Richard Scaife's downfall

Like many Republicans whose foibles lay in the bedroom, Richard Mellon Scaife fell prey to some trailer park trash in a scuzzy hotel.

Who is Scaife, you might ask? He is the "vast right-wing conspiracy" that Hillary Clinton alluded to during her and Bill's dark days. Unlike some prominent pundits who can't get their names in the press for batshit ideas like a "handful of people who hate America . . . are losing their homes today," this mega-wealthy billionaire bankroller of the "Republican Revolution" and the Heritage Foundation is happiest behind the scenes and with his name out of the papers.

Though he jousts, indirectly, with public figures, Scaife seems to detest attention. He almost never speaks to the media, and on one of the few occasions he did, it was to tell a reporter, who'd sandbagged him on the street, that she was ugly and that her mother was ugly, too. (WaPo)

Too bad for him, the WashPost wrote about it, dailykos is spreading his name around in the mud, and well, I'm all too happy to inform even more people.

Richard Mellon Scaife is one of the most influential men in America who you've never heard of - heir to the vast Mellon fortune (banking, oil, and aluminum,) he helped fund Nixon's infamous Watergate project, the the smearing of President Bill Clinton.

Well, this upright citizen has gone and decided to sleep around on his wife, and with a former prostitute named Tammy Sue Vasco. What can we say? The man has the same kind of tastes has Bill? Scaife's biggest mistake? Not getting a pre-nup, and his wife, the understandably pissed Margaret "Ritchie" Scaife is raking it in to the tune of $725,000 per month in alimony.

Check out why she's pissed:

At some point in late 2005, Ritchie started having suspicions about her husband and hired a private investigator named Keith Scannell, a specialist in high-end surveillance for insurance companies. In December of that year, Scannell followed Richard Scaife to nearby North Huntingdon, home of Doug's Motel, a place where the TVs are bolted to the furniture and rooms can be rented in three-hour increments, for $28.
. . . Why a billionaire would shack up at Doug's Motel, of all places, is a mystery. Ditto his choice of companions. Vasco is a tall, blond 43-year-old mother who in 1993 was busted in a sting operation after showing up at a Sheraton hotel and offering to have sex with an undercover cop for $225, the Post-Gazette reported.

Tawdry, dude, tawdry. How can a man like this blame Bill Clinton for slumming, when he's bagging tricks in fleabag motels?!? Plus, he then abducted his former wife's dog, in a move worthy of the cheesiest soup operas:

The real fight, though, was not over the Shreve & Co. finger bowls. It was over the dog. Specifically, a yellow Labrador retriever named Beauregard, who Ritchie has told friends is a direct descendant of a pooch belonging to a king of England. Until March 2006, the animal was in Ritchie's hands, living with her and the Pietragallos. Then one day, Beauregard was scooped out of the Pietragallos' back yard and whisked around the corner, to Richard's house on Westminster.

This brazen canine abduction was not covered up. Quite the opposite. It was celebrated with a banner on wooden stakes posted on Richard's front lawn: "Welcome home, Beauregard," it read.

It's safe to assume that despite his lineage, Beauregard is unable to read. The point, it seems, was to needle Ritchie.

And it did.

On the afternoon of April 6, 2006, Ritchie stopped her car when she spotted a housekeeper of Richard's walking Beauregard in the neighborhood. Game on. The cops later said that Ritchie punched 51-year-old Sue Patterson, then tried to grab the dog. A secretary of Richard's, 77-year-old Genevieve Still, saw Ritchie and Patterson on the ground, with Ritchie on top, pulling Patterson's hair. When she tried to intervene, Still wound up with "a swift kick to the lower back," she told police. Then a security guard named Dennis Bradshaw got in on the action and took a slap to the head, which reportedly broke his glasses.

