Maverick McCain's lobbyist ties: Unreal

Crooks & Liars has been all over John McCain's ties to lobbyists, despite his spoon-fed persona (that the media happily gobbles up) that he's a lobbyist-hating, Straight-Talking Maverick who is a champion of campaign finance reform. From C&L:

Last week we brought you this story about McCain campaign Co-Chair Phil Gramm and his lobbying efforts that put him on the wrong side of the ongoing mortgage foreclosure crisis. Now, it appears Gramm's association with the aging Republican senator's campaign is doing far more harm that previously known. UBS, a bank for which Gramm lobbied, is now under investigation for alleged use of overseas tax havens to hide assets of its wealthy clients from U.S. authorities — while in office, Gramm also supported these tax havens after 9/11, which hampered the government's ability to track Osama bin Laden's financial network before 9/11.

It gets better. Last night on Countdown, Keith Olbermann, along with The Nation's Chris Hayes, had a pretty lively discussion about what Gramm's role on McCain's campaign means for McCain's reputation as a:

Straight Talker
Maverick
Champion of Campaign Finance Reform
Vehement Anti-Lobbyist

Sheesh - could it be reasoned that pretty soon, McCain's darling media could run out of attractive labels for him? I doubt it, but it doesn't hurt to fantasize.

Here's a brief excerpt by Hayes during last night's Countdown:

"...What this reveals is actually a really profound contradiction at the heart of the Republican coalition, the conservative coalition and McCain's campaign, which is on the one hand, it's home to the most sort of, chest-beating, self righteous moralists about foreign policy - we can't talk to Ahmedenajad because he's an anti-Semite, at the same time it's a party who's agenda is run by global conglomerates that pursue dollar and profit with no regard for any kind of sense of morality..."

It doesn't get more sage than that. Well said, Mr. Hayes. Again, I wonder, will the media follow this up, or gloss over it and get on to more important stuff, like what so-and-so's pastor said in church last Sunday?

Hayes again makes the astute point (one that I made a few days ago, too) that while Bush was in front of the Knesset a few weeks ago, effectively calling Obama an appeaser for wanting to talk to Hamas and Iran, Israel was simultaneously opening up talks with Syria, a country that it's not an overreach to say it's mortal enemies with. Ooopsie, Bushie! There was very little media coverage of that, too.

I have no hope for our corporate media, save for a Democratic victory this fall. Either way, once the new Congress and administration take power, we can and we MUST demand an end to corporations' hegemony over the mass media in this country.