The Demise of John McCain

John McCain has more problems then just running a smear campaign filled with lies and innuendos. His ugly smear campaign has only turned the left and center into busy little bees digging up some of his questionable activities over his past 24 years of public service. Those busy bees have unearthed quite a nest of vipers: donation irregularities and lobbyist activities. It's one thing that McCain's ads are being viewed as detrimental to his character as the "Straight Talk Maverick" but it's totally a different beast when you are being called out for your (or your campaign member's) actions. Yes, I know they should have been called out for his lying campaign ads; but, this is America and one thing we know for sure, ignorance is bliss.

It has been brought to light that certain organizations (MoveOn and good government group) plan to press legal action in regards to how McCain's contribution bundler's have been gathering contributions for his general election:

"...A good government group is set to ask the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into the two big McCain stories of recent days -- the bundled contributions from Hess executives, and the bundling by Harry Sargeant, the guy who raised cash for McCain from a host of unlikely donors."

It has also been brought to light that there will be a deeper investigation into McCain and his campaign manager, Rick Davis, participation in the demise of over 8,000 jobs for Americans in Ohio"

"Barack Obama's presidential campaign claimed that the general election had reached a critical turning point this past week after it was revealed that John McCain and his campaign manager had helped facilitate a merger that could result in the loss of thousands of jobs in Ohio."

On a conference call with reporters, Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe said news of McCain and Rick Davis' involvement in the DHL deal was "the most important development of the entire campaign this week" and would convince voters in the critical swing state that the Arizona Republican was far from his maverick image."

Obama put out, today, a radio ad exposing this issue which can only underscore the underhanded tactics of the Republican party.

Although I am excited by some of the truth coming out about McCain and his shady dealings it is already being tempered by the fact that the "Barbecue Media" (expression stolen from Bob Cesca who totally rule on the topic of the media and their slacker reporting) has not put any time in discussing any of this with the public at large. No the big topic tonight is: JOHN EDWARDS ADMITS AFFAIR IN ABC INTERVIEW.

John Edwards' affair is morally wrong but it is not the most important thing going on right now. Yes, the topic deserves some time for discussion but all night? No mention of any of McCain's possible illegal activities (with the exception of Keith Olbermann and others)? Why would Edwards situation supersede important issues going on with the republican campaign? The list of republicans problems is long and as John Amato has listed you would think some of it should had been food for fodder for the media to push out to the public. After all if any of this involved Obama it would be front page news:

• McClellan said that FOX News got talking points from the White House
• Bush authorized rendition.
• Bush authorized torture. Yes, that means waterboarding.
• Bush authorized a war based on lies resulting in millions of innocent Iraqi and Afghani civilian deaths as well as an ethnic cleansing.
• Thousands of our troops have been killed or seriously injured.
• The US dollar is in the tank.
• The housing/mortgage crisis has almost caused a depression.
• How about the trampling of our Constitution with warrantless wiretapping?
• Laptops are being confiscated at airports and the border.
• Under Bush, oil companies are raking in record profits while Americans suffer.
• The US attorney scandal.

Alas it seems the only thing that moves the "Barbecue Media" is looking for or fabricating dirt about Obama. You could almost ask the question, who is McCain? Such insignificant reporting is done about his countless gaffes, flip flops, confusions and lies that the only thing people know about McCain is that he is OLD.

Update: And the hits just keeps coming, it was reported today that another one of McCain's campaign workers was involved in lobbying for that nation of Georgia:

WASHINGTON — John McCain's top foreign policy adviser, Randall Scheunemann, lobbied for the nation of Georgia for four years, including for about a year after he joined the Republican senator's presidential campaign staff in early 2007.

"Georgia has paid Scheunemann's firm, Orion Strategies, LLC, nearly $900,000 since 2004, including $200,000 for an eight-month contract that began on May 1, two weeks after McCain issued a strong statement criticizing Russia and supporting Georgia.

Scheunemann took a leave from lobbying for Orion in March, two months before McCain barred active lobbyists from serving on his staff. He's still listed as Orion's president and owner.

Reached by phone, Scheunemann declined comment and referred a reporter to the campaign."

Come on people what's the expectation when you know the candidate has surrounded his self with lobbyist?

Why it's getting harder to listen to the Media

I get it, the media believe this campaign is about Obama and they feel that it's their duty to make sure "regular American citizens ("RACs") knows as much as they can about the presumed democratic nominee. Since I'm an RACs I can write regarding this subject with a certain amount of honesty.

Being the RACs I can state as a fact that the media does not observe reporting from the perspective of the RACs. We are very tired of the constant negative messages regarding Obama that we receive on a daily basis. Granted some of the media will spend a few minutes giving the RACs some positives reporting about Obama but you can bet it will be countered by either a positive message about McCain's (irregardless of whether he deserve such coverage of praise) or a negative report about Obama. Yet the RACs can always bank on receiving a good 75 to 80% positive coverage of McCain never being followed up by any negative, unless it's against Obama.

