A long time ago, in a younger political world, when illegal wars were waged secretly, not openly, Americans were shocked (shocked!) to discover that one rich man, Charles Keating, had other rich men hold off savings and loan regulations that would have made him slightly less rich.
That move also wound up defrauding 21,000 private investors and costing taxpayers (you know, us) over $2.6 billion.
Of the 5 rich men in Keating's pocket, only one was a Republican Senator. That man, John McCain, is also the only one of the five still in the business of politics (note, I don't say "governance").
The Keating 5 is now the Keating 1, and he wins a big cash prize.
Please see gjohnsit's excellent recap diary on the Keating scandal: Remembering the Keating Five.
And although Senator McCain said at the time,
The appearance of it was wrong. ...it conveys the impression of undue and improper influence. And it was the wrong thing to do,
it does not appear that he's learned his lesson.
Will we?
Ladies and Gentlemen, with compliments to the Center for Responsive Politics, I give you The Keating $50,000.
Individuals at a law firm founded by Charles H. Keating, Jr., who symbolized how political influence contributed to the collapse of savings and loans in the 1980s, have bundled at least $50,000 to John McCain's presidential campaign since June, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has calculated, making the Cincinnati-based firm McCain's sixth-largest contributor during that period.
Although Charles Keating (who served 4 1/2 years in the pokey as punishment for defrauding investors, pocketing over $2 billion and costing us more than that to find and fix the children of his venality) is nearly 85 years old, his spawn appear not to have forgotten the close personal friendship between their pater familias and family company man McCain.
With the aid of Cincy Billionaire Carl Lindner, Jr. (longtime client of the Keatings and $100,000 McCain bundler), the Keating law firm has canvassed internally to come up with the $50,000.'
"The appearance of impropriety," while taken seriously by most Judges not named Antonin Scalia, is pretty much openly laughed at by Republicans--who nevertheless strain to find it in their Democratic counterparts.
If John McCain really understood what looked bad about the Keating scandal or, more to the point, cared, it would seem an elementary decision to avoid taking more money with the Keating name attached.
All together now: "IOKIYAR!"
If we had a balanced press, this would be a good opportunity to remind voters of the Republic candidate's history and ongoing partnerships with lobbyists and shady dealers who think nothing of the pay-for-play dark alleys in American politics. Or, perhaps, to highlight the fact that -- as with all of his public positions -- John McCain has no compunction about saying one thing and doing another.
Withal, he gives the same impression to the clear-eyed observer as the sticky-fingered tyro, hand in cookie jar, telling his mother with a straight face, "I'm not eating cookie! I'm not eating cookie!"
The return to prominence of the Keating name on the McCain side of the ledger should be an opportunity for the press to show how much smarter they are now than they were then. But if you believe that, I have a bridge to nowhere to sell you.