Free Republic

At the now-controversial meeting of evangelicals at a Texas ranch, influential evangelical leader James Dobson made a strong pitch for Rick Santorum's wife — and noted that Callista Gingrich was her husband's "mistress for eight years," questioning whether that's what people want in a first lady, three sources told POLITICO. The moment left several attendees at the confab at the Pressler ranch stunned, according to the sources. It came on Saturday, before the group of about 150 conservatives voted on a candidate they wanted to back. On the third round of balloting, the vote went to Santorum, but Gingrich backers...

MALKIN: 2011 was a year of widespread self-serving scandals, scamsMICHELLE MALKIN December 29, 2011 6:37 PM With 2011 drawing to a close, it is time to account. As an early-and-often chronicler of Chicago-on-the-Potomac, I am amazed at the stubborn and clingy persistence of President Barack Obama’s snowblowers in the media. See no scandal, hear no scandal, speak no scandal. Dartmouth College professor Brendan Nyhan asserted in May — while Operation Fast and Furious subpoenas were flying on Capitol Hill — that “one of the least remarked upon aspects of the Obama presidency has been the lack of scandals.” Conveniently, he...

Energy Secretary Steven Chu has outdone the doctor who declares the operation a success although the patient died. Chu won’t even say he’s sorry for the loss. The corpse here is the $535 million loan given to Solyndra, the solar company whose business model relied on massive infusions of cash from the White House. The firm is defunct, the cash is gone to money heaven, and Chu can only say it’s “unfortunate.” In five hours of congressional testimony, he refused to apologize for wasting so much taxpayer dough.

Rick Perry’s brain freeze and Herman Cain’s alleged penchant for blondes have fixated the American media in recent days. Liberals, sensing there might yet be hope for President Barack Obama, are engaging in a fresh round of condescending chortling about the idiocy of the Grand Old Party. Certainly, recent Republican shenanigans have provided ample fodder for late-night comedians. Talk to many ordinary Americans beyond Washington’s Beltway, however, and you tend to hear about other concerns. Yes, they are preoccupied with the prospect of a double-dip recession and unemployment. But two topics that were raised again and again by people I...

Sandusky (left, in a 1999 photo) is charged with sexual abuse of eight boys Could it be that on some deep and horrible psychological level, it was precisely the fact of Joe Paterno’s moral authority—and God, did he have it, not only as much as anyone in college football, but as much as any prominent person in America in any field—that enabled this revolting daisy chain of denial to exist at Penn State? Because, after all, he was a great man. A great moral man. Great moral men don’t hire depraved monsters. Great moral men don’t let things like this...

If you needed any more evidence of the political leaning of CNN, consider that much like Politico, it has in the last six days done at least 94 reports on the sexual harassment allegations involving Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain. Substantially more shocking, according to LexisNexis, the supposedly most trusted name in news only did 77 total stories on Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's ties to domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, convicted real estate developer Tony Rezko, and America-hating Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/11/05/cnn-runs-more-stories-cain-scandal-six-days-it-covered-obamas-ties-ay#ixzz1csaBkZUI

1. Bill Clinton & Monica Lewinsky 2. Gary Hart & Donna Rice 3. John Edwards & Rielle Hunter 4. Mark Sanford & Maria Chapur 5. Mark Foley & his text messages 6. Eliot Spitzer & his prostitutes 7. John F. Kennedy & Marilyn Monroe 8. Ted Kennedy & Mary Jo Kopechne 9. Arnold Schwarzenegger & Mildred Baena 10. Anthony Weiner & Twitter pictures

Sometimes, media bias is all about the headline . . . The New York Times has a decent piece this morning detailing the background that led to the approval by the Obama admin of more than a half-billion in loan guarantees to the soon-to-go-kaput Solyndra solar firm. The article paints a picture of an Obama admin that was eager to get the money out the door, was heavily lobbied by Solyndra and its major player who was a big Obama donor. But check out the headline: "In Rush to Assist Solyndra, U.S. Missed Warning Signs." What do you mean, "U.S.",...

An investigation by the Energy and Commerce Committee has revealed that, for political reasons, the White House rushed a $528 billion federal loan to solar firm Solyndra, which went bankrupt two weeks ago. Taxpayers should be outraged. Not just about Solyndra, but about the inherent corruption of government's entire push to pick winners and losers in the energy sector, and micromanage the economy in general. In case anyone has missed it, here's a refresher on what happened with Solyndra. After the Department of Energy had tentatively approved Solyndra’s loan, White House officials unduly pressured the Office of Management and Budget...

