John McCain's MANY
Questionable Ties
With only weeks before the election, John McCain and Sarah Palin have recently brought up Obama's ties to Bill Ayers and Reverend Jeremiah Wright. John McCain has many questionable ties too.
Well, if we're going to play the Guilt by Association game — let's go!
Perhaps McCain would like to explain these associations to the American people, including why he chose to appear on G. Gordon Liddy's radio show less than a year ago and praise him.
Help spread the word - make this viral. Learn these facts to rebut smears against Obama's ties, post them on your blogs, share them with others and email them to the editorial pages of your local newspapers. You CAN make a difference.
- Jim Hensley, Convicted Felon
- G. Gordon Liddy, Convicted Felon
- Charles Keating, Convicted Felon
- Raffaello Follieri, Convicted Felon
- Rick Renzi, Under Indictment
- Rick Davis, Freddie Mac Lobbyist
- Charles Black, Lobbyist for Dictators
- Richard Quinn, White Supremist
- Pastor John Hagee, Bigot
- Pastor Rod Parsley, Bigot
- Todd Palin, Member of Secessionist Group
- Andrew McCain, Resigned Manager Savings & Loan
McCain's Questionable Ties
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A WWII bombadier, Hensley returned to the United States with an injury sustained while flying over Europe. While recovering, he met Margueritte Smith and left his wife and two-year old daughter for Smith whom he married in 1945.
That same year, he and his brother Eugene began working for Kemper Marley, owner of United Sales Company in Phoenix and United Distributors in Tucson, and purported mafia boss.
In a 1953 New Mexico State Police report, Kemper Marley, "is reputed to be the financial backer for the bookies" and "owned a wire service formerly operated in connection with bookmaking of the Al Capone gang." And though never charged, Marley is suspected of ordering the car bomb assassination of journalist Ken Bolles in 1976.
In 1948, Jim and Eugene Hensley were indicted for falsifying liquor records to conceal illegal distribution of whiskey against post-war rationing regulations. Both men were convicted in U.S. District Court on federal charges of conspiracy and Jim Hensley was also convicted on seven counts of filing false liquor records.
In 1953 Jim Hensley and Kemper Marley were again charged with falsifying liquor records. This time Jim was defended by future Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist. Both men were acquitted.
In spite of being a convicted felon, Jim Hensley was somehow granted a state liquor license in 1955 (and later a federal liquor license) to found a beer distributorship. Hensley later switched to distributing exclusively Anheuser-Busch beer, and by 1980 Hensley & Co. Distributors and Hensley & Co. Wholesale had made Jim Hensley a multi-millionaire. Read more about McCain and Hensley in the article Haunted By Spirits by John Doughtery and Amy Silverman.
HOW CLOSELY IS McCAIN TIED TO HIM: Hensley was Cindy McCain's father, John McCain worked for Hensley as Vice President of Public Relations for Hensley & Co. when he and Cindy first married, and Hensley used his money and influence to launch John McCain's political career.
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Liddy served four and a half years in prison in connection with his conviction for his role as mastermind of the Watergate break-in and the break-in at the office of the psychiatrist of Daniel Ellsberg, the military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers. Liddy has acknowledged preparing to kill someone during the Ellsberg break-in "if necessary"; plotting to murder journalist Jack Anderson; plotting with a "gangland figure" to murder Howard Hunt to stop him from cooperating with investigators;
plotting to firebomb the Brookings Institution; and plotting to kidnap "leftist guerillas" at the 1972 Republican National Convention — a plan he outlined to the Nixon administration using terminology borrowed from the Nazis. (The murder, firebombing, and kidnapping plots were never carried out; the break-ins were.) During the 1990s, Liddy reportedly instructed his radio audience on multiple occasions on how to shoot Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents — telling listeners, "Go for a head shot; they're going to be wearing bulletproof vests" — and also reportedly said he had named his shooting targets after Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Liddy has donated $5,000 to McCain's campaigns since 1998, including $1,000 in February 2008. In addition, McCain has appeared on Liddy's radio show during the presidential campaign, including as recently as May. An online video labeled John McCain On The G. Gordon Liddy Show 11/8/07 includes an audio discussion between Liddy and McCain, whom Liddy described as an "old friend." During the segment, McCain praised Liddy's "adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great," said he was "proud" of Liddy,
and said that "it's always a pleasure for me to come on your program." Liddy called for the murder of federal agents, served time in jail, plotted murder - and after that, John McCain applauded him and took his money
HOW CLOSELY IS McCAIN TIED TO HIM: In 1998 Liddy hosted a campaign fundraiser for McCain and McCain has accepted campaign donations from Liddy over the last a decade, most recently in February 2008. McCain has appeared as a guest on Liddy's radio show multiple times, most recently in November 2007 during the presidential campign when Liddy greeted McCain as "an old friend." During the interview, Mccain stated he was "proud" of Liddy and praised Liddy for his "adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great."
