Every man for himself

So Gov. Blowhard has gone from "I wouldn't know this guy if I fell over him," to dishing dirt on David Wildstein from all the way back to high school. Politico short lists the 5 Reasons Wildstein's Bombshell is a Bomb but better you should read the entire email Christie blasted to friends and allies at TPM who tells us:

Christie's office attacked the New York Times's portrayal of the revelations, reasserted Christie's truthfulness in the past and attacked the credibility of the official, David Wildstein, whose attorney claimed that “evidence exists as well tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what" Christie said in a January press conference.

"Bottom line - David Wildstein will do and say anything to save David Wildstein," the email concludes.

As opposed to the totally innocent bystander Mister Governor Christie who, according to the twitter, has only changed his story four times so far. [Image via The Reaction]

Many rivers to cross for Christie

While I continue to think Christie's bridge scandal will ultimately lead nowhere, the story has a lot longer legs than I first anticipated. The hundreds of pages of documents will keep the media busy for at least a couple of weeks and if it turns out the lane closures were illegal somebody could get indicted. It could become a enduring scandal of his administration. But hell, we're talking about Jersey. Politicians and their operatives are always getting caught in scandals. It's part of the fabric of life in The Garden State.

Everybody who's not a gullible, hardcore conservative knows Christie was lying his face off in that two hour pity party of a presser. Nonetheless, absent irrefutable evidence Gov. Blowhard knew about the plan to bring a little traffic trouble to Fort Lee, the story won't last into February. That's almost two years from 2016. As long as no one can prove he lied, he can brazen his way through this and come out ahead on name recognition. He's complicated the journey, but I'm not writing him off the campaign trail just yet.

Christie's bridge scandal leads nowhere

Josh joined the chorus singing a dirge for Chris Christie in the wake of emails released today showing Gov. Blowhard's top aides were involved in creating that massive traffic jam in New Jersey simply for petty political payback. Lot of internet pundits seem to think this is the death knell for Christie's 2016 hopes. I'm not seeing it.

This kind of juvenile ratfuckery is exactly the sort of thing that thrills the crackpot con base. He pissed off a librul Democratic mayor and most of the base considers New Jersey just another outpost of east coast elites. If anything, it's going to raise his ratings with that crowd. If they're even following the story. Unless you use the George Washington Bridge, chances are you don't care if there's another traffic jam in Joisey. Nothing ties our Gov. Blowhard to it directly. A few more people will resign and no one will even remember it in a few weeks.

Steve M thinks what is really going to kill Christie's candidacy is his embrace of a DREAM act that was recently passed in his state. Granted, this will give the crackpots some pause because they hates those illegals but the GOP's biggest problem right now is the loss of the Hispanic vote. Crackpots alone are not enough and for all the noise they make, they're still going to vote for the Republican over the Dimmocrat. Doesn't matter who it is. It's possible Christie will be able to win over enough Hispanic voters to make a difference by supporting immigration reform.

I would love to see something quash Christie's chance to run. I'm just not seeing it yet. Unlike many, I don't want him to run just because it will make such an entertaining contest. The man is dangerous. He could actually win. He would make the worst President ever.

Addendum: Case in point.

@CNN @jaketapper acting like lane closures is a big deal. Who cares? Don't u have anything better 2 talk about? No one cares if it's true.

— J Knight (@J_KnightNY) January 8, 2014

Monsignor Meth

Rather refreshing to see a Catholic church sex scandal that isn't about pedophilia. This one is consensual activity between adults all the way. Cross-dressing meth priest liked sex in rectory:

The Catholic priest busted for allegedly dealing crystal meth was suspended after church officials discovered he was a cross-dresser who was having sex in the rectory at Bridgeport's St. Augustine Cathedral. [...]

In his post-priesthood, Wallin, 61, bought an adult specialty and video store in North Haven called Land of Oz that sells sex toys and X-rated DVDs. Investigators believe the shop helped him launder thousands of dollars in weekly profits. [...]

While pastor of St. Augustine's, sources said he often disappeared for days at a time; and rectory personnel became concerned and notified diocese officials when Wallin, sometimes dressed as a woman, would entertain odd-looking men, some who were also dressed in women's clothing and engaging in sex acts.

In addition, diocese officials found bizarre sex toys in Wallin's residence, the sources said.

Diocese officials consulted lawyers about the situation and were assured none of Wallin's behavior appeared illegal.

As far as I know, the Vatican has not issued a statement. However, the Diocese is asking the parishioners to pray for his soul, saying he has "difficult days ahead for him." Possibly the understatement of the year.

Shocked, shocked to find that illicit sex is going on in here

The Petraeus "sex scandal" had exploded. Rumor and conspiracy theories abound. However, it does appear the other woman is Paula Broadwell, author of the unfortunately entitled biography All In.

