McCain: The Most Reprehensible Of The Keating Five-Article 1989

[Ichingcarpenter]

The story of "the Keating Five" has become a scandal rivaling Teapot Dome and Watergate

By Tom Fitzpatrick
Published on November 29, 1989
You're John McCain, a fallen hero who wanted to become president so desperately that you sold yourself to Charlie Keating, the wealthy con man who bears such an incredible resemblance to The Joker.>>>>snip


And now, the tab for the Savings and Loan heist must be paid from taxpayer pockets.

On Sunday, Senators Dennis DeConcini, Alan Cranston, and Riegle refused offers to appear on the Brinkley show. What must we make of that?

You, the closest of them to Keating and the deepest in his debt, have chosen the path of the hard sell. You may even make it out of the pot, but to many, your protestations of innocence taste like gall.>>>>snip


You sought out a master criminal like Keating and became his friend. Now you've discarded him. It shouldn't be surprising that you are now in the process of selling out your senatorial accomplices.

You're John McCain, clearly the guiltiest, most culpable and reprehensible of the Keating Five. But you know the power of television and you realize this is the only way you can possibly save your political career.


http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1989-11-29/news/mccain-the-most-reprehensible-of-the-keating-five/1

[ccharles000]

1. Wow.

I did not know this. (I was born in 1989).

[katandmoon]

2. Paging Obama...USE THIS!

[Quixote1818]

9. I imagine his people have gone over all of this with a fine tooth comb.

If they haven't they should be fired.

[KittyWampus]

19. well, they also seemed to have ignored McCain's son who just left a bank scandal

[FrenchieCat]

3. maybe some of the lazy reporters will do a story on this......

as it seems relevant to me, or as the statute of limitation run out?

The media was looking for Obama's 25 year old Columbia undergraduate thesis just the other day and saying that it might matter.

Maybe this matters way more?

[AtomicKitten]

4. And barely a peep from the MSM on the Keating 5.

[nc4bo]

5. not only that but his son Andrew is looking mighty shakey too..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6571120&mesg_id=6571120

but you'll have to stay on top of the story to see how it plays out.

[Gabi Hayes]

6. leak, then lie under oath, anyone? this is almost as good

http://graphics.boston.com/news/politics/campaign2000/news/Pluck_leaks_helped_senator_to_overcome_S_L_scandal+.shtml

Phoenix New Times wrote the seminal, and one of only a very few EVER that were accurate, articles on Cindy's drug/theft/forging scrip adventure:

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1994-09-08/news/opiate-for-the-mrs/

[Cha]

7. The US mediaWhore Corp will make sure this stays

buried in 1989. They've no interest in exposing mccain for the criminal he is.

[highplainsdem]

8. Unfortunately for us, the Democrats' own special investigator said there was no evidence against

McCain, and recommended NOT pursuing charges against McCain, or Glenn.

From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five

Glenn and McCain: cleared of impropriety but criticized for poor judgment

The Senate Ethics Committee ruled that the involvement of Glenn in the scheme was minimal, and the charges against him were dropped.<15> He was only criticized by the Committee for "poor judgment."<18>

The Ethics Committee ruled that the involvement of McCain in the scheme was also minimal, and he too was cleared of all charges against him.<16><15> McCain was criticized by the Committee for exercising "poor judgment" when he met with the federal regulators on Keating's behalf.<6> The report also said that McCain's "actions were not improper nor attended with gross negligence and did not reach the level of requiring institutional action against him....Senator McCain has violated no law of the United States or specific Rule of the United States Senate."<12> On his Keating Five experience, McCain has said: "The appearance of it was wrong. It's a wrong appearance when a group of senators appear in a meeting with a group of regulators, because it conveys the impression of undue and improper influence. And it was the wrong thing to do."<6>

Several accounts of the controversy contend that McCain was included in the investigation primarily so that there would be at least one Republican target.<19><20><21><8> Glenn's inclusion in the investigation has been attributed to Republicans who were angered by the inclusion of McCain, as well as committee members who thought that dropping Glenn (and McCain) would make it look bad for the remaining three Democratic Senators.<19><21> Democrat Robert S. Bennett, who was the special investigator during the scandal, suggested to the Senate Ethics Committee that it pursue charges against neither McCain nor Glenn, saying of McCain, "that there was no evidence against him."<20> The Vice Chairman of the Ethics Committee, Senator Warren Rudman of New Hampshire, agreed with Bennett, but the Chairman, Senator Howell Heflin of Alabama, did not agree.<8>

Regardless of the level of their involvement, both senators were greatly affected by it. McCain would write in 2002 that attending the two April 1987 meetings was "the worst mistake of my life".<22> Glenn has described the Senate Ethics Committee investigation as the low point of his life.<5>

[FrenchieCat]

11. but criticized for poor judgment

That's the only part that we need, thank you.

It ain't about pressing charges you know.

[Ichingcarpenter]

14. Back then, Glenn's Honor fell to Earth in a fiery blaze

that we use to know as 'Freedom 7". It was devastating to anyone who followed this corruption.

I think Glenn's Hero status was the only reason they were not both prosecuted and imprisoned which has lead to this present day hubris we have with Justice and our Government.

John Glenn was considered 10 Xs the hero that McCain was back then.

[Gabi Hayes]

17. your source is wikipedia. there's more to it

did you read this?

http://graphics.boston.com/news/politics/campaign2000/news/Pluck_leaks_helped_senator_to_overcome_S_L_scandal+.shtml

there are reasons McCain was "cleared"

[DemocracyInaction]

10. This has been out there from the get go

and not one media whore has let it past their lips...or in print. NONE. Can you imagine if Obama had anything remotely like this in his past? That was a national catastrophe when it went down. I remember it well. So many elderly lost everything they had. One of Bush's asshole kids was a part of it. I remember he got off and remember reporters chasing him around at the GOP convention and he was pushing reporters, etc. First time I saw open contemptable behavior to the press and they backed off. In this country if you're going to be a thief or crooked you have to do it big time then you get away with it. God help the guy who stole money out of someone's cookie jar---he'll go to prison for life!

[seafan]

12. The McCain *straight talk* myth.

Revisited: John McCain, one of The Keating Five corruption scandal of 1989

What's important is that McCain's involvement with Keating 5 is part of a much larger picture

[FrenchieCat]

13. Those are some juicy posts, especially the 2nd one, which I have bookmarked!

Thanks.

[seafan]

18. You're welcome, Frenchie. To the media, this is all irrelevant, ancient history.

Certainly not an accurate picture of how this impostor might conduct himself in the White House.... oh, no.


The sorry excuses calling themselves the media make me ill.

[Major Hogwash]

15. Not only that, but once he was caught and knew it, he rolled over on Keating like a 10 dollar whore.

He spilled his guts about everything he knew and everything he was told.

So much for showing "courage under fire."

While McCain proclaimed his innocence, he paid back every dime they knew about - but not all of the dimes, keeping the ones they didn't know about or couldn't prove came from Keating.

All this after McCain had already accepted flights on Keating's private jet while campaigning for his first run for the Senate!!!

What a standup guy!!

That's the kind of "straight talk express" that even Capone could admire!!
Al Capone, that is.

[Ichingcarpenter]

16. Private Jet Supplied by Keating while he was selling him out

I guess Keating was a 'stupid Cunt and trollop' for McCain.

[GoesTo11]

20. A recurring theme in his life

By the way, never trust someone who always talks about how straight a talker he is.