How John McCain presents a carefully crafted public image to belie what he really is: essentially a neo-con snake-oil purveyor.

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The smell of smear and patriot baiting is starting early in the McCain campaign. The current Republican pick for presidential candidate is trying to hide the smoke of his own extreme positions by dodging, blame shifting, lying about his past statements and crying "terrorist appeaser" and "tax and spend liberal" against Barak Obama. MeCain is mixing misinformation about himself with becoming a slanderer of  Democrats.

Truly McCain is beginning to look like the anointed  successor to George W. Bush. The Republicans should wear the title of "the Party of Boss Tweed". In spite of McCain's attempts to deny what he is on record as saying and deny his completely being in bed with corporate and foreign-dictator lobbyists, all one needs to do is put two and two together and you can see he advocates vintage neo-con positions on many issues. His tax cuts for the rich dwarf even George W.Bush's, for example. And his health care 'reform' amounts to small tax breaks for those who still have a job but nothing fo the many uninsured and/or jobless. The two areas he has harped on so far: are "staying in Iraq and winning" (whatever that means: he can't define just when we'll know when we've won) and 'tax and spend Barak'. 

McCain knows how to dish the dirt in a real snake-like manner, but he  becomes enraged when anyone calls him on his own inconsistencies, lies or half truths. And when confronted with past statements or positions that he now wants to distance himself from, he slips into the  "that doesn't matter" or "I don't think I said that" mode. Anybody who votes for McCain has to be willfully ignorant or else deliberately obtuse. I fail to understand how people can willfully ignore what a sleazy politician this man is. Those so-called disaffected "Democrats" and neo-cons who keep saying "I don't trust Obama" (strain at a gnat) but then swallow,whole, the hypocrisy and dirt-bag-ethics of John McCain (swallow a camel) are really little more than doctrinaire reactionaries anyway,  who simply would hate any Demcrat, no matter who it is: Hillary, Obama or whoever.

McCain is a flip-flopping weather vane who will say anything and do anything to pander to the voting blocks he needs in order to get elected. And, despite his wrapping himself in his self-proclaimed 'honor' and 'patriotism' he has a past in which he is up to his eyeballs in insider dealing and scandals that have been quickly forgotten by a biased "liberal" (guffaw) media who idolizes John McCain ever since 2000 when he schmoozed them on his 'Straight-talk' (guffaw) Express"

Facts do not bear out McCain's lies with which he seeks to cover up who he really is:

Lie #1             

One of the prevalent examples of spin circulating regarding John McCain is that he is his own man, a 'maverick' and not like George W. Bush. However, statistics show he supports Bush via Congressional votes 95% of the time. 

Lie #2

McCain lies about his record. For example, he lied about his support for investigation into the government's mismanaging of Katrina, when in fact he twice voted against an independent commission.

Lie #3

John McCain attacked Barack Obama's opposition to the Kyl-Lieberman amendment, which (among other things) called for labeling Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. McCain claims that Obama's opposition to Kyl-Lieberman  means that he also opposed calling the IRGC terrorists. The facts prove otherwise: Obama cosponsored an earlier bill that also called for designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization. The Kyl-Lieberman amendment did more than just label the IRGC terrorists. Obama stated at the time that he opposed the bill on the grounds that it constituted "saber-rattling."

McCain claims that Obama by inference must oppose calling the IRGC a terrorist group because Obama's Web site doesn't say anything about the IRGC. McCain's argument is a glaring example of the logical fallacy of argumentum ad ignorantiam

McCain misrepresents Obama's stand on naming Revolutionary Guard as terrorists.

Lie # 4 "The Liberal Media is biased in favor of Obama"

The FACT is that the mainstream media are John McCain's allies: 

Media coverage is biased in favor of John McCain by under-reporting problems with John McCain's campaign, but severely parsing everything they can find on Barak Obama's alleged improprieties.  "Balanced" coverage to the corporate-owned, right-leaning press means hitting Obama on anything they can find, regardless of relevance,  when once in a great while they are forced  to print anything negative about John McCain.

Regardless of the relative importance of what occurs, McCain can't be criticized unless Obama is too. For example, after John McCain claimed that bringing troops the home from Iraq was "not too important"-an assertion that sent a terrible message to current soldiers and their families-the media "balanced" this with stories criticizing the background of one of the three Obama advisors "vetting" Vice-Presidential nominees. Although Obama's choice of vetters, unlike McCain's statement about Iraq, had no policy implications, it received much greater attention in the June 12 New York Times.

