Stories from different angles are starting to etch away at the patina that covers the McCain campaign's Randy Scheunemann.
Here's some of the postings from the left wing blogosphere.
(I don't necessarily agree with everything in the postings.)
http://blog.nationbuilder.org/...
John McCain Facing Felony Charges for Violating the Logan Act
http://thinkprogress.org/...
Did Scheunemann Engineer McCain’s 2005 Nobel Prize Nomination Of Georgian President For Financial Gain?
http://www.dailykos.com/...
What really happened in South Ossetia? Who did Karl Rove meet on his sweet vacation in Crimea?
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/...
Did Karl Rove Chat to Saakashvili about South Ossetia Too?
Here's a backgrounder on Randy Scheunemann.
http://www.salon.com/...
Sourcewatch
http://www.sourcewatch.org/...
Links to all sorts of unsavory characters [from Jack Abramoff to Ahmed Chalabi] abound, and we have enough smoke for a three alarm fire. Why is Randy Scheunemann still on John McCain's payroll, as he collects money from the government of Georgia as a lobbyist?
Is someone in corporate media going to dig into this, or are we going to continue to have all of these loose ends flapping around in the breeze?
Does it have to take someone from Mikhail Saakashvili's staff saying that Randy Scheunemann personally gave assurances that John McCain would intervene on their behalf to get him removed?
I'll wager some intrepid reporters [probably not from the US media] are rooting around right now, waiting for the Russians to withdraw and the recriminations and finger pointing to begin in Tbilisi, and just that shoe to drop.
Randy Scheunemann's days working for the McCain campaign are numbered. It's only a question of time now before the corporate media is forced to address what can only be characterized at best as grossly inappropriate links between Randy Scheunemann and foreign governments and shady individuals.
The damage done to the McCain campaign as the US media rehashes these links we here in the left blogosphere already know about will potentially torpedo the McCain campaign.
NPR WAPO NYT have started the process, but it's weak.
It's not lede, it's buried.
http://www.npr.org/...
McCain's, Adviser's Ties To Georgia Questioned
WAPO
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
While Aide Advised McCain, His Firm Lobbied for Georgia
NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/...
In Split Role, McCain Adviser Is Sometimes a Lobbyist
Will this become a media firestorm? What does it take to get the balance of the corporate media to do their job and get this front and center?
darn it, can't edit the poll .. 2nd and 3rd choices are identical, sorry
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additional
Seems this always gets to the same thing, at the end of the day. How do we get corporate media to cover this? What can you do as an individual?
Call a national or local call in radio show and ask questions about the nature of who Randy Scheunemann is. Mention Ahmad Chalabi and Jack Abramoff, for good measure.
Write an LTE and send it in, asking questions about who Randy is, and what he's done and who pays him.
Maybe even write a Congressperson and see if we cannot get House action to put forth the charges to investigate Scheunemann for violation of the Logan Act.
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one more specific addition, with a follow through
(hat tip to Cedwyn):
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/...
When contacted by The Sunday Times, staff at the Caspian Alliance, which is based in Azerbaijan, confirmed that it is a subsidiary of WSE and represents KMG in America.
In a further link, Randy Scheunemann, chief foreign policy and national security adviser to John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, was listed in the WSE brochure as part of its executive team. Scheunemann and Associates, his lobbying firm, is reported as having represented the Caspian Alliance in 2005.
At the undercover meeting last week, Payne said Scheunemann had been "working with me on my payroll for five of the last eight years". When confronted over the link to KMG, Payne declined to comment.
Payne is under investigation right now by the House for violations related to the Bush library. The WH is blocking access to visitor records, and stonewalling as it always does.
Payne bragged brags in brouchures about getting foreign players access, and yet is not registered as required by law.
Fascinating.
http://www.chron.com/...
Houstonian denies he tried to sell access to Bush aides
House panel investigating Stephen Payne after London report that he offered Central Asian officials meetings in return for contributions to president's library
By BENNETT ROTH and JULIE MASON Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
July 14, 2008, 11:39PM
WASHINGTON — A House committee Monday launched an investigation of Houston businessman Stephen Payne, probing whether he violated federal law by suggesting he could arrange access to top White House aides in return for a large donation to the Bush presidential library being planned in Dallas.
As the House does its work to reveal all the dirt about Stephen Payne, one has to wonder if they will tip over McCain's apple cart in the process.