Cindy McCain Changed Their Adoption Story Before The Campaign



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That’s not change we can believe in, my friends.

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39 Responses to “Cindy McCain Changed Their Adoption Story Before The Campaign”

  1. SaveFarris says:

    This one was debunked before you even posted about it. Weak as usual.

  2. Scratch says:

    I can see Cindy now, typing away on her bio to be posted on the web.

  3. Your “debunking” ignores the fact that the website just made up the Mother Teresa bit.

  4. juhar says:

    Cindy McCain and her husband should try adopting her two sisters. Charity should begin at home.

    Hey, what happened to the other child? Did she drop her and forgot about her? Is the other child still alive?

    I want this warm nuturing future millionaire First Lady to tell American women how to choose betwwen two sick babies at the airport and make one her own and not the other.

    There’s still more to this story, it can be called “The Child Not Taken.”

  5. juhar says:

    On second thought the McCain adoption story could be called
    “Cindy McCain’s Adoption Story: One Child Left Behind.”

  6. Duros Hussein 62 says:

    Hey, what happened to the other child? Did she drop her and forgot about her? Is the other child still alive?

    Yes, just like her sisters.

    “Cindy’s Choice”

  7. Southern Quaker says:

    *sigh*

    MCCAIN: Well, I think we have to make adoption a lot easier in this country. That’s why so many people go to other countries to get – to be able to adopt children.

    um, no. Adoption is expensive in this country, true, but international adoption is actually more difficult than domestic adoption. People choose international adoption for any number of reasons, but the #1 reason is still the lack of available healthy infants to adopt in the U.S. There are plenty of older children available, but the waiting list for a healthy (white) child can be quite long compared to some international programs. And the top int’l programs are still those that make healthy white/(east)asian children available.

    I admire what the McCain’s did 17 years ago, but it is quite misleading as a story of international adoption. For one thing, “rescuing” an infant from an orphanage as described would never be allowed today; you have to go through rigorous screening in the U.S. first, and the child has to be cleared by the consulate to get a green card, which can take months to a year. Also, Bangladesh does not allow international adoptions, and it was probably against Bangladeshi law at the time. But things were not well regulated in international adoption during that era.

  8. Jay Tea says:

    Actually, I hear that the McCains will be adopting George Hussein Onyango Obama next. You probably never heard of him — he lives in a shack in a slum outside of Nairobi, and has had to literally fight for his life on numerous occasions.

    Oh, and his half-brother is about to become the Democratic nominee for president.

    By the way, I’ve donated to support the “Senator Obama Kogelo Secondary School.” I only gave twenty bucks, but that’s still twenty bucks more than Obama has given since he pledged his support for the school while visiting there a couple of years ago.

    Feel free to contribute to a good cause. Hell, maybe you can shame Senator Obama into fulfilling his promise to the kids of the village his father came from.

    http://www.obamaschool.org/

    J.

  9. juhar says:

    First, Someone is supposed to believe Jay Tea donated $20.00 to a non-American school.

    Next, Someone is supposed to believe Jay Tea donated $20.00 to an African School in Kenya.

    Finally, someone is supposed to believe that Jay Tea donated $20.00 to a Kenyan school in Africa named “Senator Obama Kogelo Secondary School.”

    Jay Tea, someone is going to believe that you donated to a Muslim school or this is just your biggest “big fish story.”

  10. Tom Maguire says:

    Your “debunking” ignores the fact that the website just made up the Mother Teresa bit.

    Cindy McCain is webmaster of the McCain campaign? Who knew?

    Your accusation that Cindy McCain changed her story before the campaign ignores the fact that in interviews with ABC and NewsWeek in 2008 she told the story without the Mother Teresa wrinkle. Her hubby also told the story straight at the Saddleback forum and the campaign told the story straight in a campaign flyer from January. If the strategy was to change the story and pander to the religious right it looks as if they forgot.

    I can’t explain the website change, and there is one reporter who filed stories with the British Daily Telegraph and an Aussie paper who quotes Cindy directly as invoking Mother Teresa.

