McCain's Record: Check it yourself on the NY Times!

One BIG difference between 2004 and 2008 has largely gone unnoticed: in 2004 "Times Select" limited one's access to past articles in the NY Times data base, but now...now, we can check out any kind of minutiae on McCain, going back more than 20 years, the good, the bad, and the ugly ugly ugly...

John McCain was for activist judges before he was against them:

Two Republicans, John McCain of Arizona and Phil Gramm of Texas, also came out for Judge Bork, but their moves had been expected. Mr. Gramm said critics of the President and his nominee were trying ''to gain a philosophical victory in the Senate that they were denied by the American people in the last two Presidential elections.

Bork, of course, is the wingnut activist judge who was against frivolous liability lawsuits before he was for them.

McCain's words, evidently:

Again the issue is not whether Bork is anti-abortion or anti-privacy. The question is this: Is Robert Bork unfit for the Supreme Court because he believes this decision [ Roe v. Wade ] is logically and constitutionally flawed? I think not.

John McCain didn't give a sh!t whether or not Bork would trash our rights then and there's no reason to expect that he'd care any more now.

John McCain was ho-hum about the last time there was a repugnant scandal tantamount to treason, Iran-Contra:

''I detect no electricity in the air and no surge of anticipation,'' said Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, who has criticized the Administration's performance in the case. ''Maybe people think the whole story has been told, which is not so, or maybe they're tired of scandal.''

Or maybe people have already formed their own judgments and think further evidence would be superfluous. A recent Gallup survey showed that 62 percent of the public thinks Presidemt Reagan was more deeply involved in the possibly illegal diversion of money to the Nicaraguan rebels than he has admitted, but that only 41 percent thought the hearings would be useful.

Americans thought their president was a traitor or senile, and McCain didn't give a sh!t.

John McCain had no problem sending money to the Contras, himself.

As an astute NYT letter writer wrote of John McCain's support for Nicaraguan terrorists:

On Feb. 9[1988], you reported that despite the vote against contra aid in Congress, Senators Bob Dole and John McCain had sent money to the contras' private fund, according to rebel leaders, and that the Iran-contra principal Maj. Gen. John K. Singlaub was prepared to assure aid to the contras in the field without control over their activities. This aid, presumably, will not require F.B.I. investigation.

Terrorism is not terrorism when it is an instrument of American foreign policy, and civilian deaths do not count when ''freedom fighters'' cause them.

McCain's record of hostility to health care for people goes back to at least almost 20 years...

The Senate tonight rejected a conference agreement to repeal the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act, intended to protect 33 million older Americans from the high cost of acute, extended illness...

Before the Senate voted, another panel of House and Senate negotiators announced that it had reached a tentative agreement on about $5.3 billion in revenue-raising measures. [ Page D1. ] The 16-month-old law expanding benefits in the Medicare program, which provides health care to the elderly, sets a ceiling on a patient's payments for hospital and doctor bills and prescription drugs. To finance it, beneficiaries pay a flat monthly premium, and the wealthiest 40 percent also pay a surtax on their income tax...

Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who sponsored the Senate bill, noted that his proposal was supported by most groups of older Americans. ''Shouldn't we listen to the people directly affected by this legislation?'' he asked.

Yeah, "most groups of older Americans" wanted to pay for high health care costs...right...

This diary is getting long, and so far I haven't even gotten deep into the 1990's yet! I haven't even gotten into the Keating 5! There is a virtual treasure trove of McCain dirt here for anyone, anyone to pick through!

Thanks again NY Times...

But I'll leave you with one last McCain quote, which shows that he was George W. Bush's 3rd term when his father was president...

''Colin Powell is the first Chairman since the end of the Vietnam War that doesn't constantly warn us about body bags, a habit that always made me grind my teeth,'' said Senator John McCain, a Republican of Arizona.

Even back in 1990, John McCain didn't really give a sh!t about dead American soldiers.

Maybe tomorrow I'll post a diary on "McCain in the Clinton years..."