The American Spectator

p>Why is it that they do not deserve the benefit of the doubt? If this was Senator McCain, judging by their past tactics in the campaign they would cite McCain’s POW service as a reason he could be trusted. But is the hatred for Obama so intense that when he and another man are said to have a working relationship and both men deny it, people like Robert McCain assume Obama is lying. I think these are all valid points that deserve to be clarified. I thank you for your time and effort. I hope you will respond. br> — Tyrone Sevens br> Cornell University /p> p> Robert Stacy McCain replies: br> To begin with, I didn’t refer to Jim Johnson as a “lobbyist,” disgraced or otherwise. Johnson, whose Democratic Party activism dates back more than 30 years, was the CEO of Fannie Mae 1991-98. A federal investigation found that Fannie Mae failed to disclose the full amount of Johnson’s compensation, reporting his 1998 compensation as about $6 million, when it was in fact about $21 million. (Source) /p>

Fraudulent accounting to hide two-thirds of the CEO’s pay from investors? If that doesn’t qualify Johnson as “disgraced,” I don’t know what would.

I wrote, Obama “reportedly solicited advice from” Raines — and, indeed, this was reported by the Washington Post. If you have a beef with the journalistic standards at the Post, perhaps you should take it up with Len Downie. As to whether their reporting is “completely discredited” merely because both Obama and Raines denied it, perhaps it is helpful to remember how a certain Washington Post article from January 1998 prompted a rather famous Democratic denial: “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.” (Youtube video)

It was during the tenure of Johnson, and his successor Raines, that Fannie Mae became mired in the unsound business practices that recently unraveled in its complete collapse. As noted in my article, Obama was second only to Chris Dodd in contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: (Source)

Nothing is more persistent in politics than the belief of liberals that no behavior by Democrats, however sleazy or even criminal, ever amounts to anything really scandalous. Tell it to Mary Jo Kopechne, sir.

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