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Charles H. Keating, Jr., is the former chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association. The "Keating Five" were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. McCain and four other senators were accused of improperly aiding Keating., chairman of the failed Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which was the target of an investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB). McCain received $112,000 by 1987 from Keating and Keating's relatives and employees to McCain's Senate campaign, more than any of the other Senators.
In addition to campaign contributions, McCain's wife and her father had invested $359,100 in a Keating shopping center in April 1986, a year before McCain met with the regulators. It was also found that the McCains, sometimes accompanied by their daughter and baby-sitter, had made at least nine trips at Keating's expense, sometimes aboard the American Continental Corporation (parent of Lincoln) jet. Three of the trips were made during vacations to Keating's opulent Bahamas retreat at Cat Cay. McCain also did not pay Keating for some of the trips until years after they were taken, after he learned that Keating was in trouble over Lincoln.
The Lincoln Savings and Loan's collapse cost taxpayers $3.4 billion After a lengthy investigation, the Senate Ethics Committee criticized McCain for "questionable conduct," and did not mete harsher punishment because of McCain's future presidential ambitions.
HOW CLOSELY IS McCAIN TIED TO HIM: John McCain was a close personal friend of Charles Keating, McCain and his family vacationed at Keating's Bahamas mansion, Cindy McCain had investments with Keating.
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In late August, 2006, McCain celebrated his 70th birthday aboard a yacht, the Celine Ashley, rented by Raffaello Follieri and his then-movie star girlfriend Anne Hathaway.
Follieri, who posed as Vatican chief financial officer in order to win friends and investments, pleaded guilty in a Manhattan district court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, eight counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering. As part of the plea, Follieri admitted to misappropriating at least $2.4 million of investor money and redirecting it to foreign personal bank accounts that were disguised as business accounts.
HOW CLOSELY IS McCAIN TIED TO HIM: McCain spent his 70th birthday aboard Follieri's yacht in August 2006.
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Renzi, Arizona Congressman 2002-2008, is currently under indictment for conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, concealment of money laundering, transactions with criminally derived funds, extortion, insurance fraud and criminal forfeiture. In robocalls to assist Renzi in his re-election bid in October 2006, McCain stated, "Rick has represented the first district of Arizona with tenacity, honesty and integrity beyond reproach."
The indictment also names business associate James Sandlin, and Maryland attorney Andrew Beardall. The indictment also refers to two companies involved in the transactions, Company A and Investment Group B. Prosecutors allege Renzi criminally concealed information about land deals to both Company A and Investment Group B, and used his seat on the House Natural Resources Committee to try to force their hand.
The indictment says Renzi was trying to help his business associate, Sandlin, finish paying off an $800,000 loan Sandlin owed to Renzi. Renzi was in financial straits and needed the money and also states Renzi also never claimed the $733,000 in his 2006 House financial disclosure statements.
HOW CLOSELY IS McCAIN TIED TO HIM: Until February 2008, Renzi was co-chair of McCain's Arizona 2008 presidential campaign, member of McCain's 2008 National Leadership Team, and a personal friend. In October 2006, McCain stated, "Rick has represented the first district of Arizona with tenacity, honesty and integrity beyond reproach."
