Unbelievable:Lindsey Graham:"It's not right of you...There is no agreement unless (McCain) agrees."

[Mike 03]

Apologies in advance for the length of this post, but this is some very interesting material if you are as fascinated as I am by the Financial Meltdown, what happened behind the scenes, and the horrendous spectacle called "McCain's Campaign for President."

I am reading ex-Treasury Secretary Paulson's book ON THE BRINK right now and today read his take on McCain's stunt of suspending his campaign to return to DC to save the day, "tackle the economic crisis" by defeating TARP.

I wish I could type all the passages from the book related to this episode or provide some link. But this is from the book. Just a few bullet points.

1. While Paulson was able to speak to Obama directly and did so frequently, Paulson found it very difficult to communicate with McCain directly and often had to go through Lindsey Graham, who seemed (to me, not Paulson) to obviously be playing both ends against the middle here.

2. Once Paulson learned of McCain's stunt, he contacted the White House directly and told him he "thought it was dangerous for McCain to return" because a deal had nearly been struck that both sides could endorse.

3. News of McCain's heroic return to save the globe dominated the news, eclipsing far more important stories like the implosion of Wachovia, Washington Mutual, the outrageous LIBOR spreads and seized banks in the European Union.

4. Interesting advice from Hillary Clinton to Paulson: "Stick with Schumer if you want to get things done."

5. McCain called a meeting of top officials without a purpose known to any of the participants, and made a huge deal out of it in his campaign. He even, as you recall, postponed the first debate.

6. So McCain shows up for the all-important meeting, but he's got nothing.

7. Paulson writes, "I was so concerned that McCain would do or say something rash that I resorted to a veiled threat: 'I am not a politician, but if you or anyone else does something that causes this system to collapse, it is not going to just be on me. I am going to go and say what I think to the American people."

8. At the actual meeting that McCAIN HIMSELF CALLED, when called upon by Obama to say something-say one thing--he said nothing. He said, "I'll wait my turn," and later blamed it on Barney Frank who he claimed was shouting at him when nobody was talking over McCain--the room had been dead silent.

9. Unbelievable Lindsey Graham quote at meeting: "It's not right for any of you to reach an agreement, because there is no agreement unless John agrees." He is addressing Paulson, Geithner, Cox and the most important members of key senate and congressional committees, including the POTUS. I just think this is a pathetic outburst on his part. "It's not right for you (legislators) to pass this legislation unless Johnny agrees. There is no agreement otherwise." Who do these people think they are??

10. Everybody is looking at Johnny boy McCain for the verdict, since he called this meeting, and this is all he can come up with: "McCain had declared, 'I don't care what you people do, I am going to do what is right for my country.' The Arizona senator subsequently stormed out..."

11. Several hours later, at a second meeting, hosted by Bush himself, something has changed about Maverick John McCain. Writes Paulson: "Decorum started to evaporate as the meeting broke into multiple side conversations...McCain still hadn't spoken. Finally, raising his voice over the din, Obama said loudly, 'I'd like to hear what Senator McCain has to say, since we still haven't heard from him.'

"The room went silent and all eyes shifted to McCain, who sat quietly in his chair, holding a single note card. He glanced at it quickly and proceeded to make a few general points. He said that many members had legitimate concerns and that (Paulson) had begun to head in the right direction on executive pay and oversight... He added that he had confidence the consensus could be reached quickly. As he spoke, I could see Obama chuckling.

"McCain's comments were anticlimactic, to say the least."

There is so much more in the book that I can't--or probably due to rights issues should--transcribe. Paulson totally exposes McCain for the robotic, approval-loving narcissist he is.

Here's a last kicker:

The next day's conversation with Fed Chair Ben Bernanke:

Bernanke to Paulson: "I don't know what you said to McCain, but whatever it was, it's working. He's now saying all the right things."

If John McCain is a maverick, than so is every classic narcissist who will turn his opinion on a dime for the approval of anybody in sight.

[joeybee12]

1. Well, the man who thought Sarah Quitter could help get him elected..

...what mroe do you expect? I'm actually surprised he didn't sleep through the whole meeting.

[mitchum]

2. "We need to get permission from Sergeant Carter!"

[ShockediSay]

3. I heard about the same on NPR a week ago or so.

McCain stops his campaign to come address the crisis {remember this was shortly after he was blathering about how strong our economy was}
...
after McCain convened his summit of sorts, he had nothing.

[sam sarrha]

4. that's really weird.. McCain doesnt even know if he's crapped his pants or not..

[Schema Thing]

5. Try to catch the book discussion on CSPAN, with Warren Buffet

....interviewing Paulson. Fascinating TV. Buffet almost pushes Paulson to say something negative about McCain and Bush, but Paulson is fairly diplomatic, while still being open. To his credit, Bush understood the problem enough to know that he needed to get the hell out of the way and let far smarter people do their work.

He gives McCain credit in that, as the candidate, McCain could have royally screwed the country by taking the wrong tone.

[Cass]

6. Pathetic. Thank God he didn't win the election.

Can you just imagine the chaos that would have ensued with him in charge and the airhead Sarah Palin along for the ride?

Thanks for this exerpt, Mike. Sounds like its a book worth reading.

[Pirate Smile]

7. I'm sure he voted for Obama. He said on election night his wife woke him up to tell him Obama had

been declared the winner/President-elect. He said he was able to go back to sleep and sleep well knowing the result.

[unblock]

8. the irony is that the biggest legitimate objection to obama was that he might be naive

and his federal-level negotiation skills weren't solidly tested.

amid all the total crap the republicans threw, this was at least a valid concern (although it also held true for reagan or any other governor running for the presidency).

this meeting (and i remember the coverage vividly) proved that it was MCLAME who was the lightweight and obama proved himself to be quite skilled and accomplishing what he wanted, in this case, to make mclame look like a fool.

[formercia]

9. McCain's a real leader, he is.

:rofl:

[HillbillyBob]

10. I have known a few other Southern Queens who act like

Ms Graham...always out for their own agenda and will stab you the minute they think they can get away with it.
(preview sometimes publishes?)

The only reason I voted for Obama was the thought of McCain/Palin gave me shudders and bad dreams.

[progressoid]

11. Sooo...

What about the "executive pay and oversight"? That didn't work out all that well.

[KittyWampus]

12. McCain's persona and career were fabricated by his handler- what the heck is his name?

the guy that wrote all the books that invented the myth of John McCain.

MARK SALTER

[saigon68]

13. Striving for glory, he was unlucky

He still has Life pretty sweet