McCain plays dumb while Meredith Viera nails him on "golden parachute" hypocrisy
By SilentPatriot Sunday Sep 21, 2008 6:40pm
Last week, after the Wall Street crisis took center stage in the presidential campaign, John McCain began assailing the greed of corporate fat cats, blasting CEOs who "seem to escape the consequences." Reminded today by Meredith Viera that Carly Fiorina, as CEO of HP, walked away with over $40 million even after her tenure at the company was marked by tens of thousands of job losses and a 40% decline of shareholders stock value, John McCain insists that Fiorina did a heckuva job and played dumb on the details of her huge payout.
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Viera: You have said, bottom line, it's those fat cats. It's the greed of Wall Street. You promised to crack down on CEOs who walked away with huge severance packages. And yet the person who up until recently was your public face on your economic policy was Carly Fiorina. She's the former CEO of Hewlett Packard, she was fired in 2005, but she left with a $45 million dollar golden parachute while 20,000 of her employees were laid off. She is an example of exactly the kind of person you say is at the root of the problem. How can you say that?
McCain: I don’t think so. … Because I think she did a good job as CEO in many respects. I don’t know the details of her compensation package. But she’s one of many advisers that I have.
Viera: But she did get a $45 million dollar golden parachute after being fired while 20,000 of her employees were laid off.
McCain: I have many of the people, but I do not know the details of what happened.
Are we really supposed to believe that McCain had no idea Fiorina was an epic failure at HP and still took home a huge $40 million dollar payout? Of course not. He just knows he can't say with a straight face that he chose her, knowing she symbolizes the very corporate greed and corruption he now rails against.
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"John McCain couldn't run a major corporation. I should know. I couldn't either."
- Carly Fiorina, were she to ever be honest
He only knows what his 'captors' tell him!
He's starting to look more and more like Karl Rove each time I see him speak....
Cheney for Halliburton
Paulson for Goldman Sachs
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aUj_9.k13q7s&refer=home
Didn't know the details, my derriere. McCain is a liar who got caught on national television. And he can't talk his way out of it by saying that Fiorina was "one of many advisors to the campaign". You'd think that he, out of all people, would know who is advising him.
Are American viewers that stupid to not see that McPOW just told a bald-faced lie on television?
Thanks Meredith for calling McSame on something that Obama hasn't. Why is it so obvious from up here in Canada that the Dems are really asleep at the wheel here on calling the GOP on their bullshit? This isn't the media's dogfight, and the former host of the View shouldn't be the one pointing out the freakin' obvious.
It's almost like the Dems are throwing it on purpose, and it's downright scary.
McCain has a brain met. Gotta be.
...and this guy has 44% of the country behind him?
Okay what part of this am i not understanding. I'm not trying to make this more complex than it is. George Bush has tried in every way possible to do with the country and with the presidency the same that he has done for virtually everything else that he has touched. Leave it in ruins. He is so desperate for a legacy, albeit a negative one, he is willing to run the country completely into the ground. We owe our economic lives to china. check the DOW today another 400 point loss. He's doing it and he has until january to complete his task. What the hell can we do at this point but fiddle while rome burns.
Do you think? Could it be? Was McCain lying when he said he didn't know any of the details of Carly's epic FAIL?
MalachiConstant @ 6:
That's why I hope that they aren't despite the details of the situation. Even they know we can't afford a Palin/McPOW presidency.
(*name order intentional*)
. . . and it is not a stretch for this man to play dumb. He is a dullard by any definition.
McCain: I have many of the people, but I do not know the details of what happened.
What the hell does that mean?
He's a lying, stupid ass, ignorant mother fucker. If that's what you want to know. And we're all going to be POW's if we allow this bird brain to take the reigns of our country. I'm sorry but we need a statesmen and sharp minded intelligent person to get us out of this jam. McCain ain't even close and probably can't even remember to take his medication. Enjoy your homes buddy, we need a new man at the helm.
John McCain showing symptoms of dementia or retardation...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWX5u69hmzY
He doesn't know the details about anything! If he doesn't at least know the details about the people his campaign sends out to speak for it, just imagine what kind of people he would appoint and pick for his cabinet.
McCain is simply too irresponsible.
Poor confused old man can't even hold his own against a game show host.
again, mccain showed his judgment is suspect. how can he conclude that carly deserved her golden parachute if he does not know the details of what happened. mccain is crazier than bush.
When he starts being dumb like that, more people need to say, "WHY DON'T YOU KNOW THAT?"
I can't decide if he's pretending to be clueless, or if he has been Senator for so long that he actually thinks in sound bites.
Political gaffe or not, I concur with Fiorina's statement that John McCain could never have been CEO of of a big company. Me thinks that saturated politics raises one's risk for cerebrosclerosis.