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Davis is currently John McCain's campaign manager in his bid for the U.S. presidency. Davis' lobbying firm — Davis Manafort — received payments of $15,000 a month between 2006 and August 2008 from Freddie Mac, the troubled mortgage giant that was recently placed under federal conservatorship. As the mortgage crisis has escalated, almost any association with Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae has become politically toxic. But the payments to Davis's firm, Davis Manafort, are especially problematic because he requested the consulting retainer in 2006
— and then did barely any work for the fees, according to two sources familiar with the arrangement who asked not to be identified discussing Freddie Mac business. Aside from attending a few breakfasts and a political-action-committee meeting with Democratic strategist Paul Begala (another Freddie consultant), Davis did "zero" for the housing firm, one of the sources said. Freddie Mac also had no dealings with the lobbying firm beyond paying monthly invoices —
but it agreed to the arrangement because of Davis's close relationship with McCain, the source said, which led top executives to conclude "you couldn't say no."
Freddie Mac's roughly $500,000 in payments to Davis & Manafort began immediately after Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in late 2005 disbanded an advocacy coalition that they had set up and hired Mr. Davis to run.
From 2000 to the end of 2005, Davis received nearly $2 million as president of the coalition, the Homeownership Alliance, which the companies created to help them oppose new regulations and protect their status as federally chartered companies with implicit government backing. That status let them borrow cheaply, helping to fuel rapid growth but also their increased purchases of the risky mortgage securities that were their downfall.
HOW CLOSELY IS McCAIN TIED TO HIM: Davis is currently John McCain's presidential campaign director, and McCain told Newsweek in 2007 "Rick is a friend, and I trust him."
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Currently a chief strategist and senior adviser for John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, in June 2008, Charlie Black stated in an interview with Fortune magazine that another terrorist attack on the United States would "Certainly it would be a big advantage to him."
Black is a registered as a lobbyist and is chairman of one of Washington's lobbying powerhouses, BKSH and Associates. His clients have included right-wing guerrilla leader Jonas Savimbi of Angola and such dictators as Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, as well as Nigerian General Ibrahim Babangida, Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the countries of Kenya and Equatorial Guinea, among others.
As of February 2008, Black said he is still being paid by his firm and does work for clients in his "spare time," recusing himself from lobbying McCain: "I not only do not lobby him [McCain], but if an issue comes up that I have a client on, I will tell him that and stay out of the discussion."
Though McCain often portrays himself as an anti-lobbyist politician, his senior advisor has earned more than $57 million dollars since 1998 as a Washington lobbyist. Some of his other clients include:
Alcoa - $100,000; Amerada Hess Corp. - $80,000; American Financial Group - $80,000; Asoex Chilean Exporters Assn. - $40,000; AT&T - $1,185,000; AT&T Inc - $720,000; Bristol-Myers Squibb - $690,000; ChevronTexaco - $140,000; Chilean Salmon Farmers Assn. - $100,000; Colombian Textile & Apparel Industry - $80,000; Comasa, de la Optica - $80,000; Contran Corp. - $505,000;
Freddie Mac - $820,000; Glaxo Wellcome Inc - $40,000; GlaxoSmithKline - $590,000; Global Strategies Group - $180,000; Honeywell International - $220,000; Importers Service Corp. - $540,000; International Franchise Assn. - $290,000; JP Morgan & Co - $140,000; JP Morgan Chase & Co - $724,000; Lockheed Martin - $487,500; Mortgage Bankers Assn. of America - $140,000;
National Assn. of Mortgage Brokers - $60,000; National Foreign Trade Council - $40,000; Occidental Petroleum - $1,650,000; Occidental Petroleum - $1,650,000; Philip Morris - $1,292,500; Tobacco Quota Warehouse Alliance - $120,000; Yukos Oil - $155,000;
HOW CLOSELY IS McCAIN TIED TO HIM: Charles Black is McCain's current chief strategist and a senior advisor to his 2008 presidential campaign. Black said he is still being paid by his firm and does work for clients in his "spare time".
