Marty Wisckol had an item in today’s paper about an 8-person meeting with Floyd Brown last week in Irvine; Brown is responsible for the negative ads about Willie Horton that painted 1988 Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis as soft on crime when statistics told quite the opposite story. And my state assemblyman Chuck DeVore was there to defend the practice of negative ads as effective in a political campaign. Disappointing to be sure, but not surprising from an official who defended the practice of torture in America’s name, downplays the threat posed by storing and shipment of nuclear waste, and claims to have coined the phrase “Nanny State” which Noam Chomsky actually uses quite a bit (not that Chuck reads any Noam Chomsky…).
As bad as Chuck’s association with Floyd Brown, consider the following story on McCain lobbyist staffers who once represented the brutal military junta in Mynamar; the same Junta that is preventing international relief organizations from getting food and medical supplies to the tends of thousands of victims of the killer cyclone that swept through that nation days ago.  ÂÂ
When I consider the case made by Republicans and Conservatives about Rev. Wright’s comments and making Senator Obama renounced those statements multiple times, it seems John McCain has some explaining to do about his close ties to these lobbyists.ÂÂ
As long as the money is green, huh boys….
HT to AP:ÂÂ
Two McCain Staffers Resign Over Lobbying Ties With Myanmar’s JuntaMay 10: McCain’s Republican National Convention Chair Doug Goodyear Resigned Over Lobbyist Firm Ties To Myanmar. According to the Associated Press, “The man picked by the John McCain campaign to run the 2008 Republican National Convention resigned Saturday after a report that his lobbying firm used to represent the military regime in Myanmar. Doug Goodyear resigned as convention coordinator and issued a two sentence statement: ‘Today I offered the convention my resignation so as not to become a distraction in this campaign. I continue to strongly support John McCain for president, and wish him the best of luck in this campaign.’ [Associated Press, 5/10/08]
According to the Associated Press, “The man picked by the John McCain campaign to run the 2008 Republican National Convention resigned Saturday after a report that his lobbying firm used to represent the military regime in Myanmar. Doug Goodyear resigned as convention coordinator and issued a two sentence statement: ‘Today I offered the convention my resignation so as not to become a distraction in this campaign. I continue to strongly support John McCain for president, and wish him the best of luck in this campaign.’ [Associated Press, 5/10/08]