Media Silence on the Manchurian Candidacy of John McCain

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This year’s Presidential campaign has proven to be one of the most interesting and unexpected phenomena of the past several decades.

With it, this year’s contenders are breaking down barriers: the first female candidate, the first African-American candidate and a lone wolf Republican who is breaking step with his party to bemoan the war in Iraq, national ID cards and the Patriot Act.

We’ve heard from a member the Mormon community for the first time as well as a former evangelical minister who plays bass wouldn’t mind seeing tobacco outlawed.

All of these things certainly add to the color of the Presidential candidate’s race, but none are so inexplicable as the run and success of Senator John McCain.

McCain -- who is clearly despised by conservative media personalities such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and others – has gained tremendous momentum and support in recent weeks and the dynamic is baffling.

Though news polls have reported that more than 70% of Americans want our military out of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, McCain (who advocates carrying on such conflict for 100 or more years) has gained in popularity. McCain, who is accused by his party mates of being less than conservative, appears to be on track to garner the Republican nomination.

But, he comes to the table with considerable baggage. Perhaps even insurmountable baggage that the media heads are oddly reticent to discuss.

McCain was part of the Keating 5, a group of 5 US Senators who, in the 1980s, accepted bribe money from Charles Keating, the maestro of the Savings and Loan scandal that bore some $30 billion of fraud against the American consumers.

Keating paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to five members of the United States Senate in return for their influence in turning eyes away from the fleecing. Four of the five have left pubic office and one was recommended for censure by the panel. Only one remains today and that one is Senator John McCain.

Surely, no American over the age of 40 is unaware of the money squandered, lives destroyed and obscene corruption of the Savings and Loan scandal. It represented every negative and despicable stereotype of the relationship between corporations and the government. Yet, the talking heads have had little or nothing to say about the matter.

That McCain was involved in any way is clear evidence that he comes to the Presidential race with unclean hands.

Because of the scandal, McCain co-authored the McCain-Feingold bill for campaign finance reform. Detractors saw this measure as one that trampled the guaranteed protections of the First Amendment. Still others found it a mechanism by which McCain could more effectively silence his opponents and critics. Either way, the law is a tantrum, on its face, by McCain and has done nothing to minimize the unsavory fundraising practices of some candidates for public office.

Indeed, McCain could easily become the victim of the 529 groups his law has helped to create. At times, irony serves a higher purpose.

Still, the talking heads – who rail against the McCain-Feingold measure – utter nary a peep about the reasons for it or what motivated McCain’s action.

It is impossible to believe that Americans would tolerate another crook in the Whitehouse. The Nixon debacle was clear evidence that, although Americans may not thoroughly trust their elected officials, they have little in the way of empathy for those who fleece the average citizen in the name of greed. McCain has done precisely that and, yet, he leads in the polls.

At issue, as well, is McCain’s own confession (during the Presidential debate in January 2008) that he has little understanding of economics. At a time when the American currency is plunging to frighteningly low levels of worth and the country’s deficits and borrowing activities rise, McCain’s admitted lack of knowledge are reason enough to fear his Whitehouse bid.

The House and Senate have recently passed the President’s recommended stimulus package which would send a few hundred dollars to every tax-paying American in an attempt to initiate consumer spending. The problem with the package is that the lion’s share of this money will be used by consumers to pay arreared credit cards, property tax, vehicle insurance and late medical bills. The money to fund this will be borrowed, presumably from China, and paid back at interest. This furthers our country’s debt and places the middle class under even more financial obligation in the long run.

McCain endorsed the measure and, by doing so, has demonstrated his utter lack of competence in dealing with monetary and fiscal policy.

The country is on course for major recession and the housing market is floundering. New businesses are not blooming as they did in years past and the sale of durables has plummeted. McCain’s admitted ignorance of economics could signal a devastating blow to America’s middle class and small business owners.

In a recent media appearance, John McCain has stated that he would have no objections over the US military occupying Iraq for 100 more years. Five generations of American men and women, occupying a sovereign nation for an indefinite length of time and without a clear goal. Meanwhile, larger, no-bid corporations continue to fleece taxpayers with $90 fees for a single load of laundry.

This stance is simply unacceptable from a social conservative for a number of reasons.  At the most cautious level of speculation, it could represent $20 trillion dollars of debt and obligation. That obligation is passed along to the tax payers of future generations, making their start in the adult world one of enslavement to the misdeeds of their own government.

Furthermore, continuing war and occupation in Iraq could well lead to the need to reinstitute the draft. Military personnel in the region are already serving more rotations than ever before and will have to be replaced with new personnel before too long. Where will those men and women come from?

McCain has been captured on video singing “Bomb, bomb Iran” to the tune of “Barbara Ann” by the Beach Boys. Hardly fitting behavior of any commander in chief.

And, what about McCain’s own military service during the Vietnam years? We’ve been told he was a war hero who remained captive for several years and endured torture for the sake of loyalty to his country and cause.

Now, there is a group of very vocal opponents, Vietnam Veterans Against McCain, who allege a battery of charges against McCain from selling out to the enemy to ignoring the issue of POW/MIS soldiers in Vietnam in his role with Senate Select Committees and from possessing a legendary temper to belittling the families of combat vets from Vietnam.

A single entry on their website (www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com) illustrates why the group holds such an utter lack of regard for a fellow combat vet:

From the Spotlight 1999:

Upon leaving the room, McCain immediately quarreled with family members, who were eager to question him on the issue. Instead of answering their questions, the Arizona senator pushed and shoved them out of his way, nearly toppling the wheelchair of POW-MIA mother Jane Duke Gaylor, whose son, Charles Duke, a civilian worker in Vietnam, is among the same 2,300 American POWs and MIAs still unaccounted for by the communists.

The POW-MIA activists, shocked and horrified by McCain's crude behavior toward Mrs Gaylor, registered their complaints with Senate officials. Mrs Gaylor and her niece, Geannette Jenkins, who was pushing her wheelchair, were advised by Sgt. Dana Sundberg of the Capitol Hill Police to file assault charges against McCain. They declined, fearful of the power of the Arizona senator.

This gives rise to another despicable behavior and that is the utter silence of media professionals – those who typically beseech Americans to support the military – on McCain’s erratic and anti-American behavior.

These self-proclaimed conservative talk show hosts and commentators have a very clear duty in front of them if their proclamations of being faithful to the good of America is true. That is to expose McCain for what he is and his past for what it is.

They already claim to dislike his liberal-leaning politics and crossing party lines. But, why aren’t they alerting their listeners, viewers and readers to the more dangerous side of McCain’s personality?

Most liberal and moderate Americans have already had a gutful of the Republican party. McCain is being sold to them as one who can cross the political isle to settle issues without toeing the line for the Republican party. For anyone unfamiliar with the darker side of John McCain, this may be an appealing quality. But, it is false. McCain’s self interest is apparent and his lack of regard for human life, property, prosperity and privacy speak volumes of his ability to lead the country in times of distress.

It is the absolute responsibility of those in the media who have influence to expose McCain’s sordid ways to the American public. Our public has been sold a bill of goods for the past 7 years and McCain’s Manchurian candidacy is just another pill Americans should not be willing to swallow.

It is time to let the Swiftboating begin and keep this dangerous man out of our Whitehouse.

Online:
Keating 5 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_5

Vietnam Veterans Against McCain - www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com

Gang of 14 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_of_14

Authors Bio:
Pamela F. Hennessy is a marketing and media professional from Clearwater, Florida who has been active in the campaign to protect the rights of vulnerable people since 2002.