Dude still is keeping the dog, which is just low. Don't you know the pooch's royalty?!? Well, let's just say it threw more fuel on Ritchie's desire to go after Scaife (the dog-napping jerk.) So that's a lil bit less money going to Scaife's favorite causes, as listed by wikipedia:

Through contacts made at Hoover and elsewhere, Scaife became a major, early supporter of the Heritage Foundation, which has since become one of Washington's most influential public policy research institutes. Later, he supported such varied conservative and libertarian organizations as:

• American Enterprise Institute
• Atlas Economic Research Foundation
• David Horowitz Freedom Center
• Federalist Society
• Foundation for Economic Education
• Free Congress Foundation (headed by Paul Weyrich)
• Freedom House
• GOPAC (headed by Newt Gingrich)
• Independent Women's Forum
• Intercollegiate Studies Institute (which operates the Collegiate Network)
• Judicial Watch
• Landmark Legal Foundation
• Media Research Center (headed by Brent Bozell)
• Pacific Legal Foundation
• Pittsburgh World Affairs Council
• Reason Foundation

By 1998 his foundations were listed among donors to over 100 such groups, to which he had disbursed some $340 million by 2002.

Boo hoo. I'm deeply sorry to say, it couldn't have happened to a nicer, more moral man. If your definition of moral is Bill Bennett.

Larry Craig is delusional

First you claim you're guilty, and then you try to retract it, saying that you didn't have "benefit of counsel." Once your dirty little secret arrest is out, you announce under duress that you intend on resigning at the end of the month.

Now, you're taking back your resignation?!? What excuse are you going to use this time - did you have your fingers crossed behind your back?

Let's just say that you don't live in reality. I mean, obviously this is a last ditch attempt to screw over the Republicans, since you are only extending the media cycle on this story. It's like the story had legs but you gave it platform heels and now it's going to do the catwalk all over America.

Cos you understand that this story is Victoria's Secret for journalists, right?

Well, what can you expect of a man who pulled out his US Senate card in an attempt to intimidate/coerce the cop who just busted you for lewd behavior in a bathroom?

What Craig's resignation means for the GOP

Well, the GOP has already said they are going to be losing 4 seats, and with Senator Warner (R-VA)'s announcement that he won't be seeking re-election, it looks like former Gov Mark Warner (D-VA) will be filling that seat, unless he gets tapped to be the veep nominee (he brings the ability to win in a purple state and that vaunted Southern charm to the ticket.)

The five states that Republicans could lose senatorial seats in are (in order of likelihood):

1) Virginia. VA is a once-red state that turns more and more purple by the week. Former Gov. Mark Warner is a tremendous candidate and has already demonstrated the ability to win statewide. The elections of Democrats Gov. Tim Kaine and Senator Jim Webb show that Virginia is no longer the firewall that the GOP expected it to be - in other words, the electoral Mason-Dixon divide is inching further and further South. A population influx in the more liberal Northern Virginia is shoring up Democratic votes. Esp if there is a divisive GOP primary between a true conservative and Rep. Tom Davis, a so-called moderate, we win.

2) Colorado. Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO) is retiring and the last time a Republican Senator from Colorado stepped down, Ken Salazar stepped in, and began to roll out the Salazar machine. (Brother John is in the House.) The purple state still went red in 2004, but by a smaller margin than in 2000.

3) Nebraska. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel is one of the last true Republican moderates out there. He is decent on immigration, and is generally well-respected as a lawmaker. He might step down, and Bob Kerrey (former Dem Senator) who currently heads the New School in NYC, might run. Nebraska is still a red state, but Kerrey is well-liked by his constituents. (On another note, notice how the numbers of GOP moderates are shrinking? First Chafee, now Hagel?)

4) Minnesota. Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) is as scummy as you can get. For being someone who was an avowed hippie potsmoking antiwar activist in his youth, he sure does clean up nicely, including some money dental work. Now Norm shills for whomever pays his bills, including Big Pharma, and pretends to be a moderate in this purple state which is turning decidedly blue. Plus the guy is reportedly a tool, and his staff actively edits his wikipedia entries to make him look better. Memo to the senator: cosmetic surgery, online or off, leaves scars.

