The mainstream press seems to be attributing McCain's problems to his support of President Bush's unpopular policies on Iraq and immigration. It also cannot help that McCain is seen as an honest moderate in a Republican party dominated by dishonest right-wing vipers.
But McCain has other problems. At least in Alabama, he hasn't been keeping the best of company. One of his campaign advisors in Alabama was Dax Swatek. This is the same Dax Swatek who, according to Harper's, created a fictitious organization to help support Channel One, a client of disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Recall that Dax Swatek's father, Bill Swatek, is the Pelham, Alabama-based attorney who filed the lawsuit against me that will be examined in detail here on Legal Schnauzer. Bill Swatek has a lengthy history of ethical violations in his distinguished legal career. And his client in the case against me, my Neighbor From Hell (NFH), has at least eight criminal convictions in his background. But Bill Swatek and his client were the beneficiaries of repeated unlawful rulings by Republican judges in the lawsuit against me. And this ensured that Swatek would not be held accountable for filing a groundless lawsuit.
Republicans like to say that they are strongly opposed to baseless lawsuits. But they don't seem to have a problem with them when they are filed by the father of one of their fund-raisers. And they don't seem to mind them, even if the attorney who files them (Bill Swatek in this case) has left a lengthy paper trail of sleaze in his wake.
The McCain campaign probably did not know about Dax Swatek's connections to Jack Abramoff. And they almost certainly did not know about the shady history of Swatek's father. Connecting yourself to folks like the Swateks seems to be no way to run a Straight Talk Express.
But perhaps the point is moot. The Express appears to be going off the tracks, and it's taking Dax Swatek along for the ride. He was among those cut loose in the McCain campaign bloodletting.
I guess I can't go along with the "honest moderate" label for John McCain. After the Bush attacks on his sanity, his wife, and his adopted child, he was just happy to let bygones be bygones and hug Bush in 1984, oops, I meant 2004. In 1984, McCain was up to his neck in the Savings and Loan collapse as one of the Keating Five. Sorry, when you're old like me, the years run together. Especially when the scumbags stay the same.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have direct personal experience of scumbags.
You make good points about whether the "honest moderate" label fits McCain. Guess I give him extra points for his military service. But you're right, some of his more recent actions certainly raise questions.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I have direct experience with a number of scumbags of the legal persuasion. Will be shining light on their activities.
Thanks for reading and writing.
Roger