I'd like to begin this column by stating some facts. Facts can be stubborn. Facts can be stupid. Facts can also truths, and the truths I would like to discuss are....self evident. Chairman Obama's Three Ring Circus of Destruction is the most scandal-ridden administration in American history. The ethical lapses are almost countless, ranging from Certifigate, the Romanoff and Sestak bribes, the Department of Justice (which has become an Orwellian parody) dismissing the voting intimidation charges against the New Black Panther Party, Stimulus funds being used to arm Mexican drug lords in the Operation Fast and Furious fiasco, and now...

Solyndra. LightSquared. AttackWatch. Operation Fast & Furious. US credit downgraded. Vacations on Martha’s Vinyard. Not-so shovel-ready jobs. Zero jobs created in August (first time since WWII). The list goes on and on. So far, our President hasn’t figured out how big a loser he becoming; he still seems to think that everyone loves him. Surrounded as he is by a gang of hand-picked thugs from Chicago and inside the Beltway, Obama seems to think he’s doing a great job, and that his agenda is being embraced by all right-thinking people. The reality, of course, is far different. His stumbling and...

.... No one — including the media — is supposed to note the injunctions exist. In one notorious case, Fred Goodwin, head of Royal Bank of Scotland, bailed out by taxpayers for billions of pounds, obtained an order preventing anyone from reporting he was philandering with a colleague while negotiations were going on. Even saying he was a banker was forbidden. Now, the city of South Tyneside has used the law to pursue a blogger known as Mr. Monkey, who has allegedly levelled a stream of criticisms against councillors and council officers. On the weekend it persuaded San Francisco-based Twitter...

"Rep. Christopher Lee is a married Republican congressman serving the 26th District of New York. But when he trolls Craigslist's "Women Seeking Men" forum, he's Christopher Lee, "divorced" "lobbyist" and "fit fun classy guy." One object of his flirtation told us her story." "That afternoon, a man named Christopher Lee replied. He used a Gmail account that Rep. Christopher Lee has since confirmed to be his own. (It's the same Gmail account that was associated with Lee's personal Facebook account, which the Congressman deleted when we started asking questions.) By email, Lee identified himself as a 39-year-old divorced lobbyist and...

Source: Rep. Chris Lee (R-NY) has RESIGNED after being caught up in alleged craigslist cheating scandal.

scandals of high profile jews who are somewhat "observant" involved in performing or promoting deviant acts{i.e. senator joseph lieberman sabbath vote and advocacy for open homosexuals in the military}are in part the spiritual "fruit" of orthodox jews in the u. s. and the holy land. not only do torah advocacy groups like agudath israel & the o. u. fail to protest immoral public activity ,legislation,etc. or those who promote the aforementioned, but too often orthodox groups or prominent individuals raise funds for or otherwise honor , vote for or otherwise support these serial transgressors that should be chastised.this results in...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Gov. Ed Rendell says there is no truth to gossip that he is involved in an extramarital affair with a state employee. In an advance copy of a Philadelphia magazine article obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, the governor and Kirstin Snow, the former beauty queen who works for him, say in separate interviews that they are not romantically involved. “Do I have some flaws? Absolutely!” Rendell tells the magazine. “For all of the rumors, has any woman ever said that I have had sex with her? Other than my wife?” Statehouse rumors of an affair gained...

SAN ANTONIO— In an agreement U.S. immigration officials hope will begin to reshape the entire 30,000-bed detention system, some asylum-seekers and immigrants awaiting deportation proceedings could soon be held in facilities where they can wear their own clothes, participate in movie and bingo nights, eat continental breakfasts, and celebrate holidays with visiting family members. It could end confinement in prison-like facilities — complete with razor wire, jail-style uniforms, armed guards and partitions that prevent physical contact with loved ones — for those who have never been convicted of a crime and are not considered a threat. Corrections Corporation of America,...

Japan's parliament elected outspoken populist Naoto Kan as prime minister Friday, handing the political veteran the immediate task of rallying his party and reclaiming its mandate for change before elections next month. Kan succeeds Yukio Hatoyama, who stepped down Wednesday after squandering the public's high hopes with broken campaign promises, including moving a U.S. Marine base off Okinawa island, and financial scandals.

Eight-term Rep. Mark Souder will announce his resignation Tuesday after it came to light that he was conducting an affair with a female staffer who worked in his district office, Fox News has learned. Multiple senior House sources indicated that the extent of the affair would have landed Souder before the House Ethics Committee. Elected as a family values conservative as part of the Republican revolution in 1994, Souder survived a tough re-election challenge in 2008 and survived a contested primary two weeks ago.

