You vet your life

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Imagine if every disgruntled ex-lover, ex-spouse, ex-friend and/or ex-employee in your life had the chance to dish dirt on you – to expose your deepest, darkest secrets. Affairs, flings, drug use, shoplifting, drunk driving, cheating on tests – every closet has a few skeletons. How many skeletons do you have?

I’m talking about stuff you really did – but spun in the least flattering light. Add in made-up lies and anything is possible. They don’t have to prove any of it – it’s up to you to disprove it.

How many people could survive that?

Not everyone has to. If you are approved by the establishment your secrets are safe. The media will help you to cover them up and will attack anyone who tries to expose them. Even when your secrets are revealed the media will dismiss them as irrelevant.

The basic rule is there are no rules. Bill Clinton got hammered for admitting he tried smoking pot but “didn’t inhale.” George Bush and Barack Obama got away with admitting to using cocaine.

The sex lives of Bill Clinton, Sarah Palin and Herman Cain are open season, but Barack Obama’s is off limits. John Edwards’ sex life was off limits until his candidacy was over. Ted Kennedy got kicked out of college for cheating, then later drove his car off a bridge while drunk and left a woman he wasn’t married to behind to drown and it didn’t end his career.

If the media dislikes you they will fixate on every thing you say, pointing to every slip of the tongue, mispronounciation and verbal gaffe as proof you are a moron. If they like you then you can be a moron and they will say your mistakes are proof that you are smarter than everyone else.

Which brings us to this:

Furthermore, Mr. Romney, still unable to reach beyond 25 percent in GOP polls, may have hit his high-water mark. Consider how the selectively quiet mainstream media waged war on the conservative challengers, one by one, just as they began to pose threats to Mr. Romney, yet they have found little time for exposes on Romneycare or Bain Capital or – brace yourself – racism in the Mormon Church. Don’t worry, they will. Meanwhile, conservatives should ask themselves why they’re holding back now.

Even Mr. Romney’s supporters admit this. Washington icon Ann Coulter has curiously joined league with ultraliberal Obamaphiles Bill Maher and Warren Buffett, as well as the one-woman brain trust, Meghan McCain, to support Mr. Romney in the primaries. Miss Coulter claims the mainstream media are “terrified” of a Romney GOP nomination. Destroying her own argument, she predicts there will be an “explosion” of anti-Romney news stories that “have already been written, but they’re not scheduled for release until the day Romney wraps up the nomination.”

Miss Coulter doesn’t explain what motivates the media to shield the Romney campaign during the primaries. The answer is obvious: Mitt Romney is the media’s rope-a-dope re-election strategy for Barack Obama. They hope we’ll bite.

The media will turn on Mr. Romney faster and with greater vengeance than they did Mr. McCain in 2008, and when they do, his poll numbers – unlike those of his GOP rivals who already have faced their firestorms – will crater like Mr. McCain’s did. I would guess they’re already hunting down every family with a grievance against Bain Capital for breathless “How Mitt Romney destroyed our family” news stories. Unfair? Absolutely. Damaging? You decide.

If you still don’t believe the Obama-friendly media are hoping Mitt Romney wins the GOP nomination, Google “Mitt Romney money picture” and ask yourself why the media are – for now – holding back this unseemly photo. It shows the former Massachusetts governor beside his former business partners with cash pouring out of their pockets, lapels, shirt collars and even a few body orifices. Even unapologetic champions of the free market cringe with anticipation of the bonanza that photo provides for Team Obama, which already loves to blame the weak economy on “fat-cat” bankers. This photo will be Exhibit A.

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If I had to pick the single, most important lesson from 2008, it’s that we should beware the media darlings.

I don’t know whether Mitt Romney is being set up as a sacrificial lamb or not. A more likely explanation is a fixed race with two ringers. Obama is a Wall Street puppet. Romney is a Wall Street alumni. Either way, Wall Street wins.

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Don’t Fade Away

Herman Cain’s polling averages are still almost as high as Bachmann, Huntsman and Perry put together. The problem is that unlike past shooting stars, he’s never run a campaign. He’s in debt, he’s in trouble and he’s going to be asked about everything but what he wants to talk about.

Cain’s decision was to go out before he sank to the bottom. He’s the name everyone cares about at the moment. He may have a few weeks of notoriety left, plus and endorsement that could help settle his campaign debt. I don’t see this as a betrayal of his supporters. If he kept going, it would be as an “embattled” campaign where every event he went to was under a “cloud of suspicion” or a “shadow of doubt.”

