Banner Advertise

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

[vinnomot] Fwd: McCain's lobbyist problem



"Noah T. Winer, MoveOn.org Political Action"

Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 12:51:57 -0700
From: "Noah T. Winer, MoveOn.org Political Action" To: "Jahed" Subject: McCain's lobbyist problem

Dear MoveOn member,
John McCain says he's a defender of democracy. But the folks running his campaign have been playing for the other team.
Two of John McCain's senior campaign staff were forced to resign this week after revelations that their lobbying firm was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to represent Burma's brutal military dictatorship.1
And it gets worse—turns out this goes all the way to the top. Charlie Black, McCain's campaign chairman, ran a lobbying firm that represented brutal dictators like Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines and Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire—along with terrorist rebel Jonas Savimbi in Angola. Together, these men have been responsible for massive human suffering.2
And for good measure, Charlie Black has represented war profiteer Blackwater Worldwide and Iraqi fraudster Ahmed Chalabi.3
John McCain has a lobbyist problem, and we thought he could use your advice. What should Senator McCain do about his top adviser, Charlie Black? We'll release the results to the media—and forward your advice to Senator McCain himself. And we're working on a hard-hitting web ad about Charlie Black that we'll release soon.
Click below to choose which message to send to John McCain:
Fire Black. Fire Charlie Black if he doesn't resign first.

Fire all the lobbyists. Fire Charlie Black, plus all 112 lobbyists running your campaign,4 including campaign co-chair Tom Loeffler, who has represented the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a notorious human rights abuser.5
Don't sweat it. The media is so sold on your "maverick" image that corrupt figures in your inner circle won't actually hurt you.
Go all in. Hire more lobbyists who've worked for evil dictators. Maybe Kim Jong-il or Idi Amin.
Tell us what you think and spread the word! This survey's kind of funny, but our goal is deadly serious. If hundreds of thousands of us weigh in, we can show the media that John McCain's campaign has a growing liability: the fact that his inner circle is filled with lobbyists who've worked for everything he claims to be against.
Thanks for all you do.
–Noah, Karin, Ilyse, Peter, Justin, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
  Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
P.S. McCain's campaign staff have too many connections to dictators to list in this email. It's unbelievable. But the non-partisan reform group Public Campaign Action Fund created a great fact sheet laying it all out:
Sources:
1. "A Lobbying Firm and Its McCain Ties," MSNBC, May 12, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3654&id=12651-9135768-7LYqfF&t=5
2. "John McCain's Lobbyist Connections," Public Campaign Action Fund
http://www.firethelobbyists.com/facts.html
3. Ibid.
4. "McCain's Lobbyists in Trouble for Foreign Lobbying," Progressive Media USA, May 11, 2008
http://www.mccainsource.com/mccain_fact_check?id=0007
5. "McCain Aides Are Tied," New York Sun, May 12, 2008
http://www2.nysun.com/national/mccain-aides-are-tied/
"Obama Calls on Rice to Address Human Rights Violations in Saudi Arabia," November 19, 2007
http://obama.senate.gov/press/071119-obama_calls_on_21/
"Saudi Arabia," Human Rights Watch World Report, 2007
http://hrw.org/englishwr2k7/docs/2007/01/11/saudia14717.htm
Support our member-driven organization: MoveOn.org Political Action is entirely funded by our 3.2 million members. We have no corporate contributors, no foundation grants, no money from unions. Our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. If you'd like to support our work, you can give now at:
http://political.moveon.org/donate/email.html?id=12651-9135768-7LYqfF&t=6
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Subscription Management:
This is a message from MoveOn.org Political Action. To change your email address or update your contact info, please visit:
http://moveon.org/subscrip/coa.html?id=12651-9135768-7LYqfF
To remove yourself (Jahed) from this list, please visit our subscription management page at:
http://moveon.org/s?i=12651-9135768-7LYqfF

__._,_.___
Recent Activity
Visit Your Group
Yahoo! News

Kevin Sites

Get coverage of

world crises.

Yahoo! Finance

It's Now Personal

Guides, news,

advice & more.

Yahoo! Green

Get things and

get things for free.

Find out how.

.

__,_._,___