[Irvine]

Ninong my friend, You're way too preoccupied with the republican party and their hipocrisy, You have way too much free time.
should get a job writing for the Daily show with Jon Stewart or something
I mean, this whole forum should be re-named 'Ninongs critique of the GOP'.
And no, Im not a republican, Im not even American,....Im just sayin'.

[Ninong]

[Ninong]

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) thinks Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) should withdraw his announced resignation and stay in the Senate.

On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Specter said he thinks Larry Craig went down too easily. Specter thinks Craig has a good chance of beating this thing. He just needs to withdraw his guilty plea and then convince a jury that it's perfectly normal to stand three feet from the bathroom stall door for two or three minutes while peering in through the crack at the young law enforcement officer inside, all the while making strange motions with your hands and moving your gaze up and down. And once he explains that away, it should be easy to explain why his exceptionally wide stance caused him to accidentally rub his right foot up against the officer's left foot, after they had exchanged foot-tapping signals. And after he gets that out of the way, it should be easy to explain why he was swiping his left hand, palm up, back and forth under the stall divider for several seconds three different times.

Having successfully explained away all of that nonsense, he will then explain to the jury exactly what he meant when he told the arresting officer, "you were soliciting me" and "this is entrapment." And Johnny Cochran's dead, so he's going to have to find someone else to bamboozle the jury.

I hope Larry does withdraw his resignation. That would be hilarious.

[Ninong]

Answered Prayers???



Craig Reconsiders Decision to Resign

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Sen. Larry Craig is reconsidering his decision to resign after his arrest in a Minnesota airport sex sting and may still fight for his Senate seat, his spokesman said Tuesday evening.

"It's not such a foregone conclusion anymore, that the only thing he could do was resign," said Sidney Smith, Craig's spokesman in Idaho's capital.

"We're still preparing as if Senator Craig will resign Sept. 30, but the outcome of the legal case in Minnesota and the ethics investigation will have an impact on whether we're able to stay in the fight - and stay in the Senate."

Craig, a Republican who has represented Idaho in Congress for 27 years, announced Saturday that he intends to resign from the Senate on Sept. 30. But since then, he's hired a prominent lawyer to investigate the possibility of reversing his plea, his spokesman said.

Craig was a no-show Tuesday as Congress reconvened after a summer break and it wasn't clear whether he'll return at all since deciding to resign over his guilty plea in a sex sting this summer at the Minneapolis airport.

Another spokesman, Dan Whiting in Washington, said Tuesday that Craig was expected to spend the week in Idaho as the Senate votes on spending bills for veterans and other programs. Whiting did not rule out Craig's returning to Washington before the end of the month.



P.S. -- The more Larry Craig is in the spotlight, the more David Vitter's name will be mentioned. If only Larry Flynt would publish something really, really juicy on Vitter. It's all out there, it just has to be edited and confirmed and put in a form that can withstand a lawsuit from Vitter. The stuff on Vitter is so juicy, that it would force the GOP to kick him out immediately. Then we would need to get Louisiana's Democratic governor to hurry up and name a replacement while she's still in office. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, will almost certainly be elected governor. The only question remaining is whether he wins more than 50% of the vote in the October primary or whether he is forced into a November runoff. I'm talking about October 2007. Right now there are two main Republican candidates and two main Democratic candidates, plus a few hopeless cases. Actually, Jindal's lead in the polls is so great that it's a foregone conclusion that he will be the next governor and probably on the first ballot -- the October primary. We have stupid open primaries down here. Anybody can run. Usually there are 10 or 12 candidates for every open position, which usually means there will have to be a runoff four weeks after the first primary. It takes 50% plus one vote to win in the first primary.

Now that Tim Johnson is well enough to return to the Senate, the Democrats are up to full strength (51 if you count Little Joe Lieberman). But if we could get rid of Vitter and replace him with a Democrat, we could tell Lieberman to take a hike. Otherwise, Harry Reid has to continue playing nice with Lieberman until January 2009 because if Lieberman should switch to the GOP, the Senate would be split 50-50 and Cheney would cast the tie-breaking vote. I think the Democrats would still retain the chairs but all of the committees would be split 50-50. Then we would have to wait for January 2009, after we pick up a few more Senate seats, before we could tell Little Joe to get lost.

