I don’t know if this is real, but if you think it is, send it to CNN. lol.

This letter appears to be a fake.
The dates in the letter don’t match up. How can they have been discussing the Iraq bombing before the 2000 election.

It’s a smear. And I’m an Obama supporter. This is the kind of stuff we are fighting against.

Editor response.

Iraq was bombed for 12 years by British and US forces during sanctions.

“”As I have told the House on many occasions,” said Hain [Foreign Office minister Peter Hain of the Labour Party in UK] on 2 May, “we are not conducting a bombing campaign against Iraq . . .” The Royal Air Force, together with the US, bombs Iraq almost every day. Since December 1998, the Ministry of Defence has admitted dropping 780 tonnes of bombs on a country with which Britain is not at war. During the same period, the United States has conducted 24,000 combat missions over southern Iraq alone, mostly in populated areas. In one five-month period, 41 per cent of casualties were civilians: farmers, fishermen, shepherds, their children and their sheep - the circumstances of their killing were documented by the United Nations Security Sector. Now consider Hain’s statement that no bombing campaign exists. In truth, it is the longest such campaign since the Second World War.” http://www.globalissues.org/article/107/iraq-was-being-bombed-during-12-years-of-sanctions.

The letter looks like an obvious smear with its blatant attack on McCain - however, the Clinton Administration bombed Iraq almost daily for 8 years before Bush took office in 2000, so the years do match up if Mr. Huntington was counting on discrediting the letter for that reason.

Now we know who is the pig in this campaign.

I hope other people who have vacationed with McCain will pipe up and verify his bad manners.

Just another indicator of the character of the Republican nominee. Evidence mounts to indicate that John McCain is a misogynist. It matters. This guy wants to be our leader, people! He has clearly made a deal with social conservatives that will hit us all in the GYN. They made gender an issue; his promise to overturn Roe v. Wade, in his choice of Sarah the Great She-Male Lifer of the North to scoop up Hillary supporters (so cynical!) saying she’s so tough then his insistence on ‘deference’ from the press, his ad on lipstick and his treatment of his first wife
DIGG the article on Cindy McCain in this weeks New Yorker
A review of the article from the Guardian UK
“In parts, this new profile of Cindy McCain in the New Yorker is almost breathtakingly sad; it certainly makes you wonder why you’d ever marry someone with serious ambitions to be president. Perhaps the amount of deception and concealment inside the McCain marriage isn’t all that unusual, but it’s her attempt to repackage it as a sequence of charming campaign-trail anecdotes that gives this piece its undertone of desolation. There’s the now famous adoption story, which, as Ezra Klein notes, is rather strange when you look at it closely: Cindy decided to add a new member to the family but didn’t consult John at all. There’s the fact that they both lied to each other about their ages until after their marriage announcement was published in the newspaper. (”We started our marriage on a tissue of lies,” she tells one audience “with a smile” in this article. John, as we know, was married and reportedly cohabiting with his current wife at the time he met Cindy.) Less touted by the campaign, naturally, is the story of her painkiller addiction, and how she admitted stealing drugs from a medical charity she’d established; she didn’t tell her husband about her problem until she was being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Then there’s the stroke she suffered in 2004 which, she seems to say here, she recovered from with essentially no companionship from John whatsoever. In light of all this, even her stump-speech story about learning to fly without informing him begins to look less merry. (She has also repeatedly called herself an only child, despite having two half-sisters, one of whom, in this piece, is plainly extremely angry with her.)”

John McCain is one of only a few Senators to earn a Zero percent lifetime rating from Planned Parenthood’s Action Fund, and he only scored that high because the organization doesn’t have a lower rating….

Let’s look at his record:

He voted against requiring health care plans to cover birth control (3/22/03).

He voted against comprehensive, medically accurate sex education (7/25/06).

He voted against international family planning funding (3/14/96).

He voted against funding to prevent teen and unintended pregnancies (3/17/05).

He voted against public education for emergency contraception (3/17/05).

And he voted against restoring Medicaid funding that could be used for family planning for low-income women (3/17/05).

NPR reported (2/2/08) that, “Many Republican voters seem to believe, incorrectly, that the current Republican front-runner, Arizona Senator John McCain, supports abortion rights.”

John McCain wants us to believe that he’s a moderate who supports improving the health of women in the United States, but in fact he’s among the most extreme members of Congress who voted against common sense measures on family planning, sex education and access to basic healthcare.

Mike,

Thanks for that clarification. I suppose I am not that up to speed on Clinton’s actions in Iraq before 2000. This would at least synch up the time frame to make it possibly a real letter from a real person.

But I’m still wary.

Enough is enough, John! This is not the politics that Barack Obama practices, supports or defends. The path to election victory in November is to stay focused on the real issues while helping undecided voters to accept and vote for the America that an Obama Presidency will create! If all we talk about is hate, we create more hate! If all we do is tear down all, especially our opponents, we tear down ourselves! The Obama campaign is focused on discussing and pointing out the differences between Obama’s plans and past voting record and that of McCain! Fear and hate mongering on our part only helps feed the forces against an Obama victory! Let’s talk about the positive reasons we should support Senator Obama, and leave the mudslinging to the other side. The voters who will decide this election are smart enough to see through the McCain tactics and record! Additionally, spending time on attacking Palin is neither time or energy well spent! Stay on the Obama message! Let Obama and Biden attack as they choose! Palin, despite all her views, is irrelavant, and will remain so if we keep our eyes, ears, and voices focused on the prize! Palin will only bring the voters that Obama would never win over! So, again, let’s focus our energies on the positive energy and results that an Obama/Biden Adminsitration will bring not only to America, but also all global citizens!!! Please, John, use your gift of writing to push forward the Obama message!

Well, this person is certainly real so it should be a simple matter to verify whether this is true or not: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Kathy_Sreedhar

I want to see some pictures from this vacation posted asap!

I know the writer personally, and she told me this story a few months ago. She is absolutely telling the truth.

Editor: I am now advised that the author is Anasuya Dubey PsyD. Apparently Ana is a highly regarded person and a Clinical Psychologist who was operating in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2005. If anyone can supply me with her email address it would be most appreciated. Please send information to john@tellingthoughts.com

Many Thanks
JH

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1571756,00.html

Very wary about this email - mainly because I want it to be true. However according to this article, McCain was at this resort in Dec. 2005. Can anyone verify an earlier trip?

