Dedicated to Any Undecided Voters, Part I

Ever since the last balloons fell at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, the respective campaigns have attempted to emphasize Sen. Barack Obama's lack of executive experience; Sen. Joe Biden's inability to filter his comments and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's lack of intellect and international knowledge and her overly conservative views. At the same time, it seems as if both the Democrats and media alike have given somewhat of a free pass to Sen. John McCain (assumedly due to his time as a prisoner of war). However, if a little more attention was devoted to his background, everyone would see that McCain lacks the character and integrity to serve as the President of the United States. In fact, Richard Clarke, the former chief counter terrorism advisor for President Bill Clinton and Mr. Bush, had this to say recently about McCain: "I'm sure John McCain loves his country. But loving your country and lying to the American people are apparently not inconsistent in his view." With that being said, the following is a long list of dubious events from McCain's life:

• McCain's self described "four-year course of insubordination and rebellion" at the United States Naval Academy finished with him graduating 894th out of a class of 899 students.
• Prior to him even seeing action in the Vietnam War, McCain crashed three planes, which can be attributed primarily to his self described "daredevil clowning" and poor judgement. The second incident created a blackout throughout a large portion of southern Spain when, during a training mission, he flew his plane too low and sliced through electrical wires. (I am sure the fact that both his father and grandfather were four star admirals in the U.S. Navy had nothing to do with McCain being allowed to continue flying.)
• While sitting in the cockpit of his A-4 Skyhawk aboard the USS Forrestal in the Gulf of Tonkin, a Zuni rocket was unintentionally launched across the flight deck, causing a huge explosion which killed 134 sailors and injuring 161 more. Instead of assisting the rescue workers in recovering bodies and joining the heroic crew in mourning its fallen brothers, McCain traveled to Saigon for some "much welcome R&R".
• Although he is viewed by many as a war hero, McCain has admitted to the fact that, soon after he was imprisoned in Vietnam, he informed his captors: "I'll give you military information if you will take me to the hospital." Only two weeks after his capture, McCain provided the name of his ship, the amount of raids he had flown, his squadron number and the target of his final raid.
• Aside from concealing his readiness to offer confidential information during his capture, McCain has also permitted the length of his torture to be exaggerated. Although former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN) stated during the Republican National Convention that "For five-and-a-half years this went on", McCain's torture in Vietnam actually ended after two years.
• After returning from Vietnam, McCain wanted to study at the National War College, a school in the National Defense University, but he was turned down by his military superiors for being underqualified. Therefore, McCain appealed the decision to Sen. John Warner (R-VA), who was the Secretary of the Navy at the time and a friend of McCain's father.
• At the end of 1974, McCain was selected as the commanding officer of the Replacement Air Group, the largest air squadron in the Navy. In a post which now required him to train carrier pilots, McCain openly admitted that he "was not qualified" for the position.
• While McCain was a POW, his first wife Carol was involved in a horrible one-car accident on Christmas Eve in 1969. She would spend six months in the hospital and suffer through twenty-three surgeries, which left her five inches shorter and walking on crutches. Despite Carol's ordeal, McCain proceeded to, according to biographer Robert Timberg, have numerous extramarital affairs, including with some of his subordinates.
• In 1977, McCain was named as the Navy's liaison to the United States Senate. Although McCain was serving as the branch's top lobbyist, he showed his true political colors by securing a $2 billion pork project to replace the USS Midway, which was against the wishes of President Jimmy Carter and the Secretary of the Navy. As Mark Hill, chief lobbyist for the Association of Naval Aviation, remembers, "he did a lot of stuff behind the back of the Secretary of the Navy".
• During the spring of 1979, McCain met Cindy Hensley, leading to a year long romance while McCain was still married to and living with Carol. Although he married Cindy three months after divorcing Carol, McCain was still legally married to Carol when he and Cindy were issued a marriage license from the State of Arizona.
• A self proclaimed "foot soldier in the Reagan revolution" prior to his marriage to Cindy, McCain was never forgiven by Ronald and Nancy Reagan for divorcing Carol. Aside from providing Carol with a job in the White House, Nancy did not endorse McCain for President until he became the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party.