Twitter is snarking: Ah the classic spurned lover tries to hack your email, except you're the director of the CIA, so the FBI notices, gambit.

Looking at this photo, I suspect that may well turn out to be the story. I see an older guy giddy from the attention from a young, attractive, adoring fan girl.

[photo via Steve Hynd and emptywheel]

It's not impossible that there's some dark nefarious plot going on I guess, but lust makes people do crazy things. I'm inclined to go with Occam's razor on this one. I mean, who doesn't know of any otherwise happily married people who were thrust into close proximity for professional reasons and succumbed to sexual attraction?

One thing is certain. The CEOs of Lockheed and Waffle House are really glad Petraeus is taking the spotlight off their own sex scandals which were mysteriously revealed within an hour of his. Brings a whole new meaning to Friday news dump.

Update: So it appears this came out because Paula tried to access his email. They say no criminal charges pending, so I'm sticking with the lust makes you crazy theory and thinking she was just trying to check up on him.

Meanwhile, she's from Charlotte so the local news guy was parked outside her house. Nobody home but they showed a chalk drawing on the driveway that said, "Dad loves Mom." With hearts around it. Sad.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Petraeus resigns over affair

Few details but just now, CIA head David Petraeus resigned because of an extra-martial affair. All the smart people are saying he had to do it because, blackmail. Not sure how that works once the affair has been admitted. What leverage does the rejected lover have once it's made public?

Always being the outlier, I'm not a fan of his at all, but I find it hard to believe he would compromise national security for sex. Think it's more likely he had a fling with a younger woman, because that's what men so often do at that stage of marriage, and wants to spare his wife and family the media circus which would be relentless if he held on to the job. This way, since it appears he's leaving immediately, the media will lose interest in a couple of days once they tease out what few prurient details they can. 

[cross posted at The Reaction]

Bombshell video of Romney fundraiser

This hidden camera video of a high dollar Romney fundraiser is like the October surprise in September:

Here was Romney raw and unplugged—sort of unscripted. With this crowd of fellow millionaires, he apparently felt free to utter what he really believes and would never dare say out in the open. He displayed a high degree of disgust for nearly half of his fellow citizens, lumping all Obama voters into a mass of shiftless moochers who don't contribute much, if anything, to society, and he indicated that he viewed the election as a battle between strivers (such as himself and the donors before him) and parasitic free-riders who lack character, fortitude, and initiative. Yet Romney explained to his patrons that he could not speak such harsh words about Obama in public, lest he insult those independent voters who sided with Obama in 2008 and whom he desperately needs in this election. These were sentiments not to be shared with the voters; it was inside information, available only to the select few who had paid for the privilege of experiencing the real Romney.

Huge authenticated video. Apparently encompasses Unfit Mitt's entire speech, broken up into segments. This is first one where Romney tells his patrons what he really thinks about the little people. You know, the moochers who live off the "job creators."



This line is the tell: "[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

"Those people," meaning "us people."

I'm trying to figure out why this was leaked now. It was obviously done by someone who could afford the high price tag to attend. I'm thinking Unfit Mitt finally scared the big dollar donors with his botched response to the Muslim protests. Most of these people likely aren't neocons. They don't want another war, they just want their tax burden reduced to even further less than zero. Guessing they're realizing the tradeoff between Mitt's incompentency to hold the office and the extra money in their pocket isn't worth it.

Must read the whole thing is overused these days, but this time it's really true. Read it all. Watch all the videos. And disseminate widely. So stunning I'm guessing the very ground in Boston must be shaking from the mass panic.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Unlearned lessons of Watergate

I missed the 40 year anniversary yesterday but Charlie has it covered. He's right. We didn't learn the lessons of Watergate. Memories fade. Vigilance wanes. So then we had Iran-Contra.

We didn't learn the lessons of Iran-Contra either. Half the criminals of that unpunished exercise in deceit and corruption resurfaced again as Czars in Bush the Younger's administration. The Very Important Punditry never mentioned the connection. So awkward and impolite to speak of the peccadilloes of the past.

History repeats itself. [Mandatory soundtrack from Natural Born Killers.]

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Simply unconventional

The internets do love a scandal. Everybody wants the drip drop on Herman Cain. The question of the moment being, "Who leaked the Cain harassment story?" Speculation abounds. I appear to be the only one thinking Cain did it himself.

Think about it. He may play an ignoramus to entertain the base, but you don't get as far as he has in life by being stupid. And you don't have to be book smart to be a master manipulator able to fleece the rubes out of donations. See: Palin, Sarah.

Cain knows the story is out there so he's watching for trouble. He gets wind the story is going to break. Why wouldn't he break it himself? Then he controls the message. He can blame his opponents for leaking it to hurt him because they fear his righteous rightness. His loyal base doesn't believe sex harassment even exists so he raises big grass roots money on "Herman being Herman." And. Who's been winning the newscycle for the three days and counting?