P.P.S. -- I like that picture of Larry Craig. It's a two-fer, if you get my drift. It has nothing to do with Craig's decision to reconsider his decision to resign from the Senate. That picture was taken just three days after Craig was "entrapped" in the Minneapolis Airport men's room due to his "wide stance" and fondness for tap-dancing while doing his business. Of course, Mitch McConnell didn't know that then. Or did he?

[Ninong]

Thank you, Arlen!

According to a late story in the Idaho Statesman, Larry Craig talked with Arlen Specter just before he gave his resignation press conference Saturday morning and it was Specter who convinced Craig to change the wording of his announcement to allow for him to change his mind in the event that he successfully beats the rap and is able to overturn his disorderly conduct conviction in Minneapolis.

This is so cool. Now the GOP leadership will be furious with both Craig and Specter! It doesn't get much better than this unless Larry Flynt suddenly outs another GOP senator for something or other.

[Ninong]

Bathroom Sex Senator Hires Vick's Lawyer

BOISE, Idaho -- Sen. Larry Craig says he may still fight for his Senate seat, a spokesman says -- if the lawmaker can clear his name with the Senate Ethics Committee and a Minnesota court where he pleaded guilty after his arrest in an airport men's room sex sting.

Since announcing Saturday he intended to resign on Sept. 30, the Republican lawmaker who has represented Idaho for 27 years has hired Michael Vick's lawyer to investigate the possibility of reversing his guilty plea.

P.S. -- I knew this was going to be fun. You don't even have to read the articles anymore. The headlines alone have enough schadenfreude to drown in.

[schrocat]

Incredible.

Specter has to be in deep **** right now.

I wonder what Craig had on him?

Did you see what White House tour "recipient" is releasing a new book soon?
Hint: Some say Rove might have left because of it.
But you and I both know those people are just... shrill

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by schrocat

Incredible.

Specter has to be in deep **** right now.

The best part is how it came out. Craig left a message for his attorney on the wrong phone and they released it. In the message, Craig explained how Specter had just called him to offer support and advise him to change his intended announcement to read that it was his "intent" to resign September 30th. It appears that Specter called Craig just minutes before Craig's Saturday morning announcement at the Boise Depot train station (outside the station, not in the men's room). And then Specter went on the Sunday morning talk shows to express his support for Craig.

I would love to have seen Mitch McConnell's face when he saw Specter on TV advising Craig to hang in there and retract his resignation.

The GOP leadership sure was quick to throw Craig under the bus. In fact, they hit him with the bus. Gee, I wonder why? Could it be that this is one topic the GOP leadership (wink, wink) is supersensitive about? I wonder who will be next?

Did you see what White House tour "recipient" is releasing a new book soon?
Hint: Some say Rove might have left because of it.
But you and I both know those people are just... shrill

Does JimmyJeff have another book coming out? Or are you talking about a different White House overnight guest? So many guys have been through Rove's debriefing sessions that I'm not sure which one you're thinking of???

P.S. -- Here's a transcript of the voicemail message Larry Craig left for his attorney, Billy Martin, but on somebody else's phone:

"Yes, Billy, this is Larry Craig calling. You can reach me on my cell. Arlen Specter is now willing to come out in my defense, arguing that it appears by all that he knows that I have been railroaded and all that.

"Having all of that, we have reshaped my statement a little bit to say it is my intent to resign on Sept. 30. I think it is important for you to make as bold a statement as you are comfortable with this afternoon, and I would hope you could make it in front of the cameras.

"I think it would help drive the story that I’m willing to fight, that I’ve got quality people out there fighting in my defense, and that this thing could take a new turn or a new shape, it has that potential. Anyway, give me a buzz or give Mike a buzz on that. We’re headed to my press conference now. "Thank you. Bye."

Or you can listen to the actual voicemail message on Roll Call here: Craig's voicemail to the wrong number,

[Ninong]

Bill Maher was on Hardball yesterday and Chris Matthews asked him about Larry Craig: here.

