McCain, his personal life, and statements 'that conflict with the public record'
By Steve Benen Friday Jul 11, 2008 7:00pm
Since the start of the campaign, John McCain's personal controversies have been off limits in the media, but there have been a few cracks in the ice. There was, for example, this report in the UK’s Daily Mail last month about John McCain’s first wife. It was quite a painful story, involving physical difficulties, infidelity, and divorce. “My marriage ended because John McCain didn’t want to be 40, he wanted to be 25,” Carol McCain said.
The first substantive report about this in the U.S. media appeared this morning, in the LA Times.
McCain, who is about to become the GOP nominee, has made several statements about how he divorced Carol and married Hensley that conflict with the public record.
In his 2002 memoir, “Worth the Fighting For,” McCain wrote that he had separated from Carol before he began dating Hensley. “I spent as much time with Cindy in Washington and Arizona as our jobs would allow,” McCain wrote. “I was separated from Carol, but our divorce would not become final until February of 1980.”
An examination of court documents tells a different story.
Yes, McCain committed adultery — and then was far from truthful about it.
McCain did not sue his wife for divorce until Feb. 19, 1980, and he wrote in his court petition that he and his wife had “cohabited” until Jan. 7 of that year — or for the first nine months of his relationship with Hensley.
Although McCain suggested in his autobiography that months passed between his divorce and remarriage, the divorce was granted April 2, 1980, and he wed Hensley in a private ceremony five weeks later. McCain obtained an Arizona marriage license on March 6, 1980, while still legally married to his first wife.
McCain, not surprisingly, doesn’t want to talk about the subject. Asked for comment, his campaign spokesperson said, “Of course we will not comment on the breakup of the senator’s first marriage, other than to note that the senator has always taken responsibility for it.”
To reiterate a point I’ve raised before, as far as I’m concerned, McCain’s marital difficulties and adultery aren’t particularly significant in this campaign, especially years later. I’m inclined to see a distinction made between public and private worlds. I defended Bill Clinton, and said his personal controversies had no bearing on his ability to be a good candidate and a good president, so I can’t very well turn around and say the opposite about McCain, no matter how badly he treated his first wife.
But that nevertheless leads to two relevant angles here. First, is the partisan double standard. If Clinton’s personal history was a matter of tremendous national significance as a presidential candidate (and as a president), then it’s not unreasonable to wonder why McCain isn’t subjected to the same scrutiny. I’d prefer both issues are off the table, but I’m hard pressed to imagine why only Democratic presidential candidates’ personal lives are of interest in the context of a national campaign.
In 1992, long before the election, then-Gov. Clinton’s personal life dominated the political discourse, and journalists weren’t the least bit embarrassed about making this a critical campaign issue. And yet, today’s LAT piece is, as far as I can tell, the first U.S. newspaper to highlight McCain’s background as an adulterer.
Second, even for those who are willing to say that McCain’s personal/family difficulties are a private matter, there’s also the fact that McCain apparently lied about his infidelity. Now, I understand why he lied; he’s no doubt embarrassed. But, again, if Clinton’s lies about adultery were evidence of a poor character, McCain’s obvious untruths warrant similar scrutiny, don’t they?
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Where is Ken Starr when you need him?
As much as a hate McCain I wouldn't believe a single word the Daily Mail publishes, it's a vile rag.
Whoa! What about the REASON McCain committed adultery in the first place?
He got back from Vietnam to discover that his beauty queen wife had been in a car accident 3 years earlier, and was now physically disabled and overweight. Cue: The beginning of the affair with his more attractive (and significantly wealthier) current wife.
Read the Daily Mail story - it's heartbreaking.
Oh, my Gaw-w-wd!?!! McSame COMMITTED ADULTERY and LIED????
Does LIEberman know about this???
'Cause I'm pretty sure if Holy Joe knew that John defiled the holy sacrament of marriage and then committed the sin of lying, he would not continue to whisper sweet nothongs in Johnny's ear....
CommieBoy @ 1:
Ken Starr is probably typing one handed again.
Do infants have as much fun in infancy as adults do in adultery?
I read the story about McCains' homecoming and Carol's devastating accident and recovery long ago....
I sincerely hope you meant the story is "heartbreaking" from Carol's point of view.
Otherwise....????!!!!!""">>>
McCain would be a terrible president.
Vote for Obama.
He will be so much better.
Let's not go there. McCain is vulnerable in so many other areas.
