2008-08-08

Arizona Reporters

The clip-n-save version of this piece from Amy Silverman, an Arizona reporter that has been covering McCain for 15 years. The article is a compendium of all the interesting McCain stories from the last three decades.

Some of it (the Keating Five story) is familiar, though I hadn't known that the decision of the Senate Ethics Committee to blame McCain less than the others was based in part on the fact that some of his misconduct had taken place when he was a member of the House.

New stuff (to me):

1. McCain arranges for an extortion investigation against he guy who blew the whistle on his wife's theft of medicine from the charity she ran.

2. McCain brings a reporter with him on a visit to the ailing Mo Udall.

3. McCain threatens the job of a federal scientist for sticking to his opinion about whether a University of Arizona project threatens an endangered squirrel species.

4. A Republican governor is driven from office and replaced by a Democrat, Rose Mofford, who previously served as Secretary of State and has little knowledge of the Central Arizona Project, a huge piece of Federal pork. McCain helps Republican efforts to get her recalled by setting her up to be blindsided at a Senate hearing just eight days after she is sworn in. He gleefully brags about his role at lunch with a newspaper publisher — "I'll embarrass a Democrat any time I get the chance" — then proceeds directly to tell a bunch of reporters "I'd never do anything like that." He later calls the Governor and tells her "I didn't have anything to do with that."

Silverman also has stories about the cream-puff treatment McCain has gotten from the press. No reason to think that will change just because she has some facts.

Very interesting article. For those of you unfamiliar with McCain's self transformation into the maverickey identity that took him through 2003, the Keating Five scandal is particularly instructive.

No comments: