Rove defends McCain's Lobbyist friends by saying Obama has them too...yea, right!
By John Amato Tuesday Aug 12, 2008 11:00am
Rove tries to defend McCain's lobbyist pals on H&C with his typical "Obama has them too," routine. Colmes does a good job of pointing out the fact that McCain used to be a maverick when it came to lobbyists, but not anymore. And he didn't forget about naming Rick Davis either.
Download | play 
Download | play (h/t Heather)
Colmes: You have John McCain come out hard against Russia, his chief foreign policy advisor got lobbyists money. John McCain has talked about not taking lobbyist money and being a different kind of candidate back when he was a maverick. And then now he has all these lobbyists working for him.
I wouldn't get in there and start throwing mud at McCain over lobbyists associations without then realizing what kind of lobbyist associations there are among Democrats, particularly among congressional Democrats.
I think McCain is running for president and not the congress. Rove tries to say that Obama has plenty of them working for his campaign like McCain, but of course that's false. We've posted many stories on C&L about McCain's Army of Lobbyists. Here are but a few:
The John McCain Institute of Lobbyists
McCain Campaign Manager’s Alleged Russian Mob Ties
McCain Caught Off-Guard About Campaign’s Lobbyist Problems
McCain makes a distinction between good lobbyists and bad
And of course this big one: McCain: The Anti-lobbyist just loves lobbyists
Now the Washington Post follows that up with this:
In McCain’s case, the fact that lobbyists are essentially running his presidential campaign — most of them as volunteers — seems to some people to be at odds with his anti-lobbying rhetoric. “He has a closer relationship with lobbyists than he lets on,” said Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “The problem for McCain being so closely associated with lobbyists is that he’s the candidate most closely associated with attacking lobbyists.”
Public Citizen, a group that monitors campaign fundraising, has found that McCain had more bundlers — people who gather checks from networks of friends and associates — from the lobbying community than any other presidential candidate from either party. By the group’s current count, McCain had at least 59 federal lobbyists raising money for his campaign, compared with 33 working for Republican Rudolph W. Giuliani and 19 working for Democrat Clinton..read on
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....mcBundler
Yeah, but I bet non of Obama's advisers will get indicted, unlike some McCain advisers, present company included
The media will defend McCain until he dies.
Why isn't that bloated bastard, Karl Rove, in the bracelets?
Wow, Rove didn't look like devil spawn in this one. I wonder who his make-up artist is.
The old tried and true Repuke playbook: Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth..........to the morons who make no attempt to verify anything they are spoon fed.
Good to see fatf*&k made it back over to Fux from ABC, though it would have been better if he had gone to jail instead.
We know BushCo and McCainCo are uber corrupt. I would like to see C&L focus more on the blatant corruption of the Democrat
leadership. C&L has done well but needs more!!! Pelosi, Reid, Hoyer, Feinstein, Bayh, etc. should be defeated, removed,
expunged, excised, purged and humiliated publicly.
Liberal AND Proud @ 3:
And then defend whatever Rethug fills his shoes.
McCain is Rove's Get-Out-of-Jail card. Any conflict of interest there? Why isn't this repeated and repeated and repeated by someone--anyone--in the media?
rove's typical knee-jerk response when questioned about an allegation..... to blame someone else..and to not respond directly to the question. what gets me is that he's championed like some great mind....i don't get it.
Does this tub of shit ever tell the ruth? Listen to Rove's fumbling, stumbling non-answers....worthless evasive bullshit.
constituent @ 1:
McAnus
I see Rove as a cross between G. Gordon Liddy and Porky Pig. He'll do his time, probably in a country club style facility like Allenwood where he doesn't have to worry too much about being punked out, then be back on Fox with his own show after he's paroled.
Fox is big on hiring ex-cons. Well, white, well connected ones anyway. It's kind of a wingnut halfway house.