These are the last 48 hours before the general election in Britain. On all sides you hear that the campaign of all parties has been boring and irrelevant. Commentators are attaching the label of “anti-politics” to the general attitude of the public. Two immense scandals are in the air, it is true, and the voters can do little about it. The first scandal is that Members of Parliament almost without exception have taken advantage of a procedure that has been unbelievably lax but hidden from view allowing them to claim expenses. In effect they have been leeching money out of...

Leave Vera Baker Alone. She did not have an affair with Obama.

If you've wondered how the Democrat controlled whinney media will handle the Obama affair story read this from a self delusional Leftist website: This line says it all "the ailing, tea-bagging Republican party.." "Swiss newspaper Le Matin is reviving old claims that President Barack Obama had an extramarital affair in 2004 with Vera Baker, a young woman who worked on his campaign team when he was running for Illinois Senator. The paper claims "video surveillance tapes exist that are rather compromising for the 44th president of the United States." It also alleges that software engineers have dug up email exchanges...

www.catholicnewsagency.com Robert Peters: SEC pornography scandal shows harms of obscene material Morality in Media president Robert Peters. Related articles: The 2008 Presidential Election and Its Impact on Enforcement of Federal Obscenity LawsThe Harmful Effects of PornographySummary Of Obscenity And Related LawsEnforcement of Obscenity Laws Is Not ‘Censorship’ New York City, N.Y., Apr 24, 2010 / 07:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The exposure of workplace pornography use at the Securities and Exchange Commission while the 2008 financial crisis was unfolding shows the harmful consequences of such material, Morality in Media president Robert Peters has said. Calling for open condemnation of the...

WASHINGTON -- Sections of court papers filed by scandal-scarred former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich that were mistakenly made public show a deeper involvement by President Obama in picking his Senate successor and call into question the president's public statements on the case. According to passages in the papers filed Thursday by Blagojevich's lawyers -- which were blacked out under a judge's order but made visible by a computer glitch -- Obama, then president-elect, spoke directly to the disgraced governor on Dec. 1, 2008. But just one week later -- on the day Blagojevich was indicted -- Obama told reporters flatly,...

Top Secret Sen. Ted Kennedy Files To Be Released Family Given Permission To Review Files First BOSTON (CBS) ― The FBI kept a top secret file on the late Senator Ted Kennedy. There are thousands of pages in it. There could be a lot of material in there that would make tabloid editors salivate. The files are being released after media requests under the Freedom of Information Act, reports CBS station WBZ-TV. The FBI is ready to make 3,000 of those pages public, but before they do, the Kennedy family will see them first. The Globe reports that while the...

Former Time White House correspondent (and Carter administration appointee) Margaret Carlson really wants RNC chairman Michael Steele fired. In her Bloomberg News column on Wednesday, she badly exaggerated: "In the world of fundraising scandals, this one makes former Vice President Al Gore’s visit to a Buddhist temple look as quaint as tea at Buckingham Palace."

Elizabeth Scalia is a contributing writer to First Things Magazine as the blogger known as The Anchoress. The question has come my way several times in the past week: "How do you maintain your faith in light of news stories that bring light to the dark places that exist within your church?" When have darkness and light been anything but co-existent? How do we recognize either without the other? I remain within, and love, the Catholic Church because it is a church that has lived and wrestled within the mystery of the shadow lands ever since an innocent man was...

Robert Brot is no Richard Gere, according to his "Pretty Woman." The Manhattan real-estate developer who says he rescued a woman from a life of prostitution, as Gere's character did in the movie, was more like her pimp than her Prince Charming, she told The Post. "Tried to save me from the escort business? No, he got me into it," said Lind sey DeLeon, 26. "He told me, 'I'm going to show you the high life. I'm going to show you how to live.' And he did." Brot, 57, paid for her to move from Wyoming to the city,...

Baltimore (AP) - A former leader of Maryland's ACORN chapter says the group shaken by a video scandal will no longer operate in the state. The videos showed ACORN workers, including workers in Baltimore, giving tax tips to conservative activists posing as a pimp and prostitute. Former Maryland chapter co-chairwoman Sonja Merchant-Jones says the group was torn apart by infighting after that. Several affiliates of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now around the country are rebranding under a different name. But Merchant-Jones, says there are no such plans in Maryland.

