The sad story of the political fight over the final wishes of Terri Schiavo is one that the republican party would like to forget. With the vast majority of the American people opposing the political intrustion into a private family matter, the issue highlights the republican party’s lack of disregard for privacy and personal wishes.

Lest we forget, Senator John McCain was an active participant in the GOP hijacking of the woman’s last few days on earth. An ABC News story from March 2005 quotes McCain as saying:

“I think that the motivation of my colleagues is that we want to give this young woman’s family a chance to care for her for as long as she lives,”

Yeah, I’m sure concern for Terri was the only thing on John McCain’s mind. In reality, he wanted to break the law and the right of Terri’s husband to carry out her final wishes. He wanted to politicize the event in order to curry favor with the radical religious right. Anyone who courts them and their extreme agenda is no moderate.

In one of the most inane statements ever heard on the Sunday Morning talk circuit, Senator John McCain outlined his stance on the Dubai port deal:

I think our priorities are misplaced… We’ve got some very, very big issues that I think are perhaps more important than whether a country that’s freer than China should have control of some of our terminals.

So if a country is marginally freer than China (and that is certainly a debatable point about the UAE) we should hand them the keys to our country? Does McCain care about our security at all?

Think Progress does the research and comes up with some other countries that are ranked as “freer” than China by Freedom House: Iran, the Congo, Cote d’Iviore, and Rwanda.

This is simply a pander to Bush. Behind the scenes, every potential 2008 presidential candidate is staffing up and President Bush is in a position to push key staff either to or away from a particular candidate. McCain needs Bush and those enthralled by his cult of personality to build a GOP base. McCain is more than happy to sacrifice American security to increase his chances in 2008.

This is kind of an old story, but anyone still up in the air on McCain ought to know about it. Seems McCain is raising money for George Wallace’s son (yes, that George Wallace). Well, Junior Wallace hasn’t exactly atoned for the sins of the father. Turns out he’s a close friend of the Council of Conservative Citizens. Here’s some info for the uninitiated. Basically, the CCC is the Klan without the bedsheets. So, why would McCain endorse and raise money for a white supremacist? Sounds like a good question for the next tour of the “Straight Talk Express”.

For some reason, many Democrats and progressives are suffering from the delusion that John McCain is a “moderate” or a “maverick”. They think that because McCain puts on a moderate mask when he’s in front of the cameras, that he must not be as bad as the Bush cabal. Wrong. McCain’s voting record consistently places him in the right wing of his party, and far outside of mainstream America. For example, the Traditional Values Coalition put out a scorecard for the 2004 session of Congress, and John McCain’s voting record is right up their alley:

The “Partial-Birth Abortion” Ban: For

Upholding Roe v. Wade: Against

Ending debate on extremist judges: For

Adequate sex education for Global HIV/AIDS prevention: Against

Extending the right to choose to our servicewomen: Against

Giving a fetus rights in the event of a violent crime: For

Hate crimes legislation: Against

There’s nothing moderate about John McCain. He’s a hard-right conservative who’s cozy with the Religious Right. On 8 out of 9 votes, he voted with the Traditional Values Coalition, a group devoted to exposing “the homosexual agenda” , especially as it pertains to “Brokeback Mountain.” This guy is Pat Robertson and James Dobson’s dream candidate.

Some people actually believe that McCain is some kind of “Moderate Maverick” who takes on his own party and fights for what he believes. Well, anyone who looks closely at McCain’s actual voting record can tell you this is a bunch of hooey. For example, take a look at the Christian Coalition’s 2004 Congressional Scorecard. They grade Senators based on their votes on six issues. McCain voted with the Christian Coalition on five of the six votes.

The reality is, McCain is no more a maverick than Bill Frist, Rick Santorum, or Karl Rove. McCain’s made his choice: he has sided with those who claim that God gave Ariel Sharon a stroke.

Nate makes a great point about McCain and the security of our ports. This administration has given the American people no reason to be confident when it comes to security. And, as Matt Stoller at MyDD has pointed out, McCain once thought so, too:

U.S. Sen. John McCain said Monday that he has “no confidence” in Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, citing Rumsfeld’s handling of the war in Iraq and the failure to send more troops.

So, Two-Faced McCain was against the Bush security strategy before he was for it? Is there anything this guy won’t do to get elected?

McCain commented today on the brewing port security scandal facing the Whitehouse:

“We all need to take a moment and not rush to judgment on this matter without knowing all the facts,” McCain said.

“The president’s leadership has earned our trust in the war on terror, and surely his administration deserves the presumption that they would not sell our security short.”

Yeah, the President has done a great job with security. Good thing we quickly apprehended Osama and found all of those WMDs in Iraq. Our ability to discern threats has clearly aided us in the past.

You have to wonder whether the same people who were working on WMD intelligence worked on clearing this UAE company for port security. Trust the president? America has been there, done that, and have 2,000 + of our best and bravest dead to prove it. By supporting the President in this matter, McCain again shows his true craven political face. He needs to continue to engender himself with hardcore bush supporters and he appears to be willing to sacrifice America’s national security for political gain.

Anyone vaguely familiar with the political career of John McCain knows about the “Keating Five” scandal. For those not clear on the specifics, we’ll do a quick review:

• In the midst of the savings and loan implosion of the 80s, federal auditors begin investigating the practices of S&L magnate Charles Keating.
• McCain, along with four other Senators, meets with Keating to discuss ways to derail the investigation.
• McCain and his colleagues meet with Ed Gray, the chairman of the regulatory board, and persuade him to delay seizing the S&L.
• Two years later, regulators finally have to seize the S&L for a federal bailout, costing taxpayers $2.6 billion. In the meantime, 17,000 investors in Keating’s S&L lose $190 million.

For someone with a stainless “reform” halo, McCain looks pretty dirty here. So, what does the “straight-talker” do? Take responsibility? Apologize? Nah:

McCain defended his attendance at the meetings by saying Keating was a constituent and that Keating’s development company, American Continental Corporation, was a major Arizona employer. McCain said he wanted to know only whether Keating was being treated fairly and that he had not tried to influence the regulators…

Oh, well we have no problem, then. After all, McCain’s job is to look out for his constituents, right?

But Keating was more than a constituent to McCain–he was a longtime friend and associate…Keating raised money for McCain’s two congressional campaigns in 1982 and 1984, and for McCain’s 1986 Senate bid. By 1987, McCain campaigns had received $112,000 from Keating, his relatives, and his employees–the most received by any of the Keating Five…

Okay, so that’s pretty fishy. Still, I guess you could say that just because someone gives you money doesn’t make you best buds…

After McCain’s election to the House in 1982, he and his family made at least nine trips at Keating’s expense, three of which were to Keating’s Bahamas retreat. McCain did not disclose the trips (as he was required to under House rules) until the scandal broke in 1989…And in April 1986, one year before the meeting with the regulators, McCain’s wife, Cindy, and her father invested $359,100 in a Keating strip mall.

Cripes! This is some Tom DeLay stuff, folks. So, here we have McCain conspiring with a campaign crony to rip off shareholders and American taxpayers. What does McCain do to atone for his sins?

…he contributed $112,000 (the amount raised for him by Keating) to the U.S. Treasury.

Oh, thanks John. Now, according to my calculations, you only owe American taxpayers about $2,599,880,000.00. We’d like that in cash, please.