But what else would you expect from a party traitor? Coleman originally ran and won a local seat as a Democrat. He even chaired Paul Wellstone's first campaign, and then he turned around and ran against Wellstone in 2002 as a Republican. When Wellstone died in a plane crash, it was Coleman's campaign that took advantage of the tragedy to start slinging mud. So I have a burning desire to see Coleman shamed at the polls, also because he actively support's Bush's failed war.

Democratic opponents include Al Franken, comedian and radio show host, as well as attorney Mike Ciresi, who represented the workers at Union Carbide. So these are two good old school lefties, and we can't go wrong here, as long as we push out the sell out.

5) Maine. Susan Collins, a popular long termer, is getting massive flack in this independent state for her support of Bush's war.

6) Wyoming. Mike Barrasso was a no name state senator who got elevated to US Senator when Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY) died unexpectedly and the Democratic Governor had to pick 1 of 3 Republican names that were suggested by the state legislature.

7) Idaho. Larry Craig and his weird fetishes aside, Idaho is a red state. As solidly red as you can get, and since he is resigning effective Sept 30, whomever replaces him (per the Repub Governor's pick) will be the front runner. Only if we get a super-bruising GOP primary will we see Idaho become a contested state. And if we do, we'll know exactly how weak the Repubs are.

*8) Arizona. My choice for a curveball takeover: John McCain is not only sinking in the national polls, but he's not doing so hot locally either. Approval ratings at home have sunk with his leaden straight talk express part deux, and Club for Growth kids are doing as much as possible to sink his battleship. It's kinda like John kerry's leaden numbers when he was doing poorly on the campaign trail and when he announced he might go back on the presidential trail. When you're unpopular, it spreads like a virus.

Dems are only defending 2 seats: Sen. Landrieu (Louisiana) and Sen. Tim Johnson (South Dakota.) Landrieu faces an uphill battle since many voters last cycle, esp. the African American base, have left New Orleans, and the depopulation of the urban area means that there are fewer Dems in the state. Johnson had a bad aneurysm, and is slowly recovering.

Things working in our favor:

1) DSCC under Schumer (fundraiser extraordinaire) has 4 times as much moola as NRSC.
2) GOP base is discontent, wary, and weary of so-called "values politicians" who turn out to be sleazeballs. (Jeez, who woulda thunk it?)
3) General distrust of GOP by public on economy, war, health care, etc
4) Upticket (presidential races) Democrats are far more exciting than GOP candidates. Coattails, baby, coattails.
5) Dems are defending 12 seats and Republicans are defending 22.

Plus here's the money quote in WashPost:

Republican campaign operatives are privately fretting about a political environment that could remain deadly for their party.

"About the only safe Republican Senate seats in '08 are the ones that aren't on the ballot," a GOP operative with extensive experience in Senate races said. "I don't see even the rosiest scenario where we don't end up losing more seats."

I wish to God that this is true, but we actually have to work our asses off to make this come true - don't forget that the GOP looks weak, and has looked weak before, only to come out from behind (amazing what a rent-a-Rove and some "voter fraud" can get ya at the polls.)

My prediction as of today: Dems win two seats overall for a 53-47 lead in the Senate. (Yeah, I'm counting Lieberman in there with us...)

Sen. Craig's nondenial about public bathroom sex

Well, the Idaho Statesman has finally spilled the results of their 4 month long investigation into the burning q: Is Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) really gay?

The most serious finding by the Statesman was the report by a professional man with close ties to Republican officials. The 40-year-old man reported having oral sex with Craig at Washington's Union Station, probably in 2004. The Statesman also spoke with a man who said Craig made a sexual advance toward him at the University of Idaho in 1967 and a man who said Craig "cruised" him for sex in 1994 at the REI store in Boise.