For Kevin Garn, it's been 25 years of hiding, of paying big money for "secrecy," of presenting himself as a devoted public servant, twice rising to the status of House Majority Leader in the Utah Legislature. In the same 25 years, Cheryl Maher has been plagued by substance abuse and mental illness, even as she served in leadership roles in the LDS Church -- as did Garn, a former bishop. This week, it all came out: In 1985, Garn, then 30 and married, and Maher, a 15-year-old who worked for him, took off their clothes and climbed into a hot...

SALT LAKE CITY — The resignation Saturday of former House Majority Leader Kevin Garn, a Republican from Layton, over a nude hot-tubbing incident with a teenage girl 25 years ago is fueling the already heated debate over legislative ethics — especially since it follows the resignation of another high-profile GOP legislative leader from Davis County, former Senate Majority Leader Sheldon Killpack of Syracuse. Shortly before the start of the 2010 legislative session, Killpack stepped down after being arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. "There's no question, it's a black eye," Senate Majority Leader Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, said Saturday. "These...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A late-night confession by Utah's House majority leader about sitting nude in a hot tub with a minor 25 years ago has shocked this conservative state's political establishment but has not prompted calls from party leaders for him to resign. Rep. Kevin Garn, 55, acknowledged the indiscretion late Thursday immediately after the Legislature adjourned for the session. He said he paid the woman, Cheryl Maher, now 40, $150,000 to keep quiet about the episode when he unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2002.

New York Democrat Congressman Eric Massa has resigned from his office, admitting he made sexual overtures to a male staff member. “I am guilty,” Massa said when asked by a Corning, New York, newspaper columnist. Later that day, Massa released a statement that he had a recurrence of cancer and would be resigning from his office. He also acknowledged an ethics complaint was filed against him by the male staffer, who felt “uncomfortable” during an exchange with Massa. “During long car rides, in the early hours of the evening, late at night and always in private, I know that my...

BUZZ---CNBC correspondent, and NYT political writer, John Harwood, split with spouse, dated Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash).....sources say Harwood sobbed to a reporter until he agreed to kill the story.

The Empire State has a lot to recommend it -- Broadway shows, Niagara Falls, and baseball's World Series champions, the New York Yankees. But politics? As the locals would say, Fuhgeddaboudit. Colorful, ethnic, tribal, the New York political scene is much like the Big Apple itself, a bit rough around the edges. But the political upheaval taking place in the state now has shocked even hardened New Yorkers and given disillusioned voters across the nation more reason to lose faith in their leaders. Just in the past week: -- Democratic Gov. David Paterson dropped his re-election bid because of evidence...

Vatican chorister sacked for allegedly procuring male prostitutes for papal gentleman-in-waiting. The Vatican was today rocked by a sex scandal reaching into Pope Benedict's household after a chorister was sacked for allegedly procuring male prostitutes for a papal gentleman-in-waiting. Angelo Balducci, a Gentleman of His Holiness, was caught by police on a wiretap allegedly negotiating with Thomas Chinedu Ehiem, a 29-year-old Vatican chorister, over the specific physical details of men he wanted brought to him. Transcripts in the possession of the Guardian suggest that numerous men may have been procured for Balducci, at least one of whom was studying for...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - An unfolding scandal threatening Gov. David Paterson and his administration claimed its second public safety official Tuesday when the head of the New York State Police said he was retiring, partly because of intense media scrutiny. And late Tuesday night, The New York Times reported that Paterson told a state employee in February to contact a woman at the heart of the scandal who had accused a Paterson aide of domestic violence to "make this go away." Soon after, the woman dropped her case against the aide.

Tiger Woods received a phone call from Barack Obama offering him support as he tries to rebuild his life, it is claimed. Mr Obama, himself a keen golfer, is said to have contacted the 34-year-old Woods following his astonishing TV public apology for 'irresponsible and selfish' behaviour last month. Ex-president Bill Clinton, himself no stranger to humiliating and public exposure over his extramarital affairs, is also thought to have called to offer his support.

US President Barack Obama and his Democratic Party predecessor Bill Clinton offered words of encouragement to troubled golfer Tiger Woods after news broke about his sexual dalliances, the Golf Digest has reported. "President Obama made a personal call to offer encouragement. So did Bill Clinton, whose experience might be particularly instructive," the magazine reported.

This ought to make Republicans, particularly New York Congressman Pete King, happy. Mr. King, who's the ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, has been trying for months to call Ms. Rogers before the committee, but the White House hasn't made her available, and naturally, Democrats have been reluctant to issue her a subpoena. Mr. King even sent her a letter with 15 questions. "I take this very seriously," he told Good Morning America. Why all the seriousness about a White House party? "[The Gatecrashers] could have been terrorists, they could have been psychopaths, they could have attacked the president,...

