Cindy McCain Bankrolled Conference That Called for Ban on Mercenaries

By GottaLaff

The always excellent Jeremy Scahill dug up a tidbit on J-Sid and Cindy Lou:

A little-publicized US Naval Academy conference named after Senator John McCain and bankrolled by his wealthy wife, Cindy, issued a call earlier this year for the US government to ban the use of armed private security contractors like Blackwater in US war zones, stating bluntly, “contractors should not be deployed as security guards, sentries, or even prison guards within combat areas.”

But wait! There's more!

According to the Fall 2009 newsletter, “Taking Stock,” published by the US Naval Academy’s Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership—the host of the McCain Conference—among the speakers at the 2009 event was none other than Erik Prince, the owner of Blackwater. Prince’s company is the most infamous of those engaged in the type of armed activity explicitly condemned by the conference’s leadership.

My Xe primer, "Blackwater for Dummeez", is here. That post will tell you a little bit about who these people [sic] are.

Despite the fact that the McCain conference, which publicly advocated against the use of armed contractors in combat areas bears Sen. McCain’s name and was bankrolled by his wife, when it has come to making this a major issue on Capitol Hill, the Arizona Senator has been largely silent. [...]

The McCain campaign hired people with deep ties to the mercenary industry to work on his presidential bid. [...]

Moreover, the International Republican Institute, which has deep ties to McCain, hired Blackwater as its private security force in Iraq, paying Blackwater an average of more than $17 million a year since 2005 for security services, according to records.

Go here for the rest. Leave it to Scahill to fill us in when nobody else can... or will.

All in the Family: Religious group paid for Ensign trips

By GottaLaff

Ensign = :

A secretive religious group paid for trips to Japan and the Middle East by U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., now under fire for an adulterous affair, records show.

The travel in 2003 and 2004 did not violate the Senate ethics rules then in force, the Las Vegas Sun reported. The Senate has since adopted new restrictions on travel paid for by outside groups.

Timing is everything.

The newspaper said Ensign's travel records show the trips cost $15,000, paid by the International Foundation, an arm of the Fellowship Foundation. That group is known informally as The Family and both Ensign and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, another Republican caught in a sex scandal, have ties to it. [...]

"The Family acts today like the most powerful lobby in America that isn't registered as a lobby -- and is thus immune from the scrutiny attending the other powerful organizations," Sharlet wrote.

These are the Family values of the very devout Rushpublics who are so quick to condemn others.