Also, I find it interesting that senators on their vacations meet with coup leaders. And they call Barack presumputous.

FWIW: There is an Ana Dubey, Psychology Intern, H&HS – CMHS” in San Francisco listed at this link:

http://www.co.marin.ca.us/efiles/BS/AgMn/agdocs/071030/071030-15-HR-attach-REP.pdf

No context or dates are given in the list, just names and places, but Marin Co. is in the URL. It appears that Ana Dubey is real.

Editor:Thank you so much for that. It all helps. I have just placed a request for Ana to contact me on the Obama Sanfrancisco Group. We’ll know soon enough.

This story is not a hoax. As I come across blogs questioning the veracity of this account, I submit the entry that follows. So apologies if you read this again… I have known Ana (the author) for 13 years and I know her to be intelligent, principled and unfailingly honest.

She shared her Turtle Island experience with me immediately after it happened. The details of her account are disconcerting and I fully recognize that they are difficult to believe. However, I trust that her account is truthful and considered. I believe her. I know that she is fully aware of the maelstrom that this will cause and the attention that is coming her way, and she is brave for her willingness to share her story and disclose her name. Would you do the same?

She has friends and family members who have known of her Turtle Island story for years. And, as her account reveals, there were others at Turtle Island who witnessed McCain’s behavior. Any one of us could have come forward with this story, but she took a deep breath and did so. The others who witnessed McCain’s behavior at Turtle Island know the risks involved in coming forward, and they have so far chosen to avoid those risks. Fair enough. Readers may choose to disregard this account, or they may choose to believe it. But I can vouch for the author and her integrity.

Editor:Thank you. When is Ana going to publicly claim authorship in her own name? Why the delay? I reiterate please have Ana contact me. Email:john@tellingthoughts.com

Hey Omaha Girl … next thing you’ll be ######## with this hoax.

Editor: Obscenity is not allowed. Disagree by all means, but any obscene remarks will simply disappear.If you can prove it is a hoax you would be doing everyone a favour. I am trying to establish who the author actually is. If not satisfied over the next days, I will accept that it is either a hoax or perhaps the author is now afraid of recriminations.That would be understandable. Meanwhile I am trying to establish contact if possible.

This story is accurate. I know the author personally…..

I am an avid Obama supporter; however, it seems that the author, a woman Ana Dubey (pronounced “dooby”…. as in “smokin’ a dooby”?), but the article was written from the perspective of the husband of a woman named “Amy”…. thus making me more than skeptical. Am I misreading the article? If not, am I the only one to notice this? Somebody please enlighten me.

Gaydi Allred, your post is dated in the future and yes, you are misreading the letter.

It’s pronounced Doo-Bay….

I would like to make a few points here. Let’s look at what we know for sure, and see where this fits in. First, we know that John McCain has gone on swearing tirades against reporters. You can watch some of them yourself on youtube. Secondly, we know that John McCain has had at least one extramarital affair. Thirdly, we have read about Bridget McCain referred to as Cindy Mccain’s adopted daughter, and we know for a fact that John McCain was not involved in the decision to adopt Bridget, and that he was shocked when he learned Cindy had brought Bridget home. Next, there is pretty overwhelming consensus on the fact that John McCain called his wife a c**t in front of at least one reporter. In terms of wanting to “nuke iraq”, we can watch video on youtube on McCain, in a flip fashion, singing “Bomb-bomb-Iran”

We know McCain has a bad temper, and has said rude things to other members of congress. We know he reared back to punch a woman in a wheel-chair. You can watch a video on the internet (if you look hard enough) of an elderly woman (the sister of the woman in the wheel-chair who was shoved by mccain) explaining the entire story to the National Press Club.

All of this stuff is verifiable by use of the internet.

So let me ask, which parts of Ana’s story do not sound like the real John McCain, the man. I’m not talking about McCain the media image, I’m talking about what we know about McCain the man.

Editor: This is the link to the Huff post story on the wheelchair incident which was witnessed. A CNN video debate about McCain’s temperament is included. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/07/report-mccain-pushed-woma_n_124615.html . There are myriads of examples of his temper on you tube. e.g. This is an 8 min video of McCain’s shocking and dismissive treatment of Delores Alfond, Chairman of the National Alliance of Families for POW/MIA Affairs- see how it ends. Video Title: ‘John McCain brings POW Supporter to tears with his anger’. Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX6-UbHFBdI

The letter accurately profiles the real John McCain, but that is not the point. Unless ownership of the article is authenticated it fails to achieve its purpose as described in the first four lines of the final paragraph.

Excerpt quote > “Although I have shared my McCain story informally with friends, this is the first time I am making this public. I almost did so in 2000, when McCain first announced his bid for the Republican nomination but it soon became apparent that George Bush was the shoo-in candidate and so I did not act then. However, now that there is a very real possibility that McCain could be elected as our next president, I feel it is my duty as an American citizen to share this story”. JH.

We know who wrote this story - it’s authentic - No one needs to claim ownership - The XXX is corroborating this story before deciding whether they’d like to publish or not - let’s not continue to dwell on the issue of its ownership…….

Editor: That is not satisfactory.The unproved author of the letter has to publicly take ownership or soon be deemed a smearer and the letter a hoax. I am not interested in whether the main stream media decides to publish or not. If someone places a story into the public arena they have a reason, as the final paragraph of the letter explains. To delay admitting ownership once it has been released is not credible. I have repeatedly asked for the author to contact me, in which case Anon Ymous, since you claim to know the author. My email is john@tellingthoughts.com - I will respect the confidence of a reasonable explanation. As an avid Obama supporter I want the letter to be a true account, however I am not interested in smear.

I don’t think we need to be quite that impatient about it. Whether she comes public today, or next week, or next month— as long as she comes forward. Perhaps she and whatever publication are taking the time to gather as much evidence as possible to prove as much of this story as they can, BEFORE they go public with it. We all know the backlash that would take place if the story were printed, but the evidence was not gathered (such as flight itineraries, corroborating witnesses, statements on record that McCain was in Fiji the same week she claims, etc.). I think that is not only reasonable, but wise. So let’s be patient here and wait and see.

If she does not go forward with it, those of us who are sure of its authenticity, I think, have within their right to spread the story. That’s different from a smear from our perspective, because we *know* it’s true. However, if you yourself cannot verify it, then of course, you shouldn’t spread the story around.