John Edwards, as described by former aide Andrew Young in Young's book The Politician: "Since she was 'a crazy slut' and they had an 'open' relationship, he thought there was only a 'one-in-three chance' that he could be the father of her baby." Elizabeth Edwards, wife of John Edwards, in her book Resilience: "I have come to understand his liaison with this woman … Those with any fame or notoriety or power attract people for good reasons and bad … They flatter and entreat, and it is engaging, even addictive. They look at our lives, which from the outside in...

with daughter of CBS News' Jeff Greenfield

HOLD EVERYTHING! The New York Times Hammers Governor Paterson, Portraying Him As A Lazy, Out-Of-Touch, Party Boy Henry Blodget Feb. 18, 2010, 10:23 PM Two weeks ago, rumors swirled that the New York Times was working on a "bombshell" story about New York Governor David Paterson. One source told us the story was so devastating that it might lead to the Governor's resignation. For a week, as the media screamed, the New York Times remained silent, publishing nothing. Then, finally, a few days ago, the paper published a mildly interesting but largely irrelevant account of how one of Governor Paterson's...

John Edwards Scandal: Andrew Young Offered 'Gigantic' Sum for Sex Tape Andrew Young Tells 'GMA' He Feared for His Life and Thought of Vince FosterBy SARAH NETTERFeb. 1, 2010— The former John Edwards aide who claims to have a sex tape of the one-time presidential candidate and his pregnant mistress said he'd been offered a "gigantic" amount of money to sell it. Young also told "Good Morning America" today that after he broke with Edwards, tensions over the cover-up got so heated that he feared for his family's safety. "For several months, I used to get up at 3 a.m....

Most governors facing unsubstantiated rumors and unspoken innuendo would either say nothing or issue a forceful denial and move on. Not in Albany. Not our accidental governor, David Paterson, bless his heart. If Paterson wanted to tamp down the buzz surrounding him, his truly astounding press conference on Tuesday only added to the din. Obviously upset with unsubstantiated rumors - some in print and others in the blogosphere - that he'd had extramarital affairs since taking office, Paterson went into high-drama mode. There he was, on live television, ostensibly to talk about the looming snowstorm, going on and on about...

Two weeks before the 2008 Iowa caucuses, the National Enquirer published a detailed story reporting that Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards had had an affair, and that the woman involved -- campaign videographer Rielle Hunter -- was pregnant, and that Edwards had arranged for an aide to falsely claim to be the father, and that Hunter and the aide and the aide's family were being taken care of financially by a wealthy Edwards supporter. It was, to say the least, explosive. At the time, Edwards was a serious contender in the Democratic presidential race, so when the story was published,...

These are chilly times for global warming. Climategate unmasked the international conspiracy to suppress climate data that undermines the bogus theory of man-made warming. Glaciergate exposed the junk science that went into the 2007 report of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. More recently, scientist discovered the IPCC report contained gross errors about the depletion of tropical rain forests, giving rise to Amazongate. Even Britain's chief science adviser, John Beddington, spoke the other day of the "substantial uncertainties" inherent in "large-scale climate modeling," and of how warmists resort to exaggeration — he omitted prevarications — to paper over yawning...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A North Carolina judge wants security officers to accompany a former John Edwards aide as he goes to retrieve a sex tape of his former boss. Superior Court Judge Abraham Penn Jones said in an order released Monday that the Orange County sheriff has appointed a security firm to help recover the video and other items. Former Edwards loyalist Andrew Young has said he has the original tape and copies stored in an Atlanta safety deposit box. Jones wants the security officer to accompany Young into the vault. Jones has declared Young was in contempt for not...

(AP) A former aide to John Edwards says in court documents that a copy of a sex tape featuring his former boss has been sent to the FBI. Andrew Young said Friday he has the original copy of the tape showing Edwards in a sexual encounter in a safe deposit box in Atlanta. He said a copy of the tape was sent to his Washington attorney, who turned it over to federal investigators. Young has said the tape shows Edwards and a woman he believes to be the two-time presidential candidate's mistress, Rielle Hunter. Federal investigators have been looking into...

The rumor mill is churning right now about a "big, damaging" New York Times "bombshell" story that supposedly features some ruinous dirt about the personal life of Governor David Paterson. Elizabeth Benjamin at the Daily News hears it "will be far worse than his acknowledged extramarital affair with a former state employee."