In 1999, Amy Silverman wrote Extensively about Cindy McCain's Little Problem. From Salon. Great Read

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

Please Note That The MEAT Of This Story Didn't Have Legs Then And I Can't See It Having Them Now If The Powers That Be (Fascist Media) keep this from the American people.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/10/18/drugs/print.html

A big snip

I know, because I had been working on that story for months at Phoenix New Times. I had finally tracked down the public records that confirmed Cindy McCain's addiction and much more, and the McCains knew I was about to get them. Cindy's tale was released on the day the records were made public.

But the story I was pursuing was not so much about Cindy McCain's unfortunate addiction. It was much more about her efforts to keep that story from coming to light, and the possible manipulation of the criminal justice system by her husband and his cohorts. The irony is that Cindy's secret would have stayed secret if John McCain's heavy-hitting lawyer, John Dowd (of D.C.'s Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld; his most recent claim to fame was serving as co-counsel for fellow partner Vernon Jordan during impeachment) hadn't heavy-handedly pulled out all the stops to protect the McCain family.

Dowd tried to get back at the man on Cindy McCain's staff, Tom Gosinski, who had blown the whistle on her drug pilfering to the DEA. But in the course of trying to get local law enforcement officials to investigate Gosinski -- Dowd and the McCains considered him an extortionist; others might call him a whistleblower -- Dowd set in motion a process that would eventually bring the whole sordid story to light. When that maneuver backfired, the McCain media machine went into overdrive to spin the story.

It's a story of unintended consequences. It's also a story of power politics and media manipulation that's very un-McCain-like -- if you believe his national media hagiography.

But both of Cindy McCain's staged, teary drug-addiction confessions have been vintage John McCain. His MO is this: Get the story out -- even if it's a negative story. Get it out first, with the spin you want, with the details you want and without the details you don't want.

McCain did it with the Keating Five, and with the story of the failure of his first marriage (Cindy is his second wife). So what you recall after the humble, honest interview, is not that McCain did favors for savings and loan failure Charlie Keating, or that he cheated on his wife, but instead what an upfront, righteous guy he is.

Candor is the McCain trademark, but what the journalists who slobber over the senator fail to realize is that the candor is premeditated and polished. John McCain shoots from the hip -- but only after carefully rehearsing the battle plan, to be sure he won't get shot himself.

Continued at the above link

[lonestarnot]

1. Saw this OSO, and I reference not the link but some of the material from the link

in the all caps thread. LOL it's buried in there somewhere. :P I'm looking at this as background. Something more brewing! Wwwwwait for it!

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

4. I trust you lonestarnot and can't wait! Is it Tea yet???? lol!

[crickets]

2. The story isn't really about Cindy's addiction

It's about how John McCain handled it. :thumbsup:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

3. Exactly. The media persued it from that opposite direction and I hope

they won't this time.

On a personal level, as a woman, I find the Cindy McCain story sympathetic. Marriage of Convenience (loveless), addicted and in trouble. But McCain's part is DISGUSTING! He took YEARS to get her the help she needed after he ENABLED her.