John McCain: Despicable, Dishonest, Dishonorable, Deceptive, and Corrupt
John McCain writes:
Tim Dickinson: McCain Still Wistful for "Charlie Keating's Shangri-la": [Charlie Keating] was as close to the archetype of the high-flying eighties chief executive as anyone I had encountered, and he was a hell of a lot of fun to be around. On several occasions, he invited Cindy and me to his beautiful vacation retreat at Cat Cay in the Bahamas, flying us there, with our infant daughter, Meghan, and her nanny, on his private jet....
He entertained us lavishly, as was his style. We would all crowd on his yacht, off for a day of swimming and snorkeling, and then return for another extravagant party with the best wine, food, and entertainment available.... I would be lying if I were to deny... just how eagerly I awaited invitations to Charlie Keating's Shangri-la...
[...]
Charlie Keating, his family and associates donated over $100,000 for my first campaign, and for each of the two that followed. That was a hell of a lot of money in those days.... Supporters like Charlie were not easy to come by for a first-time candidate, and I made damn sure that he knew how much I appreciated his support. More important, I became friends with Charlie, his family, and many of the top executives and employees of his company...
Sam Stein listens to McCain lawyer/lobbyist/spin-doctor/hack John Dowd lie like a rug:
McCain Counsel Calls Keating Investigation A Political Hit Job: John Dowd, a partner at the powerhouse lobbying/consulting firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, painted the Keating investigation as a "political smear job" led by Democrats who needed to make the issue a bipartisan embarrassment rather than own it themselves. "He was the only Republican in that hearing and so it had some political overtones given that Democrats were in deep trouble," said Dowd. "John was the only senator who essentially threw Charles Keating out of his office and he did that before there were any allegations of impropriety."...
[McCain] has previously called the Keating scandal "the worst moment in my life," implicitly acknowledging that while his activities may not have been criminal, they were unacceptable..... "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."
Dowd, by contrast, suggested on Monday that McCain's role in the affair was entirely innocent.... "I thought his conduct was perfectly appropriate," he even declared at one point.... Dowd is... an interesting voice.... McCain's lawyer during the Keating scandal... supported the Arizona Republican when he ran for president in 2000. But earlier this cycle, the longtime defense attorney expressed disappointment with the Senator, saying he couldn't even recognize his longtime friend. "I am very sorry to see what's happened to John," Dowd said. "I don't think his campaign is being well run. It's been over-managed. He blew through $8 1/2 million. It's a difficult thing to leave a friend and go to another friend. But we lost the John McCain I knew"...