[Ninong]

Democrats continue to maintain radio silence

There is nothing the Democrats can say that could possibly make things any worse for the Republicans right now. The Republicans are doing a masterful job of making matters worse and the Democrats are wisely just sitting back and enjoying the show.

We now know that when Sen. Larry Craig appeared at the Boise Depot train station last Saturday morning to plead not-gay, he had already made up his mind to fight the charges in Minneapolis and try to retain his seat in the Senate, which is why he emphatically said it was his intent to resign September 30th.

Having Craig's voicemail message to his attorney end up on the wrong person's cell phone was an unexpected gift from heaven for the Democrats. This was almost as good as hearing Craig tell the cop "you solicited me" over and over again for four or five days straight.

Now, all of a sudden, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), is coming to Larry Craig's defense. Sen. Stevens doesn't think the Senate Ethics Committee has any business investigating Craig for a minor disorderly conduct conviction. Gee, I wonder why Ted Stevens is concerned about the minimum requirements for an Ethics Committee investigation? Methinks there are a lot of other senators who may be having second thoughts about referring Craig's conduct to the Ethics Committee for a formal investigation. And it was the Republican leadership that asked the Ethics Committee to open an investigation.

So, let's see, what do we wish for next? How about Sen. Larry Craig showing up in the Senate next week to hear Gen. Petraeus and Amb. Crocker deliver their "report" on the situation in Iraq? Yes, I think that would be nice. Think of the media zoo once Craig shows up in Washington? Talk about raining on the administration's surge parade!

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by schrocat

Did you see what White House tour "recipient" is releasing a new book soon?
Hint: Some say Rove might have left because of it.
But you and I both know those people are just... shrill

Dude, I'm still waiting for you to tell me which book you're talking about. JimmyJeff had another book that came out a couple of days ago but I don't think it contains anything exciting. He's still pretending to be a journalist.

I thought back then that JimmyJeff would bring down the White House but he's sort of old news by now. Rove is finally out -- well, not really out, but out of the White House -- and Gonzo has been deported, but we haven't had any more juicy family values scandals directly linked to the White House in a long time. The Mark Foley and Ted Haggard stories were hilarious but they weren't directly linked to the White House. The David Vitter thing could really blow sky high but that would impact the GOP leadership in the Senate more than the White House.

This Larry Craig thing could go big depending on how long he hangs in there and whether he shows up on the floor of the Senate or not. Ideally we would want Craig to beat the rap in Minneapolis so that Diane Feinstein could decide to refuse to investigate him. She's unpredictable in her old age. She's trying too hard to be conciliatory. I think under the new rules (meaning the old rules that I believe have been reinstated) the Ethics Committee must investigate unless the committee has a majority in favor of dismissing a complaint. And since that committee is always split exactly 50-50, that would mean that even if Feinstein and all the Democrats wanted to drop the investigation, they would still need to get at least one Republican to go along. Actually, they don't really have to drop the investigation, they could just decide to cut it short and vote to recommend a formal reprimand.

Unless Craig chooses to voluntarily resign from the Senate, there is no way in hell that they can kick him out. They are not going to expel a senator for a misdemeanor disorderly conduct conviction. No way, Jose! The very worst he could possibly receive is a formal reprimand from the full Senate. I don't even think a censure vote would carry. In the House, in 1990, Barney Frank received a formal reprimand. Larry Craig was the only member of the House Judiciary Committee to vote for a censure instead of a reprimand.

The GOP leadership wants Craig to resign because he's an embarrassment to their so-called family values. Larry Craig could single-handedly bring the GOP leadership to their knees if he doesn't go away quietly. Stay, Larry! Stay!



Larry's new attorneys, Morehead & Howe, are working the judge in the Minneapolis case in hopes of achieving a happy ending to this unfortunate misadventure. It's getting so you have to know all the secret signals before going into a men's room to do your business. You don't want to accidentally signal the wrong thing. Hopefully, Larry remembered to always cover his mouth before yawning. Being from Idaho, and being not-gay, Larry probably wasn't up on the latest code.