I have to say that I don't like the way Obama is running his campaign. I have cable, so I don't know how it looks on broadcast TV or on satellite dish, but I'm not seeing very many commercials for Obama. I would estimate that I see 8 or 10 McCain commercials for every Obama commercial. Maybe more. And the only Obama commercials are the ones that respond to a specific McCain criticism (like his stance on drilling off-shore). And I watch a lot of TV! I keep hearing about how much money he has, but where is it going? I don't like to hear the constant criticism in the media and from McCain's commercials without hearing anything from Obama. This makes no sense. Is he taking it for granted? Is he waiting until after the convention? If he's doing that, McCain will have made it a much closer race than it needed to be if Obama's campaign had simply been linking McCain to the Bush administration constantly in TV commercials and highlighting all the scandals of the Bush administration that the Republicans have tried to sweep under the rug. Going to Iraq and Europe and then spending time in Hawaii is not enough. Making speeches is not enough. He has to get in people's faces more than just making a speech here and there.
Mr McShame, please meet your party in the lobby. Mr McShame, please meet your party in the lobby.
Rove himself admits he wish things were different, that Washington politics wasnt so influenced by lobbyists. Maybe Rove (unless he believes his own lies) should vote for Obama rather than McCain then?
I am a lot less concerned with the nonsense being spread on FOX than the nonsense on ABC. The Disneyland News channel, which created the cover for the race card flap
at the end of July is now running an article headlined "Obama accused of not reaching out to Republicans." What was the news event that motivated this story? Apparently it was the formation yesterday of a group of Republicans for Obama headed by former Sen. Chafee and Rep. Leach. The accusation came in an interview ABC arranged with Joe Lieberman after Joe spoke for the umpteenth time at a McCain event. They used it to bury the real news of the Chafee-Leach effort.
appnzllr @ 14:
One reason that you see more of the McCain ads is because the MSM which is supposed to be news, plays the ads as if they were news. McCain said that he was going to depend on the MSM to advance his cause and they are doing exactly what he wants.
galmud @ 16:
Soulless bastards never mean what they say, they simply say what is expedient to say.
These criminals won't have their own ring in hell, they're gonna have their own wing.
complaining about the pro-Georgian lobbyist is not a win issue for Obama.
Seriously,we are part of NATO that's the way it is and NATO allies like it or not are NATO allies.
There may be conflicts of interests but in a NATO setting debating about a Pro-NATO lobbyist is not a win issue
Nikola @ 4:
yee gads it was jerry fallwels mortician make up director, jerry has him visit hell now and then to do his face when the devils not doing his lips!
if you listened to rove he says a lot of politics involves lobbyist and he wishes that to be different. this is one of the changes that needs to occur in washington. obama has mentioned this several times......i think some people forget that he has said this....what he can do i'm not sure.
this is the primary problem in washington and main reason nothing gets done. if you have time listen to fritz hollings on bill moyer's journal....he was in the congress/senate 30 plus years. he says it's way out of control and has changed the role of government.
this is a reason i am looking at obama. not because he will change everything but his intentions are to get started....the other reason i like him he hasn't been in washington long where...they lobbyists/fellow politicians try to buy you......and often it happens the longer your their...the better chance of it happening.
McDiculous @ 12:
McPoopypants
I have been racking my brain for about 35 years now trying to figure out why Republicans get more than about 25% of the vote. They are now and always have been about a ruling class of people and none of the working class of people should even attempt of join the elite ruling class. Unless your one of the top about 15% of income and or your all about greed over the other 85% then you have no business voting against your best interests. I can't have a real argument with a Republican because all of their thinking is always based on false premises. Even if you convince them that what they are saying is based on lies they will claim that their argument is still right. I wish I didn't care, it would be much better for my blood pressure.
Dose Rove remind anyone else of ELMER FUUD.
He is supposed to be the smarts behind the republicans I just don't get it.
He is going to be very popular in prison "pudgy" will have an A-hole as big as his mouth.
RayC @ 24:
They cheat.
liberalNmoderation @ 23:
McNesia, McMilkofMcnesia, Mcthuselah, McMeACupofTea, McTool, McFool, McLame, McWarNotPeace, McOrnery, McTantrum, McSellout, McClueless, Mcalamaniac...
