The Norwegian newspaper VG has reported a truly amazing story about a newly-wed trying to get to Norway to be with her husband, and the stranger who helped pay an unexpected luggage surcharge. The blog 'Leisha's Random Thoughts' has translated the story.It was 1988, and Mary Andersen was at the Miami airport checking in for a long flight to Norway to be with her husband when the airline representative informed her that she wouldn't be able to check her luggage without paying a 100 surcharge:When it was finally Mary's turn, she got the message that would crush her bubbling feeling of happiness.“You'll have to pay a 103 dollar surcharge if you want to bring both those suitcases to Norway,” the man behind the counter said.Mary had no money. Her new husband had traveled ahead of her to Norway, and she had no one else to call.“I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most prized possessions,” says Mary.As tears streamed down her face, she heard a “gentle and friendly voice” behind her saying, 'That's okay, I'll pay for her.”
You might be interested in some Palin background in case anyone tries to tell you she is a reformer. This from one who knows her: A note to all by Anne Kilkenny Dear friends, So many people have asked me about what I know about Sarah Palin in the last 2 days that I decided to write something up . . . Basically, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have only 2 things in common: their gender and their good looks. :) You have my permission to forward this to your friends/email contacts with my name and email address attached, but please do not post it on any websites, as there are too many kooks out there . . . [This was already posted on Washington Independent comments area, with a controllable hotmail account, and was obviously meant by the author to be read.] Thanks, Anne ABOUT SARAH PALIN I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992. Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the residents of the city. She is enormously popular; in every way she’s like the most popular girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won't vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because she is a "babe". It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents for seven months. She is "pro-life". She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby. There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby. She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym. She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just "puts things out there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit. Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin’s kind of job is highly sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything like that of native Alaskans. Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters. She's smart.
Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about 670,000 residents. During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign. Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a “fiscal conservative.” During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they benefited residents. The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration weren’t enough to fund everything on her wish list, though; borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? Or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of property that the City didn’t even have clear title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later--to the delight of the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing. While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office redecorated more than once. These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city. As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state. In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today's surplus, borrow for needs. She’s not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren’t evaluated on their merits, but on the basis of who proposed them. While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin's attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian are on her enemies list to this day. Sarah complained about the “old boy’s club” when she first ran for Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys". Palin fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people, creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally grateful and fiercely loyal--loyal to the point of abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the case of pressuring the State’s top cop (see below). As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla’s Police Chief because he “intimidated” her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska's top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but it's pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn't fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her support. She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn’t like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness. Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything publicly about her. When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party) engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a gutsy fighter against the “old boys’ club” when she dramatically quit, exposing this man’s ethics violations (for which he was fined). As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the “bridge to nowhere” after it became clear that it would be unwise not to. As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative action restored most of these projects--which had been vetoed simply because she was not aware of their importance--but with the unobservant she had gained a reputation as “anti-pork.” She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a fiscal conservative. Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah. They call her “Sarah Barracuda” because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah's mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her. As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package of legislation known as “AGIA” that forced the oil companies to march to the beat of her drum. Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to global warming. She campaigned “as a private citizen” against a state initiative that would have either a) protected salmon streams from pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State’s lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior’s decision to list polar bears as threatened species. McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a heartbeat away from being President. There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more knowledgeable and experienced than she. However, there’s a lot of people who have underestimated her and are regretting it. CLAIM VS FACT
