John McCain’s Skeletons
The mainstream media is catching up with Chronicles.
On Tuesday, June 17, the Chicago Tribune published a major article exposing Sen. John McCain’s connection with the Reform Institute (RI), a Washington think tank founded in 2001 ostensibly to promote transparency and accountability in government. But behind the scenes, the paper says, the Institute’s practices have been at odds with its reformist message and “with McCain’s political identity as an enemy of special interests.” This discrepancy may be a revelation to the Tribune subscribers, but not to the readers of Chronicles.
The Tribune article focuses on five red flags:
- Donations to the RI of $200,000 in 2003-2004 from a cable company with business before the McCain-led Senate Commerce Committee.
- The role of Rick Davis, a veteran Washington lobbyist who was president of the Institute 2003-2005 and who is now McCain’s campaign manager.
- The fact that “three members of the institute’s inaugural four-person board worked on McCain’s 2000 campaign.”
- The manner in which McCain has benefited from a stream of special-interest gifts to the RI—almost 5 million dollars through 2006—similar to the “soft money” he has scorned.
- The Institute’s use of the same Alexandria, Va., office building as McCain’s PAC, his Senate campaign committee and Davis’ lobbying business.
Our subscribers have probably seen the July issue of Chronicles by now. It contains an article on McCain I wrote last month (“The Dream Ticket”), which contains all the significant information presented in the Tribune feature. It also reveals some interesting additional details—such as the close connection between McCain and George Soros, and the role of a Mexican open-immigration activist on McCain’s staff—which are inexplicably missing from the Tribune article, and which are essential to understanding John McCain:
The point of contact [between McCain and Soros] was campaign-finance reform, and the channel of support was the Reform Institute, founded in 2001 and headed by the Arizona senator until 2005, when he resigned in order to prepare for another presidential bid. The RI was initially funded by Soros’s Open Society Foundation and by Teresa Heinz-Kerry’s Tides Foundation. They were excited by the McCain-Feingold bill because it had the capacity to limit private groups’ ability to challenge the institutionalized leftist bias of the mainstream electronic media with “issue ads”—such as those Swift Boat ads that inflicted so much damage on John Kerry in his subsequent presidential bid. […]
When the Reform Institute opened shop under McCain’s chairmanship in July 2001, Mrs. Huffington—a close associate and confidante of Soros—was on its advisory committee. The Institute was a pseudo-think tank designed to keep McCain’s staff assembled and gainfully employed in anticipation of another presidential bid. Its offices were in the same building in Alexandria as his election committee, his PAC, and the lobbying firm of his 2000 campaign manager, Rick Davis. The Institute hired three other key campaign staffers: legal counsel Trevor Potter as legal counsel, finance director Carla Eudy as finance director, and press secretary Crystal Benton as—communications director.
The Constitutions and Legal Policy Program of Soros’s Open Society Institute donated “above $50,000” to the RI while McCain was at its helm. In addition, the OSI distributed $300,000 in grants to different groups that defended McCain-Feingold from threatened legal challenges during its passage through Congress in 2002.
Last April, McCain tried to distance himself from his benefactor, with his old/new campaign manager Davis describing Soros as a “liberal mega-donor” who wants to “buy this election.” The performance was as convincing as George H.W. Bush decrying the influence of “those Washington insiders.” What matters is that McCain has not given back any money to Soros. He has not returned the $200,000 that the Reform Institute received in donations from Cablevision in 2002 and 2003 either, when McCain was on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. It was undoubtedly coincidental that, in a letter to the FCC written at that time, McCain supported Cablevision’s proposal for the introduction of a more profitable cable pricing scheme.