I love the "You can't point out my guy is covered in soot because your guy has dirt on his finger" approach. Smells of desperation.
Besides, didn't Jim Johnson step down as an unpaid volunteer in the campaign? Is there anyone else for Rove to try to point the finger at? No??
Ron @ 18:
True. However, it keeps backfiring on McSame because his ads are childish, uninformative and, according to McSame's mother, STUPID !
Dennis @ 25:
heh...he reminds me of a hog, boy.
it's part of the modern GOP strategy that their reps cede their responsibilities to staffs made up by their corporate masters. it's just the way they all work now.
You know the very first time I heard Rove speak my Gaydar just about went SNAP..
Fil @ 20:
Gerorgia is NOT a member of NATO.
In fact that is precisely one of the major issues here.
McCain's "advisor" Randy Scheunneman (sp?) is a lobbyist paid by Georgia to help push NATO to accept Georgia, despite grave reservations by Western European nations.
Specifically France and Germany both said no.
McCain has a deep loathing for Russia and for the last decade has visited Georgia several times and given encouragement to Saakashvili's anti-Russian rhetoric and military buildup.
McCain tows the Bush party line of encircling Russia, exacerbating post Cold War tensions in that part of the world.
McCain is part of the problem.
I've never seen anyone lie and mislead in such a cavalier manner. There is a special place in Hell for Karl Rove.
Ron @ 26:
cheating is part of it but what i've seen is the ongoing culture war from late 90's.....being different is turned into they don't like you, respect you or they think they are better than you. this is the theme. this country is becoming more and more Culturally segregated...i've found that conservatives who try to seem independent are just the opposite surprise....and dems. often try to have independence...personally i've found many but not all conservatives to be black and white thinkers...the wealthy conservatives i've met were basically concerned about taxation. so for the wealthy it's taxes. as far as the rest of the conservatives i believe there is ongoing perceived cultural difference that they feel they have to almost fight for. of course special interest money is behind this. so the country is divided and manipulated easier...human behavior has been monitored through commerce/marketing for years...it's one big laboratory.
I couldn't watch it all. America would be much better today if we could just find some previously undiscovered cannibals on a island somewhere to feed Rove and his fat ass to. That bastard has gleefully done everything he could to destroy the constitution, and turn America into a fascist police state. God please let some orbital space debris fall on Rove's freedom hating head, so the world could be a better place to live in.
RayC @ 24:
The Republicans play the politics of wedge issues to "divide and conquer."
And they do it extremely well.
In the 1860's they used the wedge issue of slavery (think about it) to divide and conquer the United States of America.
The "North" didn't win the American Civil War - the Industrialists won and the People lost.
And the Republicans haven't looked back once.
Ghostwolf @ 36:
I not sure that even cannibals would eat meat as tainted as Rove's ass.
CMINCA @ 34:
As one who doesn't believe in heaven or hell. I'd much rather know that there's a special place for him in prison.
Dennis @ 32:
I think many of his future friends at Leavenworth concur.
Fil @ 20:
Hey there, Georgia is NOT a member of NATO.
If Rove were a Democrat and was defending Obama's use of lobbyists by saying that McCain also used lobbyists, that damned Hannity would have said, "I didn't ask you about McCain's use of lobbyists....I asked you about Obama's use of them." At the very end of that video, when Rove says that Harry Reid's own son is a lobbyist, I hear Hannity start to laugh.
I hate Hannity and Rove. I sure as heck hope Rove gets indicted for something and spends serious time in jail. In fact, like that douchebag praying for rain on Obama's Denver speech, I pray for Rove to get indicted.
rove exhibits the black and white thinking again with
'let's don't talk or get into how many lobbyists' mccain has
how many lobbyists matters...more influence vs. less
lobbyists....lobbyists are running mccains campaign period....mccain is a hypocrite...he is part of the problem in washington.
Take a look at this stuff.
(CNN) – Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili on Wednesday called for John McCain and other American leaders to do more for Georgia in their response to the conflict in his country.
