2011 : Page 237 : The Other McCain

DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
By the time you read this, I’ll be on board a jet preparing to depart for Minneapolis and the 2011 Right Online conference. I’m still recovering (and by “recovering,” I mean sick as hell) from pneumonia, and the strain of Three Weeks of Weiner have probably hindered my recovery.

Both Don Surber and Da Tech Guy called attention to the timeline of my posts I appended to today’s post about Anthony Weiner’s resignation. All credit is due to Andrew Breitbart, as well as to Ace of Spades, Patterico and many other bloggers who helped push this story to its final resolution. If you’ll look at that timeline, you’ll see that I did 15 posts in the first five days of the scandal (May 28-June 1), so I think I contributed my fair share to the team effort.

Remember that, in his first public statements about the scandal, Anthony Weiner urged reporters to “move on.”

Yeah. And now, you see, I’m movin’ on from town to town.

Please hit the tip jar!

‘Bombast is Olbermann’s Métier’

Posted on June 16, 2011June 16, 20117 Comments

Just a striking phrase ripped from a New York Times feature about The Bombastic One’s eagerly awaited (by him) return to TV, on Al Gore’s Current network, which isn’t available on my cable system and probably isn’t available on yours.

Basically, the story is about how Keith Olbermann likes being on TV all the time, so that when he’s not on TV, an existential crisis ensues.

Being someone whose métier is the written word, I am mystified by whatever mad compulsion — I need to be in front of a camera every day! — drives Olbermann into such an obscure venue as Current.

He’s been fired from every other network he’s ever worked for and, assuming this trend continues, I suspect one day we’ll see him hawking cubic zirconia jewelry on HSN.

Gingrich: ‘These Are Supposed to Be Professionals Who We Were Paying’

Posted on June 16, 2011June 16, 201111 Comments

It’s hard to be sympathetic to Newt Gingrich, but his remarks about campaign staffers and/or consultants who talked trash anonymously to reporters are worth hearing:

(From Mediaite with a Twitter hat-tip to Matt Lewis.) Why would anyone hire a consultant or staffer who backstabbed his last boss?

‘Mike Used Bad Judgment’: Top LAX Official Resigns in Sexting Scandal

Posted on June 16, 2011June 16, 20112 Comments

Little Miss Attila lives in LA and caught this interesting story:

CBS Investigative reporter David Goldstein has learned that a top LAX official has resigned his post after allegations surfaced that he was sexting and sending sexually explicit messages on his LAX-issued phone.
Goldstein tracked Michael Molina down at his house but Molina had no comment.
LAX CEO Gina Marie Lindsay confirmed the resignation to Goldstein late Wednesday afternoon. . . .
Molina was with LAX for three years. His reported salary: $192,400. . . .
Prior to working for LAX, Goldstein reports that Molina was a chief of staff for council member Janice Hahn. She told Goldstein, “Mike used bad judgment. I asked him about it and he resigned…and I can’t say more.”

So the Democrat running for Congress had a sex-texting pervert as chief of staff, and she was also the patron saint of L.A.’s gangster community.

BREAKING: Weiner to Resign

Posted on June 16, 2011June 16, 201171 Comments

It is being reported that Anthony Weiner has told Nancy Pelosi he will resign from Congress.

UPDATE: New York Times:

Representative Anthony D. Weiner has told friends that he plans to resign his seat after coming under growing pressure from his Democratic colleagues to leave the House in the wake of revelations of his lewd online exchanges with women, said a person told of Mr. Weiner’s plans.

UPDATE II: Today is the day:

NBC News confirms that Weiner called Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Rep. Steve Israel last night to inform them he had decided to resign on Thursday.

UPDATE III: “The Fall of the House of Weiner,” quoth Instapundit. From start to finish — beginning with the telltale Tweet late at night on Friday, May 27 until confirmation of Weiner’s resignation — this scandal unfolded in less than 20 days.

