skippy the bush kangaroo: love flies out the door when money comes innuendo**

Thursday, February 21, 2008

love flies out the door when money comes innuendo**

matthew yglesias (w/a little help from mark kleiman) ignores the nytimes bucket o'gossip, and goes straight to the asspress piece on johnny "heartthrob" mclame and his blonde bimbo lobbyist, to find why it matters:

basically, in exchange for money and freebies, mccain sought to intervene in a federal regulatory process in favor of a company that had provided him with tens of thousands of dollars in cash and services. he could try to plead naiveté, but in light of the hot water he got into with the keating five affair, which had the exactly same structure, he clearly knew what he was doing and knew that it was wrong. now whether or not some guy gets to buy some tv station in pittsburgh or not isn't a big deal as such, but it's an example of how dubious mccain's "straight talk" persona is. what's more, i think we can all agree that the subversion of the basic functioning of the federal government (see, e.g., us attorneys scandal, fema, etc.) has been a major problem during the bush years and we see here that mccain takes a bush-like attitude to the integrity of these processes.

look beyond the stepford sex, please, and see that whatever the reasons, mclame performed favors for dough. not that nobody else ever does that in washington, but the rest of the dc weasels don't then build a reputation on "straight talk" and "campaign reform."

**ps: big prize to whoever can name the person who made the quote we used as a headline for this piece (extra points for where it was said).

Labels: gop, lobbyists, mccain, prez campaign, scandals

posted by skippy at 8:53 PM |

9 Comments:

I wish the affair rumor hadn't been the lede, because this is the key aspect.

As to the quotation, it's Groucho Marx in Monkey Business - but I had to look that one up, since it's been years since I saw that one (but I'm a big fan of the Marx Brothers).

Hail Fredonia!

commented by

Batocchio, 9:40 AM PST

quite correct, sir!

when will i remember, never hold a trivia contest on the internet?

commented by

skippy, 4:50 PM PST

attochio!

"Hail Fredonia" is Duck Soup!

And he says it to Madame Swempski, one of the few matronly roles that wasn't played by Margaret Dumont (Cecil Cunningham and YES! that's a she!), altho in fairness to Dumont, this was a small part.

No man may take full Marx from me, I tell you what!

commented by

Carl, 5:10 PM PST

Hehe. Carl, I knew it was Duck Soup, I was just quoting some more Marx! Some Lennon next...

commented by

Batocchio, 6:07 PM PST

gee, boys, every source on google sez it was monkey business...i myself don't remember exactly, but the thelma todd scene from mb does sound familiar.

commented by

skippy, 10:12 PM PST

Sorry, communication breakdown.

The line is from Monkey Business.

Fredonia is from Duck Soup. I believe Carl thought I was mixing up the two films, and I was just trying to explain I was merely giving another Marx Bros. shout-out, since they rock.

Hehe. No worries...

commented by

Batocchio, 1:59 AM PST

That is correct, sir!

Altho the confusion would be understandable: both take place on ships.

;-)

commented by

Carl, 7:48 AM PST

Oh...

And ALL HAIL LENNON AND MARX!

Just in case you thought I missed my cue.

*waiting for it*

commented by

Carl, 7:49 AM PST

Don't forget the ship cabin scene in A Night at the Opera, one of my all-time favorites!

As for Lennon and Marx, hmmm...

commented by

Batocchio, 10:53 AM PST

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