First it was just cash settlements to women claiming Herman Cain played a bit of grab-ass with them. Now we've got someone coming forward alleging an affair that lasted longer than many marriages. The best part? If you watch the video that's part of the above linked ABC News article, you'll get to see Herman Cain addressing his supporters.
It feels surreal to listen to him talk about how "they" don't want him to win, and "they" just want to drag his name through the mud to hurt his presidential chances. I'm not sure that's what the original accusers had in mind all those years ago when they brought action against him, but maybe that's how Cain sees it. Cain's version:
"You know... just in case Herman Cain ever decides to run for president in the future, maybe I should sue him now just to insure his campaign gets scuttled."I think the more likely scenario plays out like this.
"Hey, that guy at table three just grabbed my ass!"Either way, Cain decided to reassess his campaign and spend the weekend with his wife, face to face, to see how she's holding up with all of this.
For what it's worth, Cain's run has basically ended anyway, so it's really neither here nor there if he stays in the race. Turns out that being either a moron or an accused sexual harasser isn't enough to fall in the GOP polls. But put the two together and that might just be all that the voters can stand. Enjoy this nugget as Cain starts to fade away.
Yeah, Herman Cain really did quote the Pokemon movie in a GOP debate.
With Cain falling, Newt Gingrich has stepped into the GOP flavor of the month role. We already now all about Gingrich's tendencies to cheat on his current wife (usually when she's gravely ill, like divorcing his first wife as she recovered from cancer surgery and dumping the second wife for a 20-year younger aide just as the wife is diagnosed with MS). There doesn't seem to be any weird tweets, IMs, or texts to underaged dudes, so I'm not sure what dirt will scuttle his run at the top. Gingrich takes a lot of heat for not acting conservative enough, and he also has a flip-flopping problem.
Maybe stuff like this will also help to scuttle his efforts:
I guess we'll have to see how it goes. Meanwhile, Jon Huntsman, possibly the most rational and best match for Obama, can't seem to make any headway despite most of the GOP field coming across like contestants on a VH1 reality show.
Obviously the debate system our media has set up is deeply flawed, designed to help keep front-runners up front and the also-rans marginalized... but the fact that Huntsman won't even be allowed to enter the building seems harsh. Come on, the dude even did Saturday Night Live.
Huntsman admits that his campaign is all or nothing with New Hampshire, but that hasn't stopped him from hinting at the possibility of an independent run. One possible ally might be the newly formed Justice Party.
Wrong Justice, wrong Party. More like this:
French techno jokes aside, I may actually cast my ballot toward this effort if it can get off the ground. Former Salt Lake City mayor, Rocky Anderson, severed ties with the democratic party last summer because he got so fed up with corporate interests taking over the American political process. Here's a breakdown of the Justice Party's platform:
- Hold the Banksters who destroyed our economy accountable. Who has been sent to jail yet?
- Bring to justice those who lied us into the Iraq War! Both Congress and the Administration have left this issue unaddressed
- No jobs, no justice, and there are a lot of people who don't have economic justice because there are no jobs. Time for a concerted push for jobs creation, which continues to be avoided.
- Bailouts for the fleeced homeowners, not Wall Street and auto manufacturers only. As major corporations continue to report record earnings, homeowners are facing bankruptcies and decreasing value of their homes, yet no one lifts a hand to help. Sure there have been a couple ineffective programs, but not enough to make a dent.
- Torturers in our midst must be brought to justice, and those who enabled them through twisted and weak legal arguments must be held accountable. How else can we be confident that they won't do it again?
- Fair elections - it's clear we have problems with our patchwork election system. Whether it be restrictive registration laws, gerrymandering of congressional and legislative districts, ignored sunshine laws, gutted (thanks Supremes!) campaign finance laws, no-paper-trail voting booths... enough said. We need uniformly fair elections if we are going to have justice.
- Filibuster reform - The filibuster is unconstitional. Say it with me again, the 60% majority required to overcome the filibuster in the US Senate is unconstitional. It must go. The majority rules in this nation, and it's time to get rid of this unfair provision that prevents progress and provides cover for gutless politicians.
- National Initiatives - Change you can believe in? Seems more like the same old, same old. National initiatives would surely change that. If Congress can't get off their butts to do the work of the people, we need a way for the people to step up and make the decisions. Time is long overdue.
- So on and so forth... think labor laws being gutted, GLBT citizens paying more taxes than their straight counterparts, seniors, low income and unemployed falling through our social safety net, immigrants that are criminalized when all they want to do is contribute to our society, etc. etc.
All good stuff that I could get behind. I think I heard that part of the Justice Party platform was donkey-elephant agnosticism, something else that I would happily embrace. Even though Rocky Anderson is running for president with his Justice Party, he has talked up Huntsman as well, not sure if that's to get Huntsman's independent efforts on board. Obviously the two both hail from Utah, so maybe Anderson is looking to get the band back together. We'll have to see how it plays out.
Michelle Bachmann started fading a long time ago, but I admire her efforts to stay relevant. Like this recent stumble:
Of course, we closed that business down in 1980. But maybe that's not really fair if you take into account her defense that she was speaking hypothetically, just like it's not really fair to post the following image:
When she really looks more like this:
But I guess that's the nature of politics.
Lest we forget Rick Perry, here's his latest;
And just for the hell of it, here's John Boehner crying a lot:
And that concludes our post-November sweeps flashback filler recap entry here at Congress v. United States.
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