• Receiving advance notice in 1982 that a U.S. House of Representatives seat was opening up in the Phoenix area, Cindy purchased a house for McCain in that particular district within minutes of the Republican incumbent's retirement announcement. In sharp contrast to his current marketing ploys, McCain's campaign advertisements at that time described him as an insider, an individual "who knows how Washington works". And although the Reagans no longer respected him, McCain still featured pictures of himself smiling with both Ronald and Nancy.
• McCain voted against honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a national holiday in 1983, subsequently continuing that stance until 1989. He initially voted twice against campaign finance reform and attempted to reduce federal funding for social programs.
• In the year before his United States Senate run, McCain championed legislation to delay new regulations on savings and loan associations. Being extremely grateful for McCain's actions, Charles Keating, the chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, donated $54,000 to McCain's campaign. When Keating attempted to fill the federal regulatory bank board with his colleagues, a telephone call from McCain hastened the process. In 1987, McCain also attended two meetings convened by Keating in order to eliminate pressure from the federal regulators. As a member of the Keating Five, McCain was one of five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989 for improperly intervening on behalf of Keating. At the time, Lincoln Savings and Loan was the target of a regulatory investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. In total, Keating contributed $1.3 million and provided numerous free vacations to the five Senators in exchange for those individuals assisting him in resisting government regulators. When Lincoln Savings and Loan went bankrupt that same year, the collapse cost the taxpayers $3.4 billion, which was the record for the most expensive bank failure in history until the current mortgage crisis.
• Supposedly in a response to the Keating Five scandal, Cindy became addicted to Vicodin and Percocet. While her drug addiction is certainly concerning, the fact that Cindy directed a doctor employed by her charity (which provides medical treatment to patients in developing countries) to supply the narcotics is the real issue. As Director of Government Affairs for the charity, Tom Gosinksi maintained a detailed journal and, when he was suddenly terminated by Cindy, Gosinksi provided the journal to the Drug Enforcement Administration. To avoid a prison sentence, Cindy agreed to a confidential plea bargain and court imposed rehabilitation. After Gosinski filed a $250,000 wrongful termination suit, the attorney for the McCains demanded that prosecutors investigate Gosinski for extortion, a charge later dismissed as unsubstantiated.
• McCain supported President Reagan on abortion, tax cuts for the wealthy and support for the Nicaraguan Contras. Citing as his biggest legislative victory of that era, McCain also supported a 1989 bill which eliminated catastrophic health insurance for senior citizens.
• McCain voted to confirm conservatives Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas to the United States Supreme Court.
• McCain denounced President Clinton for sending the military to Somalia and actually sponsored an amendment to discontinue funding for the troops.
• In 1993, he was the keynote speaker at a fundraiser for a group sponsoring an anti-gay rights ballot initiative in Oregon.
• During the "Gingrich revolution" in 1994, McCain called for the elimination of the Departments of Education and Energy. (Considering his current platform, this brilliant idea does not surprise me at all.) The following year, he championed a sweeping measure which imposed a moratorium on any increase of government regulation.
• In 1997, McCain was named chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, which regulates the insurance and telecommunications industries. During his tenure as chairman or ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, executives and fundraisers associated with these two industries donated $2.6 million to McCain. Employees of BellSouth contributed more than $16,000 to McCain, who returned the favor by asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to strongly consider the company's request to become a long distance carrier. Days after legislation benefiting the satellite television carrier EchoStar cleared McCain's committee, the company's founder hosted a major fundraiser for McCain's first presidential bid.
• After donating $20,000 and allowing McCain to use his corporate airplane in order to travel to presidential campaign events, Bud Paxson met with McCain because of the FCC's delay in approving his acquisition of a television station in Pittsburgh. Although considered "highly unusual", McCain sent two letters to the FCC in order to finalize the deal.
• The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act in 1999 repealed legislation from 1933 and, by doing so, allowed for competition among banks, securities companies and insurance companies. McCain voted for this legislation, which has played an enormous role in the current financial crisis.