The Reform Institute has promoted another important pillar of Soros’s agenda: open and unlimited Third World immigration. […] This is not to say that McCain’s support of illegal immigration correlates exclusively with the money he is getting from Soros. By all accounts he is an “honest” amnesty enthusiast. His man in charge of immigration reform at the RI was, until two years ago, one Juan Fernandez, who holds dual U.S. and Mexican citizenship and is a former member of Vicente Fox’s cabinet in charge of Mexicans abroad. This man believes that anyone of Mexican ancestry, even after going through the motions of becoming an American citizen (as he has done), remains a Mexican forever and should “think Mexican first.” Such a one should never contemplate—let alone accept—assimilation as an option. Dr. Fernandez now serves as John McCain’s Hispanic Outreach Director and is seen as a potential Cabinet-level appointee in a McCain administration.
It is entirely possible, probable even, that the publication of the Chicago Tribune feature on John McCain and the Reform Institute a week after the July issue of Chronicles was mailed to our subscribers is coincidental. It does not seem incidental, however, that the paper chose to ignore significant information about McCain’s links to Soros, the OSI, or Huffington—information that was most unlikely to remain unavailable to the story’s authors and their editors in the course of its writing. It is far more likely that the omission was deliberate: it reflected the unwillingness of this once-great newspaper to publicize the connections of these actual or potential supporters of Sen. Obama with his GOP opponent. There is precious little to choose between the two, of course, but the Chicago Tribune editorial board thinks otherwise.
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"There is precious little to choose between the two, of course..."
Which is why I will be voting for Chuck Baldwin.
Also to mention his questionable accounts of being held and tortured in Vietnam and his political career financied by an associate of the Bronfman crime family.
Or, how about the sizable campaign contribution he reportedly received from Lord Rothschild during a recent visit to England.
Whats the difference in political parties if they are funded by the same people (Soros also funds Obama) members of same political organisations like the CFR and there senior advisors have pretty much the same viewpoints just different ways going about it who are also member of groups like CFR.
I also like it how politicians make up heroic war stories McCain in Vietnam, Hilary dodging sniper fire in Bosnia, Weslay Clark heroically surviving a Serb ambush, John Kerry in Vietnam surving an attack on his boat rescuing his fellow crewmen.
But the best was Tom Lantos amazing tales of heroism and survival fighting with the resistence in Hungry against the Nazis and surviving being sent to 7 or 8 different concentration camps then after the war fighting against the communists although after the war the communist government of Hungry was predominantly Jewish. After which poor and hungry he's able to immigrate to the US where he would eventually become a senator and help get the US to invade Iraq getting the US bogged down even worse in the Middle East and helping create the state of Kosovo described by his own words " a predominantly muslim country in the very heart of Europe".
Second James' comment that Lantos was a creep.Before he returned home to Satan,he hosted a group of Russian foreign policy scholars before his committee.When the Russians vehemently dissented with his(and the US) position on Kosovo he actually adjourned and insisted further discussion would be private.The Russians had exposed with glee his hypocrisy and the venerable fraud had to close debate.Chuck Baldwin is a good man and a worthy candidate.I may also vote for him-I was proud to vote for Buchanan and my fellow terrapin,Peroutka.Obama is probably going to hustle away our dear Maryland;I think the best we might do is continue to expose,eviscerate,and "diss" the Boy Orator of Hyde Park.If McCain is elected he will be hated by the world;if the 'Bama is elected he will be loved by the world--and that is a very dangerous thing.Thus I'm sticking to sticking it to the 'Bama.Win or lose,we need him diminished.
in shooting practice, missing an inch ir a yard is the same ting.................you missed
a lot
#1 - I support Chuck Baldwin as well. Many Paulistas are coming around to him and I hope Ron Paul himself will endorse Baldwin. I've heard him quoted that he is undecided between Baldwin and Barr. Thanks to Dr. Trifkovic for bringing these skeletons of McCain to our attention.
The only reason to hope for an Obama presidency is that this kind of shock therapy may bring some spineless GOP lesser-evilists to their senses...
"The only reason to hope for an Obama presidency is that this kind of shock therapy may bring some spineless GOP lesser-evilists to their senses…"
From your mouth to God's Ear, Srdija!