“Yesterday, I heard Sen. McCain say, ‘We are all Georgians now,’” Saakashvili said on CNN’s American Morning. “Well, very nice, you know, very cheering for us to hear that, but OK, it’s time to pass from this. From words to deeds.”
McCain told a crowd in Pennsylvania yesterday that he had called Saakashvili to express solidarity with the people of Georgia, saying: “Today, we are all Georgians.”
But Saakashvili said action is more important than rhetoric in the face of “brutal” and “deliberate” Russian violence. He urged the United States to take the lead in installing an international peacekeeping force.
“We should realize what is at stake here for Americans,” he said. “America is losing the whole region.”
“What Americans should do know, first of all, clearly make known their intentions,” he said.
Now this guy wants to draw the USA into a fight he started with or without the blessing of the administration and who dose he call out
McFritz after all Mcsane did receive the order of Georgia from Saakashvili that makes him a KNIGHT or something like that Mcstupid is only the second American to receive this the other one was BUSH in 2005
obama does have them too...
to claim that obama does not employ lobbyists, to claim that obama doesn't have corporate jockeys, etc, is to not be honest.
sorry...
this does NOT give mccain any excuses, but let's be honest.
MountainMan23 @ 37:
I was under the impression that the Republican Party back then was a completely different animal...Abe Lincoln was republican, and one of our finest presidents, I mean the man ended slavery for chrissakes. And while I can't deny that there were heartless industrialists/capitalists back then influencing things...to me it was more about right vs. wrong.
I think these industrialist you speak of were more opportunists in that case, rather than catalysts.
Of course...I could be wrong, but I think the republican party starting changing for the worse during the depression.
KKKarl (thinking to hemself...)
'For God's sake, Sean, get this Obama-loving PUNK out of my FACE! We're on FOX! I shouldn't have to andwer HARD questions like this!'
Samson- @ 45:
Granted...but he has nowhere near as many, nor are they anywhere near as evil as McBains lobbyists.
Samson- @ 45:
name the people who are current lobbyests working on obama's campaign
[Deleted. Abusive. C'mon UJM. That's a bs accusation and you know it-Sitemonitor]
CMINCA @ 34:
And a special orifice on Karl Rove for the flaming poker that awaits him in hell. I love the smell of cooked pork on a rotisserie.
[Deleted. Off topic. Let's quit feeding this fire early-Sitemonitor]
ruh roh...I'm gonna get deleted by site monitor again. Damn, havin' a lousy week.
[Edit yourself. Think before you submit. Is it on topic? No? Is it flame bait? Yes? Don't post it then...We all know you're clever and smart and witty. You don't have to try to prove it at every turn-Sitemonitor]
when asked about the lobbyists in your campaign and you answer by discussing your opponents campaign members is NOT answering the question...that is the perceived "genius" of...rove....personally i feel alan should have pushed that.
the black and white thinker hears rove and says yah he (obama)has them also. the grey area thinkers want to know the specifics and that requires longer answer therefore more time to explain.
well guess what....that's not the fox format instead they
have a show of sound bites and strategic interuptions.
Philip Graham @ 41:
GOP Rule #1...wait for it...waaaaait for it...Never let the facts get in the way.
liberalNmoderation@48
i won't argue with that. can you imagine a 'United Food & Commercial Workers International Union lobbyist' on mccain's payroll? i certainly can't.
now, if obama would reject and eject his wal mart and goldman sachs thuggies...
also, once again, it exposes the HUGE danger that obama is flirting with with his main message.
A Real Journalist would have responded to Rove's claim that Obama has similar links to lobbyinsts by demanding: "Name Five!"
That's the best response to the "Everybody does it" argument.
How nice the way he handles tu quoques
I much prefer touchés to douches.
I don't watch the cable news anymore. Why isn't that pig in jail?
tough anti-lobbyists chatter that's all it is. mccain talks tough then behind closed doors it's lobbyists talking tough to him...watch this short video....AT&T influence
http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/48810--the-one-for-lobbyists-at-t-donates-...
g. @ 58:
I think there's legislation being put in place where Rove and the rest of the GOP are going to be added to the endangered species list.