For the first 10 days, Weiner lied, lied, lied, and the liberals who believed Weiner were wrong, wrong, wrong, while conservatives were right, right, right. In the past 10 days, since Weiner’s June 6 press conference, liberals have tried to forget that their credulity in believing Weiner’s lies, and the idiotic conspiracy theories they proffered in his defense.

Now is the day when Jeffrey Toobin, Joan Walsh and a lot of other liberals must be called to account.

UPDATE IV: Linked by Fausta Wertz and Don Surber — thanks!

A massive Memeorandum aggregation, including a report from CNN’s Dana Bash, whose questions at an impromptu May 31 press conference with Weiner — Worst Press Conference Evah! — provided key momentum for the scandal narrative.

Nancy Pelosi is about to have a press conference in D.C.

UPDATE V: All Pelosi had to say at the press conference was that she was not going to comment on Weiner. And then . . . let’s talk about the real issues! Blah, blah, blah.

Linked by Bob Belvedere at Camp of the Saints — thanks! Moe Lane is in the Gloat Zone:

Nice job reinforcing Andrew’s reputation among the media as being somebody that the media has to take seriously, by the way.

Ed Morrissey notes a Tweet from Luke Russert: Weiner’s Capitol Hill office is shut down and his staff were seen “leaving with their belongings.”

UPDATE VI: Publius at Big Government first broke this story in the wee hours of May 28. And now Publius reports Weiner’s resignation. So it comes full circle.

Weiner will hold at 2 p.m. ET press conference today, but I’ll have to miss that. I’ll be on my way to the airport to catch my flight to Minneapolis to attend the Right Online conference, where I’ll be hanging out with Andrew Breitbart, Herman Cain, Michelle Malkin and many more.

You should hit the tip jar. Three weeks of Weiner? “Combat pay.”

UPDATE VI: Genette Cordova has deleted her Twitter account.

UPDATE VII: Da Tech Guy: “Do you remember when we were told this was a non-story and a Breitbart invention?”

PREVIOUSLY:

