Newt Gingrich Offers $50,000 For Video of Barack Obama with Palestinian Rashid Khalidi, McCain Campaign Accused LA Times of Withholding

These Republicans just cannot accept the fact that they may lose the next presidential election. The McCain campaign has accused the LA Times of suppressing an Obama video. The LA Times said that its promise to the source prevents it from posting the video, which shows Barack Obama praising Palestinian activist Rashid Khalidi at a 2003 banquet. Is this another Rev. Jeremiah Wright type? What is amazing is that this story has been out there since April, 2008, and McCain, Gingrich and company have now decided to press the issue six days before the election? Smells like a rat to me.

“A major news organization is intentionally suppressing information that could provide a clearer link between Barack Obama and Rashid Khalidi,” said McCain campaign spokesman Michael Goldfarb. ” . . . The election is one week away, and it’s unfortunate that the press so obviously favors Barack Obama that this campaign must publicly request that the Los Angeles Times do its job — make information public.”

The Times on Tuesday issued a statement about its decision not to post the tape.

“The Los Angeles Times did not publish the videotape because it was provided to us by a confidential source who did so on the condition that we not release it,” said the newspaper’s editor, Russ Stanton. “The Times keeps its promises to sources.”

The newspaper’s readers’ representative, Jamie Gold, said in a statement: “More than six months ago the Los Angeles Times published a detailed account of the events shown on the videotape. The Times is not suppressing anything. Just the opposite — the L.A. Times brought the matter to light.” Hello, just dirty politics from the McCain camp because the election is slipping away from them.

According to the LA Times, the original article said that Obama’s friendships with Palestinian Americans in Chicago and his presence at Palestinian community events had led some to think he was sympathetic to the Palestinian viewpoint on Middle East politics. Further, the Times states that Obama publicly expresses a pro-Israel viewpoint that pleases many Jewish leaders. In reporting on Obama’s presence at the dinner for Khalidi, the article noted that some speakers expressed anger at Israel and at U.S. foreign policy, but that Obama in his comments called for finding common ground. It said that Khalidi in the 1970s often spoke to reporters on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Khalidi later lived near Obama while teaching at the University of Chicago. He is now a professor of Arab studies at Columbia University in New York.

So, enter Newt Gingrich, a scumbag in his own rights, offering $50,000 for the video. Again, this is really the lowest act of dirty politics. Didn’t John McCain meet with Pinochet? Gee, did they forget that he has mixed with “questionable’ characters too? “Keating Five.” I rest my case.In case the Republicans have forgotten, the economy is in the tank and people are losing jobs in massive numbers, the last thing they care about is a video tape the LA Times refuses to publish.

Filed under: Barack Obama, Jamie Gold, John McCain, Keating Five, Newt Gingrich, Rashid Khalidi

John McCain, Remember the Keating Five? If You Live in a Glass House, Don’t Throw Stones

I honestly think John McCain is not capable of being a half-way decent president, as evidenced from the “Hail Mary” throws he and his campaign have lobbed in recent weeks–choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate, saying the economy was fundamentally stable one day, only to switch positions the next; calling for the firing of the SEC head, even though Mr. Cox was appointed and now, suspending his campaign, when the polls show that he is getting clobbered by Barack Obama. More importantly, John McCain has been playing dirty and trying to stir up a seemingly non-existent hornet’s nest. The problem with the mudslinging is that it is bound to come back to you–namely, the Keating Five. John McCain and Sarah Palin, if you live in a glass house, don’t throw stones!

Let me remind my readers about the savings & loan scandal that literally wiped out the life savings of 20,000 people. If you ask me, John McCain got a slap on the wrist, but he was very complicit to a great extent in trying to cover this mess up. The Keating Five were five U.S. senators–John McCain, Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini, John Glenn and Donald W. Riegle–were accused of corruption in 1989, as part of a larger Savings and Loan crisis in the later 1980s and early 1990s. These men were accused of improperly aiding Charles H. Keating, Jr., chairman of the failed Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which was the target of an investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. The Senate Ethics Committee determined in 1991 that Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini and Donald Riegle had substantially and improperly interfered with the FHLBB in its investigation of the bank. Senators Glenn and McCain were cleared of having acted improperly, but were cleared of having acted improperly but were criticized for having exercised “poor judgment.” Isn’t John McCain the same person who has accused Barack Obama of using poor judgment in his association with Rev. Jeremiah Wright?

Oh, wait, it gets better. John McCain was supposed to appear on David Letterman’s show tonight, but called to say he needed to go to Washington D.C. to help fix the financial quagmire the country has found itself in. But, he lied. He was yukking it up with Katie Couric instead. Isn’t that using poor judgment?

Let’s go back to the Keating Five debacle for a moment…..

Let’s not forget that Mr. Keating was the one who took John McCain under his wings. You know, got him connected to the right people in Arizona. So, one turn deserved another, I suppose. The core allegation of the Keating Five affair is that Keating had made contributions of about $1.3 million to various U.S. Senators, and he called on those Senators to help him resist regulators.

I did some research and here’s the relationship of the senators to Keating….

Cranston had received $39,000 from Keating and his associates for his 1986 Senate re-election campaign. Furthermore, Keating had donated some $850,000 to assorted groups founded by Cranston or controlled by him, and another $85,000 to the California Democratic Party. It is said that Cranston considered Keating a constituent because Lincoln was based in California.

DeConcini had received about $48,000 from Keating and his associates for his 1988 Senate re-election campaign. In September 1989, DeConcini stated he would return the money. DeConcini considered Keating a constituent because Keating lived in Arizona; they were also long-time friends.

Glenn had received $34,000 in direct contributions from Keating and his associates for his 1984 presidential nomination campaign, and a political action committee tied to Glenn had received an additional $200,000. Glenn considered Keating a constituent because one of Keating’s other business concerns was headquartered in Ohio.

McCain and Keating had become personal friends following their initial contacts in 1981, and McCain was the closest socially to Keating of the five senators. Like DeConcini, McCain considered Keating a constituent as he lived in Arizona. Between 1982 and 1987, McCain had received $112,000 in political contributions from Keating and his associates. In addition, McCain’s wife Cindy McCain and her father Jim Hensley had invested $359,100 in a Keating shopping center in April 1986, a year before McCain met with the regulators. McCain, his family, and their baby-sitter had made nine trips at Keating’s expense, sometimes aboard Keating’s jet. Three of the trips were made during vacations to Keating’s opulent Bahamas retreat at Cat Cay. McCain did not pay Keating (in the amount of $13,433) for some of the trips until years after they were taken, when he learned that Keating was in trouble over Lincoln.

Riegle had received some $76,000 from Keating and his associates for his 1988 Senate re-election campaign. Riegle later announced in April 1988 he was returning the money. Riegle’s constituency connection to Keating was that Keating’s Hotel Pontchartrain was located in Michigan.

Final thoughts…..

I will reiterate my previous comments. John McCain and Sarah Palin, if you live in a glass house, don’t throw stones and be careful what you wish for. People have long memories and we are living in a technologically advanced age, much to the dismay of Mr. McCain. There is a lot of information out there that can be used against both of you. Sarah, the witchcraft preacher is coming back to haunt you. Remember when the religious nutjob Pastor Muthee laid hands on you? Maybe he’ll lay hands on your sinking campaign.

Filed under: David Letterman, John McCain, Katie Couric, Keating Five, Sarah Palin