The Times also ran a prominent piece that day discussing the AFL-CIO's unhappiness with Obama's choice for chief economic advisor. As much as the media and Obama critics seek to "bring Obama down to earth," it is misdirected to focus on the political histories of his advisors, rather than on his own pronouncements and acts

Lie #5

John McCain presents himself as a mild mannered moderate. Yet many voters have no idea how extreme McCain's position is on a wide range of  issues.The truth is, Mccain would stay the course in Iraq and expend cven more blood and treasure with no definition of what his claims of 'staying until victory' would entail. Obama is for ending an unnecessary and bankrupting war that is producing anti-Americanism all over the world. . McCain opposes universal health care. Obama is largely for it.McCain wants less regulation for insurance companies. Obama wants them held accountable. Obama is for rolling back the Bush tax cuts vs. McCain being for making them permanent.

And nowhere is the difference more profound than with reproductive rights.For anyone who cares about reproductive rights, family planning, and women's health issues, the choice is not even close. McCain has voted against a woman's right to choose consistently.

Lie # 6: Episcopalian John McCain has suddenly morphed into a 15 year veteran of the Baptist Church,  to hear him tell it. McCain grew up Episcopalian. He went to an Episcopalian high school. For at least 15 years, he has been listed as an Episcopalian in authoritative directories such as the Almanac of American Politics and Congressional Quarterly's Politics in America 2008. He told a reporter from McClatchy News Service in June 2007 that he was an Episcopalian.

Suddenly, in September 2007, he's campaigning in South Carolina, the heavily Baptist state where George W. Bush barely managed to stop McCain's presidential campaign 8 years ago. And guess what? McCain tells a reporter who asks,  "By the way, I'm not Episcopalian. I'm Baptist." When pressed, he said he's attended the North Phoenix Baptist Church in Arizona for more than 15 years, though he has never been baptized in that church. Anyway, this is one very clear indication of how McCain has changed his image. Any bets that he's just another chameleon-type politician, happy to pander if it helps him win?

Lie #7

John McCain bills himself as an honest broker and a corruption fighter. However, far from the "straight-talk" maverick he's made out to be, McCain has a long track record of taking both sides of an issue – which is why true-blue conservatives have never trusted him.Additional facts that show he is crooked and certainly not a crime fighter but a crime participant. . Here's some of the reasons:

His campaign is fraught with lobbyists. Phil Gramm a lobbyist for UBS is a powerful leading member of McCain's campaign staff. He has multiple other lobbyists on his campaign, some volunteer and some paid, even though he is now in the process of doing damage control and making sure they aren't paid if they are still lobbying. Nevertheless,  he has criticized Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton for using earmarks.

Also, he is a founding member of the Keating 5: i.e., the Keating five congressmen investigated on ethics charges of strenuously helping convicted racketeer Charles Keating after he gave them large campaign contributions and vacation trips.

McCain's wife and father-in-law also were the largest investors (at $350,000) in a Keating shopping center; the Phoenix New Times called it a "sweetheart deal." 

Crime fighter McCain has had Mafia ties:

In 1995, McCain sent birthday regards, and regrets for not attending, to Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonano, the head of the New York Bonano crime family, who had retired to Arizona. Another politician to send regrets was Governor Fife Symington, who has since been kicked out of office and convicted of 7 felonies relating to fraud and extortion.

Family Problems

McCain has a reputation as a politician who has difficulty keeping his pants zipped, according to Republican sources. He acknowledges that he dumped his first wife when she had a car accident and wasn't pretty anymore, committing adultery, which broke up his first marriage. His second wife Cindy, the daughter of a wealthy Budweiser beer distributor, was addicted to prescription narcotics and even stole hard drugs from a medical charity that she ran. McCain acknowledges that she didn't want him to run, and only agreed once he promised that she doesn't have to go to New Hampshire or Iowa. Is that why she doesn't want to reveal her personal records?

Lie # 6: Image versus reality and manipulation of press coverage:

John McCain is a phony "maverick"and regularlyi engages in media manipulator.

There are "three foundations" that McCain has used to get fawning coverage: (a) his Vietnam War record, which he has repeatedly milked, (b) his work on campaign finance reform that created a perfect wayl for reporters to paint him as "anti-Washington" and (c) his willingness to schmooze the national press corps with "candid" conversations. He endears himself so much to reporters that they look the other way when he makes a comment that would doom another politician's career.

McCain got great press in 2005 for "standing up" to the White House on legalizing torture, and his history as a Vietnam P.O.W. gave him an image of reliability. But the compromise that he crafted left the Bush Administration free to do what they want, while improving McCain's moderate image. His bipartisan work on immigration has also rung hollow – since McCain was motivated on this issue so as to please his allies in big business.

However,  the Arizona media – who have known McCain for much longer – do not hold him in high esteem, as they've known him long enough to realize that beneath his veneer is a petty and vindictive man who thrives on presenting himself as a "maverick" – but does not tolerate true mavericks like Chuck Hagel and Russ Feingold, who take risks when they buck their parties' position. The different evaluations by the national and Arizona media can be compared with the knowledge of a new girlfriend and the knowledge of his ex-wife. "The former is infatuated, aware of only his best qualities. The latter is stuck knowing what the man is really like.