In the meantime, we have to be patient. There is still a LOT of time between now and election day. And personally, I think it’s better for our nation if we focused on issues at least through the first debate.

If this story does get published, it will spread FAST. Look how quickly news of Bristol Palin’s pregnancy got around? The problem with that was, democrats were surprised by it and were not prepared to react appropriately.

With this story, it will be different, because I’m assuming the Obama camp has seen this story already and is digesting it.

Do we think McCain’s people know this story is coming out? It’s hard to imagine that they don’t.

If and when this comes out, the best thing for Obama to do is ignore it– continue acting presidential and talking about the economy, health care, jobs, the war in iraq, etc.

He won’t have to do anything to make sure people hear this story.

Plus, we can’t *assume* this will have that negative an effect on McCain. I mean, I’d like to think it will– but let’s be honest, many of us liberals do not understand how voters decide on things. Maybe tons of people will rush to his defense and say, “we’ve all said things like that”, “you who have never sinned cast the first stone.”

Look at the rumor that flew about Palin covering up her daughter’s preganancy. When that was still a rumor going around, I read dozens of people writing, “good for her to protect her daughter”.

So, really I have no idea how other people make up their mind about the character of others. I personally think that calling your child an “ugly black thing” is abusive, sickening and evil comment. No parent should EVER say that about their child, I don’t care how bad a day they were having. And nobody should tell women who are complete strangers that they ought to watch their weight– unless they are a dietician, and the person asked for honest feedback.

Some have said this letter must be a fake because it refers to “bombing of Iraq” being in the news at the time, before 2000. In fact, the US bombed Iraq on many occasions in the years following the Gulf War (1991), because of Saddam’s violations of the No-Fly Zones, his firing of anti-aircraft missiles, etc. These bombings were widely reported in the news at the time.

XXX has decided not to publish. Unfortunately none of the other vacationers were willing to attach their names to the story for obvious reasons! Reporters have been calling in and asking for interviews but at this time it looks like the story will not be published.

It is hard to imagine this email as being an absolute true record of events seeing as how humans tend to skew and warp events they witness, no matter how many times its retold. However, there are a few things that add up in th is email about McCain.

1) Being a POW for as long as he was and in the manner in which he stayed a POW would suggest he has a chip on his shoulder; something to prove. Post traumatic stress disorder is no joke. Very few soldiers adjust to regular life in society after hardship in war. So McCain’s foreign policy is something to be feared, especially when he stated in the Republican Convention that he will refuse to offer “AID” to any country that doesn’t like us. A very vague statement; as if the world didn’t hate us enough.

2. McCain is far from ‘distinguished’ where it concerns physical attraction. Yet, he manages to go after thin, attractive women much younger than himself. So statements regarding his concerns about his wife’s appearance are justified to some extent.

3. What McCain did with his ex-wife is horrible and is a situation well documented and verified. After a disfiguring accident, McCain divorced his wife and married Cindy. Obviously, because he didn’t want to be tied-down to a disfigured, ugly, woman. He thought only of himself and discarded his wife when she was of no longer use to him. This act alone, helps justify statements made about McCain’s disdain for his adopted child. Perhaps, it reminds him of how he was almost disfigured as a POW.

IN all honesty, if you go back and look at interviews with McCain its not hard to see the type of man he is. All too often party-devotion blinds people (and I mean that on both sides!) to the truth. These people justify things in order to ensure their decision and faith in a person is correct. How many people in this world want to believe they voted a psychopath into office? No one, unless they were profiting by it.

Just my 2 cents on the credibility issue.

First off, the timeline is wrong. The whole thing is set up as taking place “before John McCain’s last run at the presidential nomination in 2000″. John McCain launched his 2000 presidential campaign in 1999, on Monday, September 27. Frankly I think this whole thing is made up, but assuming the author just goofed the year, this would have been in 1999, right around the publication date of McCain’s book Faith of My Fathers on August 31, 1999.

The dates are more troublesome. The author states that the McCains arrives with their four children, including the explicitly cited Bridget. Here’s the thing, Turtle Island is an exclusive couples only resort except for a few weeks a year which are set aside as Family Time. This year there are only about seven weeks reserved for families, four around Christmas and three in June and July. No other children are mentioned.

The paragraph about the McCain’s daughter Bridget was what really offended me. First, I do not believe McCain a) ever said any of that and b) ever pushed a shopping cart. Second, again with the timing, Bridget would have been 8 or 9 years old in 1999-2000. Long, long past being “pushed around in a shopping cart.” As McCain himself said, regarding people who attacked his daughter Bridget, “I believe that there is a special place in hell for people like those.”

In 1999, there was a US led bombing campaign on targets in the northern Iraqi no-fly zone during 1999. I’d forgotten we were actively bombing at that time.

“Indo-Chine women.” Really…

I do not believe the attributed author, Kathy Sreedhar wrote this. Mrs. Sreedhar is the director of the The Unitarian Universalist Holdeen India Program (UUHIP). I emailed her asking about this, hopefully she’ll reply. I couldn’t find any online biography which would corroborate details of the story, but she did give Barack Obama $250 in June 2007. Her contact info was included with the message, I omitted that even though it’s readily available online.

If I’m reading this Harvard Class of 1955 page correctly, Kathy Sreedhar is a little old to be referring to herself as “an English Literature major.” I would think several decades working with poverty and caste discrimination in India might give her a different reference point. To me, it also seems somewhat doubtful such a person would choose Turtle Island as a vacation spot, but that’s probably projection on my part. Of her writings which I could find, she seems to have a different sense of pacing than the author of this piece.

At very least, this doesn’t seem to be plagiarized. I searched on many, many different combinations of key ideas and nothing came up in Google.

In response to Earthworm Jim’s comments: Indeed, sir, indeed.

What amuses and amazes me is this: Yes, we all now know how *abominable* his “treatment” of Carol (his first wife) was. It is indeed well-documented. Furthermore, McCain admits to such reprehensible behavior, and passes it off with “I was selfish and cruel, etc etc.” Yes, John McCain, so we’ve gathered. You did leave out morally repugnant, an irony not lost on me, who thinks this is a riot, based on the GOP’s stance on “morals” and “family values.”

But did you REALLY think that simply saying “Gee, that sure was wrong of me” fixed or changed anything? Hardly. I mean, maybe, just *maybe*…if you were John Doe from Anywhere, USA, you could say that, and it would pass. (Well, sort of. People would still think you’re swinish scum, but hey, you wouldn’t be running for office either.)

But such skeletons in a candidate’s closet? Surely you jest; anyone remember Gary Hart? And the last bit: How in the hell does the former Mrs. McCain still support him after all that?! They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned; I’m guessing that the doctors removed her scorning gland during surgery. But that’s just how I see it.

You seem to forget about Clinton’s affairs, what ever did happend to the women that he raped?

I am pretty sure that “Bobo” is someone from the McCain campaign. That’s all a pretty well thought out attempt to rebut the story. However, Bobo has several problems in his argument.

1. Kathy Sreedhar is not the author of the story. I have the author’s name, and that’s not it . Kathy is just someone who passed the message on who verfied the author’s reliability.

2. Just because there are only a few weeks a year set aside for family time in Fiji (how does Bobo know this, becuase Bobo asked McCain) doesn’t mean that that’s not when they were there? They could have very well be there during family time in June or July. No the author doesn’t mention any other children, why would she? Just because she doesn’t mention any children doesn’t mean there weren’t other children there.

3. Only a McCain operative would have researched how much money Ms. Sreedhar gave to Obama. It’s irrelevant because Sreedhar didn’t write this story and was not in Fiji. Secondly, if the events of this story happened to me, you can bet I would have given more than $250 to Barack Obama!

4. The part about the shopping cart? McCain didn’t say, “I just pushed her in a shopping cart this summer”. He could have been referring to when they first brought the child home, and how embarassed he felt! whether or not McCain would actually shop in a grocery store is another story– but it doesn’t matter. He was saying it to be “funny” and to explain how ashamed he was of his own daughter.

Also I am very saddened that this story is not going to come out to the public. What a wasted opportunity to reform our country, by outting an abusive man. Now, abusive men will still be allowed to run washington. It’s well known that prostitutes made a killing in St. Paul during the republican convention. These guys are scum. Whether they are democrats or republicans, they ought to be exposed for their behavior. Whether it’s Spitzer, Bill Clinton, Gary Hart, the republican guy who sexually harassed pages (I already forgot his name) or John Sidney McCain.

Also, Bobo assumes that when the author says “Before his campaign in 2000′, that they meant before his campaign AND in the year 2000. However, what the author meant was “some time before mccain’s 2000 presidential campaign”. to me, that 1999, presumably june or july during family time at turtle island.

Nothing bobo says refutes the story AT ALL.

Also, I have been doing some research on Turtle Island. Each child that vacations at turtle during “family time” is assigned to a nanny or a “bula buddy”– the children basically have baby-sitters so the adults can enjoy themselves. that’s why our author, ana, would not have been seeing children everywhere during her stay. her interactions with mccain very likely would have taken place without the children present.

I don’t see any way this story could have been fabricated. We can be almost 100% certain that Ms. Dubey vacationed at Turtle Island with McCain. There is no reason to doubt that.

The particulars of McCain’s behavior? That is still up for debate, although I personally have reason to believe the account is truthful.

So, I am reading a book about McCain called “Man of the People: The Life of John McCain,” by Paul Alexander (as part of my research to verify Dubey’s story). Page: 187 reads:

“Officially the committee was established on December 30th, 1998, when aides went to the Federal Election Commission in Washington and filed papers that made him the first Republican to declare his intention of running for President in 2000. McCain could not have been more unavailable for comment on the filing of his papers; he AND HIS FAMILY were on vacation in FIJI.”

I don’t know about that year, but this year, Family Time at Turtle is December 13th-January 11th. It completely matches up with the account in the book. So when the McCains were in Fiji, they very well could have been at family time at Turtle Island Resort!

Wow, this is electrifying, everything so far is checking out.

Also, go to http://www.Turtlefiji.com. Go through the website and you can verify through photos the communal style dining that Dubey describes. You can also see that the food looks pretty good, although it doesn’t specifically mention pancakes.

Does anyone else still really believe that this story is a complete hoax?

Anyone think it’s interesting to note that Meghan McCain voted for John Kerry in 2004?

This is from talkinpointsmemo.com:

What Does This Say About McCain?
09.04.08 — 2:55PM By David Kurtz
This has been nagging at me for a while. Karl Rove this morning told yet another variation on the story of the McCains’ adoption of their daughter Bridget. In his version, like the others I’ve heard, Cindy didn’t tell John in advance that she was bringing this child back with her from abroad. She just did it, a fact which usually gets a hardy-har-har from friendly audiences.

In Rove’s version today, Cindy specifically told someone else not to tell John in advance. The point of Rove’s story was that John McCain needs to reveal more of himself publicly so that voters can see the kind of character he has.

—-
Rove still has an axe to grind with McCain. If McCain talked about Bridget that way in Fiji, he’s done it before. And if that’s the case, Karl Rove probably knows about it. And he’s hinting at something here that he knows is a sore point between the McCains (most people are upset when their spouses bring home a new purchase over $100, much less a baby. Can you imagine bringing home a baby without discussing it first with your spouse? Then again, on the McCain-Palin ticket, having babies is a private matter– even within one’s immediate family.

I canted the turtle island resort in Fiji– they will not be able to respond as to whether the McCains have vacationed there. However, they did state “we have many famous guests”; but want to maintain their privacy (explaining why none of their staff would be willing to corroborate the story with any reporters).

Not to mention the vacations are at least $15,000 a pop, and I doubt they are interested in losing the McCains’ business, or any other wealthy clients who want their presence there kept private.

I’m totally not in to politics and I believe all candidates are devious and actors to some extent. That being said, I received a letter from a distant cousin who heard Ana tell the account of the Fiji Island vacation two years ago. She was given “the letter” recently and can vouch that she knows Ana told her the same story 2 years ago. She gave me permission to copy and send you her paragraph she sent her relatives as she forwarded “the letter” account of the vacation at Fiji Island. Here it is:
From Lucy Sperlin:
I don’t forward political ‘stories’ usually, but I have first hand knowledge of this one. It is written by an Indian woman named Ana, who lives in San Francisco. She has been a good friend of my niece since childhood. Ana’s dad is an Indian diplomat, once ambassador to Peru, (Brinda is Ana’s mom, -a good friend of my sister who is married to an Indian and lives in Delhi). So Ana is world traveled and very well educated. I was visiting my niece (a Dr. at Santa Clara Valley Hospital) one time a couple of years ago, and Ana and her husband came to visit, and I heard this story directly from her at that time. I had thought of it many times recently, wishing I could remember the details better. Then here, lo and behold, my brother-in-law has sent it to me in writing! So it is absolutely legitimate and real. The story speaks for itself.