June 15: Weiner’s Teen Tweeter
June 15: That’s Good to Know
June 13: Who’s Up for Some More Weiner?
June 12: Gennette Cordova: Still Pro-Weiner
June 12: VIDEO: Wasserman-Schultz Discusses Weiner Scandal on ‘Meet the Press’
June 12: Report: Weiner Sent Woman Photos of Himself Posing in Congressional Gym
June 12: VIDEO: ‘Tipping Point’ for Weiner?
June 11: That There’s Funny …
June 11: VIDEO: ‘Neither Explicit Nor Indecent’ Also, How Not to Get Banned at AOSHQ
June 11: Weiner’s Liberal Support Collapses as Three Top Dems Call for Resignation
June 11: America’s Cultural Elite
June 11: ‘Moral Fascists’?
June 10: CNN’s Toobin on May 31: ‘What Andrew Breitbart Was Insinuating About [Weiner] With Young Girls Is Outrageous’
June 10: URGENT: Police Visit Delaware Teen in Connection With Weiner Twitter Scandal
June 10: A Special Kind of Stupid: Only ‘Culturally Backward’ People Find Weiner’s Conduct Objectionable, Chris Matthews Says
June 10: Did Anthony Weiner Send Obscene Messages to Teenage Girls Online?
June 10: Impossible to Parody
June 9: When Will Weiner Quit?
June 8: Feminism and the ‘Friendly Stranger’
June 8: Weiner’s Secret Desire UPDATED: ‘X-Rated’ Photo Emerges; Weiner’s Wife Is Pregnant; More Democrats Now Calling for Resignation
June 8: Wrong, Wrong, Wrong: Belated Notice of Charles Johnson’s Total Beclownment
June 8: Joan Walsh: ‘I Look Kind of Stupid’
June 8: Weiner’s Race-Mongering Past
June 7: WeinerGate Götterdämmerung
June 7: Beware of ‘Feminist’ Men
June 7: Breitbart’s Vindication
June 7: Yub Nub!
June 6: Anthony Weiner Press Conference UPDATE: Admits Trying to Send DM UPDATE: Weiner Will Not Resign UPDATE: VIDEO ADDED
UPDATE: Dems Call for Ethics Probe
June 6: #WeinerGate: It Gets WORSE UPDATE: Press Conference 4 p.m. ET UPDATE: ABC News Interviews Woman
June 6: #WeinerGate Fallout: Democrats Criticize Weiner for Missing Israel Day Parade UPDATE: Breitbart Releases 2nd Photo
June 6: New #WeinerGate Allegations? UPDATE: Weiner’s Photo: ‘It’s Me’
June 4: ‘Is He the New Tiger Woods?’
June 4: ‘You Can’t Lawyer the Media’
June 4: ‘UR SO HOT! C MY WANG?’ (Or, #WeinerGate Explained)
June 4: GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY!
June 3: Because I Know What’s News
June 3: Wow! Strange Plot Twists in #WeinerGate’s Third Act
June 3: Brutal. Simply Brutal.
June 2: Finally, Weiner Calls the Police!
June 2: #WeinerGate: Who Is @PatriotUSA76? @AndrewBreitbart Wants to Know
June 2: VIDEO: @DaTechGuyBlog Talks #Weinergate in Boston TV Interview
June 2: Who’s Winning #WeinerGate? (Video)
June 1: All the Weiner You Can Handle: Why MSM Can’t Ignore This Scandal Now
June 1: Oh, My: In NBC Interview, Weiner Won’t Deny Authenticity of Lewd Photo
June 1: #WeinerGate: Where the Story Goes Next
June 1: Official #WeinerGate Theme Song
May 31: #WeinerGate OMFG! @RepWeiner Gives Worst Press Conference EVAH! (Video)
May 31: The Power of Simple Sentences
May 31: Da Tech Guy, Da Columnist
May 31: The AOSHQ Legal Department: Now Offering Advice to Victims of ‘Pranks’
May 31: BREAKING: Weiner Lawyers Up! UPDATE: In CNN Interview, Weiner Dismisses Hacking as ‘Prank’
May 30: Ace Is Suffering Weiner Overload
May 30: The Curious Case of the Weiner-Following (And Weiner-Followed) Teenage Girl
May 30: @JoanWalsh Blames @AndrewBreitbart and #tcot Bloggers for #WeinerGate Story
May 29: #WeinerGate Victim Gennette Cordova Issues Statement: ‘I Cannot Answer the Questions That I Do Not Have the Answers To’; Describes Her Reaction
May 29: MSM Starting to Cover ‘WeinerGate’
May 28: Weiner’s Wiener? UPDATE: Who Is ‘Gennette Nicole’? UPDATE: Questions Piling Up

The Dow Goes Greek

Posted on June 16, 2011June 16, 201111 Comments

Since late April, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost more than 850 points and fell by 178.84 Wednesday, below the 12,000 threshold. Reuters reports:

U.S. stocks tumbled on Wednesday, driven lower by escalating Greek debt woes, while troubling U.S. data pointed to further losses ahead.
Financials came under fire after Moody’s Investors Service said it may cut the credit ratings of French banks, citing exposure to Greek debt.
U.S. data showed the U.S. economy is facing a troubling mix of higher prices and weak growth. …

Here’s an Associated Press video report on the increasingly ugly situation in Greece:

And of course: UNEXPECTEDLY!

Confidence among U.S. homebuilders slumped in June to the lowest level in nine months as executives turned more pessimistic on the outlook for sales, a sign that any pickup will take time to develop. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo sentiment index unexpectedly fell to 13 from 16 in May, the biggest drop in a year, data from the Washington-based group showed today.

CA-36: The Facts of the Case

Posted on June 16, 2011June 15, 201162 Comments

The New York Times is on the story:

Ms. Hahn, a Los Angeles City Councilwoman and a Democrat, released a statement deeming the ad “degrading to women in the worst way.” . . .
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent out a fundraising e-mail, calling for $150,000 in donations to help fight “vile right-wing attacks like these,” while Ms. Hahn, in her statement, urges supporters to “help Janice fight back with a $25, $50 or $100 donation.”