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Beginning in 1981, Richard Quinn became the Executive Editor in Chief of the racist Southern Partisan Quarterly Review and as was still listed as the owner of the magazine as recently as 2005.
Like McCain did originally, Quinn opposed the Martin Luther King holiday, writing it "should have been rejected because its purpose is vitriolic and profane."
In 2000, People For American Way called on McCain to fire Quinn, listing his disparaging of Nelson Mandela as a "terrorist," his promotion of David Duke ("What better way to reject politics as usual than to elect a maverick like David Duke?") and his selling of t-shirts praising Abraham Lincoln's assassination.
McCain wouldn't fire him. He rejected the guilt-by-association charge, defending the man and disavowing the publication.
HOW CLOSELY IS McCAIN TIED TO HIM: The Washington Post this month described Quinn as the "longtime adviser [who] directed the senator to a crucial victory in the Palmetto State." Politico reported that McCain paid Quinn's firms $184,000. An article that was posted on McCain's website in 2008 — that is no longer available — described Quinn as "a senior political consultant to the McCain campaign."
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In a 2006 address, Hagee stated, "The United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for both Israel and the West... a biblically prophesied end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation, and Second Coming of Christ."
Over the years, Hagee the right-wing pastor has waged "an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church" by "calling it 'The Great Whore,' an 'apostate church,' the 'anti-Christ,' and a 'false cult system.'"
During an interview with National Public Radio, Hagee also blamed Hurricane Katrina on gays, saying the devastating storm "was, in fact, the judgment of God against ... New Orleans." The city, he continued, "had a level of sin that was offensive to God" because "there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came."
HOW CLOSELY IS McCAIN TIED TO HIM: Despite McCain's statement in 2000 that "Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan and Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right,"
McCain spent more than a year actively seeking Hagee's endorsement. In February 2008, McCain stated, "I'm very honored by Pastor John Hagee's endorsement today." Only after public outcry did McCain repudiate Hagee.
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Parsley has stated that "Islam is an anti-Christ religion that intends through violence to conquer the world." Parsley has further stated that "The fact is that America was founded — I'm gonna stagger you right now — America was founded in part with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed." He also said that Mohammed received revelations from demon spirits.
HOW CLOSELY IS McCAIN TIED TO HIM: McCain actively sought Parsley's support to get evangelical votes. In February 2008, McCain stated, "I'm truly honored today to have one of one of the truly great leaders in America, a moral compass, a spiritual guide — Pastor Rod Parsley." View Video. Again, after public outrage over Parsley, McCain was forced to repudiate him.
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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's husband, Todd, twice registered as a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a fierce states' rights group whose primary goal is for the state of Alaska to secede from the United States. Sarah Palin herself was never a member of the party, according to state officials.
Founded in 1973 by Joe Vogler, Vogler stated, "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions."
"Keep up the good work," Sarah Palin told members of the Alaskan Independence Party in a videotaped speech to their 2008 convention six months ago in Fairbanks. She wished the party luck on what she called its "inspiring convention."
HOW CLOSELY IS McCAIN TIED TO HIM: Todd Palin is the husband of McCain's vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin has attended their conventions and Sarah Palin herself sent them a videotaped address for their 2008 convention, telling them to "keep up the good work."
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Andrew K. McCain, sat on the boards of Silver State Bank and of its parent, Silver State Bancorp, both in Nevada, but resigned in July citing "personal reasons," corporate filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show. Andrew McCain also was a member of the bank's audit committee, responsible for oversight of the company's accounting.
Regulators on Friday, September 5, shut down Silver State Bank, saying the Nevada bank failed because of losses on soured loans, mainly in commercial real estate and land development.
HOW CLOSELY IS McCAIN TIED TO HIM: Andrew McCain is John McCain's son from his first marriage to Carol Shepp, the wife John McCain cheated on and left behind for Cindy Hensley.