[schrocat]

From C&L comments.

” half the Republicans want him to resign, the other half want his phone number.”

[Ninong]

Whoever thought "teh gay" would be a wedge issue for the Republican Party?

[Ninong]

Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) made some scathing comments about the GOP leadership in the Senate throwing Craig under the bus. He also sent a letter to Gov. Butch Otter asking that his name be removed from consideration as a replacement for Craig.

From The Hill:

Rep. Mike Simpson (R) condemned Senate GOP leaders on Thursday for their treatment of fellow Idahoan Sen. Larry Craig (R), accusing them of hypocrisy.

“I hope I never stub my toe and they throw me under the bus,” Simpson said of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and other Republican leaders. “It kind of makes you wonder what party you want to be a member of.”

Simpson underscored that he is not considering switching parties. But he also emphasized that he would not want to serve in the Senate, even if chosen by Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter (R) to replace Craig.

The five-term House member appeared ready to take himself out of the running for a Senate appointment, even though his name remains on Otter’s short list and Craig veered back on Thursday toward resigning, as planned, on Sept. 30.

“If that’s how they treat their own,” Simpson said, referring to Senate GOP leaders’ quick push for Craig to resign, “that tells me they’re more interested in party than individuals, and the party is made up of individuals. How you treat them says a lot about your party.”

Simpson pointed a finger at Craig’s leaders for staying mum on the legal and personal jeopardy facing other GOP senators, including Alaskan Ted Stevens, now under federal investigations, and Louisianan David Vitter, who has admitted contacting an escort service.

“They have people over there [in the Senate Republican Conference] in far worse trouble that they haven’t said a thing about,” Simpson said.

Simpson was not present for Craig’s emotional resignation announcement speech on Saturday, but said he spoke with Craig by phone that day. Simpson emphasized the bond between his and Craig’s families.

McConnell declined to comment on Simpson’s remarks, but Senate Republican sources shrugged off his frustration with their conference’s handling of Craig.

“Who cares what Simpson thinks? He is irrelevant,” one Senate GOP aide said. “We didn’t throw [Craig] under the bus. He lay down in front of it and it ran over him. There is a great deal of compassion for him as a human being and a colleague. But this is bigger than him and that single Senate seat.”

From The Hill

P.S. -- Butch Otter is the guy who wants to shoot all the wolves in Idaho.

[Ninong]

Craig family typical of GOP family values...

Probably not a good idea for Larry Craig's daughter, Shae Suzanne Howell, to show up on national TV in support of her not-gay father. Never go on national TV if you have outstanding arrest warrants. She has a contempt of court (failure to appear) warrant. Seems she didn't bother to show up for her April 9, 2007 court date on two misdemeanor counts: unlawful entry and malicious injury to property. Looks like the complainant is her ex-husband, David G. Howell. I think she went back into his house and destroyed some of his personal property.

I read a comment on a wing-nut blog that this is nothing serious, everybody misses a court date every now and then. What!?! I've never had a court date in my life for anything. Must be one of those Republican "family values" they keep bragging about.

Shae's criminal record pales in comparison to her brother Michael's. He was arrested in 1988 at the age of 19 and charged with felony statutory rape of a 16-year-old girl. The case was eventually dismissed. In 1993 a restraining order was issued against him after his girlfriend complained that he beat her up and broke her nose. He was convicted of battery for that in 1994 and ordered to have no contact with her. A second restraining order was issued in November 2003 after his wife, Stephanie Craig, charged him with an act of battery.

Shae and her brother, Michael Craig, went on ABC News' Good Morning America program this week "to testify that their father isn't gay and was not in fact guilty of the lewd conduct for which he was arrested" and now ABC News is airing their dirty laundry on their website.

Republican "family values" are just different, that's all. Remember how boring it was when Amy Carter and Chelsea Clinton were presidential daughters? Nothing like the Bush twins with their multiple arrests for fake ID's and underage drinking.

[Ninong]

“They have people over there [in the Senate Republican Conference] in far worse trouble that they haven’t said a thing about,” Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) said.