Most times when McCain commits a faux pas, gaffe, misstatement or just out right lies the only reporting we receive as an answer for these stumbles, campaign growing pains, or out right lies is that McCain is being McCain. Are they blind or just playing stupid? The media totally misses the point that the RACs is not buying that bulls**t. We are not stupid or blind and can easily see the disparity between the reporting of these two candidates. The RACs would very much appreciate being treated like adults and not listening to someone of the media play with our intelligence.

The best way to illustrate how bias the media has been is to point out some of their recent disparities in their lopsided reporting.

• When McCain offered (or prentended to offer, the jury is out on this vote) his wife to participate in the Buffalo Chip contest the vast majority of the medias response was to give McCain the benefit of the doubt. That's all good and well, but McCain is the same man who call his wife a c**t and is the same man that do not believe in a woman's right to make a choice on abortion, as well as the same man that does not believe women deserve equal pay. Just what benefit of the doubt are we suppose to give McCain? The RCAs knows where he stands on woman's issues (not those RACs who are female that have given over their right to be independent versus being subjugated by a male counterpart). His offering his wife to participate in a contest that would expose her to being stripped of her dignity does not seem like such a reach to pander for votes. After all, he does not respect women in other right.

Now let's examine what the headlines would have been had Obama, for the sake of votes, offered his wife to participant in the same event. The headlines would have been screaming to the RACs about how Obama had no family values; how Obama had no respect for his wife; or, better yet, how low would Obama would go to win this election (which would play in to Obama's lack of patronism). Double standard? You know it.

• Obama just released his new energy plan, which received raves from environmentalist for it's progressive stance. On the same day McCain campaign picked up on the advise that Obama offered a response to a RAC about how the RAC could help. All of a sudden the suggestion (which was not his energy plan) became the butt of McCain's bash Obama joke. Let's not stop there though. What Obama suggested (which was to keep air in your tires) was true. Did the media report that the ridicule coming from the Republicans and McCain was not true? Hell no (get use to this comment since I will be saying it constantly). Not until the ridicule had ran it's course. Did Obama's energy plan get pushed into the media's attention. Hell no.

• When McCain visited a nuclear plant that had a history of almost having a melt-down (and is currently close) to advocate his point of pushing for creating more nuclear plants, even though he is more than vague on where we are suppose to put the waste, did the media report that fact. Hell no.

• When McCain put out the infamous "celebrity" ad that depicted Obama as an empty glory seeking non-star celebrity the media said it was fun and cute. Yet within that same period of time after some pundits, reporters, statesmen and RACs noted that the ad really had racial undertones to it (not that McCain is a racist, but his campaign wants it out there so that those so called white voters that Obama supposedly need will understand that Obama is not one of them) and Obama later made a statement about the true fact that the republicans would say he was a risk, looked funny and didn't look like one of the presidents on our dollar bill, McCain's camp and McCain pushed out the story that Obama was playing the race card. We can all agree Obama has no choice but to play the race card every day...He's Black! Some in the media wrote articles about how Obama was doing just that, playing the race card. They never stopped and said, "gee, I wonder where he got that idea from." Maybe from McCain's web site that had a video of Obama being superimposed over Mt. Rushmore, Statue of Liberty and $100 dollar bill (although McCain has removed the evidence from his web site, thank goodness for YouTube ). Did the media ever pick up on this morsel of truth? Hell no.
  

• Still ,on the point of the "celebrity ad," when Paris Hilton responded to the ad McCain put out portraying her as an empty headed star-wanna-be-celebrity, and she came out with her own ad (which was very cute) laced with plenty of insults toward McCain the media reported the story simply as "McCain enjoyed it." The RACs wants to know who the h*ll cares? The election is not about Ms. Hilton or McCain's indulgence in this juvenile conversation. why isn't the media asking why the RACs is being subjected to this sideshow while we have real problems going on with our economy. Had this been Obama the headlines would be screaming in regards to his descent into distracting conversation with an air head. Why is McCain constantly getting a free pass for these ridiculous antics?.

My list of injustices by the media over reporting actual facts when it concerns to McCain could go on and on (which I admit probably will over the course of the next 90 days). But I will bring this article to close by simply stating an honest fact: HEY MEDIA GET IT RIGHT. THE RACs WANT THE TRUTH. No more with the white washing of McCain's lack of a real plan. No more playing into McCain's (or more to the point right wing talking points) campaign of distraction. Until then I will be like other RACs and just put you on pause, lower the volume, or turn the channel.

This message does not include (Keith Olbermann, Jack Cafferty or Rachel Maddow as part of the media Obama bashing machine).