If you thought “David” Quijano’s comment was over the top, “For all questions, complaints, returns, and hate mail, please send us an email at conservativeapparel@gmail.com or call (832) 398-6719. You can purchase all your hate propaganda directly at that number as well.
The problem is that McCain never learned his lesson. Fast forward twenty some years, he is still negotiating contributions for favors that eventually cost taxpayers money. Most recently, Scott Rothstein, another McCain associate who cost people $1.2 billion.
The moral of the story:
As long as he gets what he wants, McCain could care less about his mistakes.
I mean, really…Keating is an example of out-of-control Federal bureaucrats destroying a sizable portion of our financial system.
Has ANYONE read the book Legal Extortion? Basically, the Feds changed the laws regarding S & L’s, made the changes RETROACTIVE so that almost all S & L’s were automatically in default, and then seized the “troubled assets” for pennies on the dollar and after a good bath in taxpayer dollars sold them to such stalwarts as the Kuwaiti Royal Family. MASSIVE corruption.
Keating was no saint. But he deserved better than what he got.
As for the “scandal”, if a major business leader responsible for millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs comes to a politician and says, “the government is screwing me”, I’d be disappointed if the politician did not at least look into it. Attempting to intimidate the regulators by herding them in a room with a bunch of US Senators – if it was an attempt at intimidation – may not be cool. Then again, quite frankly, there are times when government bureaucrats SHOULD be intimidated. They were making policy left and right is flagrant disregard of what the actual ELECTED officals wanted.
And, if there WAS anything bad going on, McCain bailed early. McCain was a personal friend of Keating, going way back. To me, it’s a greater condemnation of McCain that he threw his longtime friend Keating under the bus because it became politically expedient. But I don’t think McCain did anything wrong in the whole Keating scandal. There was wrongdoing on both sides, and the wholesale fleecing of the elderly that Keating participated in as things got worse was despicable, but as for interfering with the Federal “regulators” who seem to have been on the take themselves? Give me a break.
You know what scares me the most about the whole Keating thing?
Charles Keating, before his fall, was the type of man who would have been admired by most of Sonoran Alliance’s readership. A passionate fighter for what he viewed as Christian morality, a generous donor to many conservative causes, an incredibly successful businessman who was generous to his employees.
And then the government betrayed him. They changed the rules in the middle of the game, and instead of meekly rolling over and kissing government butt, he fought back.
And the government broke him. Destroyed him. Went after him with all the power an entrenched, unelected bureaucracy could muster, and vindictively did everything they could to bury him, because he DARED to question them.
And he broke. He committed crimes; at first, he was fighting for principle, then, he was fighting to save his business, and then, at the end, he stole from the elderly, took their money knowing it was likely a lost cause, committed frauds both small and large in a desperate attempt to stay alive against a system that had gone against what he thought were American values.
Charles Keating broke, and became a criminal. But, he wasn’t always a criminal. And, perhaps the betrayals of the US Government helped put him in that place where to him, criminality looked like the only escape.
And, from the conservative point of view, a government that could do that to him could do it to anyone.
Read the Republic article.
If McCain is worthy of any condemnation, it is because he abandoned his friend at the time of his friend’s greatest need. He could have said, “Charles, I can’t help you any more. It’s too much, and it’s not ethical. I’m sorry. I hope you understand it’s just politics.”
But no. McCain fled, and contributed to the heaping of scorn upon Keating, because it was expedient to do so. McCain could have distanced himself from Keating; could have been low key and yet not joined in the public clammoring. Instead, McCain actively helped push Keating towards the cliff.
If you’re going to heap abuse upon McCain over Keating, don’t do it because he attended a meeting with bureaucrats in an attempt to see if a major employer was being screwed over.
There may come a time when any of us who are conservatives anger those in power, and we may have to turn to friends who are elected officials to try to navigate treacherous waters.
Heap abuse upon McCain because he was, as he always has been, out for himself, and abandoned his buddy when his buddy needed him the most.
Michael Binstein and Charles Bowden’s 1993 book, Trust Me: Charles Keating and the Missing Billions, also presents Keating as a complex individual with contradictory tendencies, and concludes:
Charlie Keating built things, and, at some level that haunts anyone who looks over his records, he thought his schemes would work. He did not simply rob a bank. He broke a bank with his dreams. If he is simply a thief, why did he put the money into deals and projects instead of into his own pocket? If he is just a hardworking businessman simply trying to make a profit and create jobs, why the need for jets, fancy meals, big paychecks to his family? If he is such a devout communicant of his faith, why did he peddle hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of junk bonds to old people when he knew his empire was in serious jeopardy?[113]
June 29th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Maybe it is time to remember how JD’s will power is so lacking, he couldn’t even eat the proper amount of food or avoid dealing with Jackass Abramoff.
June 29th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
If you thought “David” Quijano’s comment was over the top, “For all questions, complaints, returns, and hate mail, please send us an email at conservativeapparel@gmail.com or call (832) 398-6719. You can purchase all your hate propaganda directly at that number as well.