McCain's voting record proves he is no moderate – but in fact a very conservative Republican. The way in which he gets a reputation as a more moderate Republican is that  he only crosses party lines to vote with Democrats on issues strategically advantageous to him. Then the fawning press frames the story as  "McCain and his rebellion." He gets his reputation as moderate undeservedly refurbished and he is invited on all the talk shows, and the story becomes how John McCain is breaking from his party leadership again.

Lie #7 

McCain's pretends he's an easygoing, nice guy, but his temper and back-stabbing of colleagues are legendary. McCain has a tendency to get into scuffles with colleagues.  He insists on an absolutist approach when it comes to working on issues his way, which has earned, McCain  the enmity of fellow Republicans.For example, Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) has been on record as saying, the thought of [McCain] being president sends a cold chill down his spine. Cochran said that McCain is erratic and hotheaded. He loses his temper and Cochran said at one point "he worries me." After finding out about the REAL McCain, the thought of this guy holding a nuclear button should scare us all.

John McCain will throw slander at Obama while he himself seeks dodge questions about his own conduct. Scandals brewing in his own campaign are quickly swept under the rug and surrounded with silence with the aid of a complicit newsmedia. But then, while calling for civility,  Senator McCain, slyly throws mud about Jeremiah Wright and Rezko (Obama's sins) but forgets that he has never addressed his own ties to money launderers (Arizona Representative Renzi) and lobbyists (Phil Gramm and other lobbyists, foreign agents and crooks) who work for him and his campaign.

And nobody asks him the hard questions that go unanswered questions about his going back on commitments he formerly voiced to 'clean up Washington'. His stances on most issues are even more conservative and extreme than Gelrge W. Bush's. And he hasn't even explained his less-than-honest use of public campaign financing funds now that he wants to throw off funding limitations when he became the presumptuous (deliberate misspelling) Fepublican front runner. 

Those who go on about how they don't trust Barak Obama and have questions about his judgment seem to have no problem  with McCain's unethical behavior. Periodic outbreaks of scandal iin his career and his truce-breaking with family, friends and colleagues doesn't bother these Obama doubters a bit. What would the press say if it were found out that Barak Obama had betrayed his first wife and dumped her for a rodeo queen with more money? (Obama didn't do this but what if he had?) What if Obama flip flopped on every campaign position known to man? John Kerry was accused of that by the Republican smear machine in 2004 and it stuck in the public mind. Why aren't McCain's flip flops held against him? Mccain flip flopped on the Bush Tax Cuts,on the Confederate flag controversy in South Carolina in the 2000 primary season. He has flip flopped on a lot of different issues, and then there is his participation in influence peddling (Keating 5 affair, to name a notorious one).

His campaign which is supposed to be so ethical is right now headed up by corporate  lobbyists who do their business right on his campaign bus and airplane. And the allegation of that affair with the female lobbyist was never laid to rest.

John McCain has a history of  pointing the finger at others while himself involved in wrongdoing.  What other things is he hiding? And what type of people would he put in his cabinet? How can he point his finger at Obama for being a terrorist appeaser when after the bombing of the marine barracks in Lebanon in the 1980s McCain advocated cutting and running, saying continued presence there would serve no purpose? Now he sings a difrerent tune.  He refuses to explain his vague stands on issues like when we get out of Iraq. He won't address his own ethical lapses. His war-hero status us even questionable. He is said to have turned down early release from the North Vietnamese prisoner of war camp so as not to spoil a future career he could have with his reputation gotten by his admiral father. And McCain did anti-American commercials for the North Vietnamese. Maybe he was tortured, but our World War II people tortured by the Japanese didn't do commercials for Tokyo Rose. Notwithstanding, McCain's hypocrisy and lack of candor which doesn't bode well for the kind of president he would make, he is almost even with Obama in the polls.

Oh  pardon me.  I guess lack of candor and lack of ethics can be trusted more than Barak Obama's much ballyhooed 'poor judgment'. But then a double standard has never bothered the mainstream media or the neocons much when they ignore criminality as long as it is belonging to a Republican. Only Democrats are to be excoriated for their problems.  I can't imagine what would make the Republicans support McCain, other than putting their party ahead of their country's wellbeing. In that case they can force themselves to be enamored of really any old hack and corrupt, hypocritical backstabber they can find who will be a candidate for them. They had George W Bush, and now they have John McCain. Who's next? Joe Lieberman?

The latest polls showing McCain almost even with Obama McCain means that he's attracting independent voters who are fooled by his carefully crafted image. or else many cons still secretly love George W. Bush-style dishonesty,  failures, warmongering and lies.  That must be it, or why else would they contemplate voting for John McCain? It seems as though the GOP just keeps generating walking, talking dsasters that are very popular with an ignorant American public.  

The public doesn't approve of the Republican Party according to the polls, yet they think John McCain is different, when he isn't. The word needs to get out soon – or else McCain could easily become our next President.

Authors Bio:
I live in the Pacific Northwest and I am interested in current affairs.