The party of Family Values. The more families they have the more they value them?
american in holland @ 9:
Uh, what would they be saying if this was Obama?
did he bomb innocent civilians?
and, if so, has he asked his personal lord and saviour, jesus christ, to forgive him?
and did pa mccain help cover up the attack on the u.s.s. liberty? if so, does that make the mccain clan treasonous?
That story was from Friday's L.A. Times, not this morning ... ?!
Captain Bitter Whiner Husein Kangaroo @ 11:
Don't give in to Atwater politics.
Money is his holy grail. To hell with people. War is a turnon, Victory at all costs. But it's the ribs, stupid. If the major media is so easily bribed, we need a new major media.
I truly fail to understand this emphatic concentration on the likes of a putz like McCain.
He going lose the election or drop out anyway. He is a nothing.
further, I care even less about how he left his wife thirty years ago. On the one hand, it's cheap stooping to rethug level (trying to see the difference, if any, these days save for a paltry handful who still are genuine dems, houses and constituents alike).
On the other hand,the fingers are smaller.
You were an idiot then about Clinton and you still miss the elephant in the room on adultery.
A man who is willing to lie, cheat, and deceive his wife, the person he is supposed to care the most for in the world, will do the same to the voters. How can you not grasp that basic premise? Why the fuck would you trust someone like that?
Bill Clinton, "So called man of the people", gave us NAFTA which fucked more middle class Americans over then almost any other government action ever. And then went on to change the rules so good paying defense work was shipped off to China.
It damn well matters if someone commits adultery and it's not my fault you have to be basically functionally retarded not to comprehend that.
The part of the mans character that shows he will lie to satisfy only his desires at the expense of his loved ones has no bearing on whether he's be a good leader.
You can blow me with that assanine argument. Blow me.
McCain makes Mahmoud Ahmadinejad look like Dr. Phil.
You forget. It's OK if you're a Republican.
WTF? We saw what happened to Kerry if you play nice. If you don't drive a fucking wooden stake into their "hearts" we'll have Bush's third term. I say throw everything there is at the pandering son-of-a-bitch. If you think the repukes will suddenly go all Marquis of Queensbury rules you really are a fool (or troll.)
Captain Bitter Whiner Husein Kangaroo @ 11:
Gingrich and Barr would be dominating the Sunday morning talk shows with calls for Obama to be censured by the Senate and forced to withdraw from the Presidential race.
But, it's a Republican, not a Democrat, so (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) boys will be boys.
No !
No!
NO!
THe point is...
is the reality of McSame's campaign a "McCain StraightTalkExpress" ?? (which it sure the hell is NOT!)
or is it a ...
McShame LyingSack-o-Shite POW Special?
or the...
McGoo's Bumper Car Adventure?"
I vote for #3.
I know its not nice to say, but MAN ...Cindy McCain looks like an old ass lady trying to look young
>then it’s not unreasonable to wonder why McCain isn’t subjected to the same scrutiny
It certainly cannot be said that I am an unhappy reader.
JC @ 18:
Nice choice of word there JC. Blow Me LOL!
Let me get this right, You're blaming Bill Clinton for Nafta, and saying he's not trust worthy because he got caught getting a blow job. Right?
Nafta. Yep! He signed it. And some people lost their jobs. I personally didn't like Nafta all that much. It just seemed like a bad idea to me . BUT, when you go into Costco or Walmart or any number of big stores and find items that are cheaper than what they should be, I'll bet you buy them by the handful.C'mon admit it.
You seem to want to attack Bill Clinton for his indiscretion but are more than happy to let McCain slide for having his adulterous affair. An affair which he abandoned an injured wife. Cognitive Dissonance. That's the best way I can describe your comment.
One of the many ironic traits of the Repuglic*nts is their righteous indignation at certain "off limit" attacks on their politicos, never seeing anything wrong with attacking Dems on exactly the same points. I say drop any criticisms of McDainbramage's marital or martial past. It's not worth the backlash.
I think as he exposes himself ( no ysb, not like that ), he will do enough by himself to lose and lose big. I'm looking forward to his next temper tantrum, his next mental vapor lock, and his next bad joke in incredibly bad taste.
Much lack of of information on McCain will be taken care of because Washington Post has a dedicated reporter, Kimberley Kindy, assigned to report on McCain!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/11/AR200807...
h/t http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/7/12/155632/748/571/550653
You can ask Kimberly about her hard breaking McCain reporting here:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/email/kimberly+kindy/
This fixation on McCain is really really dumb and a waste of monumental proportions. BushCo put him up there to distract everyone. He can say whatever he wants, change his mind three times a day, forget even how he voted, it doesn't matter. He's loving the role and that's a good thing. Old war heroes earn their day in the sunset.
