John McCain and the Mob

Back in the seventies, investigative reporting was all the rage. Every ambitious reporter wanted to be another Carl Bernstein or Bob Woodward. While doggedly going after political hacks, and politicians on the take, can have some unpleasant repercussions, only the most daring or stupid stick their nose into mob business.

Don Bolles was one of those intrepid reporters.

He was hired by the Arizona Republic and started looking into the wise guys who had discovered the fine weather, and lack of intense official heat, in the free wheeling desert frontier of Arizona.

In 1976 Bolles started writing a series of articles linking some well known Arizonians with organized crime, including a guy named Kemper Marley.

At the very least, when doing this kind of reporting, an investigative journalist should check under his hood before turning the ignition. Don Bolles was either naive or lazy, but one day a car bomb went off, and Bolles was no longer a problem for those whom he was tattling on, though he did become a martyr in the world of journalism.

Five years later war hero John McCain, after getting a divorce from former model Carol Shepp (who in an auto accident had been disfigured, lost four inches in height and become a fattie), arrived in Phoenix with the stunning Cindy Hensley, daughter of John Hensley, on his arm.

Honest John had definitely married up. She was not only beautiful, but wealthy..

McCain's father-in-law owned the largest Anheuser-Bush Distributorship in Arizona. And it was this fortune , as well as the business connections, which made the former POW's political ambitions a reality.

But John Hensley was more than just a merchant of brew.. He got his start as a henchman for Kemper Marley , who for decades was the political boss of Arizona. Marley was also the protege of Meyer Lanksy's lieutenant, Gus Greenbaum, who ran the gambling rackets in Phoenix.

However, Greenbaum was bigger than that. After Bugsy Siegel was whacked, Greenbaum took over operation of the Lanksy properties in Vegas.

In 1958 there was a hit on Greenbaum, and it set off gang warfare in Phoenix, LA and Vegas. As a result a number of folks were arrested on various charges, including John McCain's father-in-law, John Hensley.

Hensley took a fall for Marley, and when released from the Big House, was rewarded with the beer distributorship.

The Hensley fortune financed McCain's political career. Not to mention he could not have even gotten a hack job, without the backing of Kemper Marley.

Of course, none of this is a mark against McCain. There is no indication he is in the pocket of wise guys.

However, anyone with any type of connection to Meyer Lansky, could never have gotten the support of Jimmy Hoffa's son, even if the Teamsters had not been brought back into the Democratic fold, after being gutted and reorganized by the feds.

And while no candidate would want the endorsement of Fidel Castro, it is interesting that ex el presidente, who has plenty of first hand experience with attempted mob hits, commented a couple weeks ago that “McCain is an anti-Cuba Mafia instrument.”

Just like John Kennedy, the bootlegger's son, was, until double-crossing them, an anti-Cuba Mafia instrument, the fact that McCain has similar ties is not necessarily a bad thing.

But, it is something voters should know.