“Hockey mom”: true for a few years “PTA mom”: true years ago when her first-born was in elementary school, not since “NRA supporter”: absolutely true"social conservative": mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconstitutional). "pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it. “Pro-life”: mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life legislation“Experienced”: Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska. No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000. "political maverick": not at all "gutsy": absolutely! "open & transparent": ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions. "has a developed philosophy of public policy": no ”a Greenie”: no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR. "fiscal conservative": not by my definition! "pro-infrastructure": No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built streets to early 20th century standards."pro-tax relief": Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on residents "pro-small government": No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city government in Wasilla’s history. "pro-labor/pro-union": No. Just because her husband works union doesn’t make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim that she is pro-labor/pro-union. WHY AM I WRITING THIS? First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting programs in the schools. If you Google my name (Anne Kilkenny + Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local government, education, and PTA/parent organizations. Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad things happen when good people stay silent". Few people know as much as I do because few have gone to as many City Council meetings. Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me out of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will cost me somehow in the future: that’s life. Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah's attempt at censorship. Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to say anything because they were somehow vulnerable. CAVEATS I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor) from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust for inflation? For population increases? Right now, it is impossible for a private person to get any info out of City Hall--they are swamped. So I can't verify my numbers. You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to 9,000. The day Palin’s selection was announced a city official told me that the current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was 5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to 2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90’s. Anne Kilkenny annekilkenny@hotmail.com August 31, 2008
Gov. Palin’s first speech to the nation as a candidate for national office was essentially about three people: herself, John McCain and her “opponent.” A breakdown of the words the “country first” vice-presidential candidate used may reveal who she is most concerned with:
I, me, my = 53McCain = 16Opponent / Biden / Obama = 10Housing = 0White House = 2 (the only time she referred to house or housing)Economy = 1Environment = 0Deficit = 0Jobs = 2Energy = 5Iraq = 3 (one when referencing her son’s deployment)
This was a speech essentially about her – her kids, her state, her man, her running mate, her small town, her love of country and, yes, her anger at the media. Her speech was virtually devoid of anything that anyone outside of politics cares about.
It worked for the base. The shrinking base.
From a post by Jesse on 09/04/08 at 1:40 AM at
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/09/9574_palin_speech_republican_convention_mccain.html#comments
When Gov. Palin said that "I told the Congress 'Thanks but no thanks' on that Bridge to Nowhere," that was a lie, and the worst kind of lie in American politics, a blatant falsehood that showed utter contempt for the American people that Palin pledged to serve, assuming we are too stupid to look up or know that truth, that she pushed for those funds in Congress and while she got great political mileage out of announcing that she was killing the project, she still has not returned the funds to American people. Palin also boasted about fighting against wasteful earmarks in Congress, even though she pushed for and accepted $27 million of such grants when she was mayor of Wasilla. Will Bunch, of The Philadelphia Daily News, says much more about “Palin’s Speech to Nowhere.” Read his comments here:
http://www.truthout.org/article/palins-speech-nowhere
Alaska isn't really very hard to understand. It consists of a minority that loves the wilderness and an overwhelmingly Republican majority that wants to squeeze all the cash it can get out of the state before the oil dries up, the fish die out and the wildlife disappears. Nowhere else does the Republican formula of manipulating the suckers by playing on their silly hatreds and even sillier vanities play out more clearly than in Alaska.
More here:
http://www.alternet.org/election08/97207/sarah_palin%27s_big%2C_sleazy_safari/
The Palin pick redefines the GOP for ever as a purely religious party, swamps all genuine questions about governance, celebrates this woman as the epitome of modern conservatism and rides the tidal wave of fundamentalist fervor to the White House. This whole thing feels like a South Park episode to Andrew Sullivan.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/09/profiles-in-poi.html#more
From the Denver Rocky Mountain News of 8/10/97:
WASILLA, Alaska -- Opal Toomey, Esther West and Ann Meyers don't seem like politically active types. There are no bumper stickers on their cars, no pins on their lapels. But the three gray-haired matrons of Wasilla's city museum decided to take a stand. Faced with a $32,000 budget cut and the prospect of choosing who would lose her job, the three 15-year-plus employees decided instead to quit en masse at the end of July, leaving the museum without a staff. ``We hate to leave,'' said Meyers, who at 65 is the youngest of the three. ``We've been together a long time. But this is enough.'' If the city were broke, it would be different, she said. Instead, the city is flush with $4 million in reserves. There is no reason the museum's budget should be cut, Meyers said. But the mayor and City Council members who supported the cut say the surplus is beside the point. They were elected to minimize government and concentrate on infrastructure - paving roads and extending sewer lines. The museum, which had an annual budget of more than $200,000, was costing roughly $25 per visitor, said Mayor Sarah Palin. Museum supporters say losing the women will be a blow to this city north of Anchorage. The three have run the two-story building since the early 1980s.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents while she was its mayor. There was $500,000 for a youth shelter, $1.9 million for a transportation hub, $900,000 for sewer repairs, and $15 million for a rail project -- all intended to benefit Palin's town, Wasilla, located about 45 miles north of Anchorage. In introducing Palin as his running mate on Friday, Sen. John McCain cast her as a compatriot in his battle against wasteful federal spending. McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, hailed Palin as a politician "with an outstanding reputation for standing up to special interests and entrenched bureaucracies -- someone who has fought against corruption and the failed policies of the past, someone who's stopped government from wasting taxpayers' money." Oh, the hypocrisy!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/01/AR2008090103148.html?referrer=emailarticle
and now this from the NYT:
Account of a Bridge’s Death Slightly Exaggerated
ST. PAUL — Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska owes her selection as Senator John McCain’s running mate in part to an irresistible slogan: the Bridge to Nowhere.
