This Week on the Weasel Wagon

Since Senator McCain has taken flippity-flopping to such heights that he is in a class by himself, and would monopolize the Desert Beacon Sunday Deck Bass to the exclusion of all other worthy candidates for northern Nevada’s least coveted award, it’s probably a good idea to periodically give him his very own post: This week on the Senator John Sidney McCain III’s (R-AZ) Weasel Wagon.

* Doug Goodyear, the individual selected to manage the 2008 Republican National Convention by the McCain campaign resigned May 10^th after it was publicized that his lobby shop, DCI, used to represent the military regime in Myanmar. [TPM] DCI has also done ‘consulting’ work for Exxon-Mobil, General Motors and other clients. [Nwswk] Goodyear formerly represented R.J Reynolds before joining the DCI group, “and was instrumental in creating the Ramhurst Corporation which received funds from R.J. Reynolds “to ensure that tobacco industry efforts in Washington were supported by and coordinated with RJR’s nation-wide fake grassroots operations in 1993.” [SrcWtch] DCI also publishes the “Tech Central Station,” website that broadcasts global warming denial materials sponsored by Exxon-Mobil and General Motors. [SrcWtch]

* Doug Davenport, a McCain campaign aide tendered his resignation May 11^th for essentially the same reasons – connections to DCI and the Myanmar Junta. [Politico]

* During the 2000 presidential campaign Arizona Senator John McCain was critical of George W. Bush for not considering exceptions for rape, incest, and a mother’s health in the Republican platform plank on abortion. ABC quotes an un-named ‘senior Republican’ close to the McCain campaign as indicating this round the Senator will not object to the plank, the same as that in the 2000 platform. [ABC] Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, told ABC that if McCain made changes it would be “political suicide.” [via TP]

* The Arizona solon is content to abjure comments by the right wing pastor Rev. John Hagee about the Catholic Church being the “Great Whore of Babylon,” however he has yet to disavow Hagee’s comments about Hurricane Katrina being the hand of God slamming down New Orleans for planning a Gay Pride Parade. [TP] For his part, Hagee seemed to temper his comments [LAT] before the Dallas Morning News picked up a conference call in which “a woman on the call asked why he seemed to have backed away from his Katrina comments in face of criticism, Hagee said he hadn't. As for the Katrina, he said, God controls hurricanes and "God always punishes unconfessed sin." [DMN]

* Senator McCain has yet to be called upon in any serious way to comment on another right wing pastor’s comments. The Rev. Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church: “Parsley claims that Islam is an "anti-Christ religion" predicated on "deception." The Muslim prophet Muhammad, he writes, "received revelations from demons and not from the true God." And he emphasizes this point: "Allah was a demon spirit." Parsley does not differentiate between violent Islamic extremists and other followers of the religion: There are some, of course, who will say that the violence I cite is the exception and not the rule. I beg to differ. I will counter, respectfully, that what some call "extremists" are instead mainstream believers who are drawing from the well at the very heart of Islam.” [MoJo]

* It is one thing for candidate McCain to pledge to get rid of ‘pork barrel laden bills’ and abolish earmarks – but quite another to schedule campaign events at sites like the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey which has been “the beneficiary of multiple federal earmarks.” [TP]

* Senator McCain either did, or didn’t, vote for George W. Bush in 2000 – depending on the ‘moment’ [TP] and who is quoting whom from Candice Bergen’s Beverly Hills dinner party. [NYT]

* Presidential candidate McCain offered a “new idea” on May 7th – to create a Task force on Human Trafficking. The problem with this new idea is that such a task force already exists. The Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons was created by the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000. [TP]

* If candidate McCain is going after women’s votes he has a funny way of doing it. He missed the vote on the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and then explained is opposition by saying that instead of equal pay women should get more education and training [TP]; a stance that totally misses the point that the problem is that women with equal education and training are not getting equal pay.