From here it appears America is being played again while the gamers are busy setting up the next neoconjob. Meanwhile the President thumbs his nose at the world, mocks its' leaders, punches the air and fires another round into Planet Earth.
Does anybody truly believe BushCo will give it up and face the wrath of the World Court as civilians? Pay their due for crimes against humanity? These boys are just getting started. Anyone with a rudimentary understanding of the laws of physics knows what they are capable of. Don't let grandpa distract, or the golden one either. It's our kids who are going to suffer the most if this tyranny isn't dealt with effectively and immediately.
"He's a war hero damn-it! And his policies will save this country."
"He also puts on one helluva barbecue!"
- Your Corporate MSM
mudshark @ 26:
I for one, am tired of people bad-mouthing blow jobs! Whoever says that don't love a blow job, is giving you a mouth full!
I wonder if Cindy is at all upset that her husband has commited adultry on her with a threesome including Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman. You never see them apart, they constantly correct him for being the dumb prick that he is, and they are clearly asshole buddies for life.
With family values like this......
mudshark @ 26:
Actually Mudshark, what I read is not an attack really on Clinton, but an affirmation that McCain lying, cheating and stealing on his spouse leads to a piss poor leader. He has a point.
No matter what level of sewer the Atwater/DeLay/Rove GOP may seek for itself, we cannot follow them down, if we want to actually have a government that will do the things we want it to do.
Go back to Federalist Paper #1. While arguing for the Constitution (a noble cause) the writers said they were going to lay off the personal attacks, not only because they would be counter-productive and destructive, but because: "...we are not always sure, that those who advocate the truth are actuated by purer principles than their antagonists." "Ambition, avarice, personal animosity . . . and othe motives not more laudable than these, are apt to operate as well upon those who support, as upon those who oppose the right side of a question."
Advocate "the truth." Speak for "the right side of the question."
There are good people on the other side [not thinking of Atwater, Delay, Gingrich, Rove, etc . . . but those that they have sucked in] and there are, you may be sure, people on the side of the right and the truth who have led indefensible lives.
Let's stick to the point, and draw in as many people to the right and the truth, simply because it is right and true.
Let this story drop.
ConcernedCanuck @ 34:
I can see that in there Concerned. But it appears to me JC should have been more articulate in his comment. He conflated the two. Which shows me a concern troll.
NoGWBpolicyleftinplace @ 31:
DOOOD!!! "is giving you a mouth full"........ I don't know what to say.
sorry that shoe don't fit..nasty nasty comment.
Everything is OK if you are Republicon--you are rich and who cares about the mythical little people.
Look, the real issue here is not McCain himself--the guy who was totally complicit in the "Keating Five" scandal (being one of the notorious five), who called his wife a trollop and a c*nt, who doesn't know the difference between Sudan and Somalia, who doesn't know the difference between Sunni and Shia, who doesn't know the difference between the Packers and the Steelers. The real issue is the way the major media treat this clueless, ethically challenged guy.
Cynically, I suspected that, given that McCain is so obviously an incompetent and unqualified candidate, the media were protecting him so that the race would remain an exciting story. But Bob Schieffer convinced me otherwise.
Remember when Schieffer responded with genuine astonishment to Clark's suggestion that being shot down (through incompetence or bad luck) is by no means an essential qualification for a future president? Remember when he challenged Kerry, with equally genuine astonishment, about the mere possibility that Kerry might be questioning McCain's integrity?
The essential point here is that Schieffer, a top-shelf talking head, was clearly astonished that anyone could possibly doubt that (would-be) Emperor McCain might not be uniquely qualified and might not possess spotless integrity--might, in fact, be parading in total nudity. Remember! No suggestion Schieffer was play-acting. Would that he were! Rather, he was totally blindered, close-minded, and in thrall to a totally fantastic narrative.
That's what progressives confront. The preposterous lying of Fox News isn't the problem. Everyone knows what they are. The real problem is with major media figures like Schieffer.
it's an early instance of straight-talk mccain's actual character as a serial liar, the most recent being his claim in pittsburgh that it was the steelers' defensive line whose names he recited as a prisoner of war.
is he relying on the fact that few people have read his book (i had no idea it had been made into a "movie") and that most of those are dead-enders who are going to excuse it on the basis that "it's just politics," or is there something else going on? is there a fix in that we're going to learn about AFTER mccain is sworn in? (god please don't make us suffer from that ricter grin being our constant companion for any longer than now to november)
JC@18 Jou seZ,
"It damn well matters if someone commits adultery and it’s not my fault you have to be basically functionally retarded not to comprehend that."
