In 1988, Cindy McCain founded the American Voluntary Medical Team (AVMT), a non-profit designed to provide emergency care for children in third world countries. A year later, she developed an addiction to pain killers while suffering from two spinal surgeries. During this time, she stole drugs from the AVMT to feed her addiction. Tom Gosinski, who at the time was a director at AVMT, discovered the thefts confronted her and the family. Her parents staged an intervention, and she finally sought help for her problem.
This should have been the end of the story, a happy ending in which a woman on the verge of losing it all finally got the help she needed thanks to support from concerned co-workers and her family. This should have been one of those "feel good" stories Lifetime does movies on. And it could have been the end...except...
In January 1993, only a few months after Gosinski confronted Cindy McCain, she fired him. This led to Gosinski filing a wrongful termination lawsuit and reporting what he knew to the DEA. Thanks to McCain's high-priced lawyer, she secured a cushy "punishment" which included financial resititution and enrollment in a diversion program that avoided public disclosure of her crime. A week before the news was to break about the wrongful termination lawsuit, which would have by default included the reasons for the termination, her husband arranged private interviews with hand-selected journalists in the state to come...one at a time...to his home to her Cindy's story. Meanwhile, she also had her lawyers attempt to go after Gosinski on criminal charges for extortion, because Gosinski offered to settle the wrongful termination lawsuit for $250,000.
Now this article is not about her drug dependency. Many Americans suffer through similar situations, and the results can be devastating to families. I applaud anyone who overcomes any sort of addiction.
BUT...
Michelle Obama has been under attack by a lot of the conservative movement, accused of being unpatriotic and "elitist." However, she never stole from her own charity, retaliated against the man who uncovered her crimes, and used wealth and power to manipulate the press, DEA and DA.
The McCains are big on retaliation and punishing others for their own bad behavior.
In April, the McCain's removed a section of the John McCain website that was suppose to include "family recipes" Cindy made at home, after it was discovered that many of the recipes had been lifted verbatim from the Food Network's website. McCain claimed it was the fault of an intern, who was <i>"dealt with swiftly"</i> according to McCain's people. Which might have been possible, except for one minor problem.
Cindy McCain had already submitted one of the recipes as her own to the New York Sun in January.
I'd love to leave the debate to the issues, and that is what should be done. But folks need to keep in mind that when they start to throw stones, the windows they break may be their own. Before attacking Michelle Obama over slips of the tongue or the fact that she's Ivy-league educated, maybe it would be wise to make sure the other side isn't stealing drugs or throwing money around to avoid prosecution.
Just a thought.
References:
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 25
I agree about Michelle Obama. We are better off with the Obamas whose accomplishments were well earned than with the Bush clan whose accomplishments didn't raise to the level of their birthright.
Gee what we he be like as president - scary. I hope we never have to find out.
Republicans seem to always point fingers at others while not being very clean themselves.
Thanks for sharing the story.
I agree, and thank you for publishing this.
When we get Dolly Madison or Eleanor Roosevelt, it is a surprise bonus.
Come on. If there was anything real to discover about Michelle Obama, they wouldn't be making up stuff.
Wake me up when it is over.....
Good night everybody!
JP
In fact, I'm kind of glad to see a bunch of Austrian and Italian neo-Nazis on the list. Do we invade those countries too? Do we get to torture anyone who runs around there in anything resembling skinhead gear? This is better than I'd thought.
What fun. That almost never happens.
And as everyone else obviously understood, the article wasn't about Cindy McCain's drug use, but her behavior following it. If it had stopped at her recovery, this would have been an uplifting story of how even the rich and powerful succumb to addiction but that it can be overcome. Instead, it became another story of the rich and powerful using their money and power to weasle out of going to jail.
1. Stealing a recipe, or any written work, and passing it off as your own is called plagiarism. It is illegal in this country...and most of the world. So I would think that it is HUGELY more important than a slip of the tongue.
2. As far as the whole "patriotism" thing, even LAURA BUSH has defended Michelle Obama! Hell, is Bush's WIFE even thinks this is a ridiculous issue, don't you feel stupid for still harping on it?
How typical...a blind McSame supporter completely ignoring the thread topic, and launching into a diversionary attack on Obama.
"on balance, his decades of political experience; his (McBush) he will appoint sensible judges to the Supreme Court, should the opportunity arise, FAR outweigh"
His decades of political service, which he would likely NOT have been blessed with were it not for his elitist second wife's political ties and immense personal fortune, have been literally away in poor decisions and corruption scandals. Hardly a beacon to hold up as worthy attributes to bring to the white house.
His "sensible" justice selections will be yet more partisan, rightwing activists in the mold of Alito and Roberts, who will continue to seek ways to legislate America into a fascist dictatorship. Hardly what the majority of the nation favors.
As for his military record, I really don't think he wants to use that as an attribute, based upon what I've read. His record is rather abysmal, which is probably why he's chosen to have the Navy hide portions of it from public scrutiny.
It doesn't matter anyway, though. In early Sept., the Abramoff scandal is going to explode once again, and we're all going to learn that he buried nearly all of the 750,000 documents regarding that investigation, while serving as head of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
I do not believe he will survive as the republican nominee, but if he somehow does, he will not win the white house, thankfully. I believe that this campaign will destroy his political career, personally, because the sordid, dark facts of his political past will come forth to condemn him.
Aside from that, it shows a glaring bankrupcty of personal character. Neither fact, however, concerns the blind McSame supporter. Pity them...they've got a seriously defective candidate, yet have to bend and twist their way into supporting him somehow.
"2. As far as the whole "patriotism" thing, even LAURA BUSH has defended Michelle Obama! Hell, is Bush's WIFE even thinks this is a ridiculous issue, don't you feel stupid for still harping on it? "
That's doubtful. Again, they HAVE to wear their blinders in order to support this defective candidate of theirs. That means ignoring some pesky facts and doing everything possible to divert attention away from them.
Of course, the clip and past by Hughes of terrorists and terrorism had nothing at all to do with the topic . . . but it's really, really scary stuff . . . so I'll be shuddering behind Aniko and the first to vote for the only pro-torture, pro-spending, anti-healthcare, pro-war, anti-constitution, pro-corporation, anti-American candidate that sits on the ticket . . .
. . . oh wait. I'm STILL sane. Never mind.
Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~