Scandal

With Puerto Rico's Democratic primary approaching, Sen. Barack Obama may begin to face questions about two of his biggest supporters on the island. Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila, a co-chair of Obama's campaign in Puerto Rico was indicted by Federal prosecutors along with 12 others on March 27th in what prosecutors called the largest government corruption scandal in Puerto Rico's history. Vila was charged with receiving cash and gifts in the form of expensive suits, vacations for his family and children, and personal contributions to enhance his salary. Vila also is alleged to have had his credit card bills paid by private companies and his campaign debts paid by Puerto Rican business interests. Vila also stands accused of steering contracts to his fundraisers, based in Philadelphia. In all, the so-called "Philadelphia connection" netted $180,000 for Vila's 2004 gubernatorial campaign.

Gov. Vila denied the charges, calling them, "totally false," and saying that, "I have never asked for or accepted a donation in exchange for a government contract." The Obama campaign replaced Vila as a co-chair of its Puerto Rico effort when the charges were announced. But now, there are indications that a second Obama co-chair in Puerto Rico is under investigation by the island's Justice Department. Eduardo Bhatia, a former candidate for mayor of San Juan and a current Popular Democratic Party candidate for Puerto Rico's Senate was allegedly named by the FBI as a person of interest in a referral to the Justice Department according to an April 22nd article in the San Juan Star (subscription required). Bhatia also denies the charges. The revelations may be troublesome for Obama, whose prominent Chicago fundraiser and booster Tony Rezko's public corruption trial just came to an end.

From Tarpon Springs, Florida, a sad turn:

Police were called to the home of DC Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey's mother on Thursday to investigate her apparent suicide.

Police have confirmed that the dead person is Palfrey who was 52.

Palfrey was dubbed "The DC Madam" by the national media after her arrest for allegedly running an upscale call girl ring in the nation's capitol.

Police are investigating.

Two weeks ago, a federal jury found Palfrey guilty on charges of racketeering and money laundering related to a thinly-veiled escort business. Among the powerful on her client list was Louisiana Senator David Vitter. She was to have been sentenced on July 24.

Condolences to her family.

Hillary Clinton weighs in on the seemingly never-ending Rev. Wright controversy. At first she says she'd rather "let the voters decide" but after some goading from Bill O'Reilly, Clinton admits that, like Obama, she finds the reverend's comments "offensive."

O'Reilly has to now own the record for number of times "American" is used in a sentence.

Al Franken, the once-funny comedian and never-funny radio host of yore, is running for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota. In an embarrassing confusion of celebrity and credibility, Franken's ego has been seduced by the satirical theme of his book, "Why Not Me," in which he becomes President.

Of course, running for a high office invites scrutiny and investigation. And it didn't take long to discover that Franken's closet was filled to capacity. Apparently, Franken has announced that he owes $70,000 in back taxes and penalties in 17 states, arising from his tax evasion and illegal failure to purchase workers' compensation insurance. Ironically, the late Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone, who Franken likened a friend and role-model, also failed to provide insurance to employees (including those who perished alongside the Senator when their plane crashed).

Franken is a lewd, untempered and, apparently, corrupt personality. His ascension in the Democratic ranks should be a source of shame and regret for grown-ups in the Democratic rank-and-file. Franken no doubt assumes that he can tell a couple of jokes and sway the unthinking masses - but if he is correct, there's no doubt who the joke is truly on.

Rev. Wright's ongoing media tour can only be giving the Obama campaign agita. The rev is ostensibly trying to put his controversial words into context, explaining that what he said from up on the pulpit wasn't so kooky. But it's only prolonging the scandal with Indiana and North Carolina coming right up. Now, hoping to gain some control over the situation, Obama is going on the offensive, using his strongest words yet against Wright. A few weeks ago Obama said he would not condemn the reverend; now he's doing it in no uncertain terms. Is it too little, too late? Are Obama's harsh words even necessary? You be the judge:

Welcome to Florida! In our magical playground, there's no state income tax, the overheated real estate market has gone into deep freeze, and a $2.1 billion-dollar budget deficit threatens to deprive local cities and towns of essential services. It is before this Disney-esque backdrop that the Florida Legislature toils day and night, doing the people's work. Last Friday, for instance, a pressing issue came before the governing body that could be ignored no longer. The state needed a yes or no answer: Truck Nutz, should they be banned?