Lucy

Thanks to Lois for putting me on to this blog site which I had not seen prior to forwarding Ana’s story to some friends, one of whom was my second cousin who is Lois’s dad, who forwarded it to her. I’m amazed at the buzz about this story which was, indeed, written by Ana Dubey. I understand the scepticism –of course if you didn’t know what I do you’d be skeptical. But rather than repeat what I said that Lois has forwarded to you, I’ll just say that it is real, Ana is real, and I was one of those people she told the story to in the last few years. I was visiting my niece, in the S.F. Bay Area. Ana and her husband came to visit one evening. At that time it just seemed to be an icky story of an egotistical and unpleasant politician from another state exhibiting a tendency toward psychological abuse that makes one cringe at a real life portrayal of the ‘ugly American’.
But in recent months it has kept coming back to my mind. I didn’t know Ana had put it in writing until my brother-in-law sent the written account to me a couple of days ago. The forward included a note from Ana’s mother who sent it to him. She has been a long time friend of he and my sister.
So, am I real or just cooking up a story? I’m a 71 yr. old woman with white hair whose ancestry goes back to the 1600s and 1700s in America. I spend most of my time doing volunteer work that is not political (CASA, Historic Preservation and archival work, and UU Church). League of Women Voters is about as close to politically active as I get and my comfort zone is Leagues non-partisan appproach to decision making on issues. I’ll admit to supporting Obama, partly because I believe he is not only incredibly bright, but has an international sensitivity and savvy, and an inherent decentness and caring for people in their life struggles. I believe Ana’s story is abundantly telling about the other candidate.

I located a New York Times article that verifies that McCain actually took the Fiji vacation in 1999 as referenced in the email story.

The Jan 3, 1999 article says, “Back home in Phoenix after a Fiji vacation, the usually unequivocal Republican equivocated about what should happen to Mr. Clinton.”

source: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE6DD1F3FF930A35752C0A96F958260

Further research indicates that Mr. Sushil Dubey was the Ambassador of India to Peru (referenced in the McCain story) from April 1983 - July 1986. However, I was not able to check if he was Anasuya’s father.

source: http://www.embajadaindia.com.pe/english/embajada/historia.htm

I think we can verify McCain’s admiration for William Faulkner by his 1992, Houston convention speech.

quote:

There is a quote by the great writer, William Faulkner, which I have always admired. “I decline to accept the end of man,” he wrote. “I believe that man will not merely endure, he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul of spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.”

Today, on every continent, Faulkner’s hopeful creed has been affirmed. Nearly half a billion people have emerged from communism and authoritarianism into a new age of enlightenment. No nation has contributed more to the global success of liberty than America. And no President has served this noble cause with greater courage and wisdom than President George Bush.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/us/politics/mccain-speeches.html?pagewanted=print

Turtle Island’s owner and former bond trader in the U.S., Richard Evanson, invited Mccain to Turtle Island for Christmas, 1998. He said, “We are set up at the island [so that] all the guests eat at the same table for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so there would have been huge discussions about the politics of Fiji.”

While there, McCain met “lots of times” with Military Commander Voreqe “Frank” Bainimarama who overthrew the Fiji government on Dec 5th, 1998. The article verifies that Bainimarama’s family members were present. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that McCain’s family members were also welcomed to the exclusive resort.

source: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1571756,00.html

A McCain biography, Man of the People By Paul Alexander, also verifies that McCain was in Fiji WITH HIS FAMILY on December 30, 1998.

quote from page 187:

“McCain could not have been more unavailable for comment on the filing of his papers; he and his family were on vacation in Fiji.”

http://books.google.com/books?id=yL60SByrfcUC&pg=PA187&dq=mccain+fiji+1998&sig=ACfU3U1kWxOQpnSWjQkgIXZtdWIn2ISUug

Great work Eastwood. (although you’ll see I already added the piece from Alexander’s biography of McCain).

All this points to near certain verification that Anasuya Dubey was on this vacation with McCain. I can’t believe there isn’t some media outlet that wouldn’t run this story, even without a corroborating account.

Now, I am pretty sure that some of the folks who also heard McCain’s comments in Fiji have taken a look at this site, and are reading this right now.

I can only beg of you, PLEASE, at the very least, post an anonymous comment on this site verifying what you saw. . . . .

Seems to me that even were the story true it is insufficient to convince those who support McCain and his running mate; they are beloved by McCain supporters. Look at how indifferent folks are that Palin, who stands for family values thinks nothing of her daughter getting pregnant at 17–to a guy who proudly calls himself a redneck. And the pro-family folks thinks this is admirable.

Whatever admiration I had at one time for McCain has since gone after the campaign he has thus far waged of lies, deceit, baiting, non-specifics, flip flops etc.

What I do think is that he continues to suffers from PSDS. I
know of a few vets who were in Viet Nam and they too are filled with rage, given to outbursts of anger, an very aggressive. McCain’s colleagues on both sides of the aisle note this about him.

I am in fact concerned that his med records have been kept carefully guarded and the public (including doctors) have not been able to examine them at length…I believe they will tell us about his cancer and PTSD. Here are some links that will show you specificially that medical men question why his records are still concealed:

http://therealmccain.com/doctors/?utm_source=rgemail
and
http://pennsylvaniaforchange.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/should-we-be-concerned/

You may have to copy and paste these links into your browser.

One small detail - where the author says that McCain states that ‘if it was up to him he would have dropped many more nuclear bombs on Japan.’ That is simply impossible. We had only two nuclear weapons at the time, and McCain, as a graduate of a military academy, would certainly have known that.

The letter is a hoax. There’s just NO way even the casual student of WWII would not have known such an important fact.

Interesting. I googled this person. While it is SUPPOSED to be a doctor, I managed to turn up the same name on a 1996 document. While finding a “john smith” would not be unusual, this name, ANASUYA DUBEY would seem to be…..well pretty unusual.

