Newsweek Confirms the NY Times Rick Davis Story

So much for the howls of outrage from John McCain and his sniveling weasel of a campaign chair. This is particularly lovely:

The two sources, who requested anonymity discussing sensitive information, told NEWSWEEK that Davis himself approached Freddie Mac in 2006 and asked for a new consulting arrangement that would allow his firm to continue to be paid. The arrangement was approved by Hollis McLoughlin, Freddie Mac's senior vice president for external relations, because "he [Davis] was John McCain's campaign manager and it was felt you couldn't say no," said one of the sources. [McLoughlin did not return phone calls].

(Emphasis mine.) McCain claims he's going to "clean up Washington" while he proves how corrupt and lacking in judgment he is on a daily basis now. He's running around trying to link Obama to this mess with the silliest of "six degrees of separation" rationales, while his own campaign manager was selling his access to these very firms? How the hell can anyone who claims to be conservative vote for this guy?

Oh, and here's what he said about Davis before this story broke:

When asked about his own campaign manager's associations with the mortgage giants, McCain, in an interview with CNBC Sunday night, said that Davis "has had nothing to do" with the Homeownship Alliance since it disbanded and "I'll be glad to have his record examined by anybody who wants to look at it."

You'll be "glad"? Really? Does that mean that, for once, we'll be spared your petulant whining about how the "media is out to get you" -- which constantly reminds me of one of my sons trying to blame his brother instead of taking responsibility for his own actions? Yeah, I know, probably not.

NY Times: McCain's Campaign Manager Received $15,000 Per Month from Freddie Mac - Even During Election Campaign

So Rick Davis wants to whine like a baby about how "biased" the NY Times is? They're not going to be bullied by him, and hey, they don't need to be biased when the facts are on their side:

WASHINGTON — One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement.

The disclosure undercuts a statement by Mr. McCain on Sunday night that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with the company for the last several years.

Mr. Davis’s firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the people said.

They said they did not recall Mr. Davis’s doing much substantive work for the company in return for the money, other than speak to a political action committee of high-ranking employees in October 2006 on the approaching midterm Congressional elections. They said Mr. Davis’s firm, Davis & Manafort, had been kept on the payroll because of Mr. Davis’s close ties to Mr. McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, who by 2006 was widely expected to run again for the White House.

McCain's propaganda campaign (I'm no longer calling it a presidential campaign) seems to shoot itself in the foot on a daily basis now. I'm sure the spin on this one will be MOST amusing.

Issues? What Issues?

The Bush administration announced today that it's stepping in to take over Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac. Gold spiked over $20 an ounce on the news.

Rick Davis, the lobbyist who heads McCain's campaign, says this election isn't about issues. That's right, folks, this election isn't about the future of the nation, how we get out of Iraq sanely, deal ing with our overtaxed military, the crumbling housing market, the economy going down the toilet, five-year high unemployment, unaffordable gas prices, millions without health care, jobs going overseas.

Nope, that doesn't matter, only identity politics and culture wars. Pay no attention to who has plans to fix this mess and vote the POW/Mooseburger ticket into office. If you don't, you're unpatriotic.

New Slogan: "Putting McCain/Palin First"

One of the responsibilities of every presidential and vice-presidential candidate is to make themselves available for questions from the people and the press. Normally, this isn't even an issue for discussion -- what politician wouldn't want public exposure?

It seems we have our answer: Governor Sarah Palin. When John McCain, Barack Obama and Joe Biden sit down on Sunday to discuss issues, Palin will be conspicuously absent.

Now why would that be? Why wouldn't the GOP want their newly minted conservative savior to get as much airtime as possible? You already know: she's woefully unprepared not merely for the job she seeks, but even to sit down with reporters and answer questions.

The sheer outrageousness of this situation should make Americans hopping mad. And you would think the McCain campaign would be making up elaborate excuses for why they are hiding their candidate from public scrutiny. But you'd be wrong. The audacity of the McCain campaign seems to know no bounds, as evidenced by campaign chair Rick Davis, who had no problem flatly saying the following on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program:

"Our strategy is in our hands, not the media's. We're going to do what's in our best interests to try to win the election. If we think going on TV news shows are [sic] in our best interests, we'll do it. If we don't, we won't."

When I go to to www.johnmccain.com, I am immediately hit by four words: "McCain, Palin, and Country First". How is it putting the country first to pick someone for VP that nobody knows and then say "up yours" to America when they want to find out where she stands? Where is the outrage at the notion of people who think they are entitled to ask for our votes, but we aren't entitled to ask them questions?

Talk's cheap. Actions count, and actions show that the GOP's new slogan should be "Putting McCain/Palin First".