• Following his failed presidential bid in 2000, McCain founded a non-profit organization called The Reform Institute. McCain staffed the organization with, among others, Rick Davis, his current campaign manager and a former lobbyist for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Prohibited from explicit political activity due to its 501(c)(3) status, The Reform Institute still managed to receive large amounts of money from the telecommunications industry. EchoStar provided a donation of $100,000 and a charity funded by the CEO of Univision contributed an additional $100,000. As the officials of Cablevision were testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee, the company contributed $200,000 to the Reform Institute in 2003 and 2004. Not surprisingly, McCain encouraged the approval of Cablevision's proposed pricing plan.
• Adding to the lies perpetrated by the Bush administration after the September 11th terrorist attacks and anthrax scares, McCain stated that "There is some indication, and I don't have the conclusions, but some of this anthrax may — and I emphasize may — have come from Iraq". Later that month, McCain did his best Dick Cheney impersonation by falsely claiming that "The Czech government has revealed meetings, contacts between Iraqi intelligence and Mohamed Atta. The evidence is very clear. . .so we will have to act." In December of that year, McCain worked with eight other members of Congress to write a letter to Mr. Bush. This letter insisted "All indications are that, in the interest of our own national security, Saddam Hussein must be removed from power".
• McCain was one of only two Republicans to vote in 2001 against Mr. Bush's $1.35 trillion, 10-year tax cut. Two years later, McCain was just one of three Republicans to vote against additional tax cuts, describing those cuts as "too tilted to the wealthy". Then in May 2006, after years of speaking out against Mr. Bush's tax cuts, McCain voted for an extension. Not unexpectedly, McCain announced his intention less than a year later to run for President.
• In September 2002, McCain attempted to assure Americans by saying "I believe that the United States military capabilities are such that we can win a victory in a relatively short time...I believe that we can win an overwhelming victory in a very short period of time." On the eve of the invasion, McCain was also emphatic in his confidence that the United States would be received as liberators by the citizens of Iraq. However, McCain sang a different tune in August 2006: "It has contributed enormously to the frustration that Americans feel today because they were led to believe that this would be some kind of a day at the beach, which many of us fully understood from the beginning would be a very, very difficult undertaking."
• In a highly public battle with Mr. Bush in 2005, McCain claimed a victory which required all military personnel to comply with the Army Field Manual when interrogating prisoners. Just over a year later, McCain formed an agreement with the Bush administration to allow the indefinite imprisonment of detainees and ignore the Geneva Conventions' restrictions against torture.
• An article from the "Congressional Quarterly" in January 2008 determined that McCain was the most reliable voter for the Bush administration in 2007: "McCain's 95% support score for last year was the highest in the chamber."
• McCain received a grade of D from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) for his leadership and voting record during the 2007 and 2008 legislative agendas concerning the most critical issues facing veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.
• In March 2008, McCain insisted that he is "always for less regulation". However, in September of this year, with the federal government committing $85 billion in order to halt the collapse, McCain claimed that the current financial woes "stem from failed regulation, reckless management and a casino culture on Wall Street". Perhaps this is why, at the end of last year, that McCain described his knowledge in the financial arena: "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should."
• McCain reversed his decades long opposition to coastal drilling in June 2008, shortly before accepting $28,500 from thirteen donors connected to Hess Oil.
• A few years ago, McCain attempted to prohibit registered lobbyists from working on political campaigns. During McCain's current presidential bid, more than 175 lobbyists have been managing and raising money for his campaign.
• Before he became McCain's chief campaign advisor, Charles Black served as a founding partner of the lobbying firm BKSH & Associates. Black and his partners at the firm acted as registered foreign agents for numerous controversial leaders (including Ibrahim Babangida, Mohamed Siad Barre, Ferdinand Marcos and Mobutu Sese Seko), as well as Freddie Mac and Philip Morris. Prior to his current role as McCain's foreign policy advisor, Randy Scheunemann lobbied for the National Rifle Association and against federal safety inspections of roller coasters. Both Black and Scheunemann have strong ties to Ahmad Chalabi, who provided a major portion of the information on which the U.S. intelligence community based its condemnation of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The information included reports of weapons of mass destruction and alleged ties to al-Qaeda, which nearly all of it was proved false by the media and the intelligence communities of other countries. As we now know, that bill of goods was still sold to the American public as gospel.