The Very Bitter Ceci Hussein @ 5:
Judging from the latest poles, I'd say an all too significant portion of the populations THRIVES off of being lied to. How else can you explain the support for more of the same??
moonsha @ 15:
Tellin' ya, he has a brain met. I'm gettin' ever more convinced.
So, you run for president and take advice on a core subject (about which you are personally uninformed) from someone who is responsible for a well-publicized train wreck. Maverick is like my five year old.... "but I didn't know about that." Same story in a way with his VP choice..."I didn't bother to find out." Head exploding, must leave now.
Snowball @ 13:
i think it's a mixture of ... dear in the headlights, and needing an after dinner nap at 4:30 in the afternoon.... with a dash of wonder about what kind of pudding they will feed him for desert today....
wow... this is getting sent to all my contacts... amazing. mcFAILin indeed... how can he be trusted to run the country if he can't recall basic fact's about his closest advisors (well before she was thrown under the bus for her truthful comment)
Notice mcShame's rapid fire blinking; the sure sign of a liar.
So he KNOWS enough to say "I think she did a good job as CEO in many respects" but he DOESN'T KNOW enough to why she was fired and about her publicly known $45 million dollar golden parachute? Right.
Babushka Blue @ 10:
What the man of the straight talk express? Surely not. It would be just shocking for that man to tell a lie. snark!
Do McCain supporters even listen to this guy? Do they just look at him and think , "he's old, he's white, and he was a POW, that's all i need to know." ???
...yeah, i know the answer.
John McCain is a big fucking liar.
mccain never reads any of the tech or biz trades? cuz they documented exactly what happened to carly and hp
or maybe he could call me, cuz i know
even she admits that she got a comp package, but refuses to say that it was 42-45 million and says that it was the shareholders that voted to give it to her (partially correct, they wanted her to go away quietly)
"I do not know the details of what happened."
That'll be his epitaph. And it applies to every topic he stumbles across.
The Very Bitter Ceci Hussein @ 5:
It may be way too early to say this, but I think people may be waking up. In several of the more prominent polls, Obama leads McCain now...in at least a couple he's over the 50% threshhold (see TPM Election Central).
I'm not a big believer in polls--unless they show a definite trend. The numbers are trending Obama. I have to think that's because he's the only one who's introduced a plan. Hell, he's the only one with legitimate economic advisers--ones with "experience."
spudx @ 21:
oh im sure that your 5 year old is better than mcoldfart
i would like to nominate your child to be the next gop prez
Incredible pushback.
Employees should be treated as the most important stakeholder in any corporation.
Carly pissed on her own employees because of her failures, injured her local community, and still got a big fat payoff.
John only cares about himself and his fatcat buddies. That is his community!
helenahandbasket @ 23:
Just like on "60 Minutes" last night. He looked like a deer in the headlights.
He couldn't answer even easy questions, and he couldn't give specifics when he did try to make factual statements about what he'd do when elected.
It was kind of sad, really.
More fodder for the OUT OF TOUCH meme.
He didn't know the most salient facts about his own economic adviser? Who is choosing his advisers for him?
(Could it be . . . SATAN? /pfft)
Zero Regulation
NEW YORK – Oil prices briefly spiked more than $25 a barrel Monday, shattering the record for the biggest one-day gain.
And the Dems stand around with a stupid look on their faces.
Of course Paulsen probably has a piece jammed into her back.
http://tinyurl.com/5xgeom
RobertD @ 30:
read the raw data....if the youth vote doesnt come out....we are fucking screwed
mccain leads in almost every demo except 4
latin and african americans, those from 18-29 and those with a post graduate degree
if those groups come out to vote in record numbers, obama wins
if not....its mccain/palin and we are fucking doomed
In other words, "I can promise wholeheartedly not to do anything about it when I get into office."
Seriously, why can't he show a little outrage at that?
Is personal greed that taboo of a subject to talk about?
You can't even have an opinion about it?
The only reason I can think of is, he's okay with it.
How many Albatrosses can WcCain carry around with him ?
roo roo @ 8:
Bush also has 25 % behind him still! That shows the IQ of those people.
Can we at least agree that the "Good Ole Boys Network" does in fact include women, Carly Fiorina being case in point? It's a sad pseudo achievement for women in general. But that is why McCain included her as an advisor. Because she's part of the club that makes sure that you get a $45M pay-out, even when you nearly ruined a sixty-nine year-old company.
