McCain hires Saddam lobbyist
McCain Transition Chief Aided Saddam In Lobbying Effort (courtesy of the Huffington Post)
McCain has already gotten a fair bit of flak for hiring lobbyists to run his campaign -- thus undermining his "I fought against the special interests" message -- but now it's come out that the leader of his transition team used to work for Saddam Hussein.
Now, don't get me wrong: I know that, in truth, Saddam wasn't necessarily any worse than a lot of other dictators, Arab and otherwise, that we hypocritically call our friends, all in the name of realpolitik. After all, he used to be one of those "friendly" dictators, before the first Gulf War. (Remember the famous photo of Saddam Hussein shaking hands with Rumsfeld?)
Unfortunately for that line of thinking, this guy worked for Saddam Hussein after the first Gulf War.
So, let's get this straight. McCain's running mate and a certain right-wing TV channel seem to think it's not okay for Obama to have served on a foundation board with a former 1960s radical, but it's okay for McCain to hire someone who recently represented Saddam Hussein... as one of his closest advisors?
Fortunately for us all, fivethirtyeight.com gives Obama a 95% chance of winning.
McCain has already gotten a fair bit of flak for hiring lobbyists to run his campaign -- thus undermining his "I fought against the special interests" message -- but now it's come out that the leader of his transition team used to work for Saddam Hussein.
Now, don't get me wrong: I know that, in truth, Saddam wasn't necessarily any worse than a lot of other dictators, Arab and otherwise, that we hypocritically call our friends, all in the name of realpolitik. After all, he used to be one of those "friendly" dictators, before the first Gulf War. (Remember the famous photo of Saddam Hussein shaking hands with Rumsfeld?)
Unfortunately for that line of thinking, this guy worked for Saddam Hussein after the first Gulf War.
So, let's get this straight. McCain's running mate and a certain right-wing TV channel seem to think it's not okay for Obama to have served on a foundation board with a former 1960s radical, but it's okay for McCain to hire someone who recently represented Saddam Hussein... as one of his closest advisors?
Fortunately for us all, fivethirtyeight.com gives Obama a 95% chance of winning.