if everything in the story is true? Like that first year law school question, "Can a prostitute be raped?" McCain, a man with a known bad temper, was suspiciously defensive at that news conference. I would have snapped if I were so wrongfully accused. The right wing really plays(and preys) on the stupidity of its following.
Is it me or does Mrs. McCain not look like Ilsa, Queen of the SS?
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