BobbyG @ 20:
HOW DOES ANYONE GET A $40 MILLION RETIREMENT..... i can fuck things up with the best of them..... and will settle for a $1 MILLION parachute....
corporations of the world..... GET YOUR DISCOUNT CEO RIGHT HERE ! ! !
also.... I can see the MOON every night.... if i can't be a CEO can i be a metaphorical astronaut in SARAH's NASA ???
McCain will say anything to get elected. Years ago, I thought there might be a shred of honesty with the man, but this year's campaign has shown he will lie his ass to win the election.
By the way, what have we come to when you can utterly fail a company and walk away with $40 million dollars?
I couldn't spend $40 million over the rest of my life if I tried. (You'd make $4 million a year if you threw it in a money market account.)
To them, it's fair compensation for being retrenched.
And don't forget she was making a multi-million dollar salary as well.
Something is terribly terribly wrong.
That mendacious piece of shit should thank his lucky stars it wasn't me conducting that interview. I'd have laughed in his face and named him as a liar and a whore to his face, and then asked him why he has so much contempt for the american People that he lies to them every chance he gets.
What a scumbag.
At some point, some member of the press is going to ask him the question, "At long last, have you no decency?" I think that's all it would take to deconstruct his dishonest public personna.
The Very Bitter Ceci Hussein @ 11:
You gotta wonder if the dems really want the white house. Today Biden knocks the obama ad criticizing mccain's tech ignorance; and clinton talks up palin and says quit criticizing her? Is this for real?
McCain is becoming a huge joke, as opposed to as regular joke. It seems like when you give him an actual detail, he says he doesn't know any details . . . even after he just heard one. The Sargeant Schultz syndrome?
Uncle Joe Mccarthy @ 28:
She also took the liberty to record conversations and spy on the company's board members. The must add a boost of confidence to the business sector.
Congressman Peter DeFazio on the bailout:
"..."We shouldn't be rushed into this. If it takes a week, two weeks, three weeks, a month, the world will wait," DeFazio said. "They'll wait for a thoughtful plan that cures the disease in addition to getting us beyond this initial problem. That's the job of this Congress. We should not be rolled by our Wall Street exec who is masquerading as secretary of the Treasury......"
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_092208_politics_defazio_treasu...
I think we should all let him know that we support him.
DC Office Phone: (202) 225-6416
Email
http://www.house.gov/formdefazio/contact.html (Congressional online contact form)
helenahandbasket @ 23:
Clearly.
I'm also growing more and more concerned that he is showing signs of memory loss and dementia. I've seen it happen to several relatives, and now my dad, and McCain displays the same sort of behavior. I'm being totally serious here. Even if he were the man to vote for, I wouldn't vote for him. Especially with a second-in-line who is dumber than a door knob, but that's beside the point.
I'm even more convinced now he's just a puppet along with Palin. I'm wondering who is pulling the strings though? Bush? Cheney? Rove? The lobbyists? McCain's long-time ambition has been to become the POTUS so he was an easy pick who came with a POW bonus for crying points. Palin is nothing but a trophy candidate. She's so full of herself that she actually believes they chose her for her non-existent qualifications. That just makes her even more stupid.
Q: How many houses do you own?
A: I don’t know. Ask my staff.
Q: Who is your VP choice?
A: I don’t know. Ask my staff.
Q: How can you say the fundamentals of the Economy are strong?
A: I don’t know. Ask my staff.
Q: What do you know about Carly Fiorina's golden parachute?
A: I don’t know. Ask my staff.
Um, if John McCain doesn't have the details of her time as CEO of HP, how can he say Fiorina did a good job as CEO?
I think a fair and legitimate question for him now is - is he senile?
McCain doesn't research the people who campaign with him: exhibit #43.
Musk @ 47:
We were called cruel for saying WcCain was a bit past it and maybe somewhat PTSDed, or on the verge of going full blown Alzheimers.
Time and time again, he has shown that something is very wrong in the brain of WcCain.
Gov. Palin can do limited damage as gov of a rinky dink state, similarly WcCain as a solitary senator on the Hill,
its between them and their idiot voters, on the DC and world stage they are a complete joke.
Corruption in Washington? This asshole is one of the corrupted in Washington. Does he think we are dumb. Maybe his followers believe him but not me. This guy is something else. he may lie to the hillbillies but not to us in the midwest. We know him better.
even if you're a total scumbag, you shouldn't support mccain for the simple fact he has no poker face.
*blink*
*blink*
McPale's Navy @ 50:
There was an article on MSN.com about the 8 or 10 Chimpy handlers, aka Republican strategists that got him elected in 2000,
they all work for or direct Palin now.
Well, as with any "gaffe" like this, there are a couple of possible explanations. First (for clarity's sake), McCain is lying. He knows exactly what's going on but doesn't want to acknowledge it. Or, second, McCain is telling the truth and either a)knowingly hired a disastrous businesswoman to be a top advisor and spokesperson for his campaign, or b)does not care enough to look into the credentials of the people he hires to advise him, or is not lucid enough to retain any of that information.