Mr. McCain and other critics of the Congressional pet projects known as earmarks adopted the label to deride a $220 million allocation for a bridge to the tiny Alaskan island of Gravina (population, a few dozen). And Ms. Palin became famous as the governor who, in 2007, finally killed the project.
“I told Congress ‘thanks but no thanks’ on that Bridge to Nowhere,” she said in a speech on Friday after being introduced by Mr. McCain as his vice presidential pick.
But Ms. Palin’s history with the infamous bridge — and earmarks, which many critics call pork — is more complicated.
As the new mayor of tiny Wasilla, Alaska, in 2000, Ms. Palin initiated a tradition of making annual trips to Washington to ask for more earmarks from the state’s Congressional delegation, mainly Representative Don Young and Senator Ted Stevens, both Republicans.
“It was about being face-to-face with those who were actually writing the budget,” she told The Anchorage Daily News in 2006, boasting that she brought home more money for priorities like upgrades to the local sewer system.
She directed Wasilla to employ Washington lobbyists to press for federal money for the town, helping obtain more than $8 million in earmarks for projects ranging from waterworks to a shelter.
And she expressed support for the Bridge to Nowhere earmark as well. “I do support the infrastructure projects that are on tap here in the State of Alaska that our Congressional delegations worked hard for,” Ms. Palin said when asked about that bridge and another in an October 2006 television debate while campaigning for governor.
Later that month, when asked if she would continue state financing for the Gravina bridge and another proposed bridge project, she said yes. “I would like to see Alaska’s infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later,” she responded in a questionnaire from The Anchorage Daily News. “The window is now — while our Congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.”
Earmarks are close to sacrosanct in Alaska, which routinely reaps more money per resident for such projects than any other state because of the seniority and aggressiveness of Mr. Stevens and Mr. Young (both now mired in unrelated corruption inquiries.)
Ms. Palin’s admirers , however, note that in her Republican primary challenge to then Gov. Frank H. Murkowski — a former United States senator and longtime ally of Mr. Stevens and Mr. Young — she criticized wasteful state spending. For the bridge, the state had agreed to contribute almost as much money as the federal government.
“We should treat our state budget the same way we treat our home budget,” she argued, calling for “a budget that is sustainable through the good times and the not-so-good.”
Once elected governor in November 2006, Ms. Palin warned Alaskans that nationwide ridicule of the Gravina bridge would make it difficult to secure more federal money to meet rising cost projections. Last September, when Ms. Palin announced she was abandoning the project, she cited a growing financing shortfall. “It’s clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island,” she said. (Alaska was able to keep the federal money and direct it to other projects.)
Since then, Ms. Palin has continued to battle the state’s Republican establishment, which derives much of its political power from its ability to direct the flow of federal earmarks, and this summer encouraged a protégé, Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, to challenge Mr. Young in the state’s Republican primary last month. The vote was so close that the results are not yet known.
“She certainly represents a different pole in Alaska Republican politics,” said Steve Ellis, a spokesman for Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington group that tracks earmarks.