People love fighters, but some of the most famous ones met terrible fates. Sometimes voters spend too much some on one savior. Hillary Clinton can’t save us, Sarah Palin can’t save us. We can save us. The message we send by voting against Barack Obama is not that we love his opponent, but that he’s fired. The message of 2010 was a mass firing, where Barney Frank and others are forced into retirement in the following election.

Obama can do so much more damage in 4 more years than any Republican in their first 4 years. The best candidate is the one who gets the nomination. He or she will be the one who gets him out of office.

He’s OUT!

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Herman Cain Suspends His Presidential Campaign

An unapologetic and defiant Herman Cain suspended his presidential campaign on Saturday, pledging that he “would not go away,” even as he abandoned hope of winning the Republican nomination. Instead, Mr. Cain announced what he called a “Plan B,” continued advocacy of his tax and foreign policy plans.

“As of today, with a lot of prayer and soul searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign,” Mr. Cain said. “Because of the continued distractions, the continued hurt caused on me and my family, not because we are not fighters. Not because I’m not a fighter.”

Mr. Cain, with his wife at his side, adamantly professed Saturday that the accusations of sexual harassment and of a long-term affair that have swamped his campaign were not true.

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Well, it was fun while it lasted. At least they can’t say he lost because the Republicans wouldn’t support a black man.

I wish Herman and his wife the best and hope we haven’t seen the last of him.

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Cain “reassessing” candidacy

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National Review:

In a conference call this morning, Herman Cain told his senior staff that he is “reassessing” whether to remain in the race. He will make his final decision “over the next several days.”

“Obviously, you’re all aware of this recent firestorm that hit the news yesterday,” Cain began, his voice somber. “First thing I want to do is say to you what I have said publicly: I deny those charges, unequivocally. Secondly, I have known this lady for a number of years. And thirdly, I have been attempting to help her financially because she was out of work and destitute, desperate. So, thinking that she was a friend — and I have helped many friends — I now know that she wasn’t the friend that I thought she was. But it was a just a friendship relationship.”

“That being said, obviously, this is cause for reassessment,” he continued. “As you know, during the summer we had to make some reassessments based upon our financial situation. We were able to hang in there; we reassessed the situation and kept on going. We also did a reassessment after the Iowa straw poll and we made another reassessment after the Florida straw poll. When the previous two accusations, false accusations, came about, we made another assessment. The way we handled those was, we continued on with our schedule. We made an assessment about what was going to happen to our support. But our supporters, and even some folks that we didn’t have as supporters, they stood with us, and they showed it not only in terms of their verbal support, they showed it in terms of their dollars.”

“Now, with this latest one, we have to do an assessment as to whether or not this is going to create too much of a cloud, in some people’s minds, as to whether or not they would be able to support us going forth,” Cain said.

“Over the next several days, we are going to continue with the schedule as usual,” he said. “I’ve got a major speech tonight at Hillsdale College on national security and foreign policy, and I will deliver it with vim, vigor, and enthusiasm. And then tomorrow we’ve got some media appearances scheduled. So we’re going to continue until we complete our assessment over the next several days.”

“But if a decision is made, different than to plow ahead, you all will be the first to know,” he said. “So until that time, I want to continue to thank you all for your support, thank you for your prayers. It’s taken an emotional toll, but the people in the audience tonight will never know it.”

“It’s also taken a toll on my wife and family, as you would imagine,” he concluded. “Any time you put another cloud of doubt, unfortunately, in the court of public opinion, for some people, you’re guilty until proven innocent. And so, the public will have to decide whether they believe her or whether they believe me. That’s why we’re going to give it time, to see what type of response we get from our supporters.”

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I remember reading somewhere that once a couple starts talking about divorce the chances of them splitting up goes to ninety percent. I’m guessing the same is true of political campaigns – once you start talking about quitting you pretty much already have.

Cain would have been fun to watch in a general election campaign against Obama, but he had to get there first. Even if he is completely innocent of the allegations against him, he and his campaign staff did a horrible job of dealing with the crisis.

Like Bachmann and Perry before him, Herman Cain does not appear to be ready for prime time.

On the other hand, Newt Gingrinch may be the luckiest politician in the country right now.

I’m gonna start working on my Spanish. I want to get down there before the Mexicans build a fence.

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Breaking – Woman accuses Herman Cain of 13 year affair

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Via Hot Air:

Georgia Woman Claims 13-Year Affair with Herman Cain

An Atlanta businesswoman is breaking her silence, claiming she has been involved in a 13-year-long affair with Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, FOX 5 senior I-Team reporter Dale Russell sat down with Ginger White, who had an amazing story to tell.

“It was pretty simple,” White said. “It wasn’t complicated. I was aware that he was married. And I was also aware I was involved in a very inappropriate situation, relationship.”

In an exclusive interview on FOX 5 News at 6, Russell will tell you why White is speaking out now, and show you the records that she says back up her story. He also talks to Herman Cain, who denies the affair. Cain’s attorney, Lin Wood, released the following statement to just moments ago:

“Mr. Cain has been informed today that your television station plans to broadcast a story this evening in which a female will make an accusation that she engaged in a 13-year long physical relationship with Mr. Cain. This is not an accusation of harassment in the workplace – this is not an accusation of an assault – which are subject matters of legitimate inquiry to a political candidate.

Rather, this appears to be an accusation of private, alleged consensual conduct between adults – a subject matter which is not a proper subject of inquiry by the media or the public. No individual, whether a private citizen, a candidate for public office or a public official, should be questioned about his or her private sexual life. The public’s right to know and the media’s right to report has boundaries and most certainly those boundaries end outside of one’s bedroom door.

Mr. Cain has alerted his wife to this new accusation and discussed it with her. He has no obligation to discuss these types of accusations publicly with the media and he will not do so even if his principled position is viewed unfavorably by members of the media.”

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I sure hope Herman Cain is guilty. Cuz if he’s not, he still got fucked.

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Ginger White

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The Heat is Off

Hey, remember how Politico was the Herman Cain harassment story hub for about two weeks? Remember how there were two, then four, then five, then four again, then only two who spoke? One, of course, filed an actual charge.Then she filed another charge at her very next job. The other one didn’t even work for Cain.

This event started around the time Cain’s 9-9-9 plan had put him at the front of the pack, polling near 30%. After the allegations and his response, his numbers dropped in a matter of days. The media credited the loss of faith by women and others. Of course, at the same time, Cain had made a number of mistakes and outright incorrect statements.

Now, Herman Cain is in third place. He’s polling at about 15%. Somehow, the serious charges against him have lost their steam. That’s due to one simple factor. No one really cares about smearing the guy in third place. One of the funny things about Newt Gingrich being in first place now is that scandals have pretty much been wrung out of him. Heck, the infamous divorce story has been debunked by his daughter.

One sign that a political smear doesn’t have staying power is that it goes away when the candidate doesn’t have staying power. This story disappeared faster than most.

Seriously

On CNN’s Reliable Sources Sunday, Howard Kurtz spoke to Daily Beast contributor Lauren Ashburn. She wrote a story last week about Herman Cain’s accusers. She also described her own history of being sexually harassed, with incidents ranging from rude to offensive.

On CNN, Ashburn talked about how these allegations must be taken seriously. Of course, they are getting a serious amount of air time. I wonder how you take a charge that is hard to prove and even harder to disprove seriously enough. Sexual harassment charges are hard to prove when they happen. Karen Kraushaar was given a significant amount of money when she left. Did she leave because the association would not reprimand Herman Cain? Did they pay her off because a lawsuit would cost more than $45,000 even if it was decided in their favor? Did Kraushaar file a sexual harassment complaint at her next job because she’s litigious or because she’s one of the women who’s willing to speak up?

In a legal sense, Herman Cain is innocent until proven guilty. A court would not ask him to prove he did not sexually harass one or more women. They would need to provide some evidence. Kraushaar would need to unseal the complaint. Sharon Bialek would need to at least show that she and Cain were in a car together on the night that she described in a press conference. At the same time, those hurdles make it easier for harassers to hide their crimes, along with women who are either ashamed or ignored when they are harassed.

Some women (and men to a lesser extent) are making a judgement based on the number of stories. I don’t like the idea that a sufficient number of false claims are all that’s needed to make a charge credible. Most presidential candidates are accused of sexual impropriety at some point, but Politico never talked to Vera Baker. They have been on top of every allegation against Herman Cain, even accusers 2, 3 and 5, but number 5 may not exist.