Here is Craig's classic denial non-denial as captured on a tape recorder from a May interview:

Another man said that in November 1994 Craig "cruised" him at the REI store in Boise. The man, who is gay, told the Statesman that Craig stared at him in a sexually inviting way and followed him around REI for a half-hour. Said Craig: "Once again, I'm not gay, and I don't cruise, and I don't hit on men. I have no idea how he drew that conclusion. A smile? Here is one thing I do out in public: I make eye contact, I smile at people, they recognize me, they say, ‘Oh, hi, Senator.' Or, ‘Do I know you?'

"I've been in this business 27 years in the public eye here. I don't go around anywhere hitting on men, and by God, if I did, I wouldn't do it in Boise, Idaho! Jiminy!"

ROTFL! This is like his 1982 pre-emptive denial of sex with teenage Congressional pages. The classic nonadmission admission - "if I did, I wouldn't do it in Boise" - just in Minnesota airport bathrooms, and DC's Union Station bathrooms. Guy must have a real fetish for bathrooms and transportation. Kinky!

But wait, there's more:

On May 12, two days before its interview with Craig, the Statesman finally interviewed Rogers' "best source," the man who says he is certain he had a brief sexual encounter with Craig at Union Station, which is two blocks from Craig's office. The man said the sex occurred in two restrooms on a weekday afternoon. He estimated the encounter lasted three or four minutes.

The man's motive was twofold. A lifelong Republican, he recently had re-registered as a Democrat because he's angry with what he sees as the GOP's gay-bashing. Second, he was tired of Rogers picking on congressional staffers and offered him the chance to "out" a senator.

This guy sounds like a Republican staffer, probably former, who is pissed that the Senator was propping up Don't Ask Don't Tell, even 11 days after getting arrested for his Minnesota gig. Also, why 2 bathrooms? How 2 bathrooms? Doesn't it take a few minutes to travel from 1 restroom to another? perhaps I am not thinking creatively enough, but how do you stretch that far?!? Is that what Sen. Craig means by his "wide stance" defense?!?!?

About the pre-emptive denial of teenage page sex, mcjoan at dkos says:
Craig's bizarre preemptive denial in the 1982 scandal and his marriage to a staffer six months afterward have been the stuff of speculation for 25 years. Craig obtained an "instant family" with the marriage--she had children from a previous marriage. It certainly did seem convenient.

Craig told the Statesman in May that he doesn't care about a person's sexual orientation. He said he had a homosexual staffer. "I hire people based on their talent and their ability to produce," he said.

Hmm, well, there's just too many double entendres to be made here. I will just leave that one for you, dear readers. Wonkette's having a field day, and their commenters are just cutting it up. Watch out Democratic congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) dance around whether Larry "Wide Stance" Craig is gay on Bill Maher.

But Peter Fearon, then with the New York Post, said he never said his paper was preparing to name Craig. "No, no — it wasn't ‘are you under investigation?' It was simply an inquiry: ‘Have you heard anything? Who have you heard about? Have you heard any names mentioned? What's your reaction to this news?'

"The next thing I know, Larry Craig has issued a press release: ‘This isn't me.' Which I just thought was a bizarre and ultimately very foolish thing to do.

"He was the only person going on the record anywhere," Fearon said. "And of course, when you do that, it's like raw meat. He's saying, ‘Nobody's actually accusing, but it wasn't me!' It's no wonder it's dogged him. He denied something that no one had accused him of."

But the song of the day, which I dedicate to the distinguished Senator from Idaho is the following: Shaggy's "It Wasn't Me".

Bangin' on the bathroom floor indeed.

Closeted Republican Senator Pled Guilty to Bathroom Sex

So the media has finally decided to write on Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) pleading guilty to lewd behavior in the men's bathroom at a Minnesota airport back in June. Roll Call, the insider's paper in DC, finally formally outed Senator Craig recently, although Craig's hometown paper, the Idaho Statesman, has been sitting on the story for months. And this shit has blown up big - his name is all over Google news for having illicit bathroom sex. In an airport, nonetheless! How tawdry of a US Senator. Roll Call via Marc Ambinder:

A spokesman for Craig described the incident as a “he said/he said misunderstanding,” and said the office would release a fuller statement later Monday afternoon.