When Mr. McCain accepts the Republican presidential nomination with her this week in St. Paul, he may well credit her again as the killer of the infamous of Bridge to Nowhere. When a bridge over the Mississippi killed 13 people in Minneapolis last year, Mr. McCain blamed projects like the Gravina Bridge for siphoning off money that should have been spent on inspections and upkeep.
“Maybe if we had done it right, maybe some of that money would have gone to inspect those bridges and other bridges around the country,” Mr. McCain told a campaign crowd in Ankeny, Iowa.
A spokeswoman for the McCain campaign said that “after taking office and examining the project, she consistently opposed funding the Bridge to Nowhere.”
David D. Kirkpatrick reported from St. Paul, and Larry Rohter from New York.
McCain spokesman Brian Rogers called Sen. Obama "an arugula-eating, pointy headed professor-type." Such a vicious attack must not go unanswered. How dare he insult arugula like that? Slate’s Christopher Beam offers an assessment of the leafy green here:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/trailhead/archive/2008/08/22/it-s-not-easy-being-a-leafy-green.aspx
A presidential candidate living off the inherited wealth of his wife outraged right-wing pundits in 2004. But in 2008? Not so much. Glenn Greenwald has an interesting post on this at Salon.
Here’s the link: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/22/gigolo/
John McCain wants to create a "League of Democracies" that would not (wink, wink) supplant the UN. It would be an alliance of countries the US labels democratic that can be used to legitimize US military actions. Charles Krauthammer, the conservative journalist who invented the plan, says: "What I like about it is it's got a hidden agenda. It looks as if it's about listening and joining with allies... except the idea here, which McCain can't say but I can, is to essentially kill the UN. Nobody's going to walk out of the UN. There's a lot of emotional attachment to it in the US. How do you kill it? You create a parallel institution." Gradually – over decades – McCain hopes it would make the UN wither away.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-john-mccain-and-his-secretive-plot-to-kill-the-un-903998.html
and here:
http://www.johnmccain.com/informing/news/Speeches/43e821a2-ad70-495a-83b2-098638e67aeb.htm
The McCain’s Primary Residence
1. 1n 2006, McCains Purchased Two Condominiums in Phoenix For $4,666,814. According to property records from Maricopa County, Arizona, the McCains spent $4,666,814 Condominium in Phoenix, AZ in 2006. Officially, the sale was made to The Cindy Hensley McCain Family Trust on October 18, 2006. (2211 E Camelback Rd., Units 1105& 1106, 85016) [Maricopa County Property Records]
Beachfront Condos in Coronado, California
2. The McCains Own A $2,705,040 Beachfront Condominium on a Small Island Outside of San Diego. According to property records from San Diego County, California the McCains own a $2,705,040 condominium in Coronado, California. Coronado boasts the second best beach in the country, according to the Travel Channel. The condominium is officially the property of Dream Catcher Family. (1710 Avenida Del Mundo, Unit #802, 92118) [San Diego County Property Records; City of Coronado website, accessed 3/31/08, emphasis added]
3. In February 2008, The McCains Bought Another $2.1 Million Condominium In Coronado. According to property records from San Diego County, California the McCains bought another $2.1 million condominium in Coronado, California. Records show that the sale was completed on February 27, 2008. The condominium is officially the property of Dream Catcher Family. (1710 Avenida Del Mundo, Unit #204, 92118) [San Diego County Property Records] [Google Maps]
The McCains Own Three “Hidden Valley Ranches” Worth $1,103,615 in 2007. According to property records from Yavapai County, Arizona, the McCains own three ranch houses worth a combined $1,103,615:
5. $369,929 - 11445 E Hidden Valley Ranch Rd
6. $327,929 –11415 E Hidden Valley Ranch Rd