This same person is credited with helping (as a member of the bar) with a paper on employment practices for gay and les bian attorneys.

page 3 states “We would also like to thank Anasuya Dubey and Elizabeth Tam of the Bar Association,who have provided valuable assistance to the Committee throughout this endeavor”

http://womenlaw.stanford.edu/basfemploypolicy.pdf

@1forthetruth - keep in mind that anasuya is an indian name. there are over 1 billion indians in this world. a basic understanding of statistics should let you know that it is not neccessarily an uncommon name, rather you are showing cultural bias in your logic.

Fine, but Anasuya Dubey is a particular person. A PsyD, clinical psychologist in The SF Bay area, and the daughter of a former indian diplomat. How many people fit that description with the name Anasuya Dubey? Just curious.

There is another Anasuya Duby in Hawaii, who is in the culinary arts. But that’s not the author of this particular piece.

@real mccain - there are apparently two, a PsyD and an attorney. It’s not that difficult. BTW, I want to believe this letter is legit, I’m not a trolling Republican.

Just because a name is not familiar with you to does not mean it is extremely unique.

Fred - McCain graduated at the bottom of his class at Annapolis - about 5 notches up from it. He’s no student. Not a student of anything but surviving whatever situation he’s in. He’s a loose cannon, possibly mentally unstable from the torture he experienced in ‘Nam. There are many high-functioning yet deranged people alive in politics. The community around them insulates their truth from being revealed. We will see his personality show up in the staff he has around him and his campaign. Note how the McCain/RNC campaign has moved into the Palin “Troopergate” investigation. We are in deeper trouble if this Republican ticket is elected and the economy continues to tank.

Makalani - you obviously want to believe this letter. You are diagnosing a man you probably have never met, crediting him with being high-functioning on one hand, and deranged on the other as suits your purposes. Does that say more about McCain - or you?

As far as handlers, I believe Obama’s are probably as experienced as McCain’s. But McCain does have a long record that includes reaching across the aisle. Are you saying the Democrats who supported his efforts supported a ‘loose cannon’? Perhaps some of his ‘high functioning’ is useful?

I will agree with ‘high functioning’. But isn’t that what we want? Perhaps you could illuminate what Obama’s contributions have been anywhere he has been. Other than running for office, what has he accomplished? Is his ‘high functioning’ limited only to advancing himself?

As far as I can see, this letter is a fraud. It puts the people circulating it lower than the Swift Boaters. They at least stood up in front of the cameras to make their case.

I am open to any reasonable argument. If you have one to make, that’s fine. I would love to hear it.

XXX is now in contact with Ms. Dubey to publish the story. Stay tuned!

[…] (Source): My Holiday with McCain By John ⋅ September 16, 2008 ⋅ Email ⋅ Print ⋅ Trackback ⋅ Comment […]

Let’s review what we know and what we don’t know. It is established from checkable sources (newspaper articles, books, etc.) that McCain and his family vacationed in Fiji at the time in question.

Likewise, there is a psychologist in California, daughter of an Indian diplomat, whose name is Anasuya Dubey. The Bar Association report quoted by 1forthetruth does NOT establish that she is an attorney. In fact, the sentence in question states: “We would also like to thank Anasuya Dubey and Elizabeth Tam of the Bar Association, who have provided valuable assistance to the Committee throughout this endeavor.” Elizabeth Tam is listed as an Administrative Assistant at the SFBA in 1996, when the report was done.

I haven’t seen cited an article I found in my own Google of Ms. Dubey. She is quoted in the March 2005 issue of the magazine of the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students, in an article about half-time internships:

“For example, when it came time for Wright Institute professional psychology student Anasuya Dubey to apply for internship, she knew she wanted to stay in the San Francisco Bay Area and didn’t want to overextend herself by doing a full-time internship while writing her dissertation. ‘I primarily chose to do part time because of my dissertation,’ says Dubey. ‘And for me, not having to relocate was a major factor. My husband’s business is here and that would just be too much of a strain on my marriage.’ Luckily, she says, ‘in California part-time internships seem to be very available.’ She’s currently logging 20 hours a week at the University of San Francisco Counseling Center. Unlike Summers’s internship, Dubey’s doesn’t last two years. She must apply again to another internship to meet her two-year requirement. For Dubey, a part-time internship allows her to maintain a good balance between her personal and professional choices. ‘I’m a first generation immigrant, and I’m very involved in my community here. That takes a lot of my time,’ she says.”

http://gradpsych.apags.org/mar05/cover-parttime.html

So it has been established:

1)that McCain was in Fiji with his family at the time.

2)that there is a psychologist named Anasuya Dubey who lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

Did Ms/Dr Dubey write this letter?
People are saying she did, but I haven’t seen a report in which she personally affirms it.

Was Dubey at the resort at the same time as McCain? Her passport would establish dates and countries she traveled to, so this can be checked.

If she had an opportunity to observe McCain, is what she says about him true? You are not going to get resort staff to testify on this, and fellow guests will not want to involve themselves, so we will have to decide for ourselves.

And one further point - suppose everyone in the country heard this story. How many who are inclined to support McCain would change their minds? Maybe not many.

Personally, I think McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as running mate shows that he is not qualified to be president, and his personal nastiness is very much a side issue.

But as we know, people are rationalizing animals, not rational animals, so maybe it will be dispositive for some.

Dear John,

I did not write “My Holiday with McCain.” I received it from a friend who knows the person who had this experience and forwarded it.

The author of the story is Anasuya Dubey, a clinical psychologist in San Francisco.

Among the hundreds of responses I’ve received, this one is from Kate:
(Note from Kate: This shocking account was written by Ana Dubey, a friend of my cousin and her husband, who have known Ana for many years. Ana has a PhD in psychology and has a private practice in San Francisco . My cousin’s husband went to business school with Ana’s husband, who has since started and sold a number of successful companies. Ana’s husband is currently a Managing Director of a private equity firm in the Bay Area. Ana and her husband are not political activists and don’t have any personal ax to grind. In fact, in writing this account of her experience with John McCain, Ana is acting outside of her own economic self-interest as she and her husband are among the top 3-5% of our population who would benefit from the McCain tax/economic policies. Please pass this on to anyone you kn ow who might vote for John McCain. Also please post it on blogs and send it to newspapers and radio stations.)

Kathy

The only thing I could find outside of this page was a picture of Cindy McCain in 2001 in wikipedia–a couple of years or so after the fiji trip. She definitely looks a few pounds heavier than she does now—I am not sure a 1998 picture would prove anything one way or another—but I am kind of curious. Finding pictures of her not from 2008 is surprisingly difficult.

