Looking Deeper Into John McCain

Warm greetings.

I believe that most of us will all agree that the upcoming election is deeply important. And yet it is so easy to be lacking in accurate and meaningful information about the candidates. My son, Matt, has actually been among those who have helped me to become more informed. He was at times insistent that I watch both Republican and Democratic debates, and he was insistent from early on that Obama is the one who will help Americans to make huge and desperately needed changes in our country and beyond. Yet, like most of us, while deeply listening to my sons and to others, I had to find out for myself what is going on.

So part of what I have done is really pay attention to all the candidates. In listening to Mr. McCain and doing a lot of research about this candidate, I have learned a great deal that I had been previously ignorant about. For me, it is not helpful to just look at labels - right/left, conservative/progressive, etc. - for those can distract from facts. And what is concerning for me about John McCain are very specific facts related to issues -- such as his votes for torture, his being last of the Congressional list regarding the environment, his views on war/occupation as reflected in his comments on being in Iraq for 100 years and singing about bombing Iran, his votes and open endorsement of the failed - and often criminal - policies of the Bush administration, and - very importantly - his close alignment with the corporate powers that have stolen the American government from we the people. I also had no idea that the Children's Defense Fund rated Mr. McCain as the "worst senator in Congress for children".

Here are a few of many resources that can shed significant light on this candidate:

The Buying of the President 2008 - John McCain: http://www.buyingofthepresident.org/index.php/the_candidates/john_mccain/
Excellent Article in The Nation: http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20080324&s=dreyfuss
McCain's Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/81342/
McCain Laughs, Sings "Bomb Iran": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAzBxFaio1I
McCain Votes Against Torture Ban: http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20080214_mccain_votes_against_torture_ban/
McCain Draws Criticism For Torture Vote: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/17/7110/
The Other Side of the McCain Lobyist Scandal: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/05/7492/
McCain Under Fire Over Environment Record: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/27/7934/
The American Tragedy of John McCain: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040607J.shtml
Going Against Campaign Finance Reform: http://firedoglake.com/2008/03/24/the-john-mccain-campaign-finance-concern-troll-quote-award-goes-to/
CLICK HERE to view Senator John McCain's record on veteran's benefits

Reflections & facts from someone who previously had been a big fan of John McCain: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/what-john-mccain-told-me_b_100183.html

For information on all presidential candidates from the Center For Public Integrity, please go here: http://www.buyingofthepresident.org/index.php/the_candidates/

Here is a list of "10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don't)":

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.
2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."

3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.
4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."
5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.
6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations.

7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."
8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.
9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false cult."
10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.

For the full article, please go here: http://truth-about-mccain.blogspot.com/2008/04/move-ons-ten-things-to-know-about.html

While the corporate media is busy focusing on lapel pins, race and Reverends, what whites want and who said what about whom, all the while stirring up and preying on fears and prejudices, many of the deeper issues affecting us all are not coming to light for far too many Americans. How many who can vote know Mr. McCain's stand on torture, his overwhelming ties with corporate interests, his bottom of the barrel score card on children and the environment, his pro-war/occupation stand which utterly mirrors that of Bush & Co., etc., etc.? The corporate media certainly works overtime to ensure our remaining distracted and in the dark. How many Americans - out of a combination of ignorance and apathy - will not even choose to vote? Yet - what is the true definition of patriotism? Thomas Jefferson, Bill Moyers, and many other visionaries have affirmed that democracy cannot exist without an informed citizenry. So perhaps part of what is asked of each of us in these times is that we assume increasing responsibility to inform ourselves, to shine our own light upon critical issues, and then to help one another know what is truly happening which impacts, not only the welfare of a few, but ultimately the welfare of us all... Tag, you're it...

Peace & blessings ~ Molly