The first two ranch properties are held by the Cindy Hensley McCain Family Trust, while the third is held by Sedona Hidden Valley Limited Partnership. According to the Arizona Republic, the three houses include, “A main house, guest house and caretakers’ quarters [and] total more than 4,800 square feet.” [Yavapai County Property Records; 2007 Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure; Arizona Republic, 8/12/00]
McCain Said There Are Six Houses On His Lot. According to CNN, “McCain said the valley was settled by Mormons and that the Hidden Valley Ranch got its name from the horseshoe shape of the creek that runs through the property. He said he built the first house on his property 24 years ago and now there are six houses on his lot.” [CNN, 3/3/08, emphasis added]
McCain’s Ranch Was Described As “One of the Most Spectacular Creekfront Properties in the State.” According to the Arizona Republic, McCain’s neighbor, Daniel Sims, said “It’s called Hidden Valley, and everyone who sees it says they would never expect to find such a beautiful place in such an arid climate.” He added that McCain’s ranch is “one of the most spectacular creekfront properties in the state. Lush lawns go from their house gently down to the water’s edge. The creek makes a natural pool there. It’s very romantic.” [Arizona Republic, 8/12/00] AP: McCain’s 15-Acre Ranch “Includes Four Single-Family Homes And Is Worth Nearly $1.8 Million.” According to the Associated Press, “John McCain held a barbecue recently for reporters at a two-story cabin near Sedona, Ariz., that sits on 15 acres owned by his wife's family trust and a real estate partnership in her name. The property includes four single-family homes and is worth nearly $1.8 million.” [Associated Press, 4/3/08] [McCainBlogette, accessed 4/2/08]
Beachfront Condo in La Jolla, California
7. McCains Own A $1 Million Beachfront Condominium in La Jolla, California. According to John McCain’s Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure, the McCains own a condominium in La Jolla, California valued at over $1 million. The La Jolla property is held in the Hensley Survivors Trust. (8263 Camino Del Oro #379, 92037) [2007 Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure ; San Diego County Property Records] [Photo found at www.beachagent.com, accessed on 4/2/08]
High-Rise Condo in Arlington, Virginia
8. The McCains Own A $847,800 High-Rise Condominium in Arlington, Virginia. According to property records from Arlington County, Virginia, the McCains own a $847,800 High-Rise Condominium in Arlington, Virginia. The condominium is officially the property of the Cindy Hensley McCain Family Trust. (1300 Crystal Drive #1702S, 22202) [Arlington County Property Records]
Meghan McCain’s Loft
9. McCains Bought Their Daughter A $700,000 Loft When She Graduated From College. According to property records from Maricopa County Arizona, the McCains purchased a $700,000 Phoenix Loft in May of 2007. Wild River LLC bought the loft on May 24, 2007. (4326 N 25th St., Unit 2, Phoenix, AZ 85016) [Maricopa County Property Records]
The McCain Motel: Rental Property
10. The McCains Own A Rental Loft In Phoenix, Arizona. According to property records from Maricopa County Arizona, the McCains purchased a high-class $700,000 Phoenix Loft in June of 2007. The loft is owned by Wild River LLC, and is listed as rental property on McCain’s 2008 Senate Financial Disclosure Report. (4326 N 25th St, Unit 102, Phoenix, AZ, 85016) [Maricopa County Property Records, McCain 2008 Senate Financial Disclosure Report]
The McCains’ Rental Loft Is Now For Sale, Listed at $730,000. According to Realty Times, “4326 N 25th St #102, Phoenix, AZ 85016” is for sale. The loft is listed as a “Bright, open and spacious luxury Contemporary loft” for sale for $730,000. Amenities include: Granite countertops, Italian Cherry cabinetry, Stainless steel appliances, Remote control window covering, Smart home system, Vessel sinks with upgraded faucets, Security system, Balcony plus roof top spa area, Private rear yard with private pool entrance, Master shower with dual heads, Pool side end unit, Mountain and downtown views from roof [Realty Times, accessed 6/13/08] *virtual tour*
More here: http://www.mccainvminnesota.com/cribs.html
John McCain says he plans to consult with Democratic Rep. John Lewis when he's president. That's news to Lewis.
