Small (Shady) World Time - Shadegg, McCain, Myanmar, and TCE

By now, most people have heard how Douglas Goodyear, the man that John McCain and his campaign picked to coordinate his coronation at this fall's Republican convention, had to step aside after word got out of his lobbying ties to Myanmar's repressive regime.

From Newsweek -

...[I]nvestigative ace Michael Isikoff reported that the man chosen by John McCain's presidential campaign to run this summer's GOP convention--Arizonan Doug Goodyear--was causing some headaches within the ranks. The problem? Goodyear is CEO of DCI Group, a consulting firm that earned $3 million last year lobbying for ExxonMobil, General Motors and other clients...DCI was paid $348,000 in 2002 to represent Burma's military junta, leading "a PR campaign to burnish the junta's image, drafting releases praising Burma's efforts to curb the drug trade and denouncing 'falsehoods' by the Bush administration that the regime engaged in rape and other abuses."

Mr. Goodyear doesn't just have shady ties to John McCain and Myanmar's brutal government. In addition to the thousands of dollars that he has given to McCain's various campaigns, he's supported the candidacies of a virtual post office wall-ful of some of the most ethically-challenged (and in many cases, criminally-challenged) politicos to ever run for a term, whether in office or in prison.

The 'who's who' list includes luminaries like indicted Texas Congressman Tom Delay, facing jail over his money laundering indictment, AZ State Treasurer Dean Martin, renowned for his creative use of campaign funds, Congressman Jerry Lewis, who, like McCain, has his own shady lobbyist problems, indicted Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi (R-Mantech), who, like McCain, has his own shady land deal problems, and McCain BFF and CD3 Congressman John Shadegg, who like Delay, has money laundering problems of his own.

What I found interesting, in a "gee, isn't it a small world" sort of way, is that Goodyear's DCI Group is a paid lobbyist for Iowa American Water, a subsidiary of American Water, which also owns Arizona American Water, the company that at least twice in last 7 months has pumped TCE-contaminated water into the homes of some of Shadegg's constituents in Paradise Valley, threatening the health of those constituents and their families.

A threat that Shadegg conspicuously ignored, in favor of campaigning for his BFF, John McCain.

Maybe somebody should tell Shadegg that while giving a free pass to the clients of major campaign contributors isn't necessarily indictable, it's still not a good idea to do so during an election year.

Particularly when facing a strong challenger.


Financial notes -

Goodyear gave $256 to Martin for his state senate run in 2000; $500 to Renzi in 2003; $2000 to Delay in 2004; $3500 to Lewis, via DCI's PAC, in 2006 and 2007; and $6600 to Shadegg, both personally and via DCI's PAC, in 2006 and 2007. Info courtesy the campaign finance websites of the FEC and the Arizona Secretary of State.

Note: This may be the first blog post ever to have a Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis reference that neither harkens back to the great comedy team nor is trying to force a lame Martin/Lewis joke on readers.

I'm rather proud of my self-restraint.

Enjoy the moment, but don't get used to it. :))