I get the feeling that Dubey did write the account, she did exaggerate, but she picked up on something about mcCain’s attitudes towards women and weight.

I just think it’s interesting that the time stamp on these comments is for tomorrow and not today.

I assume this blog is then coming from 12 hours ahead….why would someone outside of the US care to go to this length to make this email true. That, to me, is more fun to hear about than whether this is true or not I’m voting Obama all the way regardless of whether this is true or not.

Editor: What happens in the America touches every corner of the world. What happens in the Oval Office can change the world. Decisions made by a US President impact on us all, regardless of our nationality.

Clearly the time stamp on this website is simply out of whack today. Who knows why.

I think we should continue to be determined to seek as many *facts* here as possible. The next logical step is for Ms. Dubey to come forward to show us she is a real person, and claim authorship.

Any postings by people who say they know Dubey could very well be lies. Let’s try to be critical.

I say, if this can’t be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, I don’t think the press should cover it. I hope whoever publishes it is one step ahead, and is prepared to counter the denials and backlash with facts about John McCain and Mrs. Dubey.

Ms. Dubey is not concerned with corroborating her story on the net. She is doing so with Newspapers whose audience might be ‘bigger’ in this case, especially given the situation she’s writing about. Please be patient as this is a very ’sticky’ situation for those who are closely involved. It takes a lot of courage and guts to come forward with this type of information. I don’t expect you to empathize…..but perhaps you can try.

Sounds good Anon Ymous. Let’s all take a hint and cool it now. It was confusing for many of us to get this story, feel so shocked and not know what exactly to do with it. Apparently she did ask people to pass the story on, so all we were doing was trying to verify as much of the story as possible so we could decide whether or not it was appropriate, and the right, ethical thing to do to pass the story on to others. I will trust your verification that she is taking care of publicizing the story on her own, so the rest of us should now, as i said, cool it.

I too have great hope that this proves to be an accurate account, and I am passing it around. However I am only sending it out with a clarification from me, stating that it has yet to be authenticated. We as Obama supporters don’t need to stoop to the McCain level, of treating fiction as fact.

very interesting

has anyone in the usa picked up on the daily telepgraph (right wing - mccain supporting paper that it is) article published here in the uk with mccain’s jailer from vietnam in the 1970s

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/johnmccain/2961788/John-McCain-endorsed-by-his-Vietnamese-jailer.html

seems mccain was never tortured, actually got specially priviliges because of who his daddy was

in the article, his jailer “forgives” him for his “lie” and says he realises that he has to, to help his campaign

how come the us media has not looked into this?

though, again, how true is this?

lastly, there seem to be a number of vietnam veterans who believe the same

http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/cin_declassified_landing.htm

again, why no investigation in the us media?

So Obama Supporter doesn’t want ‘to stoop to the McCain level’, so he/she is distributing it with a clarification that ‘it has yet to be authenticated’. I have news for you - that puts you so deep in the mud you don’t need to worry about anybody else.

The proper response to this letter, and any other ravings from either side, is to trash them and not associate your name with them unless you want it tarnished.

Fred, are we getting a bit nervous from our little Republican lair? Are you worried that this sounds like it could be true? (Sounds like it is true to me. Too many details check out with known facts, and the author doesn’t sound like a person who would risk her reputation. If her name were wrongly attached to an outrageous piece of untrue gossip, bet she would have come forth to debunk this by now.)

Obviously, I believe it and hope it is verified and published in a reputable media outlet. When it is, I’ll be sending it to everyone I know.

’til then . . . .

For pete’s sake all you uppity people. We WANT to know whether this is true. We are curious, interested. It doesn’t make us bad people. This person could very well be the president of the united states, with his finger on the button. Holy crap, we have a right to want to inspect every little thing about him. I wish I had done that with Bush in 2000. Instead, I just bought the line that he was really not that different from Al Gore. WRONG! Now thousands of American troops are dead, the economy is in the toilet, we’ve done nothing to fight global warming, etc, etc, etc.

WE NEED TO CHECK THIS GUY OUT. We checked out Obama. We learned about Rev. Wright, Ayers, and Rezko. We checked those stories out *thoroughly* and found there was really nothing there that would make me question OBama’s ability to lead the country. I read the article in WSJ about Ayers– and my reaction was “so-what”. Now we need to check out McCain and Palin (and her “protection from witchcraft”) too!

Editor comment: If I was planning to vote for a particular candidate, I would want such a serious negative allegation about the candidate inquired into and verified.That initially is the media’s role and they have the resources. I most certainly wouldn’t want it covered up.That is corruption.The US has suffered too much of that. As the Roman lawyer and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero inquired,”Cui Bono?” i.e.”Who benefits”. Also fitting, a 1914 quote from the former US Supreme Court Judge - Justice Louis D Brandeis, “Sunshine is the best disinfectant”. JH.

Libby - I get things from both sides every day, including vile things about Obama. I don’t forward any of them because they are nothing more than smears that have no point in legitimate debates.

The people circulating this are like high school girls passing passing around stories of the unpopular girl - I heard from my friend’s cousin she’s ugly, she’s a slut, her hair is bad, etc. GROW UP!

What’s really ugly is the desire of some people to believe the worst in their opponents. I don’t believe Obama is a racist just because he went to Rev. Wright’s church for years. Why don’t you come out of your lair, and look at the bigger picture. So far, the election is Obama’s to lose. But when something like this blows up underneath him, what do you think the results will be?

PS - I have had people assume I am both a rabid Democrat and Republican at various times. I am just contrary that way. If Colbert’s ‘truthiness’ is underlying your rationals, do you think they deserve much respect?

I have emailed back and forth with Ravi, Ana’s husband, regarding this story, and I have also been doing research in an attempt to verify it. At this point, I am reasonably convinced that it is true. Ravi also stated that an article with confirmation from other vacationers would soon be published in either the New York Times or the Washington Post.

Fred is right, Obama supporter should not circulate this until it is verified. Meanwhile, although I am for Obama and I know McCain has a bad reputation, but I am very skeptical about this story. What politician would be so reckless as to call his daughter and “ugly black thing” when speaking to a virtual stranger? I also agree with earlier comments that this story is not as important as actual issues anyway.

