From the Inbox: Geek Heaven
ArchPundit
I’m officially revelling in the absurdity of this whole deal so keep the absurd coming to the inbox:
I believe Jack! is the first politician in sex scandal making Sci-Fi news sources:
June 2004
From the Inbox
Remember to take these in cheekiness they are:
Best Headline Yet:
Trekkie forced into sex clubs
Not so much for accuracy, but pretty damn funny.
And the Kicker from the Fax
Is a reminder of what Kelli Phiel said just a few short weeks ago (from the Capitol Fax
Here’s a campaign that just a few weeks ago was vigorously defending its
absolute right to hire a guy to video stalk Barack Obama to the point where even Obama’s telephone conversations with his wife were recorded, and now issues talking points that include this line, “Once you go down this path, who in his right mind would ever want to run for office?”Back when Ryan was still defending the video stalking, this is what his
spokesperson, Kelli Phiel, said about Obama’s complaints, “If he’s running for
public office, he should expect public attention.”What’s good for the goose…
Lots of other good stuff too….
Nothing Embarrassing?
This guy might just stay in because he’s a bit delusional–From the Capitol Fax
During two morning radio interviews, an afternoon press conference and a television interview last night, Ryan continued to maintain that he had never said that there was nothing embarrassing in his legal files.
But that simply was not the truth. Ryan said “I don’t think so,” when asked
during a pre-primary radio interview whether the files contained embarrassing
material. He told a Daily Herald reporter “No,” when pressed with the same
question following a candidates’ debate. Before the primary, when news first
leaked that something very bad was in the files, Ryan cranked out thousands of
robocalls urging Republican voters to “ignore these false attacks.”
What Might Durbin Look Into?
The level of delusions of political novices never fails to astonish me. DISCLOSE EVERYTHING! Just do it because when you do run, and you don’t, this gets written about you in the Capitol Fax:
THE SMELL OF DEATH
HE’S COME UNDONE A few years ago, Jack Ryan had a long talk with
Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka. Ryan was thinking about running against Sen. Dick Durbin at the time, and so he sought Topinka’s advice. Word is that Ryan spent most of the meeting asking vague questions about what sort of background search Durbin might run, and what Durbin might use against him. He was told to expect the worst if he had anything in his past that might be embarrassing. In other words, Ryan knew this would be a problem years ago, even though he now claims that he never believed that his sealed records would ever be made public.
There’s dumber and dumbest and Jack! is apparently both. Going beyond anything about the veracity of the claims or whether they should be damaging, allowing the press to disclose is stupid.
Worst Photo Ever When Fighting A “sex” Scandal
I’m not entirely convinced this is a sex scandal as much as a stupidity scandal, but the titilating factor certainly grabs everyone’s attention.
But to add to it, the worst photo ever during a sex scandal at the Trib.
The only word coming to mind–lecherous
The General’s Ad Campaign for the RSCC
As the Chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, you can make this happen by funding 30 second spots featuring Republican Senatorial candidates having sex with women. Now, thirty seconds may seem like a long time to be having sex, but you could put two Senators in each spot and then use the remaining time to discuss budget policy.
That’s Freedom Sex Club To You Pal
We don’t have no French Sex Clubs around here, nope thems Freedom Sex Clubs.
Sorry, just couldn’t resist that one.
The Talking Points
Gotta Give it to the Leader that they just posted the talking points for Jack Ryan:
Imagine all the divorced political leaders we have – Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, Jon Corzine, John McCain, just to name a few – have their divorce records been unsealed? Is the media even demanding them?
Yeah, imagine that:
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) – John McCain gave up his interest in two homes and agreed to pay $1,625 a month in alimony and child support when he divorced his first wife 20 years ago, court records show.
The senator and Republican presidential candidate divorced his wife Carol in 1980 when he was a Navy captain with a home of record in Orange Park, Fla., about 12 miles south of Jacksonville.
McCain, 63, gave her his interest in homes in Alexandria, Va., and South Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., according to records of the divorce settlement obtained by The Associated Press and other newspapers.
McCain has admitted that he wasn’t faithful and instead of trying to hide it, he settled the case. I’m betting Kennedy settled as well, not that it helps his reputation. The beached whale pic of him nude sunbathing probably did more harm than any other revelation anyway. The reality is that most divorce files are publicly available as are most custody files. The fact that Jack had them sealed is notable.
If anyone wants to look up the Handlin vs. Handlin case from 1971, you’ll find plenty of hate, vitriol, and some down right pettiness from my parents, but I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be public. It is quite embarrassing (who the hell needs a court order to keep one parent from cutting the child’s hair?–my parents did). The reality is that keeping such files open keeps the system honest.
Once you go down this path, who in his right mind would ever want to run for office?
Someone not stupid enough to think it won’t come out and discloses embarrasing information about themselves before running. Like, oh, I don’t know–Barack Obama did about cocaine use as a youth.
I’m not going through them all, but it is a bad response. It’ll only keep the issue alive. He needs it to go away, not prove he is right. Going to war with the press is stupid and counterproductive. The proper way to proceed is take responsibility, accept that his statements could have been misconstrued, apologize to supporters and the party, and then, find a message–something he hasn’t been able to do before.
Extended entry has the whole list. Enjoy.
Read More
In Perspective
1) that he frequented sex clubs isn’t so much a scandal as much as hiding it for months and then fudging. Today on 848–linked to below, he says he something like three places that made her uncomfortable. It isn’t the action as much as trying to hide it. Now he is pretty much admitting something along those lines occurred.
2) the issue is a GOP issue. One, by dragging this out, he has wasted a ton of time to get the voters to know him. Two, he lied to party leaders. They don’t take kindly to that. As I said in a private e-mail earlier–he isn’t going to have to watch his back, the GOP mob will be coming at him from the front.
3) Why are they mad? Remember, no one expects this guy to win, they wanted a reasonable attractive candidate to motivate the party faithful to show up on election day. mentioned previously
and
If had had lived through the primary with this information then the GOP could reasonably say it has been dealt with. Not now.
4) The guy is just friggen stupid. When Rod McCulloch made the charges public in March who the hell wouldn’t know the file would come out? If not by the Court than by whomever was passing around the file? Ryan knew McCulloch had seen an accurate file. This is a colossally stupid blunder.
5) He will never get on message now. The reporters will keep asking until they get answers he isn’t going to say and they are going to treat him like a hostile witness.