What Congressman Simpson fails to understand is that it's not the disorderly conduct guilty plea that is the problem, it's the possibility that Larry Craig could be gay that is the problem for the Republican Party.

As Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), outstanding GOP family values advocate, said himself: "I don't believe there's any issue that is more important than this one" (gay marriage). "We need a U.S. Senator who will stand up for Louisiana values, not Massachusetts' values." You see, Massachusetts allows gay marriage and Sen. Vitter believes that gay marriage is a threat to the nation more serious than anything else we face, including terrorists out to destroy us. (Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the country, so gay marriage is not destroying marriages there.)

Sen. Vitter "confessed" to the "very serious sin" of hooking up with multiple hookers but that's not a big deal. After all, everybody does that, right? It's a Republican tradition. Deserves a "loud standing ovation." Way to go, Vitter. Keep up the good work!

If only Larry Craig had been accused of disorderly conduct with a female cop at the Minneapolis airport, the GOP wouldn't have batted an eye; but the minute they hear the gay word associated with one of their members, they run for the hills. After all, this is the worst possible crime in the world according to the GOP. This is what they have built their campaigns on for the past seven years. They must defend their family values from the gay hordes that are out to destroy their marriages. That's another big selling point for the GOP: the so-called sanctity of marriage. What a sham that is! Especially for the fundamentalist Christians who push the sanctity of marriage crap while having the highest divorce rates by far!!! When your divorce rates are more than 60% higher than non-believers, I think you should keep your mouths shut instead of calling attention to the fact that you're a bunch of hypocrites who don't practice what you preach.

Rep. Simpson is probably thinking of the recent FBI raid of Sen. Ted Stevens' home in Alaska. I believe that's the first time a sitting senator has had his home raided by the FBI, but that's something the GOP is willing to take a wait-and-see attitude on. Let's wait and see if they found anything on him before we get too excited. Right now both of Alaska's senators and their lone representative -- all Republicans -- are under criminal investigation by the FBI. The only prominent Republican in Alaska not under investigation is the governor, but she's only in office since January and, from all accounts, she seems to be doing a good job.

[Ninong]

LARRY FLYNT: "SENATOR DAVID VITTER IS A LIAR."


September 5, 2007

THE HUSTLER PUBLISHER CHALLENGES VITTER:

FORMER NEW ORLEANS ESCORT WENDY CORTEZ, WHO CLAIMED AN AFFAIR WITH VITTER, PASSED A POLYGRAPH TEST. LET’S SEE THE SENATOR DO THE SAME.

In 2002, New Orleans escort Wendy Cortez told local reporters she had an extended affair with U.S. Senator David Vitter in 1999, when he was a Louisiana state representative. The allegations, first reported by political columnist Christopher Tidmore in the Louisiana Weekly, were published anew by the Times-Picayune in the wake of Vitter’s admission that he had called D.C. Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey in 2001. Despite being a self-confessed client of the D.C. Madam, Vitter told the entire country that the stories in the New Orleans press were “not true.”

Suspecting that Vitter was again lying, Larry Flynt sought out Wendy Cortez, whose real name is Wendy Ellis, and flew her to Los Angeles for a lie-detector test. The polygraph examination was conducted by Edward Gelb, recognized by his peers as the leading polygraphist in the country. Asked if she had a sexual relationship with Vitter through a New Orleans escort service for at least four months, Ellis answered in the affirmative. According to Gelb, the result of both the manual and computerized scoring was “NDI,” meaning “no deception indicated, with a probability of deception of less than .01.” In other words, Wendy Ellis passed the test with flying colors.

Larry Flynt has now proven that Vitter repeatedly lied to the American people and is unfit to legislate in their name. When he apologized for “a serious sin” in his past, Vitter glossed over the fact that the D.C. Madam’s phone records show he “sinned” at least five times. Now, with the vindication of Wendy Ellis’s account, we know that Vitter was a frequent patron of “escort” services even before he went to Washington.