    Other than that, no one has brought forward any evidence that she has told reporters anything other than the truth. Maybe she got tired telling the story one time, maybe a reporter misheard her, maybe an eager website designer decided to jazz her resume, but the idea that this was something other than a mistake lacks evidence. I am able to find plenty of misreporting, however, so the idea that people want to believe the story is cooler than it is has plenty of support.

    Although a lack of evidence won’t be more than a speed bump, I expect. And at least you only accused Cindy and not John – no one has yet produced evidence that he has tailored his version.

  11. Jay Tea says:

    Juhar, I promised back on July 31 to make a donation: http://wizbangblog.com/content/2008/07/31/can-we-keep-obamas-promise-for-him-yes-we-can.php

    I sent Juliette “Baldilocks” Ochieng (who also claims ancestry from the same tribe as Obama’s father), who set up the non-profit that’s raising money for the school, my donation on August 6th.

    To me, twenty bucks towards a good cause seemed an easy way to claim moral high ground over Obama, who pledged his support a couple of years ago and hasn’t coughed up one penny.

    I might even scrounge up a few bucks for Obama’s brother, too. Poor guy has been treated worse than Roger Clinton…

    Oh, and I notice not one person has found a direct quote from either McCain that Cindy actually met Mother Theresa when she took Bridget.

    Funny, a few weeks ago, Obama spoke in Berlin, asking “will we lift the child in Bangladesh from poverty?” It turns out that the McCains had done precisely that years before Obama called on people to do so.

    Obama (when he has a teleprompter) talks the talk quite well. Pity he can’t walk the walk.

    J.

  12. Southern Quaker says:

    Funny, a few weeks ago, Obama spoke in Berlin, asking “will we lift the child in Bangladesh from poverty?” It turns out that the McCains had done precisely that years before Obama called on people to do so.

    okay J, I call bullshit. The McCain’s adopted a special needs child with whom Cindy fell in love. More power to them. But they have done nothing since, to my knowledge, to change conditions for the literally millions of children left in Bangladesh (and the rest of the Third World) and that is what Obama was speaking about.

    (And yes, for the record, as an adoptive parents I do support organizations that attempt to help mothers and children in our daughters’ country of birth. Just wanted to get that little distraction out of the way.)

    The point everyone seems to be missing here is that McCain’s reasons for bringing up his daughter’s adoption were completely bogus. Their family story has literally nothing to do with the question of the legality of abortion here in the U.S. It was a loving gesture to a single child 17 years ago, and it’s a nice warm moment to bring up during a campaign – occasionally. But it’s irrelevant to any policy discussion I can think of.

  13. Jay Tea says:

    Call bullshit all you want, Quaker, that doesn’t change the fact that years before Obama spouted his rhetoric about “will we lift the child in Bangladesh from poverty?,” John McCain had done precisely that with one child — two, if you count the second one Cindy McCain brought along and was adopted by a McCain aide.

    I wrote a whole piece about how Obama seems to match up his empty rhetoric with the actual deeds of his Republican adversaries. He said we should make our children learn Spanish; George W. Bush speaks it (and, I believe, Obama doesn’t speak any foreign languages). He said we need to be more responsible about energy use; Bush’s Crawford ranch has some of the best environmentally-sound engineering available. Obama talked about saving children in Bangladesh; McCain did just that. Obama said we should do more to help those less fortunate; McCain gives, on average, four times as much (as a percentage of income) as Obama does over the last couple of years.

    You know, I’m starting to think that Oliver is actually an agent of Karl Rove’s. Whose genius idea was it to attack McCain over the details of his adopting his daughter, and the finer details of his experience as a prisoner of war? Who thought it would be a winning Democratic strategy to remind voters that McCain spent years as a prisoner of war AND adopted a Bangladeshi child with birth defects?

    GREAT strategy there. It’s even dumber than pointing out his age — that’ll go over fantastically with elderly voters, who have some of the highest turnouts.

    J.

  14. Jay Tea says:

    Oh, and if you’re looking for substantive discussion of real issues, just hop around the main page here, Quaker. If you don’t feel like discussing Cindy McCain’s adoptive history and family ties, then you can talk about whether or not Hawaii has private beaches (I hear it doesn’t), John and Cindy McCain’s real estate holdings (seven articles from our host and counting), and other issues critical to today’s voter.

    J.

  15. Don’t you have anything better to do than to tell people how to write their own blog? Seriously, all day every day with the duh.

  16. Southern Quaker says:

    Are you advocating that Americans go over to Bangladesh en masse and start adopting poor children? Because I don’t see how McCain’s actions 17 years ago address conditions in the third world today. Your snarky remarks tying it in to Obama’s Berlin speech are even more egregiously irrelevant than McCain using it to score points with his pro-life audience.

    And Oliver’s website is obviously a partisan political blog, in which he invites us to discuss the issues he’s finds interesting. Don’t like it? Go away.

  17. Southern Quaker says:

    *gah*

    And Oliver’s site is an obviously partisan blog, in which he invites us to discuss the issues he finds interesting.

    (OW, love ya, but hate the lack of preview and tiny type in the comment window)

  18. Jay Tea says:

    Oliver, I’m a giving sort. I go where I’m needed.

    Seriously… have you thought about discussing the Somali Muslim from Canada who was found dead in a Denver hotel with a pound of cyanide earlier this week? I’m three-quarters convinced the guy was planning on attacking the Democratic National Convention, and for all the sparring I do with your crowd, that scares the hell out of me. I mean, I give your guys all kinds of crap, but that’s “in the family” stuff.

    J.

  19. juhar says:

    Jay Tea: “To me, twenty bucks towards a good cause seemed an easy way to claim moral high ground over Obama, who pledged his support a couple of years ago and hasn’t coughed up one penny.”

    Bullshit. Twenty bucks does not make high ground. The homeless can come up with a twenty in a flood and it won’t take them to high ground either.

    No wonder you defend the shameless shallow all-for-show McCain. I’m still waiting for the McCains to explain why they couldn’t afford the other kid they left behind.

    As Arethea Franklin sang “Ain’t No Way” – Ain’t No Way Jay Tea can get me to believe he sent twenty dollars to an African School with OBAMA’s name on it. Ain’t No Way.

    This is a concept that I’m sure showboats fakes like Jay Tea and the John McCains haven’t heard of, its called an anonymous contribution. This occurs when people give from the heart and do so without any thought to be acknowledged or gain benefit or recognition (and high ground above others).

  20. Jay Tea says:

    Nice little setup, juhar. If I try to answer your bit about anonymous contributions, I nullify the whole concept.

    But it’s simple:

    1) I publicly said I would make a donation to the Senator Obama Kogelo Secondary School.

    2) I have publicly given the date and amount of the donation I made.

    3) I have given the web site where others can make their own donations.

    I’d offer more evidence, but that should be enough for most reasonable people. I doubt anything would prove sufficient to you, so I’m not even gonna try.

    Like I said, I like being able to say that I’ve done more to support the Senator Obama Kogelo Secondary School than Senator Obama has, and I didn’t even make a promise to do so like he did.

    And that’s even more important than whether or not I did kick in a few bucks — Obama made the promise and hasn’t even tried to keep it. Your obsessing on whether or not I tossed a few bucks to them gives you a great excuse to NOT mention Obama’s lies to the school.

    Not too bad. A bit transparent, but not too shabbby a ploy.

    J.

  21. juhar says:

    Jay Tea,

    I don’t want to be a bit transparent but perfectly clear. I don’t believe in a high ground that can be obtained with twenty bucks or someone that would put that much effort into a meaningless stance. My believing is only as important as my one vote.

    However, Cindy McCain’s adoption story is an indication of her character or a possible attempt to elevate herself to a high ground that is purchased with omissions and deceptions.

    Regardless of motives adopting a child and caring for that child, which all indications show that Cindy McCain has done so, is admirable. Children come with love and bring love.

    The issue is the political use of Cindy McCain’s adoption story and the political use of Mother Theresa’s name in a McCain made for media fairytale.

    Some of us, not on your high ground, want to know more. What happened to the other child Cindy McCain brought with her? Why was he or she left behind? Will Cindy McCain adopt invisible siblings in the future?

  22. Jay says:

    This is a concept that I’m sure showboats fakes like Jay Tea and the John McCains haven’t heard of, its called an anonymous contribution. This occurs when people give from the heart and do so without any thought to be acknowledged or gain benefit or recognition (and high ground above others).

    Juhar it’s nice that you can paraphrase Matthew 6:3, but unfortunately, it is not a practice heeded by Democrats and the left, especially in the political realm. They measure “caring” in how many tax dollars they want to spend on various government programs for the poor. It doesn’t matter if somebody with money gives a lot of that money away to local churches and charities. If that person feels he’s paying too much in taxes, then he’s just being “greedy.” To the left, how much you care is measured only by what government programs you support and how high you want to increase taxes. “Oh, I support this new program and my opponent doesn’t! I care and he doesn’t! I’m such a caring person and he’s not! I want the rich to pay “their fair share” and my opponent doesn’t want them to! He and his supporters are greedy!”

    It doesn’t matter if that policy is sound or not. It doesn’t matter if somebody is already paying nearly 40% of the total earnings in taxes. If you’re opposed to it, then you’re automatically attacked by the left as somebody that’s against the children, the elderly, the poor, etc. The left does exactly what you say they shouldn’t be doing. They do it for acknowledgment (Supporters running around saying, “Look how much so and so cares!”), to gain benefit (politically against their opponents), and recognition (“Look how much I care and my opponent doesn’t!”).

  23. Jay Tea says:

    Juhar, as has been pointed out numerous times, NONE of the stories that Cindy McCain actually met Mother Theresa in Bangladesh involve actual quotes from either McCain. Their stories have been consistent; it’s the paraphrases and narratives by others that have introduced the personal meeting.

    And as you say, it’s the act that matters most, not the despicable spin over such an act of profound charity that Oliver and the rest are heaping on Mrs. McCain.

    As far as the “anonymous” thing… I’m perfectly willing to forgo whatever benefits might accrue for that in exchange for the chance to shame Senator Obama into keeping his promise to the school.

    Oh, I forgot. He’s a Democrat, straight out of the Chicago political machine. “Shame” is a foreign concept to him.

    Well, it’s still twenty bucks better spent than I would have otherwise spent it.

    J.

  24. juhar says:

    Jay Tea,

    I was not paraphrasing Matthew 6:3. However, after reading the the sixth chapter of Matthew, I don’t believe my comments about anonymous contributions in context paraphrase Matthew 6:3.

    The current issue of this post is about Cindy McCain’s adoption story. Why can’t Republicans stick to the issues at hand whether its in the right hand or the left hand. Could it be that Republicans’ high ground is as shaky and shallow as Hell.

  25. juhar says:

    The issue is Cindy McCain’s adoption story. Your issue is that you can’t cover over the many McCain flaws with anything OBAMA.

  26. Jay Tea says:

    Fair enough, Juhar. So show us a time Cindy McCain was directly quoted saying she personally received her daughter from Mother Theresa. As pointed out above, all the citations are from people recounting the story, not from the McCains themselves. They’ve been consistent — Cindy McCain visited a clinic established by Mother Theresa, was given two infants by the clinic’s director, brought them back to the US, adopted one, and arranged for a McCain staffer to adopt the other. The “directly from Mother Theresa” has been added by others.

    It’s kind of like the “John McCain crashed five planes” bullshit. Yes, McCain was involved in five aircraft incidents, but he did not lose them all through incompetence. Two in training accidents, a third damaged but landed safely after hitting power lines (clearly pilot error there), one blown up under him while the plane was strapped to the flight deck, and one shot down when he chose to ignore warning alarms that he was targeted by a missile and continued his bombing run — putting the mission ahead of his own safety.