Well, of course it matters to me in that my husband did just that, twice in fact.
But it doesn't matter to me that a buttwipe like McCain did it 30 years ago, and if it matters to you about the other 75% or more in both houses who have done that then better watch out for the stampede.
JC@18, almost forgot to mention. Does man-on-boy sex count with the married repukes cuz there's LOTS of that including a (married repuke) guy in FL who crossed a state line to have sex (he thought but it was a setup for predators) with a 7 year old girl. At least it was a girl which is a giant step closer to normalcy for a repuke these days.
Or in your mind none of the above counts because Clinton had a BJ with a woman.
You guys are schmucks, freak schmucks (below putz's).
JC @ 18:
I do not think anyone needs to blow you, you have done a good enough job yourself.
funny how if you ask mccain a question he can't or won't answer you're an "anti-mccain activist."
I'm holding my breath waiting for Huckleberry Graham to denounce the immorality of his political mentor, like he did for Bill Clinton.
When can I come up for air?
Saddo @ 3:
John McSame was a POW until 1973 and did not meet Cindy until April 1979. There were lots of women, beside his wife Carol, in John's life until he found the Goose with the Golden Eggs. If all the women John McSame screwed around with were to show up all at once, they would be a larger group than most of the groups he talks to at townhall meetings.
i was just sitting here reading the "worse they allow" quote and letting it sink in a little more.
i think the "journalist" is wrong in his statement that the mccain campaign "allows" challenges or "even" criticism. certainly in the case of the vietnam vet who wasn't able to get a straight answer from mr. straight talk on the subject of his votes AGAINST veterans healthcare benefits, mr. straight talk believed he had a safe sucker in the room with a softball question, which i would guess is no different in any of the other instances where he finds himself challenged by questions in his little townhall meetings.
and the "journalist" believes that the mccain campaign's mistake is "allowing" criticism or challenge of mccain to happen "before tv cameras." i guess that's because it makes deniability problematic.
it sure is nice of the chicago tribune to let us in on the secret to pulling of a successful scam -- err, presidential campaign.
SteveinSC @ 21:
Amen----how many times are we going to bend over and say "at least we aren't them" and have our asses handed to us? Some of the folks on our side may feel better about themselves for not adopting "Atwater" tactics as they watch President McCain being sworn in next January.
I won't be one of them. Can we please, for once, bring a cannon to a knife fight?
Technically a bigamist too, divorce not finalized before he took out his next marriage license...
the chicago tribune story (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/wire/chi-ap-mccain-weekinreview...) is comedy gold:
so the gaffe on day five of a five-day gaffe spree in a campaign that specializes in gaffes is just one of those odd moments .
the chicago tribune is a veritable fountain of hard-hitting journamalism. good thing they're working hard to show they're not in the bag for obama or someone might challenge their credibility.
another interesting aspect to the chicago tribune website where the article is posted is that at the end of the mccain story the provide his link to the mccain campaign website. they do not extend the same courtesy to obama.
and they have quizzes you can take to "test your knowledge" about the two candidates.
the quiz on obama, though it contains many idiotic questions, has questions about his time in the senate and his efforts to bring the iraq military action to an end.
not surprisingly, mccain's is loaded with softball questions which reinforce the media driven image. the only questions with respect to his senate work are one about his vote to allow the cia to torture, one about his maverickyness in "breaking" with reagan and, preciously, "On what other issues had McCain broken with the Republican establishment?"
i had to send them a note to explain that question #6, where did mccain work before he was elected to congress, did not include the correct answer among the four offered -- he worked for his father-in-law at his beer distributorship as vice president of public relations, which apparently he hated. unless the chi-trib doesn't consider it an actual job when you get hired after marrying the daughter/future owner?
and notably, while there is a question about obama "nearly [coming] to blows with West Side Democrat Ricky Hendon," there is not a whiff of a question about mccain "nearly coming to blows" with anyone.
The media would surely treat this story differently if McCain were a Democrat. I'd like to know why Fox is assasinating Michele Obama's character and we're giving a free pass to Cindy McCain who is a known whore because she knowingly fooled around with a married man.