Samson- @ 55:
Agreed. But again, while walmart and goldman are evil for sure...they can't hold a candle to the pure uncut evil of McBain lobbyists...
Was the election already held and we just haven't been told yet.
Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili on Wednesday called for John McCain to do more for Georgia in response to the conflict in his country.
I thought that request for help in conflicts was directed to "The President" and not someone hoping to be president McInsane might be wise
to remind his friend president Mikheil Saakashvili of the ways of the world seems that this guy just cant understand how things work.
Don't attack someone with bigger friends than you in the neighborhood and when you call for help talk to the guy that can help
not some twit.
As for the United States to take the lead in installing an international peacekeeping force that wont fly as a peacekeeping force
must be impartial and we all know now that the United States is not impartial when it comes to Georgia same goes for Russia
and no other country is going to put its peacekeeping force in to that hornet nest.
Uncle Joe Mccarthy,
nice.
and, here ya go:
http://thehill.com/images/stories/news/2007/12/chart.pdf
and there's this, if you prefer:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080630/klein
no... well, how about this:
http://www.alternet.org/election08/93318/obama_and_mccain_suck_up_to_the...
listen, i know there a lot of people here that would prefer that people like me stfu and get on the bandwagon. but i think they are not only wrong, they are actually hurting the person they are supposedly supporting.
i care deeply about the future of america, getting corporations out of our govt, and other such things--so much so that i am not willing to close my eyes and pretend someone is not who they really are. but, i believe (and hope), that pressure from below could transform obama into a candidate that is more progressive and symbolizes REAL change.
which, in the end, would only make him a stronger candidate. seriously, that is what i think. i WANT obama to be a stronger candidate--but for real.
**MEMORANDUM**
The standard IOKIYAR still applies to the throngs of corrupt Republicans mentioned in talk shows. However the following needs to become accepted fact as pundits are now finding faults in John "Awesome Sauce!" McCain:
IOKIYAPOW
(It's OK if you're a POW)
lobbyists will often hedge and donate money to both sides
depending on their interest. it's like having a diversified portfolio. own both sides but have a closed door favortisim. lobbyists won't be stopped so the compromise is reduced/regulated.....their objective is access to politicians so they can represent their cause...but they also try to buy every possible decision maker. the longer your in washington the more likely your exposed to this.
something to think about when challenging obama's lack of time in washington....he's not owned and the money doesn't like that.
'I know ya are, but what am I'...... Oh brother, what crap!!! I blame the American school system and the 3rd grade schoolyard bully for the pox on America and it's political system that is Karl Rove... The little snot should have finished the job pounding the shit out of that fat little fucker when he had the chance.... I'm not sayin... I'm jus sayin....JD
Samson- @ 63:
Thank you for pointing that out. I'll be keeping a close eye on how these people affect his policy statements and decisions in the future. Hopefully they will coincide with what I hope Obama will do.
Looks like the pot calling the kettle black. Opps, guess I'll be called a racist now! Obamagans can dish it out but they can't take it! The great pretender "0" claims, McCain takes oil monies and surrounds his campaign with lobbyist! Is this a matter of degree; Obama was paid close to a million by the Oil company and he's dealt with Lobbyist! Double standard for sure!
Take the rose colored glasses off beguiled, misled democrats. Ex Democrat, who sees the handwriting on the wall and its scary!
Vivienne Avare @ 68:
Give it a rest, will you?
I love how some people think that they are the kings of knowledge and wisdom, saving us simpletons from our misguided thoughts.
I've got news for you, chicken little, the sky isn't falling. You're just going to run yourself out of energy if you keep chasing your tail.
I say let him catch it.
When we hear a sound like someone getting the nads caught in a slammed car door, we'll know he's been successful.
Nothing should make Americans feel better about their candidate than knowing he's sold his soul to the devil in order to get elected. McSame now shares a fiery spot right next to Rove, Bush and Cheney.
liberalNmoderation @ 39:
Dare to dream. If there is a place in prison for him, the next Republican in office will certainly pardon him.
