McMaverick category archive

If you have followed this blog since before the 2008 election, you know I was not a particular fan of John McCain’s politics and political behavior. I have long believed that his reputation as a “maverick” was based more on appearances than on actions.

Nevertheless, he remained one of the few men and women of principle in a party that seems to have abandoned even the pretense of principle. Badtux points out that he did from time to time choose to stand up for polity above party, perhaps most notably during the last two years, which alone makes him stand out from his fellow Republicans, even as his maverick reputation was overblown and undeserved.

All this is by of pointing you towards a long and thoughtful consideration of McCain’s political career over at Shaun Mullen’s place. He expresses well what I would only express poorly.

Solomon Jones marvels at the obtuseness of John McCain.

McCain, who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, had a tumor removed at the Mayo Clinic, thanks to the taxpayers who provide his salary and pay for the health-care benefits he receives as a U.S. senator. Just 11 days after that surgery, McCain traveled from Arizona to Washington to snatch health care from the very people whose taxes saved his life.

Dick Polman has more.

Read it.

Aside:

I find it puzzling that John McCain has managed to keep a reputation (at least among the media) for being a mavericky statesman, as for the past two decades his record is one of toeing the Republican Party line.

Via PoliticalProf.

Shoot first.

Don’t ask questions.

I forgot to tune into the FDIC last night to see the parade of fiscal responsibles being honored for their acumen at destroying jobs, money, and trust(s).

I shall recognize them now for their mastery of the universe.

These banks are now blanks:

BankEast, Knoxville, Tennessee
Patriot Bank Minnesota, Forest Lake, Minnesota
Tennessee Commerce Bank, Franklin, Tennessee

Via Leesburg Tomorrow.

Joseph Stiglitz points out the doube-standard of foreclosure fraud. Banks expect homeowners to obey the law, while the banks disobey it. A nugget:

The procedural shortcuts, incomplete documentation and rampant fraud that accompanied banks’ rush to generate millions of bad loans during the housing bubble has, however, complicated the process of cleaning up the ensuing mess.

To many bankers, these are just details to be overlooked. Most people evicted from their homes have not been paying their mortgages, and, in most cases, those who are throwing them out have rightful claims. But Americans are not supposed to believe in justice on average.

Via TPM, which has a montage of McCain’s McMavericky statements.

Reacting to this interview with Willaim Ayers, Dan Kennedy writes in the Guardian (emphasis added):

Ayers . . . came across as intelligent, sympathetic, multi-dimensional and reflective – in other words, like an actual human being. He expressed regrets about his 1960s radicalism, though in a selective and self-regarding manner – again, like a human being. And if he’s not quite the wonderful person he portrayed himself to be – indeed, his limited contrition seemed artfully designed to underscore his wonderfulness – he nevertheless convinced me that his crimes were minor compared to the useful life he has led.

Which makes it all the more reprehensible that John McCain and Sarah Palin would single this man out, holding him up as an object of hatred as the crowds they had whipped into a frenzy cried, “Kill him!” The McCain-Palin ticket may be history, but the rage it unleashed lives on.

“Now that the campaign is over, have the death threats stopped?” (interviewer Terry–ed.) Gross asked Ayers.

“Escalated,” Ayers replied.

“Why, do you think?”

“I’m not sure,” Ayers said, “but I’ve gotten a lot of threats that talk about civil war and the fact that we now have a socialist government and that the war is on. And I send all of these threats to the police because I don’t know how to handle them”.

Here.

It’s so McMavericky.

Furrfu.

Via Mithras.

Inherit the whirlwind.

Welcome to John McCain’s America:

Via Digby.

TPM via the Booman.

McHack, the common man:

Early in 2007, just as her husband launched his presidential bid, Cindy McCain decided to resolve an old problem — the lack of cellular telephone coverage on her remote 15-acre ranch near Sedona, nestled deep in a tree-lined canyon called Hidden Valley.

By the time Sen. John McCain’s presidential bid was in full swing this summer, the ranch had wireless coverage from the two cellular companies most often used by campaign staff — Verizon Wireless and AT&T.

Verizon delivered a portable tower know as a “cell site on wheels” — free of charge — to Cindy McCain’s property in June in response to an online request from Cindy McCain’s staff early last year. Such devices are usually reserved for restoring service when cell coverage is knocked out during emergencies, such as hurricanes.

GRAPHIC: After a request from Cindy McCain, Verizon Wireless proposed installing a cell tower close to the couple’s home near Sedona, Ariz.

In July, AT&T followed suit, wheeling in a portable tower for free to match Verizon’s offer. “This is an unusual situation,” said AT&T spokeswoman Claudia B. Jones. “You can’t have a presidential nominee in an area where there is not cell coverage.”

H/T Karen for the link.
So, just what do you think would have happened when you called up Southwestern Bell Cingular AT&T or Verizon and said, “Look, I don’t get any cell phone coverage here at my place. Can I have my own cell tower?”

Think they would have said, “Sure! Here! It’s on the House Senate. Just tell us where you want it”?

If you do, wanna buy a bridge?

From Fact Check dot org. Follow the link for the full analysis (emphasis added):

A McCain-Palin ad claims Obama was rated the “most liberal” U.S. senator, which was true only for 2007 but not for his entire Senate career. He was rated 10th and 16th in his two previous years.

The ad also misquotes Obama. It says he defended himself against the “most liberal” rating by saying “they’re not telling the truth” and “folks are lying.” Actually, Obama said McCain and Palin weren’t truthful about the “Bridge to Nowhere,” and he was correct. And his “folks are lying” remark referred to anti-abortion groups that accuse him of favoring “infanticide” because of votes he cast in the Illinois state Senate.

After twisting Obama’s words, the ad accuses him of being “not presidential.”

And McHack is?

Well, maybe. Given the record of the Current Federal Administrator, I guess lying is the presidential thing to do.