June 29th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
The problem is that McCain never learned his lesson. Fast forward twenty some years, he is still negotiating contributions for favors that eventually cost taxpayers money. Most recently, Scott Rothstein, another McCain associate who cost people $1.2 billion.
The moral of the story:
As long as he gets what he wants, McCain could care less about his mistakes.
June 29th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
A little over the top? What about you? Jackass.
June 29th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
You’re the one who chose to link over to your website, David.
June 29th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
DSW:
McCain’s supporters reflect the tastes of their candidate. They swim in sewers!
June 29th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
Who cares about the Keating Five?
I mean, really…Keating is an example of out-of-control Federal bureaucrats destroying a sizable portion of our financial system.
Has ANYONE read the book Legal Extortion? Basically, the Feds changed the laws regarding S & L’s, made the changes RETROACTIVE so that almost all S & L’s were automatically in default, and then seized the “troubled assets” for pennies on the dollar and after a good bath in taxpayer dollars sold them to such stalwarts as the Kuwaiti Royal Family. MASSIVE corruption.
Keating was no saint. But he deserved better than what he got.
As for the “scandal”, if a major business leader responsible for millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs comes to a politician and says, “the government is screwing me”, I’d be disappointed if the politician did not at least look into it. Attempting to intimidate the regulators by herding them in a room with a bunch of US Senators – if it was an attempt at intimidation – may not be cool. Then again, quite frankly, there are times when government bureaucrats SHOULD be intimidated. They were making policy left and right is flagrant disregard of what the actual ELECTED officals wanted.
And, if there WAS anything bad going on, McCain bailed early. McCain was a personal friend of Keating, going way back. To me, it’s a greater condemnation of McCain that he threw his longtime friend Keating under the bus because it became politically expedient. But I don’t think McCain did anything wrong in the whole Keating scandal. There was wrongdoing on both sides, and the wholesale fleecing of the elderly that Keating participated in as things got worse was despicable, but as for interfering with the Federal “regulators” who seem to have been on the take themselves? Give me a break.
June 29th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
You know what scares me the most about the whole Keating thing?
Charles Keating, before his fall, was the type of man who would have been admired by most of Sonoran Alliance’s readership. A passionate fighter for what he viewed as Christian morality, a generous donor to many conservative causes, an incredibly successful businessman who was generous to his employees.
And then the government betrayed him. They changed the rules in the middle of the game, and instead of meekly rolling over and kissing government butt, he fought back.
And the government broke him. Destroyed him. Went after him with all the power an entrenched, unelected bureaucracy could muster, and vindictively did everything they could to bury him, because he DARED to question them.
And he broke. He committed crimes; at first, he was fighting for principle, then, he was fighting to save his business, and then, at the end, he stole from the elderly, took their money knowing it was likely a lost cause, committed frauds both small and large in a desperate attempt to stay alive against a system that had gone against what he thought were American values.
Charles Keating broke, and became a criminal. But, he wasn’t always a criminal. And, perhaps the betrayals of the US Government helped put him in that place where to him, criminality looked like the only escape.
And, from the conservative point of view, a government that could do that to him could do it to anyone.
Read the Republic article.
If McCain is worthy of any condemnation, it is because he abandoned his friend at the time of his friend’s greatest need. He could have said, “Charles, I can’t help you any more. It’s too much, and it’s not ethical. I’m sorry. I hope you understand it’s just politics.”
But no. McCain fled, and contributed to the heaping of scorn upon Keating, because it was expedient to do so. McCain could have distanced himself from Keating; could have been low key and yet not joined in the public clammoring. Instead, McCain actively helped push Keating towards the cliff.
If you’re going to heap abuse upon McCain over Keating, don’t do it because he attended a meeting with bureaucrats in an attempt to see if a major employer was being screwed over.
There may come a time when any of us who are conservatives anger those in power, and we may have to turn to friends who are elected officials to try to navigate treacherous waters.
Heap abuse upon McCain because he was, as he always has been, out for himself, and abandoned his buddy when his buddy needed him the most.
Interesting, though incomplete, article:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/mccain/articles/2007/03/01/20070301mccainbio-chapter7.html
Interesting quote from Wikipedia:
Michael Binstein and Charles Bowden’s 1993 book, Trust Me: Charles Keating and the Missing Billions, also presents Keating as a complex individual with contradictory tendencies, and concludes:
Charlie Keating built things, and, at some level that haunts anyone who looks over his records, he thought his schemes would work. He did not simply rob a bank. He broke a bank with his dreams. If he is simply a thief, why did he put the money into deals and projects instead of into his own pocket? If he is just a hardworking businessman simply trying to make a profit and create jobs, why the need for jets, fancy meals, big paychecks to his family? If he is such a devout communicant of his faith, why did he peddle hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of junk bonds to old people when he knew his empire was in serious jeopardy?[113]
June 29th, 2010 at 11:17 pm
The spin here is cyclonic.