BS: McCain campaign and Myanmar

Subject: BS: McCain campaign and Myanmar
From: PoppaGator
Date: 13 May 08 - 06:14 PM

A couple of the right-wingers running John McCain's campaign just had to resign when their connections to the Myanmar junta came to light:

http://www.firethelobbyists.com/facts.html

Many of us, of course, are not surprised that powerful individuals in the Republican establishment are stronger supporters of dictatorships than of democratic values, but others may find this to be quite revealing.

Subject: RE: BS: McCain campaign and Myanmar
From: Amos
Date: 13 May 08 - 07:12 PM

Dear MoveOn member,

John McCain says he's a defender of democracy. But the folks running his campaign have been playing for the other team.

Two of John McCain's senior campaign staff were forced to resign this week after revelations that their lobbying firm was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to represent Burma's brutal military dictatorship.1

And it gets worseÑturns out this goes all the way to the top. Charlie Black, McCain's campaign chairman, ran a lobbying firm that represented brutal dictators like Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines and Mobutu Sese Seko in ZaireÑalong with terrorist rebel Jonas Savimbi in Angola. Together, these men have been responsible for massive human suffering.2

And for good measure, Charlie Black has represented war profiteer Blackwater Worldwide and Iraqi fraudster Ahmed Chalabi.3

John McCain has a lobbyist problem, and we thought he could use your advice. What should Senator McCain do about his top adviser, Charlie Black? We'll release the results to the mediaÑand forward your advice to Senator McCain himself. And we're working on a hard-hitting web ad about Charlie Black that we'll release soon.

Click below to choose which message to send to John McCain:
Fire Black. Fire Charlie Black if he doesn't resign first.

Fire all the lobbyists. Fire Charlie Black, plus all 112 lobbyists running your campaign,4 including campaign co-chair Tom Loeffler, who has represented the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a notorious human rights abuser.5

Don't sweat it. The media is so sold on your "maverick" image that corrupt figures in your inner circle won't actually hurt you.

Go all in. Hire more lobbyists who've worked for evil dictators. Maybe Kim Jong-il or Idi Amin.
Tell us what you think and spread the word! This survey's kind of funny, but our goal is deadly serious. If hundreds of thousands of us weigh in, we can show the media that John McCain's campaign has a growing liability: the fact that his inner circle is filled with lobbyists who've worked for everything he claims to be against.

Thanks for all you do.

ÐNoah, Karin, Ilyse, Peter, Justin, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
ÊÊTuesday, May 13th, 2008

P.S. McCain's campaign staff have too many connections to dictators to list in this email. It's unbelievable. But the non-partisan reform group Public Campaign Action Fund created a great fact sheet laying it all out:

http://www.firethelobbyists.com/facts.html

Sources:
1. "A Lobbying Firm and Its McCain Ties," MSNBC, May 12, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3654&id=12653-137503-cqHYTQ&t=5
2. "John McCain's Lobbyist Connections," Public Campaign Action Fund
http://www.firethelobbyists.com/facts.html

3. Ibid.

4. "McCain's Lobbyists in Trouble for Foreign Lobbying," Progressive Media USA, May 11, 2008
http://www.mccainsource.com/mccain_fact_check?id=0007

5. "McCain Aides Are Tied," New York Sun, May 12, 2008
http://www2.nysun.com/national/mccain-aides-are-tied/

"Obama Calls on Rice to Address Human Rights Violations in Saudi Arabia," November 19, 2007
http://obama.senate.gov/press/071119-obama_calls_on_21/

"Saudi Arabia," Human Rights Watch World Report, 2007
http://hrw.org/englishwr2k7/docs/2007/01/11/saudia14717.htm

Subject: RE: BS: McCain campaign and Myanmar
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 May 08 - 07:16 PM

Ah, good. I should have known you'd beat me to it. I hope this buries him!

Subject: RE: BS: McCain campaign and Myanmar
From: GUEST,Chief Chaos
Date: 13 May 08 - 09:00 PM

Just when I thought the ongoing bickering between Obama and Hillary were going to hand him the election. Unfortunately, the State dept. has already stepped in and put pressure on the Junta. The Junta will give a little and this won't seem that bad.

Subject: RE: BS: McCain campaign and Myanmar
From: CarolC
Date: 13 May 08 - 09:22 PM

Might make it more difficult for McCain to convince people that Obama should be judged by the company he keeps, though.

Subject: RE: BS: McCain campaign and Myanmar
From: GUEST,Chief Chaos
Date: 13 May 08 - 09:29 PM

Sorry, I'd bet McCain is more than aware of the make-up of the people he's surrounded himself with. He is a Republican after all and it just helps his bonafides with the conservatives who really don't care about human rights to begin with (or weren't you watching the news from Guantanamo and the Iraqi prisons?)

I doubt McCain would say he spent 20 years with these folks and had no clue about their true nature.

Subject: RE: BS: McCain campaign and Myanmar
From: CarolC
Date: 13 May 08 - 09:57 PM

But those people will be voting for Bob Barr, won't they?