[Ninong]

Larry Craig will file court docs tomorrow asking to withdraw his guilty plea in Minneapolis

Billy Martin, Larry Craig's high-powered attorney, has announced that he will be filing court documents tomorrow asking to withdraw the guilty plea in the Minneapolis airport men's room sex sting case.

Most legal experts think Craig has little or no chance that his request will be granted but I guess a lot depends on the judge.

The most interesting aspect of this entire situation has been the reaction of the GOP leadership. The same activist blogger who originally outed Craig last October, is now hinting that he may out two more GOP senators very soon. Of course, everyone knows who he's talking about and both of these senators are up for reelection in 2008; both are from Southern states; both would have a very difficult time being reelected if their true sexual orientation were to be made public. One of these senators is the most senior Republican in the Senate.

In addition to those two senators, rumor has it that the same blogger will out two Republican members of the House of Representatives. He has a broader group to choose from there but it appears that he's thinking of outing David Dreier (again) and Patrick McHenry. Dreier is really out as far as the GOP is concerned and he's out as far as his constituents in Southern California are concerned but he's not exactly out as far as the national GOP is concerned.

This blogger really outed Dreier two or three years ago with details of his relationship with his chief of staff but he may be thinking of outing him to a wider audience this time. Patrick McHenry was outed on several blogs a few months ago when his aide and one-time 'housemate' was arrested for voter fraud. The current situtation with Patrick McHenry is really, really volatile right now and could blow sky high for the Republican Party. I mean REALLY sky high. Higher than anything in decades!

Maybe we need another thread to handle the fireworks?

[Ninong]

Gay panic defense

I can't believe Billy Martin, Larry Craig's high-priced lawyer, is going with the argument that Sen. Craig was so intimidated by the local Boise newspaper's investigation of his personal life that he panicked and decided to plead guilty to something he didn't do just to make it go away.

Don't forget, there was a period of six weeks between the date of the arrest and the date Sen. Craig signed the plea petition pleading guilty. He had plenty of time to seek legal counsel. Surely his panic attack didn't last six weeks?

Check out this NY Times picture. Notice the name they gave it -- 10craig.450.jpg (More proof that the Democrats may control the House but the GOP controls the bathrooms!)

It's nice that Larry Craig's lawyer filed the documents with the court asking that the guilty plea be withdrawn on the same day the Bush Administration is staging their Surge blitz. It's not enough that Gen. Petraeus and Amb. Crocker will be testifying before the House, they will both appear later this evening on GOP TV (Fox "News") for a full hour to spin their testimony.

[Ninong]

Larry Flynt's press release of Sept. 5th wasn't generating much excitement, so now he has called a press conference for tomorrow!

NEW ORLEANS—A former New Orleans prostitute who says she had an affair with Sen. David Vitter has passed a lie-detector test and will provide details of the four-month relationship at a press conference Tuesday, according to Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt.

Wendy Cortez, whose real name is Wendy Ellis, says she had a sexual relationship with Vitter, R-La., in 1999, when he was a state legislator.

Copies of the results of Cortez's polygraph test, which she took at Flynt's request, will be provided to reporters at the news conference at Flynt's office in Beverly Hills, Calif., Hustler said in a news release Monday.

Vitter spokesman Joel Digrado wouldn't comment on the Flynt news conference. In an e-mail, Digrado said, "Sen. Vitter and his wife have addressed all of this very directly. The senator is focused on important Louisiana priorities like the water resources bill and the Iraq debate."

Vitter, 46, apologized in July for committing a "very serious sin" and acknowledged his Washington phone number was among those called several years ago by an escort service run by Deborah Jeane Palfrey. The admission came after Flynt's Hustler magazine told the senator that his telephone number was linked to Palfrey's escort service.

P.S. -- The local New Orleans media is sort of ignoring this story completely right now. Maybe that's because it's old news down here. Wendy Cortez has already been interviewed on local TV.

The lie-detector test is new. Maybe that will grab national attention. Anything to get Vitter's name up front and center on network news. His response down here has been to refuse to discuss it. He will probably give his stock response, "None of that is true and I'm too busy with the important business of the people of Louisiana to waste time on this nonsense."