It’s been fascinating to watch these threads, and the various assertions of what is “absolutely” true and false about Anasuya. I know Ana moderately well–we speak every six months or so, though I haven’t spoken with her since this whole holiday thing broke out. She told me the story back in 2000, when I was having a little misguided liberal love affair with McCain and she was trying to dissuade me.
What’s fascinating is how certain everyone is about things having to do with Ana. They claim she doesn’t exist, claim she wasn’t at Turtle Island, claim McCain wasn’t there, etc. Now, I wasn’t there myself, but I do know that Ana exists, and that she shared this vacation with McCain.
I don’t have anything extraordinary to add, just that it’s interesting to look at one of these viral things when you actually know the person in question. Everybody looks at these things through their own biased lens, reinforcing for themselves what they already “know” to be true. I think it’s worth all of us taking a step back and really being hard on ourselves for a minute. Do we engage in idle speculation? Do we exaggerate things so that they fit our world view? Are we really doing anybody any favors with all of this? I think back on the whole Sarah Palin Sambo thing. When I read it I was convinced it was true, and it very well may be. But I realize now that I was far too eager to have it be true and that I talked about it as if it were certainly true even though I had no way of knowing. We could all stand to be a little more self-critical and honest. We all want our guy to win, but we’re not doing our democracy any favors when we start talking about rumors as if they’re concrete facts. Anyhow, I do hope Ana gets a major newspaper to corroborate this, and as to why she hasn’t contacted any bloggers directly, I think we all know the answer. Blogs are nice, but when you’ve got a real story, you don’t waste your time in message boards, as much as we all like them.

This is the first date on the letter that I know of. It came to me from a friend from afriend.

Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:11:00 -0400

The first name on the fwd. I got is Eliz… and I emailed her and she said she got it from a friend, no other info,

My question: who got the letter with an earlier date?
maybe we can get to the source that way.
SF and hawaii are places to look, so I’ve heard from a different recipiant.

Editor: The letter was written well before that date. I first saw it on the 16th of September as shown with the article. The name of the claimed author is known. And that too is shown in the article and comments. Whether it will be published is yet to be seen. I am waiting a little longer.

ps. this isn’t the only blog on google on the letter.

Interesting to note that another “author”, one Mary-Kay Gamel (Prof. of Classics, UC Santa Cruz), of this “My Holiday with John McCain” story has appeared.This one was forwarded to me by a Brit friend (ex BBC reporter), who in turn received it from a Kenyan videographer who claims he received it from one Alma Martinez (whose email address is also UC Santa Cruz). I will furnish a copy of the forwarded email to anyone wishing to see it. (joe@pehoushek.com)

The wording is identical, at least at first reading. Gamel is, apparently, another resident of academia’s ivory towers, giving UC Santa Cruz as her address… it does check out.So how do we explain two different persons having been at the resort, having had identical experiences with McCain to the extent that they wrote virtually identical stories? The whole thing doesn’t pass the smell test.

Editor: Please send it to me at john@tellingthoughts.com with verification of your claim including the name and email address of your ex BBC friend so we can check him out with the BBC.

I am an active Obama supporter and have been thinking a lot about this story going around since i received it as a forwarded email. My take on it is that it’s not helpful to Obama, and has some other problems. Who knows it may even be a tactic of Mccain campaigners to paint Obama supporters as smearers.

I think it’s not helpful to Obama because it will insert the race card into the presidential campaign from the side of Obama supporters – even though McCain supposedly called his own adopted daughter an “ugly black thing.” I have to say that I found everything in the story believable except for that comment. Obviously this part of the story cannot be verified because McCain supposedly said this in person only to the writer of it. But even if it were true, McCain would, of course, deny it as a smear and a lot of people would be outraged.

McCain has said in the past that anyone who uses his adopted daughter just to make a smear on him should burn in hell. And people would probably feel for him and his daughter, rather than for the woman who wrote this letter.
But I also think that it is a terrible thing to do to his daughter. How long will it take until someone will say to her “oh, you know, your dad called you an ugly black thing.” Just for that reason I cannot go with this letter. There is only heartbreak in pursuing it.

I don’t mean to push this on anyone, but I have gotten very mindful about what to put out on behalf of campaigning. Obama has so many good qualities that I can support that I think this is not necessary. Also, i contacted mary-kay gamel because she seemed to be the author of this email. But she sent me an email showing the trail of how she herself first received it as a forwarded email. In that email a woman named Kate Marianchild (not Kathy Seghers) identified herself as the originator of the first emails. If you want that email i am happy to post it to show the thread.
Sincerely, gabrielle viethen

Thank you to the author of this blog to insist on absolute verification. Viral email stuff like this is being used against Obama, and we all think it’s disgusting. Why can’t we own our hypocrisy? So many people want so badly to believe this, they are twisted into pretzels by it. We can defeat McCain on the weaknesses of his outdated policies and cluelessness. We don’t need this kind of garbage to be associated with the liberal/progressive causes. it makes us no better than “them.”

This was sent by Mary-Kay Gamel
Professor of Classics, Comparative Literature, and Theater Arts
Cowell College
University of California, Santa Cruz
Mary-Kay is a real person and she acknowledges forwarding the story attributed to Ana Dubey
(Note from Kate: This shocking account was written by Ana Dubey, a friend of my cousin and her husband, who have known Ana for many years. Ana has a PhD in psychology and has a private practice in San Francisco . My cousin’s husband went to business school with Ana’s husband, who has since started and sold a number of successful companies. Ana’s husband is currently a Managing Director of a private equity firm in the Bay Area. Ana and her husband are not political activists and don’t have any personal ax to grind. In fact, in writing this account of her experience with John McCain, Ana is acting outside of her own economic self-interest as she and her husband are among the top 3-5% of our population who would benefit from the McCain tax/economic policies. Please pass this on to anyone you know who might vote for John McCain. Also please post it on blogs and send it to newspapers and radio stations.)

I have been trying to post the whole email that Mary-Kay Gamel sent, but each time i try, it will not post. Now i am getting a message saying that it seems that this message already posted. I sent Mary-Kay’s email to JH via email hoping he would post it. The excerpt that is posted above is a short and a distortion of the email i received. And i really wonder about the purpose of this.

Editor: I have no record of receiving the email you refer to. If you wish to post a comment then you are welcome to do so. There are limitations as to the size of comments but as you can see we try to be fair. It is the reader’s responsibility to post their own comments.

Here are the parts missing: