Vicki Iseman

E.J. Dionne has an excellent piece over at The New Republic. He points out that the New York Times was a little careless in possibly trying to paint a picture that McCain and Iseman had some sort of sexual relationship, but that it still does point out his deep involvement with lobbyists. McCain's own denials since this story first emerged has also lead him into more trouble.

Marcy is going full force into the whole McCain story and keeps finding more dirt on the "Maverick".

Not only do we have McCain himself contradicting his defense, now we got another person involved doing so:

Broadcaster Lowell "Bud" Paxson yesterday contradicted statements from Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign that the senator did not meet with Paxson or his lobbyist before sending two controversial letters to the Federal Communications Commission on Paxson's behalf.

Paxson said he talked with McCain in his Washington office several weeks before the Arizona Republican wrote the letters in 1999 to the FCC urging a rapid decision on Paxson's quest to acquire a Pittsburgh television station.

Paxson also recalled that his lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, likely attended the meeting in McCain's office and that Iseman helped arrange the meeting. "Was Vicki there? Probably," Paxson said in an interview with The Washington Post yesterday. "The woman was a professional. She was good. She could get us meetings."

So the New York Times article as an apparent "hit job", yet McCain is lying to defend himself? So far no one has proved the NYT article lied, but now we are getting tons of proof that McCain has lied. Can we now stop with this meme of the article being a hit job unless McCain is willing to be honest with the people?

On Wednesday night McCain issued a statement saying this:

"No representative of Paxson or Alcalde & Fay personally asked Senator McCain to send a letter to the FCC," the campaign said in a statement e-mailed to reporters.

However 5 years ago in a sworn deposition:

But that flat claim seems to be contradicted by an impeccable source: McCain himself. "I was contacted by Mr. Paxson on this issue," McCain said in the Sept. 25, 2002, deposition obtained by NEWSWEEK. "He wanted their approval very bad for purposes of his business. I believe that Mr. Paxson had a legitimate complaint."

So did McCain's campaign lie or did McCain perjure himself?

Check out the full article at Newsweek.

Marcy has dug up some interesting history and raises some very good questions about a possible connection in the 2004 election.

Really - this isn't hot:

When I look at her, I am reminded of Geri from the Facts of Life:

And to Geri's defense, she did suffer from Cerebral Palsy. What's Iseman's excuse?