When Lauren Ashburn ends another article like this, I doubt Herman Cain will be treated justly.

Based on what women tell me and what I’ve experienced firsthand, there are a lot more creepy men out there than we ever realized. Maybe it’s time we do something about it.

Brain Fart

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Hot Air:

Video: Perry implodes; Update: Campaign is over, says top fundraiser

Via Business Insider. A few choice quotes. Larry Sabato:

To my memory, Perry’s forgetfulness is the most devastating moment of any modern primary debate.

Rich Lowry:

That might be the most uncomfortable moment I’ve ever witnessed in presidential politics.

Mona Charen:

That was the greatest flame-out I’ve ever witnessed in a debate.

He’s down to 4.9 percent now on InTrade; before the debate he was at 9.3 percent. Remember two months ago when he was going to be the guy who saved us from Romney? Yeah.

Update: Zero Hedge has the gruesome “flash crash” during Perry’s answer as captured on InTrade.

Update: CNN, live in the spin room: “I’m sure glad I had my boots on because I sure stepped in it out there.”

Update: WaPo’s Aaron Blake tweets: “Top Perry fundraiser to me: ‘Perry campaign is over. Time for him to go home and refocus on being Gov of TX.’”

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We all get them, just not on national television.

OTOH – Herman Cain has got to be pleased, but his reprieve is only temporary. The jackals will return to feast on his flesh again in a day or two.

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Happy Trails!

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The Best Game of Chicken Ever

He's all in now

Herman Cain offered no alternative histories. He offered no apologies. He had no stories to recall. His denial was that nothing happened.

The media loves the idea of proving a negative. If nothing happened, why can’t Cain produce evidence of that? One idiot reporter asked if he would undergo a lie detector test. Not a bad idea, but exactly what questions would prove he was telling the truth? What if one of the accusers passed one? You’re back to square one.

George W. Bush had the same problem with the National Guard Memo. Some disgruntled Democrat created a memo out of thin air using the default settings in Microsoft Word and CBS held onto it like a junkyard dog (fake but accurate) until the story actually improved Bush’s standing. Luckily, the veracity of the document became so questionable that a few conservative websites were able to prove a nearly impossible scenario, if not a negative. Then again, some politicians just play chicken. Gary Hart dared the press to follow him around, and they found some Money Business.

Now Cain has laid down his marker. He’s either innocent and these allegations will fall apart or he’s guilty and some real evidence will show itself. I don’t for one minute think that he’s both a major sleazeball and managed to hide all evidence of the fact. Those two things just don’t go together.

Finney, Neblett and the scary black love machine

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MSNBC’s Karen Finney: Will GOP Rally Around Cain Despite Accuser Being White?

MSNBC commentator Karen Finney waded into the muddied waters of sexual politics and miscegenation on Monday’s Martin Bashir. “It’s going to be fascinating to see how this story unfolds over the next several days and particularly interesting to see how our friends on the right handle the accusations from these women in conjunction with how they handled Anita Hill.” “What do you mean, Karen?” Bashir pressed. “Look, I think it will be interesting to see if these guys rally around Herman Cain with as much voracity as they have these last couple of weeks now that it’s clear that a whole other layer of black sexuality has been infused into this,” Finney explained. “Also remember these women were ten years younger than we’re seeing them now. So that whole power dynamic. This is an older man, this younger women. White women, Black man.”

“It’s very jarring for the GOP, for anybody, I think, to see a black man be sexually aggressive in an unwanted way toward a blonde, white — especially a blonde, white woman,” added Touré. “One thing you have to keep in mind here is that this is not a real campaign. He is not really competing for the presidency! He’s competing for branding, television jobs, speaking jobs, book jobs. Just stay on the stage as long as possible, doesn’t matter how many arrows are in you, just stay on the stage, that’s all that matters for him.”

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Just when you think they can’t sink any lower . . .

Here’s my opinion on Herman Cain and the sexual harassment allegations against him:

I don’t know and I don’t really care. The “facts” are virtually non-existent and pretty much irrelevant at this point. People who want to believe he is innocent will believe he is innocent. People who want to believe he’s guilty will believe he’s guilty. The rest of us will never be sure one way or the other.

I’m not planning on wasting any more time discussing it. Either his candidacy will survive or it won’t.

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