REPUBLICANS, "DON'T DO AS I DO, JUST DO AS I SAY"
CAROL MCCAIN JUST BE THANKFUL HE WASN'T AROUND WHILE YOU WERE IN THE HOSPITAL DEALING WITH YOUR ACCIDENT, OOPS..NAH..I WON'T BRING UP NEWT.
lots of men cheat, but mcSame left a CRIPPLED woman with 3 small children-what sort of man would do that?
seevee @ 27:
His " next temper tantrum, his next mental vapor lock, and his next bad joke in incredibly bad taste " will be totaly ignored by the fully paid up Republican owned MSM.
diana @ 54:
AND he also took out his new marriage license while still married to his abandoned crippled wife.
the periods overlap, so thats technically bigamy AND adultery.
But of course he used his new wife's money to pay off his old wife and keep her out of the media spotlight,
so alls well that ends well.
what do you call somebody who abandons his wife and children, commits adultery, starts a new marriage off with bigamy,
then 'bricks up' his old unwanted wife and family from the media and the US voters !!??
Answer a Republican called McCain
You can understand why the christian republicans just love McNasty
And of course McNasty's top man in Alabama caught in bed with his boyfriend, by his wife.
just another day in Republican la la land.
“Of course we will not comment on the breakup of the senator’s first marriage, other than to note that the senator has always taken responsibility for it.”
In other words, Of course we will not comment upon this... except to comment on it. In a vague and self-serving way.
Mr Squirrel @ 59:
his new wife took care of the silence money.
mudshark @ 36:
True enough. But for once he/she actually has a valid point. Starting to wonder myself if the truly "great" times that people remember in previous governments were actually because of bit players behind the curtain, and not the visible spokesperson. If the Prez or CEO has incompetent staffers, you get the BushCo. fiasco type government I guess. Either way it truly baffles the mind when people lionize one leader, and blast another, when both were lifelong politicians or basically welfare case liars.
Come on McCain, die of a heart attack after finding out that your sick bitch wife has been fucking the pool boy and has contracted HIV.
"McCain obtained an Arizona marriage license on March 6, 1980, while still legally married to his first wife."
If this statement regarding McCain's marital status is true, then he was guilty not only of adultery, but polygamy. As such, that would constitute much more than a simply personal matter and encroach into illegal actions on his part.
mccain is pro-divorce and pro-adultery!
Ok, to be more specific, technically speaking that would mean that McCain was a bigamist, if only for a few weeks.
I'm no historian, but I don't think that's a status many presidential candidates could claim.
Marco @ 62:
No need to be quite so impatient concerning that ignorant and stupid old warmongering cretin. Nature will take it's course in all good time.
Beware the karmic boomerang, in any case!
Have faith that McCain will lose big in November, as long as most Americans (who can manage to get their votes counted!) will vote Democratic in November.
McBush can't handle the truth, like any Reslug liar and wife cheater.
OMG, just flashed on the horror of waking up in the morning and the first thing I see is the larval wet countenance of McCain lying next to me in the blazing hot furnice of sterile Arizona morning shivering between nightsweat-soaked sheets.
He also got caught calling Cindy the C word right?
What's the story behind that?
That photo of John McShame and wife Cindy is nauseating. He looks like a doddering old fool. She looks like an aging Barbee doll with about six facelifts. One suspects she has inflatable shoulder pads sewn into her blouses to keep from hurting herself when her head hits her shoulders each time she says, "I don't know!" She's your quintessential GOP dumb blonde. (Think of Colder, Fiorina, et al.)
The right-wing Christian extremists are coming around to McCain finally, which I can't figure out. This guy's a proven adulterer, married to a woman who runs a beer distributorship, and who personally enjoys playing craps - 3 things that are supposed to be really sinful in their eyes. So they're either all a bunch of hypocrites (likely), really stupid (more likely), or both.
Does anyone think that the media and Republican pit bulls would NOT crucify Obama if the tables were turned? I thought so.
Not to mention the way McCain challenges Obama on keeping his promises; doing what he says he'll do. He promised his first wife -- a model -- he'd honor and love her, then tossed her over when a car accident left her less attractive than he thought she should be. Never mind the fact that she'd waited for him while he was imprisoned in North Vietnam. Nevermind that he wasn't quite the looker he was when they married. Nevermind that she needed him more than ever as she tried to fight her way back to good health. His promises meant nothing to him as he played with another woman he thought was prettier.
I don't care about his personal life either. But if he brings up wither or not promises are kept, I can't help but think of his first wife and the promises to her he simply decided not to keep.
kmh
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