    So of the five, we have one that is clearly his fault (the power lines), one that was clearly not (the flight deck disaster that ended up claiming over 100 lives on the USS Forrestal), two that are disputable (engine flameouts can be pilot error or mechanical failure), and one that can often be called heroic (“I’m going to drop these bombs right where I’m ordered to, incoming fire be damned”). But that’s spun into “McCain was such an incompetent pilot, he crashed five planes.” True or not, it’s not supported by the evidence.

    But as I said, keep drawing people’s attention to John McCain’s military service and Cindy McCain’s rescuing a Bangladeshi baby born with severe birth defects. That’s SUCH a winner right there, keeping those two elements front and center. It’s the equivalent of the “Barack HUSSEIN Obama” dumbassery — in the end, it makes the attackers look like the assholes they are and the attacked figure in question more sympathetic.

    J.

  27. juhar says:

    Jay Tea, I’m waiting for the McCain Campaign to clarify the Cindy McCain adoption story.

    I am interested in knowing Cindy McCain as a woman who chooses not to acknowledge two sisters and chooses between two sick babies at the airport and make one her own and not the other.

    The more John McCain and his campaign speak on issues, the less I believe. The prisoner of war story when the guard (or “gook” as John McCain would identify him) making a cross with his foot, stick or whatever on Christmas Day for John McCain is not easily believed. However, some unbelievable things have happened to me that others would find questionable if they didn’t know me.

    I’m trying to get to know the McCains on a more personal level. False and misleading statements in his ads don’t help.

  28. Jay Tea says:

    juhar, tell you what: I’ll talk about Cindy McCain’s half-sister when Barack Obama talks about his half-brother, living practically homeless in a slum in Africa. And as far as “only” adopting one baby — the other was adopted by a McCain staffer; what’s your problem with that? For all we know, if the staffer had not offered to take the second baby, the McCains would have kept both. Instead, both found good homes with parents who loved and cherished them and raised them as their own. Sounds just fine with me.

    But I repeat, because obviously you missed it the first time: Not a single story has EVER directly quoted John or Cindy McCain saying that she met Mother Theresa at the clinic in Bangladesh. Others have said that, and it’s easily understood: Cindy spoke of “Mother Theresa’s clinic” and “the director,” so it’s an easy-enough mistake to blend the two together.

    What’s for them to clarify? They’ve been entirely consistent. Cindy McCain (who has done a tremendous amount of charitable works) went to a clinic in Bangladesh founded by Mother Theresa. There, she was presented with two orphans — at least one with serious birth defects. She brought them both back to the United States, where she and her husband adopted one and a trusted aide and his wife adopted the other.

    That’s the sort of thing that should be lauded. Instead, it’s perverted into something sordid purely for the sake of political gain by hyperpartisan scumbags.

    Of course, the real victim here is Bridget McCain. Every detail of this young woman’s early life is now fodder for assholes and rabid attack dogs. But as long as it hurts her adopted father, it’s all in a good cause and OK.

    I’m reminded of when John Roberts was nominated for the Supreme Court. The New York Times actually tried to unseal the adoption records for his son, on the theory that “there just might be something shameful there.” Good god, is there no depth that they will not sink to?

    J.

  29. aw says:

    That’s the sort of thing that should be lauded. Instead, it’s perverted into something sordid purely for the sake of political gain by hyperpartisan scumbags.

    … said the hyperpartisan scumbag who devoted most of his waking life to keeping his website full of hyperpartisan scum.

  30. aw says:

    Good god, is there no depth that they will not sink to?

    You mean like diggin up parking tickets?

    Love the hammy delivery, by the way. “Good gracious Lo-o-o-rd almighty, is there no depth? is there? to which they will not ESS EYE ENN KAY???? (sobs into hanky)” Your pecksniffery makes my bad language look good in comparison.

