Monday Musing: Hoping and Waiting
"Gee, if only they'd attack us again, say around October 15th."
From www.polticallore.com (5 May 2008):
[Charles] Black has been a key player in the Washington scene for close to three decades, holding his first high level position as a senior advisor in the Reagan administration. Black then went on to be a senior advisor to Bush (41) and played a key role in the Bush (43) 2000 Presidential election campaign. He also has been heavily involved in a large number of Republican Congressional election campaigns. However the interesting connections in Black’s past relating to McCain’s campaign effort come from his extremely lucrative lobbying career.
Black held the chair position at BKSH & Associates until March of this year, when he finally made the decision to publicly step down as chairman and shift all of his energy to working in McCain’s Presidential campaign. (It was Charlie Black whom Obama referred to when stating that McCain had lobbyist running their firms from the campaign bus.) In the years that Black worked at BKSH, their client list contained the mega-giants of the American corporate world, giants such as Philip Morris, General Electric, AT&T and General Motors. While these connections are eye-opening to the extent that they may be a window into just how committed the McCain campaign is to distancing themselves from corporate America, it is not until one looks further down the list of Black’s former clients that it becomes a truly chilling experience.
The two clients on Black’s former client list that are the most troubling seem to be Blackwater and Ahmed Chalabi.
… Black’s affiliation with Chalabi was much more extensive. It appears that Black was pleased with the work that Chalabi’s organization, the Iraqi National Congress (IRC), was able to accomplish from this quote, “The INC became not only well known, but I think the message got out there strongly.”
The INC which Black is referring to is now known as the leading disinfo team that lobbied heavily in Washington, with the guidance of Black and BKSH, for regime change in Iraq via an American led military invasion. Chalabi’s hope was to have the IRC, as essentially an American client regime, installed in Iraq after Saddam was ousted.
Having complete knowledge of Black’s affiliations did not stop McCain from sending Black on the talk show circuit in the wake of the campaign’s only major damage control operation, namely the Vicki Iseman scandal.
Since stepping down from his post at BKSH Black as taken on an increasingly vital role as spokesman for the McCain camp …
From ABC-TV’s Political Punch:
McCain Adviser: Terrorist Attack Would Help McCain in Election
June 23, 2008 4:05 PM
McCain adviser Charlie Black told Fortune Magazine that national security events help Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
"The assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December was an 'unfortunate event,' says Black. 'But his knowledge and ability to talk about it reemphasized that this is the guy who's ready to be Commander-in-Chief. And it helped us.' As would, Black concedes with startling candor after we raise the issue, another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. 'Certainly it would be a big advantage to him,' says Black."
Per ABC News' Bret Hovell, McCain distanced himself from the remarks today.
"I cannot imagine why he would say it," McCain said. "It’s not true. I’ve worked tirelessly since 9/11 to prevent another attack on the United States of America. My record is very clear. The Armed Services Committee, and pieces of legislation. Sponsoring with Joe Lieberman the 9/11 Commission so we could find out the causes and how to fix the challenges that we face to fix the security of our nation. I cannot imagine it. And, uh. So, I would … If he said that, and I do not know the context, I strenuously disagree."
…
UPDATE: Hovell reports that outside McCain’s Fresno fundraiser, Black read a statement: “I deeply regret the comments—they were inappropriate. I recognize that John McCain has devoted his entire adult life to protecting his country.”
From www.polticallore.com (5 May 2008):
[Charles] Black has been a key player in the Washington scene for close to three decades, holding his first high level position as a senior advisor in the Reagan administration. Black then went on to be a senior advisor to Bush (41) and played a key role in the Bush (43) 2000 Presidential election campaign. He also has been heavily involved in a large number of Republican Congressional election campaigns. However the interesting connections in Black’s past relating to McCain’s campaign effort come from his extremely lucrative lobbying career.
Black held the chair position at BKSH & Associates until March of this year, when he finally made the decision to publicly step down as chairman and shift all of his energy to working in McCain’s Presidential campaign. (It was Charlie Black whom Obama referred to when stating that McCain had lobbyist running their firms from the campaign bus.) In the years that Black worked at BKSH, their client list contained the mega-giants of the American corporate world, giants such as Philip Morris, General Electric, AT&T and General Motors. While these connections are eye-opening to the extent that they may be a window into just how committed the McCain campaign is to distancing themselves from corporate America, it is not until one looks further down the list of Black’s former clients that it becomes a truly chilling experience.
The two clients on Black’s former client list that are the most troubling seem to be Blackwater and Ahmed Chalabi.
… Black’s affiliation with Chalabi was much more extensive. It appears that Black was pleased with the work that Chalabi’s organization, the Iraqi National Congress (IRC), was able to accomplish from this quote, “The INC became not only well known, but I think the message got out there strongly.”
The INC which Black is referring to is now known as the leading disinfo team that lobbied heavily in Washington, with the guidance of Black and BKSH, for regime change in Iraq via an American led military invasion. Chalabi’s hope was to have the IRC, as essentially an American client regime, installed in Iraq after Saddam was ousted.
Having complete knowledge of Black’s affiliations did not stop McCain from sending Black on the talk show circuit in the wake of the campaign’s only major damage control operation, namely the Vicki Iseman scandal.
Since stepping down from his post at BKSH Black as taken on an increasingly vital role as spokesman for the McCain camp …
From ABC-TV’s Political Punch:
McCain Adviser: Terrorist Attack Would Help McCain in Election
June 23, 2008 4:05 PM
McCain adviser Charlie Black told Fortune Magazine that national security events help Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
"The assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December was an 'unfortunate event,' says Black. 'But his knowledge and ability to talk about it reemphasized that this is the guy who's ready to be Commander-in-Chief. And it helped us.' As would, Black concedes with startling candor after we raise the issue, another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. 'Certainly it would be a big advantage to him,' says Black."
Per ABC News' Bret Hovell, McCain distanced himself from the remarks today.
"I cannot imagine why he would say it," McCain said. "It’s not true. I’ve worked tirelessly since 9/11 to prevent another attack on the United States of America. My record is very clear. The Armed Services Committee, and pieces of legislation. Sponsoring with Joe Lieberman the 9/11 Commission so we could find out the causes and how to fix the challenges that we face to fix the security of our nation. I cannot imagine it. And, uh. So, I would … If he said that, and I do not know the context, I strenuously disagree."
…
UPDATE: Hovell reports that outside McCain’s Fresno fundraiser, Black read a statement: “I deeply regret the comments—they were inappropriate. I recognize that John McCain has devoted his entire adult life to protecting his country.”
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