Meanwhile, you see anybody talking about Mr. Cain's campaign violations? It's a whisper, almost unheard in the cacophony of speculation over the sex story. His apparent cluelessness about China's nuclear warhead arsenal barely blipped across the media radar screen.

And today, his opponents are all furiously denying being the leakers, pointing fingers at each other, while the rubes are pouring money into Cain's campaign coffer. To paraphrase the old saw, unconventional like a fox.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

No, Vitter should not resign

I understand the irritation with the double standard and the hypocrisy, but Steve Weinstein is right. This outcry on the left for the resignations of GOPers who have been in sex scandals is not helping. As Steve says:

But there is a reason some wise person named Mahatma once said: An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Blind serves the GOP as they goose step about demolishing Planned Parenthood and unions, plundering jobs and any hopes for the survivability of an American middle class. The more they can saturate the airwaves with noise about penises and diapers, the easier it is for them to murder everything liberals hold dear.

And beyond the distraction factor, the remaining question is, are liberals really willing to act as proxy theocrats? Are they really willing to condemn non-harmful sexual conduct between consenting adults because it's a political opponent commiting the act? Not seeing how that's so different from what Bretibart and the fundies are doing.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

What to do about this Weiner now

Unexpectedly took the day off for a little trip to the mountains yesterday. Crashed out early after all that fresh air and boat riding. Have to deal with car stuff this morning, so I'm outsourcing my first post of the day to Mistermix who says Weiner should stay put. I'll give you the lede and the closer but I agree with his whole post.

I’ll leave the higher moral questions of whether Anthony Weiner should resign to the fainting couch brigade, but the politics are dirt simple. Weiner should remain in his seat until the next general election. [...]

Weiner didn’t do anything that will merit more than a slap on the wrist from the House Ethics committee, and whatever national political damage he could do has already been done. He needs to stay in his seat, turn off his Blackberry, and ride out the next year so that Democrats can hold NY-9.

Do read the middle at the link for his cogent explanation of why this is would be the best outcome.

Sex scandals

Unless there's some illegal activity involved, say paying for it with taxpayer's money, I'm generally not that interested in political sex scandals. I tend to think Americans make too much of a basic human drive. And every time there's a feeding frenzy over the latest incident, this springs to mind:

Is John Boehner the next John Edwards?

This story is supposed to be published by National Enquirer this week. First I've heard about it and I'm not convinced that evidence of Boehner's affair with a lobbyist would actually end his career. As we've seen time and time again, IOKIYAR.

I mean, it didn't permanently hurt McCain, Thune, Sanford, Newt or Vitter, just for starters while Edwards and Gary Hart suffered great damage. But I suppose it will serve as an amusing distraction if it's true. Can't wait to see the far right bloggers demand the "lamestream media" investigate these allegations. (Yeah, that last bit was a joke.)

The GOP's sex fetish

This is a new low in political ad smearing. A GOP ad digitally manipulates a still photo to make it appear the Democratic opponent is masturbating.



What is it with the GOP and sex anyway? From abortion to gay rights, they're always ogling our sex lives and wanting to dictate how and when people have sex. Yet the kinkiest sex scandals seem to be on their side of the fence. And the more holier than thou they are, the kinkier is gets.

The latest poster boy for "do as I say, not as I do" is of course George Alan Rekers, co-founder of the ultra-right, Christian based Family Research Council, who was caught coming off a plane with a young male prostitute at the conclusion of a long European vacation.

Rekers claims he had no idea the kid was a hooker and only hired the escort to lift his luggage, but as Joe.My.God points out, the Rentboy site where Rekers found his barely of legal age paramour is obviously a sex site. And if the kid was supposed to "lift his luggage," why was Rekers the one wheeling it through the airport?

I don't really care what the guy does in his sex life, but he's been a front line anti-gay warrior for years. It's the hypocrisy that rankles. And it's also clear that suppressing their sex drives is probably what makes GOPers and religious conservatives so effing crazy.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]

What goes around, comes around

Adding a little more context to some previous posts, it seems Sean Hannity said "his 'one mission' is to defeat Obama's agenda and all those who voted for it" shortly before the RNC used its mailing list to urge Republicans to buy a his book.

This would appear to be a case of bad timing on the RNC's part since today, CREW announced it filed an FTC complaint asking for an investigation into his Freedom concert charity scam that I posted about earlier. You'll recall that story was broken by Debbie Schlussel, who by the way showed up in the comments to defend her research. This on top of the Michael Steele lesbian bondage bar fiasco, is making for a very bad week for Republicans.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]

Another day, another GOPer groper

I suppose sexual misconduct by GOP leaders isn't really news anymore but this one hits close to home. A former chairman of the County GOP immediately appealed his conviction on two counts of sexual battery and assault on a female.