[Deleted. Don't post in ALL CAPS. And this thread is not about Harry Reid-Sitemonitor]
Just because we all got mothers
Doesn't mean she's Ma Barker.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMpoRggs9s4
Lobbying needs to be illegal; it's nothing more than a formalized system of bribery. If anybody has business that only the Congress can correct, it should be handled by a petition for formal public hearings, in which opposing voices can also be heard. I regard politicians of any party who consort with lobbiests as corrupt, deserving only of removal from office and subsequent prosecution for accepting bribes. If it means that every last person in Congress be removed from office and sent to prison, so be it. Lobbiest themselves should be put up against the wall and shot.
CMINCA @ 34:
That would be the 8th Circle for conscious fraud and treachory, the possibilities are Bolgia 2: where flatters are immersed in excrement, Bolgia 5: For corrupt politicians who are put in boiling pitch, Bolgia 6: for the Hypocrites listlessly walking along wearing gold-gilded lead cloaks, Bolgia 8: For the fraudulent advisors are encased in individual flames, Bolgia 9: A sword-wielding demon hacks at the sowers of discord, Bolgia 10: Here various sorts of falsifiers are themselves afflicted with different types of diseases
Or worst of all:
Having to commute (meaning to travel not drop charges, lest the CPA come after ya.)
Anyone else thinking that this Georgia crisis is our August surprise, set up by McCain campaign with full ok by Cheney? Bush at the Olympics, Condi on vacation, McCain Georgia connection, and where did Rove go when he went 'out of the country', anyway?
Turd Blossom 101: Falsely accuse the other side of what you are guilty of.
CMINCA @ 72:
I dare.
He might get pardoned. If he makes it that long. Even in a club fed type prison....somebody wants ya dead, your dead.
I wouldn't lose a bit of sleep if I heard he was stabbed repeatedly about the face and neck until the attackers blade went dull.
Rove is a traitor. And he knows it.
I hope he gets what he deserves, on THIS plane of reality. Not some fairy tale subterranean hell.
It's what they do so well...if they can't argue with facts, they just make shit up. NOBODY calls them on it....like "Give me the name of a lobbyist on the Obama staff"...or "you are simply full of shit".
Nope, we just let them argue with made up facts, also known as blatant lies back in the "good old days".
You've come a long way baby......
"If I ever get to be a lobbyist, somebody ought to do something to me."
Karl Rove
Mr. Rove,
Why wait until then?
Bob Novak, please pick up your courtesy phone.
Mr. Novak, your duty is clear. Your Corvette is fueled and ready. Your mission, should you choose to accept it........
I bet Rove's head has gotten cold after all these years without a hat.
Back in early 1996, Karl "Duke" Rove told me he didn't like my East Coast attitude. Well, I've got news for Dukie boy. Washington DC didn't like his incompetence!
McCain LOVES LOBBYISTS more than the American people.
I don't watch Faux videos, and I was away for a few weeks, so my question is, why is Rove on TV instead of being locked up in the basement of Congress??
Oh, I see, they took the nasty letter route again, and Rove walks free, while Peloosi is in L.A. telling people how she swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. Is that it?
Bush didn't fire anyone involved in the "Plame Affair" as he promissed, and that seems to be good enough for the Dems too.
Rove:
"If I ever get to be a lobbyist, you know, do something to me..."
In a just world, we would. Somewhere in a dark alley.
Why is this fat bitch not in JAIL? This is outrageous to have this nasty ass criminal sitting his fat ass on nation wide TV, demonizing anybody, let alone Senator Obama.
It just goes to show the extremes the Rupert Murdock media will go to let all Americans know that he and these disgusting prostitutes, he is pimping, run the show.
i hope karl gets his just deserts in the end...justice at a Haugue war crimes tribunal, serving out his sentence at gitmo.
yeah, not yea
What about John McCain's Black baby, Rove? You POS.
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