It's a good thing I came to this site. This article is a revelation to me. Thanks to Quinn and Rose (a talk show) I was convinced I ought to vote for McCain just to keep Obama out. But now...
Maybe I'll just write in Ron Paul.
@10David Collins
You should write something funny next to each candidates name like "baldy traitor" next to McCain and "AIPAC uncle tom"next to Obama.
Have you not considering voting for Ralph Nader?
I forgot to mention in comment @4 Obamas story of how his grandfather help liberate Auchwitz and how this deeply effected his family. I didn't know any black officers served in the Soiviet army.
Whats Chuck Baldwins foriegn policy and I mean not just about the Middle East?
One of the democratic candidates seeking the 2004 presidential nomination suggested an international minimum wage. I thought this was a good idea as it would discourage big corporations to move there manufacturing jobs to China or some other country where they pay them next to nothing and improve the US's image abroad especially in Latin America. I'm suprised no one else has suggested this comment.
#11 - Chuck Baldwin is candidate of the Constitution Party and essentially their foreign policy is non-interventionist across the board. Here is the link to their platform.
http://www.constitutionparty.com/party_platform.php#Foreign%20Policy
@12Kirt Higdon
Yes, but does he have any heroic war stories like Tom Lantos that we can relate to.
Is the constitution party the one founded by Vince Russo?
His documentary Freedom to Facism was bad and looked cheap, parts of it looked like it was done by Flash. But what I saw at one of his conventions aired on C-SPAN his parties ideas sounded good.
@7Kirt Higdon
I heard Bob Barr is pro-Israel so I dont think Ron Paul would support him as he wants to cut aid to Israel.
#14 james - I don't know whether to take your Vince Russo question seriously. Isn't he some wrestling personality? If a joke is intended, you'll have to explain - I don't get it. The Constitution Party, which in some states goes under other names, evolved out of the 1968 George Wallace candidacy. Howard Phillips had a good deal to do with its present organization and direction.
@14Kirt Higdon
No, it was not intended as a joke I made a mistake and got the name wrong its Aaron Russo a former hollywood movie producer whos affiliated with a political party which seeks to hold the values of the constitution.
I thought it might be the constitution party but if it was created in 68 then I guess not.
Didn't know there was a wrestling personality named Vince Russo as I dont watch wrestling.
In Britian the only alternative to the two big parties is left wing parties like the Liberal democrats whos former leader at one point is the former dictator of Bosnia and MI6 agent Paddy Ashdown whos famous video of him inspecting KLA weapons with KLA terrorists surfaced during the Milosevic trail or the pro Muslim Respect party who tried to elect Baber Ahmed who ran Assam publications who's websites help fund terrorists in Bosnia and Russia to regional MP. If you were a BNP activist member at one point your bank account would be frozen and shut down.
The U.S. Taxpayers' Party, which is now nationally known as the Constitution Party, was founded in 1992 by Howard Phillips partially in the hopes that it would be a vehicle for Pat Buchanan. It formed an alliance with certain pre-existing state parties mostly out West. The pre-existing party in California was a direct descendant of Wallace's 1968 party. So the CP formed in '92, but it has state affiliates that are older.
Aaron Russo ran for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination in 2004.
The CP and Chuck Baldwin are very sound on almost every issue from a paleoconservative perspective. I think they employ too much (classical) liberal rhetoric despite policies that are illiberal on various matters. So they end up sounding a bit confused and contradictory at times. (Something that LP members are more than happy to quickly point out.) But what conservatives don't use too much liberal rhetoric these days?
I didn't know Aaron Russo was just running for presidential nomination i thought it was his own party.
Is the Libertarian Party the one Ron Paul is or used to be affiliated with? I know under this presidential election nominee he ran as a Republican. Is there any actual nationalist parties in th US like BNP or the Front National. I think Willis Carto tried to create a nationalist party in the US.
#17 james - Ron Paul ran for president as the candidate of the Libertarian party in 1988. His career in Congress has been within the Republican party.