Clarence "Butch" Woodrow Bell Jr., 59, was arrested on the misdemeanor charges in April after a woman who cleaned the offices where he worked claimed he had inappropriate contact with her, Mooresville Police Chief Carl Robbins said.

Sexual battery a misdemeanor? And they wonder why violence against women is a problem? And boy did they throw the book at him.

Bell received a suspended sentence, which means probation instead of jail time, said Jonathan Friel, Forsyth County assistant district attorney.

However, the district court's sentence is vacated pending the appeal to Iredell County Superior Court, Friel said.

The guy is so well connected the local DAs in two counties had to recuse. The woman was reluctant to press charges thinking no one would believe her. I'm guessing the cross by the defense attorney during the trial was brutal too. If this is the big punishment for his crime, it seems to me this woman has been assaulted twice. First by the perp and then by our "justice" system.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]

Rove under fire after document dump

Too funny. You've proably heard by now that the House Judiciary Committee released thousands of pages of emails relative to the politicalized DOJ firings under the Bush White House. Karl Rove and Harriet Miers have both testified now. Word on Twitter is that Harriet threw Karl under the bus but that is probably just going to be icing on the schadenfreude cake. TPM has its readers digging into the document dump, or as the cool kids are calling it now, crowdsourcing, and already they came up with this gem.

In a January 2007 email, White House political director Sara Taylor wrote:

Prior is going after Griffin. He's made this his cause.... We need to find some folks to defend Tim and his credentials, not to mention our policy.

Your thoughts? Rich Lowry offered to help Tim

The best part? Taylor went on to ask: "Anyone better?"

That would be Rich Lowry of the National Review. The same guy who saw starbursts when Sarah Palin winked at him on his teevee during the primary debates.

Meanwhile, you almost have to admire Rove's bravado. On the heels of the release of the docs he tweeted, "I welcome release of HJC interviews & docs. Items speak for themselves." As I tweeted to him, "Why yes. Yes they do."

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]

Sex scandals

I'm beginning to think all these non-stop revelations of Republican's affairs is a deliberate shock & awe tactic to inure the public to sex scandals prior to the 2010 cycle of elections. They just keep on coming. The latest is yet another abstinence-only GOPer who admits sexing up a 22 year old intern. Comes with a tawdry backstory of domestic violence.

Meanwhile, yesterday's philanderer, Chip Pickering kept a diary of the details of his long term fling with a married woman. So far he's been able to use his family connections to keep it under seal but that could change during the court proceedings. Even juicier, his soon to be ex-wife says the diary names names of "several men who enabled his adulterous trysts and helped him cover his tracks." Not clear how many of them were residents of the C Street den of iniquity. But the real question is, how stupid do you have to be to keep a diary of an extramartial affair?

And new clues to the identity of the mysterious Governor X we heard about earlier. If we're to believe the shock jocks who interviewed the madame today, it's PA Gov. Ed Rendell. Of course that breaks the pattern since he's a Democrat. Maybe it's a bi-partisan strategy.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]

Dan Rather Was Right

As the saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold. And it looks like Rather will get his revenge. You've probably heard that his attorneys won a round and CBS was forced to release thousands of internal documents that are likely to reveal some ugly truths.

In fact, we learned that CBS was in full panic mode and was willing to take whatever step necessary to placate the right-wing fanatics frothing about Memogate. The picture painted by the CBS memos and documents already reviewed by Rather suggest a craven news organization that was less interested in uncovering the truth about the disputed memos, and more interested in appeasing Rush Limbaugh. It wanted to "mollify the right," as one internal CBS memo put it. [...]

And here's the kicker for the former Tiffany Network: Rather has vowed to never settle the case out of court.

That's the spirit Dan. This is a media scandal I'm going to thoroughly enjoy. Not that I expect it will get much MSM coverage, but it's a story that will get told without them. Maybe we'll even find out what really happened to Bush's missing National Guard records. [via Atrios]

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]

Hot stuff

The Daily News is basically a useless rag, but I have to give them credit, at least they're honest. They label their work gossip. And this could become a hot item if it's true.

Now the elegant blond courtesan, whom we'll continue to call "Annie," is talking about three "dates" she allegedly had with another state's chief executive, who we'll call Gov. X.

Feel free to speculate if you must. I'm in sex scandal burnout.

Speaking of burnout, neon signs are slowly disappearing from our collective landscape. Cosa tracks down some of the remaining lights in Honolulu in a lovely gallery of shots.

And if you're looking for that perfect Creative Commons graphic, idee is the place to be. They have three very cool search engines for photos, including this one that searches by color.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]