John McCain: Americans Are Dispirited...Because We Haven't Passed A Free Trade Deal With Colombia?!?

Yes, McCain actually said this a few days ago at a campaign event in Florida, and only the AFL-CIO was good enough to notice:

We have made progress toward this vision by expanding the benefits of free commerce, through [the North American Free Trade Agreement], the Central American Free Trade Agreement, and our free trade agreements with Peru and Chile. But the progress has stalled; our longstanding bipartisan commitment to hemispheric prosperity is crumbling. We see this most vividly in Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s opposition to the free trade agreement with Colombia. The failure of Congress to take up and approve this agreement is a reminder why 80 percent of Americans think we are on the wrong track.

What a breathtaking statement. No, it is not lost jobs, the lack of access to healthcare or being mired in a disastrous war that McCain wants to expand. None of those things have people feeling down. People are saying to themselves: "Everything is great! But damn it, we can't pass a trade deal with a repressive government that will export more American jobs, and I am just not satisfied with that!"

McCain's Murderers Row

A new website (firethelobbyists.com) has been created by the pro-campaign finance reform organization Campaign Money Watch, to convince Senator McCain to fire three lobbyists in the top levels of his organization that have lobbied for ruthless dictators. You may recall that over the past two days, two McCain aides have resigned because of their willingness to do public relations work for the Burmese Junta.

Ahh, working for the public good. It must feel so refreshing.

Of course, turn over any stone in The McCain Campaign, and one can only guess what might come crawling out. It turns out that they have even more friends in low places. I contacted David Donnelly, Director of Campaign Money Watch, for a comment. He explained what his group is trying to accomplish:

John McCain ought to immediately fire three lobbyists — Charlie Black, Tom Loeffler, and Peter Madigan -- whose lobbying for brutal dictators and foreign governments is every bit as bad as the two lobbyists who left his campaign over the weekend. Frankly, McCain’s campaign is turning out to be an effort of, by, and for these types of Washington influence peddlers. His credentials as a reformer are gone.

Pretty strong words. Yet, if you read what this triad of McCain lobbyists have been up to, perhaps not strong enough. It ain't pretty:

Charlie Black, McCain’s senior counsel and spokesman, began his lobbying career by representing numerous dictators and repressive regimes

Black’s firm represented the governor