So... which of these is the least damning here? Over the past couple decades, Republicans are quite partial to portraying themselves as forgetful incompetents rather than admit any wrongdoing.
Her face was a picture when he got flustered - she looked like the fox that had caught the tastiest chicken!
GET OUT OF HERE MCCAIN!
GET OUT!
Translation : McDepends was just being himself...............
McCain's problem with memory can be explained by a Mark Twain quote:
"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything."
Speaking of parachutes and exit plans...
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/22/headlines#10
Beginning in October, the Army plans to station an active unit inside
the United States for the first time to serve as an on-call federal
response in times of emergency. The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st
Brigade Combat Team has spent thirty-five of the last sixty months in
Iraq, but now the unit is training for domestic operations. The unit
will soon be under the day-to-day control of US Army North, the Army
service component of Northern Command. The Army Times reports this new
mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated
assignment to Northern Command. The paper says the Army unit may be
called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control. The soldiers
are learning to use so-called nonlethal weapons designed to subdue
unruly or dangerous individuals and crowds.
ferrofluid (Obama + Biden = 2008) @ 57:
I should have copied the article, I bet if you 'namebased' them, they all work for, are lobbyists, or have connections to the MIC companies
evenplayingfield @ 43:
McCaint is probably not lying when he said he was unaware of the details of her "compensation package"
John McCaint probly says or does very little (except lose his temper) ...of his own mind anymore.
This woman was assigned to work for McCaints campaign...he probly met her once...
This old douchebag is completely retarded ..........
How in the hell can anyone claim someone did a "good job" at something if they don't know all the details ?
Hey, fair's fair. Carly Fiorina's not a 'fat cat.'
She's a skinny chick.
C'mon, give the man a break. he was a POW, you know...
Sarah Braun @ 63:
Theres also that illegal (contrary to the US Constitution and US law) agreement between the USA and Canada to share troops for domestic emergencies.
It was reported on the Northern Command website six months or more ago.
MCMetal @ 66:
Sarah Braun @ 63:
Can you say "Martial Law?"
Knew ya could...
MCMetal @ 66:
IOKIYAR dontcha know !
Spies Warn That Al Qaeda Aims for October Surprise
Intercepted Messages Asking Local Cells To Be Prepared for Imminent Instructions
By ELI LAKE, Staff Reporter of the Sun | September 22, 2008
WASHINGTON — In the aftermath of two major terrorist attacks on Western targets, America's counterterrorism community is warning that Al Qaeda may launch more overseas operations to influence the presidential elections in November. MORE...
ferrofluid (Obama + Biden = 2008) @ 64:
I'll see if I can find it. Thanks for the heads up.
McCain plays dumb while Meredith Viera nails him on “golden parachute” hypocrisy
Who said he was playing?
WE ALL LOVE A LITTLE BUSH @ 42:
i buy gas twice a week...i can be the mccain's administration energy czar
Dontcha wish at some point one of these reporters would grow a spine and say something like "I just TOLD you the details. Would you like to see my notes? Now answer the fucking question!"
I know, I know... but I can dream, can't I?
John, it was in the papers including the WSJ. It was also on TV NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, FOX (maybe I am wrong about FOX).
It is always refreshing to see a journalist asking Senator McSenile some real questions.
Extra bonus: watching him trying to spin his way out of the hellhole in which he finds himself. That, and the fact that female reporters in particular are giving him a hard time, is especially delicious.
Canadian troops to be used against US citizens in a peace keeping role...
can you say unconstitutional
U.S. Northern Command, Canada Command establish new bilateral Civil Assistance Plan northcom.mil
Its straight from the horses mouth ie the armys own website, not a rumor, not a red scare, not CT, pure unadulterated illegality
If you thought the RNC protests in St. Paul and crackdown by the police and NG was bad, wait until the anonymous untouchable and unaccountable foreign troops are on US streets killing and battering civilian protesters, blood will flow in the streets.
I cant remember any of the US media news people mentioning this important change to US law enforcement policy.
calgarylady @ 78:
Our handlers occasionally gives us catnip and a toy mouse...
America will soon be neutered.
Yeah, that's it. "Don't blame me for that. I don't know ANYTHING about the people I hire to run my campaign." That'll definitely get you off the hook. It certainly worked for Palin. "Hey, I didn't know anything about the bridge to nowhere, the abuse of power investigations, or the record breaking barrels of pork she brought to Alaska. Don't blame ME for that, I only MET the woman ONCE, okay!?"