During Saturday's presidential forum at Rick Warren's California megachurch, John McCain was asked to name the "three wisest people" he would "rely heavily on" if elected president. He didn't cite close confidantes Phil Gramm and Randy Scheunemann, possibly because they have gotten McCain into trouble politically. Instead McCain chose Gen. David Petraeus; former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, one of his economic advisers; and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a leading figure in the civil rights movement. This is not the first time McCain has invoked Lewis' name on the campaign trail. Earlier this year, in Selma, Alabama, he told the story of civil rights marchers trying to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in a 1965 march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery. Waiting at the crest of the bridge were a brigade of police and state troopers who meted out an attacks so violent that the day is known today as Bloody Sunday.Central in McCain's telling was John Lewis, a man of just 25 who was at the front of the march and absorbed the first blow. Millions of Americans, McCain noted, "watched brave John Lewis fall."
But even though McCain has now repeatedly cited Lewis as a role model and potential adviser, McCain has not established a relationship with the Georgia Democrat in the 22 years they have served in Congress together. At the time of McCain's Selma speech, a Lewis associate told my colleague David Corn that McCain has never been close to Lewis. Lewis was not told about McCain's speech in Selma in advance, nor was he invited to attend. In response to McCain's latest invocation of his name, Rep. Lewis said in a statement requested by Mother Jones, "I cannot stop one human being, even a presidential candidate, from admiring the courage and sacrifice of peaceful protesters on the Edmund Pettus Bridge or making comments about it." But, he added, "Sen. McCain and I are colleagues in the US Congress, not confidantes. He does not consult me. And I do not consult him."It took McCain years to fully embrace the goals that Lewis was fighting for on Bloody Sunday. In 1983, McCain voted against making Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a national holiday, in opposition to most members of Congress, including many of his Republican colleagues. In 1987, the governor of Arizona repealed the state's recognition of King; McCain supported the move. It was only in 1990, 25 years after Lewis marched in Alabama, when Arizona reversed its decision that McCain changed his own stance on the issue.And there are, of course, the fundamental differences between John McCain's political philosophy and the goals of Lewis and his fellow marchers. Lewis hoped that the federal government would use its influence to protect the rights of disenfranchised individuals; he sought an expanded role for government because of what he believed was government's power to do good. It explains, in part, why Lewis is a Democrat today and supports Barack Obama for president. McCain, on the other hand, is a fanatical enemy of government spending and has said, "I've found over time that less government involvement is better." It's a philosophy that would have left Lewis and his cohorts out in the cold.So why does John McCain promise to consult a man who he is not close to and has never consulted before? I put the question to the McCain campaign. If and when they respond, I'll update the post.
Jonathan Stein
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/08/9293_john_mccain_john_lewis_wise_man.html
Posted by Dave Johnson at http://seeingtheforest.com/
Here are three questions for John McCain. They will not be asked.
1) IF your military commanders tell you that The Surge needs to be continued, and that more troops are needed in Afghanistan, will you implement the draft to keep the country protected?
2) IF your statement that lowering taxes brings more revenue to the government turn out not to work, and the deficit continues to grow, what will you do?
3) AT the Saddleback Forum you were asked, "At what point does a baby receive human rights?" You answered "At conception."So I have two questions for you.
One: There is a fire at a fertility clinic. In one room there is a 3-month-old baby. In another is a thermos with 3,000 fertilized eggs. You have time to save the baby or the thermos. Which do you save?
Two: If a woman has intercourse and an egg is fertilized, but the woman stands up before three days pass, the egg might not implant properly. Is it murder if a woman stands up within three days of intercourse?
John McCain’s cross in the dirt story first appeared in 1999 when the anecdote appeared in Mark Salter's book, co-written with McCain, Faith Of My Fathers. There is one reference to a kind Vietnamese guard in McCain's own 1973 account of his years in captivity, but nothing about a guard relaxing the ropes pushing McCain into a "stress-position" and later revealing himself to McCain as a Christian by the silent symbol in the dirt on Christmas Eve. It's baffling that an overwhelming moment of Christian witness would be absent from his first telling of the story - and never surface for another twenty-five years. More here:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/08/the-dirt-in-the.html
