Saturday, June 14, 2008

Rock, Meet Hard Place: McCain Turns Down a Texas Fundraiser

Caught between attracting Hillary Clinton defectors and the dire need to raise campaign funds, John “McNasty” McCain cancelled his June 16th appearance at the home of Texas oilman Clayton “Claytie” Williams. Williams was bringing in some high rollers to this fundraiser at his ranch, but will now have nothing but the chirping of crickets at his house in Midland, Texas come Monday.

The reason, it seems, is that Williams is known for having had some pretty demeaning things to say about women. Association with this guy would demonstrate clearly to Clinton’s supporters another reason why McCain is a poor second choice: his association with misogynists. That, I need to remind, should be combined with his own personal brand of anti-woman behaviors.

Claytie Williams once said this memorable witticism about rape and the weather: “As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it.”

This was not just a one-time slip up, but just part of a trend. In his 1990 race against Ann Richards for Texas Governor, he was heard to say about Ms. Richards that he would “head her and hoof her and drag her through the dirt.”

The McCain campaign claims that they did not know of these things, even though they are well known even outside of Texas. They were hipped to Williams’ past indiscretions by none other than the mainstream media. The campaign also says that they will not have to return the 300 large that Williams had already raised for McCain because “the contributions came from other individuals supporting McCain and not from Williams.”

How that is different from accepting the funds that Williams had raised and accepting funds from Williams’ guests at his home quite escapes me. It must have something to do with their dire need for campaign funds.

John McCaine is, himself, not above making denigrating remarks toward women – actually his own wife. It is outlined in Cliff Schecter’s exposé entitled The Real McCain Why Conservatives Don’t Trust Him – and Why Independents Shouldn’t

During his 1992 senatorial race, McCain and his present wife, beer heiress Cindy Lou Hensley McCain, were together during a campaign tour, and wife Cindy was playfully twirling locks of McCain’s hair, joking that he was “getting a little thin up there.” To which McCain retorted “At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c_ _t.”

That bit of information, by the way was not widely reported, but was witnessed by several reporters and McCain aides.

But I’m sure none of this will be of interest to Linda Starr and others of her ilk in their defiant opposition to all things Obama. According to the profile on her newly launched Yahoo Group, NewWomen’sParty none of this matters, although it should. According to the profile the group was formed to “eliminate all hate speech, especially misogynistic language used to denigrate and intimidate women, women's issues and rights, and hate speech against others groups targeted for humiliation, intimidation or discrimination.”

Funny what strange bedpersons politics make.

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