http://blog.nj.com/njv_publicblog/2008/10/mccain_and_palins_scary_connec.htmlMcCain and Palin's Scary ConnectionsPosted by cattie, October 06, 2008 6:41PM
One advantage to Sarah Palin's decision to attack Barack Obama so viciously for his weak association with Ayers is that, like with Obama's alleged relationship with Harold Raines of Fannie/Freddie fame, it will force the media to dissect this canard.
Republicans have been wielding this tar brush for months, whispering about it in viral e-mails and namedropping it in the MSM and in their own radio shows, and mentioning it in swiftboat commercials. The fact that the MSM has, until now, left it largely untouched may have led some people to believe it is a very big, bad secret that would destroy Obama if it truly came out so the "liberal media" is protecting him.
Public dissection of this canard establishes for everyone that Obama was 8 years old at the time Ayers was involved in these actions, Ayers' actions never hurt or killed anyone, and currently Ayers is a reasonably respected college professor at the University of Illionis. Obama's dealings with Ayers were few and far between. This will go the way of the Raines story--so ridiculous on its face that the McCain campaign cannot mention it without getting shot down by a journalist.
Some who have heard of this dubious link between Obama and a scary homegrown terrorist may wonder as I once did why this Ayers guy never served prison time if he did something so horrible that for Obama to have spoken with him warrants him unfit for the presidency. Now, everyone will find out all about the story, and the truth is so much weaker than the fiction.
In the MSM's never-ending quest for parity, the magnifying glass will hover over John McCain and Sarah Palin and their associations and relationships.
I suggest that magnifying glass look more closely at Rick Davis.Aside from being associated with Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae, two of McCain's favorite new villains, Rick Davis forged many other dubious associations in his lobbying business.
These include Russian mobster Oleg Deripaska. Davis arranged meetings between Deripaska and McCain, and the State Department "yanked his Visa" in 2006 due to his ties to organized crime. The first meeting was in January 2006 and the second was in Montenegro in August 2006.
Later that month, Deripaska wrote to Davis and his partner, GOP political consultant Paul J. Manafort, to thank them for arranging the meeting. "Thank you so much for setting up everything in Klosters so spectacularly," he wrote. "It was very interesting to meet Senators McCain, Chambliss and Sununu in such an intimate setting."
The letter went on to mention a business deal that Deripaska and the consultants had apparently been talking about. "Please will you send me the information on the metals trading company we discussed and would be happy to see if I can do anything to help," Deripaska wrote.
The governments of Israel, England, and the US have accused Deripaska of international espionage and other criminal activities and have arrested and charged some of his associates.
Who else did McCain meet with in Montenegro in August 2006?Another Rick Davis client named Raffaello Follieri. McCain celebrated his 70th birthday with Follieri on Follieri's yacht. What did Follieri offer McCain?
Follieri strengthened his ties to McCain's orbit by retaining Rick Davis's well-connected Washington lobbying firm, Davis Manafort, and offering Davis both an investment deal and help in securing the Catholic vote for McCain's presidential bid.
What is Follieri's crime, you may be asking?
"Follieri...posed as Vatican chief financial officer in order to win friends and investments, pleaded guilty Wednesday 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."
Then there were the two McCain aides Doug Davenport and Doug Goodyear who both resigned due to their shady connections in lobbying for the Myanmar junta. Guess who recruited the two lobbyists to work for McCain?
Rick Davis.
He also tried to recruit his former partner in the lobbying business, Paul Manafort. Manafort has represented clients such as Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos and Viktor Yanukovich.
Rick Davis undermined the US government on foreign policy:
Moreover, the New York Times reported last week that a National Security Council official contacted McCain's Senate office in 2005 "to complain that Mr. Davis's lobbying firm was undercutting American foreign policy in Ukraine." The Ukrainian candidate being aided by Davis-Manafort had close ties to then Russian president Vladimir Putin, and both McCain and President Bush supported his opponent.
Wouldn't you agree that John McCain is much closer to Rick Davis than Obama has ever been to Ayers? Davis and his company have represented people responsible for death and brutality worldwide; through Davis, McCain has also had questionable contacts with people who committed crimes against our allies and American businesses.
And if you want to delve deeper into McCain's shady connections, there's Fife Symington, a McCain regional campaign manager convicted of multiple counts of banking fraud (overturned on a technicality then pardoned by Clinton). There's Charles Keating (of course), whom McCain vacationed with, had business dealings with, and benefited from financially (in both cases, McCain used his political power to try to get the men out of legal trouble). There's Joey Bonanno, a mobster whose birthday and funeral McCain had been invited to (though he declined to attend but sent Bonanno his birthday wishes; he is also reputed to have received campaign donations from this mob family). There's his wife's family's long connection to mob henchman Kemper Marley, believed to have assassinated an Arizona reporter in 1972. And how about G. Gordon Liddy, convicted of plotting the Watergate break in and secretly advocating kidnapping war protesters? He also told his radio audience to shoot for the head if they were ever confronted by the ATF because they wear "bulletproof" vests.
What is the saying about every time you point, remember there are three fingers pointing back at you?
McCain has his own questionable business associations--and they start with his campaign manager
Then, there is Sarah Palin, with her own questionable connections.She has a close association with Alaska's Independence Party, and addressed their convention as recently as 2006, saying she supports what they do (they advocate for Alaska to secede from the US); her husband was a member as recently as 2003. Here's something interesting about the AIP:
"...founded by an Alaska secessionist who once professed his "hatred for the American government" and cursed our "damn flag." The AIP Website links to several white supremacist sites. The AIP believes that at the "end of days" Alaska will be the last refuge of the righteous.
Palin received "laying on of hands" by Rev. Muthee, whose claim to fame is identifying and driving out a "witch" from his African village, who he claimed was responsible for causing "traffic accidents."
Palin sat right there in church as Muthee said:
"The second area whereby God wants us, wants to penetrate in our society is in the economic area. The Bible says that the wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous. It's high time that we have top Christian businessmen, businesswomen, bankers, you know, who are men and women of integrity running the economics of our nations. That's what we are waiting for. That's part and parcel of transformation. If you look at the -- you know -- if you look at the Israelites, that's how they work. And that's how they are, even today. "
Then she got up and received his blessing.
She also sat there as another visiting pastor who said Israel is being punished for not believing in Jesus, which he used to justify Palestinian terrorism.
So, please, let us talk about these associations the candidates have.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