The “vile right-wing attack”? Yeah, that’s Ladd Ehlinger Jr.’s latest viral video in the CA-36 special election.

Last night on MSNBC, Lawrence O’Donnell and Ed Schultz both discussed it. So, when it comes to reporting on “vile right-wing attacks,” this blog is at least 36 hours ahead of the mainstream media. The Democrats are demanding an investigation:

Hahn’s campaign believes there was coordination between Huey’s campaign and Turn Right USA PAC, the group that launched the ad. The Hahn campaign is calling for a Federal Election Commission investigation into the ad . . .

Hey, geniuses: There was no coordination. You can ask Ladd Ehlinger Jr., who is on Twitter.

But once everybody is finished jumping up and down and screaming about the video, how about somebody do some reporting on Janice Hahn and LA’s “anti-gang intervention” program? Because that looks like a pretty interesting story, as you can see in this excerpt from my latest American Spectator column:

Hahn’s support for the “gang intervention” program was the subject of an investigative report by KTTV in Los Angeles in April 2008. That report focused on Steve Myrick, a member of the Crips gang who told police he was “working with Janice Hahn” and even had a certificate of appreciation from the councilwoman for his work with a summer job program. “That’s why I’m out [of jail] right now,” Myrick told police after he was arrested on a drug charge in 2006. “Miss Hahn got me out, like, three weeks ago.” He said he violated a police order banning him from a public housing project because Hahn “sent me over there to do some work. She got me off, so it was cool.” In 2007, Myrick was sentenced to life in prison for rape.
Hahn told KTTV it was “blatantly false” that she had made “direct payments” to Myrick or other gang-intervention workers, but defended the program’s hiring of convicted criminals: “I do know that it does take a different kind of person to be able to speak the language that convinces the shooters to not retaliate…. I see it as keeping the peace in a community that has been plagued by violence.” The report also exposed the case of Brandon Bullard, another Crips gangster who told police he was paid to work on Hahn’s gang-intervention program. Hahn spoke at Bullard’s funeral after he was murdered in February 2008.
That 2008 report also named gangsters Marlon “Bow Wow” Jones and Demarco “DC” Chaffold among those who had claimed Hahn as a patron, but KTTV did not mention other notorious examples of how LA’s anti-gang efforts have funded criminality. Mexican Mafia gangster Hector “Big Weasel” Marroquin, whom federal agents of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms arrested in May 2007 on gun-trafficking charges, headed a group that received some $1.5 million in city anti-gang money. In February 2009, former Long Beach gang-intervention worker “Crazy John” Kennedy was convicted in the murder of a couple who were tied to an anchor and thrown off their yacht to drown. And in May 2009, a federal racketeering indictment named Alex “Rebelde” Sanchez as a top leader of the ultra-violent MS-13 gang. Sanchez had been one of the most high-profile gang-intervention activists in Los Angeles. . . .

Please read the whole thing. As I noted last night, some have disputed the accuracy of the KTTV report, but the larger question — Is this “gang intervention” program an effective approach to fighting violent crime? — is entirely legitimate.

Just for starters, it’s kind of hard for Hahn to deny her connection to Bullard, given that she spoke at his funeral. And it is impossible for Hahn to deny that she has spent year supporting this crazy program, even calling for a tax increase to fund its expansion.

So once you major media genius types are through recycling Democratic Party talking points about “vile right-wing attacks,” you might want to try reporting, y’know, facts and stuff.

PREVIOUSLY:

June 15: CA-36: Hahn’s Bad Rap?
June 15: CA-36: Anti-Hahn Video Draws More Than 75,000 Viewers in First 18 Hours
June 14: BREAKING: Democrats Call on GOP Candidate to Denounce PAC Video
June 14: Democrat Janice Hahn Stars in the New Viral Video Smash Hit of the Summer!