OK, I know many readers may never heard this term, much less laid eyes on said nutz. As a result of the confusion, some of you might be feeling the outrage starting to simmer. Ban the sale of cashews, peanuts, pecans to for those proud residents whose appetites match the size of their rides? How dare they discriminate against those protein-craving, pick-up truck driving, law abiding citizens? But slow down.

Poor Rush Limbaugh. Sometimes he just gets ahead of himself. With all that empty airtime to fill, his mouth gets to flapping, and, well, before you know it, he has potentially committed a crime. Another crime, I should say.

Today's legal infraction? Inciting a Riot. That's a Class A Misdemeanor and it carries a potential sentence of 5 years in prison. Of course, the riot in question hasn't happened just yet. But now that orders have been sent out to the "Dittoheads" I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

From the ABC News affiliate in Denver:

Talk show host Rush Limbaugh is sparking controversy again after he made comments calling for riots in Denver during the Democratic National Convention this summer.

He said the riots would ensure a Democrat is not elected as president, and his listeners have a responsibility to make sure it happens.

"Riots in Denver, the Democrat Convention would see to it that we don't elect Democrats."

This is what primaries are supposed to be about. Instead of coronations, they should be vetting processes where disastrous flaws with a candidate are discovered before a general election. The Democrats problem is the same as the Republicans: all of their candidates are incredibly flawed.

Up until recently, the Democrats believed that Obama was a knight in shining armor, but recent events have determined that the armor is not quite as shiny as they thought. First we had reverend Wright damning America, and now the media has uncovered another huge problem in Obama's association with an American terrorist.

The sharp exchange over onetime Weather Underground member William Ayers came after Obama was asked by ABC News debate moderator George Stephanopoulos to explain his association with Ayers, whose radical group planned bombings at sites including the Pentagon - and who has since said he doesn't "regret" it.

Ayers lives in Obama's neighborhood and hosted a meeting the candidate attended in 1995, when he was running for state Senate. Ayers was never prosecuted and is now a University of Illinois professor.

More on Ayers from Wikipedia:

In 2001, Ayers published Fugitive Days: A Memoir. Ayers's interview with the New York Times about his book was published on September 11, 2001, and opens with his statement, "I don't regret setting bombs, I feel we didn't do enough." The interview also includes his reaction (in his book) to Emile De Antonio's 1976 documentary film about the Weathermen: "He was 'embarrassed by the arrogance, the solipsism, the absolute certainty that we and we alone knew the way. The rigidity and the narcissism."^[1] Ayers stated that by "no regrets" he meant that he didn't regret his efforts to oppose the Vietnam War, and that "we didn't do enough" meant that efforts to stop the war were obviously inadequate as it dragged on for a decade.^[3] New Politics reviewer Jesse Lemisch has contrasted Ayers's recollections with those of other Weathermen and alleged serious factual errors.^[4]

As Andrew Sullivan put it, this is the way to make lemonade out of lemons.



Of course, even a gestural reference to Jay-Z will be enough for some to cry foul. I can almost hear the next question from ABC News!

It took me a bit to realize that what I saw tonight was the total meltdown of media moderation of a debate.

For 51 minutes tonight we heard nothing of substance. I know some readers will disagree here - some were very happy Williams Ayers was brought up and to hear about Reverend Wright just one more time. And somehow wearing a lapel pin or not wearing one is worthy of political discourse for this country in trying times. You know, you and we can go back and forth on these issues daily here and on other blogs and media. This debate was watched by millions - not just in this country, but around the world.

The only person who won tonight was Sean Hannity. This may make some happy, but for most of us it's a disaster. This has nothing to do with who I support for President. I sorely miss the League of Women Voters.

A quick quote from TPM Josh Marshall says all that needs to be said:

Looking around other sites, I guess I'm not the only one that thought this debate was unmitigated travesty.

I'll have more later today. But on a lighter note, on my way out of the spin room tonight I saw a small group on the corner holding Ron Paul signs. I went over and had a brief chat with this really nice group of kids. I asked them if they were the future of the Republican Party and the gave me an emphatic "YES". They expect to one day replace the neo-cons and paleo-cons that they feel are choking the life out of the party and erase the false choices of the two-party system. They raised my spirits and I'm glad I met them.