Barack Obama is acquainted with William Ayers, a University of Illinois at Chicago professor who in 1969 co-founded the radical Weather Underground and helped plant bombs, including one at the U.S. Capitol. The Weather Underground, or Weathermen, The group emerged from the campus-based opposition to the Vietnam War, as well as the Civil Rights Movements of the late 1960s.
After spending the 1970s on the run, he turned himself in. Federal prosecutors later dropped charges because of illegal surveillance and other misconduct. Ayers, 63, is an education professor who has worked to improve Chicago schools and counts Mayor Richard M. Daley among his defenders.
Obama was a child when the Weather Underground was active; he and Ayers became acquainted in 1995. That year, as Obama embarked on his first Illinois state Senate run, Ayers and his wife, Weather Underground co-founder Bernardine Dohrn, hosted a house party to introduce him to Democrats. Ayers later gave Obama a $200 campaign donation. They served on two philanthropic boards together.
HOW CLOSELY IS OBAMA TIED TO HIM: Obama was 8 years old at the time that Ayers was involved with the Weather Underground. When Obama first met Ayers, he was professor of education at the University of Chicago. The men served on two philanthropic boards together and both live in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.
Jeremiah Wright is the former pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ. Wright has been critical of America in some of his sermons over the last several decades. In a much publicized video, he said "god damn America." However, there is more to the man than the frequently aired television video, which was actually a compilation of many clips cobbled together, implies.
In 1961, a young African-American man, after hearing President John F. Kennedy's challenge to, 'Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,' gave up his student deferment, left college in Virginia and voluntarily joined the Marines.
In 1963, this man, having completed his two years of service in the Marines, volunteered again to become a Navy corpsman. (They provide medical assistance to the Marines as well as to Navy personnel.)
The man did so well in corpsman school that he was the valedictorian and became a cardiopulmonary technician. Not surprisingly, he was assigned to the Navy's premier medical facility, Bethesda Naval Hospital, as a member of the commander in chief's medical team, and helped care for President Lyndon B. Johnson after his 1966 surgery.
For his service on the team, which he left in 1967, the White House awarded him three letters of commendation. What is even more remarkable is that this man entered the Marines and Navy not many years after the two branches began to become integrated.
While this young man was serving six years on active duty, Vice President Dick Cheney, who was born the same year as the Marine/sailor, received five deferments, four for being an undergraduate and graduate student and one for being a prospective father.
Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, both five years younger than the African-American youth, used their student deferments to stay in college until 1968. Both then avoided going on active duty through family connections. Who is the real patriot? The young man who interrupted his studies to serve his country for six years or our three political leaders who beat the system? Are the patriots the people who actually sacrifice something or those who merely talk about their love of the country?
After leaving the service of his country, the young African-American finished his final year of college, entered the seminary, was ordained as a minister, and eventually became pastor of a large church in one of America's biggest cities. Who was this man?
This man is Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the retiring pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ.
HOW CLOSELY IS OBAMA TIED TO HIM:
Obama attended Trinity United Church of Christ for nearly two decades and called Wright a spiritual advisor and .
Sources:
http://www.houstonpress.com/2000-03-02/news/this-bud-s-for-john/print
http://www.publicintegrity.org/blog/entry/364/
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2000-02-17/news/haunted-by-spirits/
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/84094.php
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93708729
http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_219.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/us/politics/23mccain.html?pagewanted=2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Hensley
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/23/politics/politico/thecrypt...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331872,00.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_Gordon_Liddy
http://www.oliverwillis.com/2008/10/05/mccains-terror-connection-g-gordon-liddy/
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080929/berman_ames
http://www.newsweek.com/id/161218
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/us/politics/w24davis.html
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/02/7302_charlie_black_j.html
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/06/mccain-adviser.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/21/...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-oped0404wrightapr03,0,92000.story
http://www.liberaloasis.com/2008/04/mccain_guiltbyassociation_for.php
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26524024/
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-aip3-2008sep03,0,6399468.story
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/28/hagee-mccain-endorsement/
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/06/business/main4422652.shtml
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-ayers7-2008oct07,0,1083099.story
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/04/us/politics/04ayers.html?_r=2...
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