After he was arrested, Craig, who is married, was taken to the Airport Police Operations Center to be interviewed about the lewd conduct incident, according to the police report. At one point during the interview, Craig handed the plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a business card that identified him as a U.S. Senator and said, “What do you think about that?” the report states.

So cocky - you would think that if he was truly deeply in the closet, he would try to cover up ANY identifying details and pretend to be a regular Joe instead of rubbing it in the cop's face. But I guess that's typical GOP elected behavior: "Mistakes were made, but I am not responsible, although I wield enormous power."

Meanwhile, Craig's defense was that he should have used a lawyer, and didn't really mean to plead guilty. Yeah, a sitting US Senator didn't know the legal process. The Senate is a process machine! The Mountain Goat Report has the local scoop:

Update 17:11: Craig tried to mitigate his guilty plea with this response to local NBC affiliate, KTVB:

"At the time of the incident, I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions. I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct. I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter. In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously."

It should be noted that from the time of the arrest to the guilty plea was two months. For a politician to not seek legal advice during that time on an incident of this magnitude suggests either incompetence or "scared rabbit" syndrome. Either way this is not good for Craig.

I agree that if he didn't seek legal counsel, it might be because he was too scared of anyone in the legal community finding out and it getting out back home, creating the ripples that we now see.

Wonkette has this insightful tidbit on a group of Larry Craig supporters and endorsers who are staunchly anti-gay, bemoaning the use of airport restrooms as the gay hookup joint of choice.

Mcjoan over at dailykos has a good analysis of the contenders to replace Craig, and wonders why the Statesman and their lawyers sat on the story, and how a DC insiders' paper decided to place a call to the Hennepin County Records office.

I suspect that Mike Rogers, who writes over at BlogActive, got sick of his investigative work going to naught and slipped a little note over to Roll Call. Rogers has been doing really great reporting on Sen. Craig's faithlessness to his wife for almost a year, and has been harping on Craig in particular because the Senator from Idaho consistently votes against gay rights.

In terms of the political fallout, Senator Craig is definitely resigning, and the Republican Governor would normally name his Lt Gov as the replacement candidate, except that they hate each other with a soap opera passion. So it looks like one Bill Sali might be chomping at the bit to elevate his hatemongering to the next level. Because only by being a US Senator and having a bigger bullhorn to insult Muslims can he truly protect America from the wrath of God. It's a ying and yang - scratch that (too Asian, and foreign) - a perilous balance thing.

But that's Idaho for ya.

PS: The cherry on top is that Craig had to resign as national co-chair for Mitt Romney's campaign.

PPS: The disturbing thing is that even 25 years back, Craig had to combat rumors of improper dealings with Congressional pages (echoes of Foleygate?)

PPPS: I guess this explains why the WH decided to dump Gonzales on a Monday - in between Vick pleading guilty to dogfighting (engages lowest common denominator that cares about sports and violence), and Senator Bathroom Sex (fulfills American need for sex gossip), who cares that the guy who tried to jam illegal wiretaps down our throat is resigning? Hell, I'd rather write about Republican sexual hypocrisies all day than think about the dark deeds that I am sure Alberto and Karl will some day be held accountable for, preferably at Guantanamo. (They and the rest of Bushco can be the sole prisoners.) Uhm, does that mean that I'm swallowing it? I hope not.

Damn you Ed Gillespie - I didn't get why White House insiders were loving your appointment as the new Communications Director, but this is as smart and evil a ploy as it gets. Maybe it wasn't Mike Rogers but actually Gillespie who deftly nudged Roll Call. Cos you know that Craig was gong down anyway, it was just a matter of when, so why not sacrifice a pawn to save a rook?

Does this make you the new Rove? Shit, maybe he's resigning because there's a suitable replacement . . . *cue the horror screams*