  31. Southern Quaker says:

    But as I said, keep drawing people’s attention to John McCain’s military service and Cindy McCain’s rescuing a Bangladeshi baby born with severe birth defects.

    It’s the McCain campaign that continues to hype these two stories, in spite of the fact that they are both completely irrelevant to any discussion of what we as a nation need to do today. It speaks to how shallow his campaign has become – it’s not about issues any more, it’s about twenty year-old stories that paint McCain as a hero and all around swell guy. The obvious conclusion is that McCain is going to lose on the issues, and these two stories are all he’s got.

  32. juhar says:

    Jay Tea, Obama has two brothers (hate the term half brothers). He wrote about them in his first book Dreams From My Father. But Obama can’t be responsible for every Obama and school in Kenya.

    Tell me more about Cindy McCain’s Adoption story. Was the adoption legal? Where can I find more about the staffer adopting the other child.

    Was the adoption legal is a legitimate question. Did the McCains use their influence in the adoption?

  33. Jay Tea says:

    Do your own homework, jufar. Don’t expect others to do your muck-raking for you.

    Congrats at not swearing, aw. Definitely a step up. Now if you can mov beyond frothing generalizations, you’ll be a bit closer to acting like an adult. It’s still a long walk for you, but just keep saying “I think I can, I think I can…”

    Quaker, that’s odd. I’ve heard quite a bit about McCain other than his military career. Things such as warning about Putin’s aggressiveness and the danger of a resurgent Russia for a few years, his pushing for the surge in Iraq back before it was even brought to the Senate… oddly enough, though, it’s his not knowing instantly how many homes (both residential and investment) he and his wife (well, more accurately, his wife) own that seems to be the main focus of late.

    J.

  34. aw says:

    Congrats at not swearing, aw. Definitely a step up. Now if you can mov beyond frothing generalizations, you’ll be a bit closer to acting like an adult.

    Thanks, you brainless prick!

    Now, can you see how whining about “arrogance” while being “arrogant” yourself and “hyperpartisanship” while being “hyperpartisan” yourself makes you a dumb-dumb? Take your time, baby steps! No more frothing, remember!

  35. juhar says:

    Jay Tea, Did my own research and I can’t believe what I am reading about Cindy McCain. I love most how Cindy McCain explained to her daughter Bridget, how the President of the United States (Bush) said all those wrong things about her (John’s biological daughter with a black woman). Now I have more questions than answers.

    How heroic, Cindy McCain banging her fist on the desk of the minister of health and demanding that she leave with these children immediately to catch her flight to America and the minister signing the medical visas. How dare he try to stop the rich heiress Cindy McCain married to a US senator from leaving the country without any paperwork on these infant girls?

    Evidently, drugged out of her mind, Cindy McCain thought she was Mother Theresa giving away the other child at the airport for adoption according to the staffer, Wes Gullett, and taking the other child as her own when both children left the country on medical visas ONLY?

    Now I have more questions than answers. Did the staffer get the most seriously ill child with the heart condition because it was too much for the “drug addicted Cindy McCain? How nice that Mr. Gullett never saw a hospital bill for his adopted daughter or any red tape to the adoption. Did the McCain’s pay both adoption fees?

  36. Jay says:

    It speaks to how shallow his campaign has become

    Obama’s campaign has become shallow. Ads on McCain’s houses?

    That’s as deep as a puddle.

  37. Yes, and it was very high minded to compare Obama to Paris Hilton. You guys are just used to Dems taking it on the chin you’re honestly shocked when someone countermoves.

  38. Jay Tea says:

    Shallower than that, Jay.

    Shallower than Obama’s list of acccomplishments.

    Shallower than Obama’s ability to speak extemporaneously.

    Shallower than his excuses for killing the Born Alive Infant Protection Act.

    Shallower than his dedication to his church.

    Shallower than his legislative record.

    Shallower than the available records from his tenure at the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

    Shallower than… eh, that’s enough for now.

    J.

  39. daniel rotter says:

    “Ad’s on McCain’s houses”?

    Ads on comparing Obama to Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears?

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