Bill Clinton Pal and DNC Bagman Facing Child Trafficking Probe

I guess Jeffrey Epstein won't be attending the so-called wedding of the decade today. Just imagine the attention this guy would attract were he a GOP fatcat donor.

The Feds may not be quite done with Jeffrey Epstein. Having just completed 13 months in a Florida jail for soliciting prostitution from a minor, he now might be under investigation for other possible crimes, including whether there's any evidence of child trafficking, reports The Daily Beast. Epstein has settled several lawsuits by teens who say they were lured to his Palm Beach mansion for massages or sex. The US attorney general in Florida wouldn't comment. Epstein's lawyer, Jack Goldberger, says he knew nothing of any probe and, "There are not and should not be any pending criminal investigations."

Good luck with that.

• Federal investigators continue to investigate Epstein’s activities, to see whether there is evidence of child trafficking—a far more serious charge than the two in his non-prosecution agreement, the arrangement between Epstein and the Department of Justice allowing him to plead guilty to lower-level state crimes. Trafficking can carry a 20-year sentence.

• The FBI is also investigating Epstein’s friend Jean Luc Brunel, whose MC2 modeling agency appears to have been a source of girls from overseas who ended up on Epstein’s private jets.

Did Epstein's connections help win a lenient sentence on his earlier charges?

But the question remains: Did Epstein’s wealth and social connections—former President Bill Clinton; Prince Andrew; former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak; New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson; and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers were just a few of the prominent passengers on his private jets—allow him to receive only a slap on the wrist for crimes that carry a mandatory 20-year sentence? Was he able, with his limitless assets and heavy-hitting lawyers—Alan Dershowitz, Gerald Lefcourt, Roy Black, Kenneth Starr, Guy Lewis, and Martin Weinberger among them—to escape equal justice?

Great connections: Both Bill Clinton and Ken Starr.

More here.

Back in 2007 and 2008 when the Epstein-sex-abuse scandal broke, Democrats who at one time couldn't move fast enough to get close to him, were running scared. Clinton, who famously traveled with Epstein to Africa, and Epstein friend, Obama economic adviser and former Harvard president Lawrence Summers, who sought tens of millions from Epstein for the university, would not comment on the relationship. Bill Richardson and then-New York Governor Eliot Spitzer returned political donations.

Naturally, shameless Democrats are still willing to take his money.

"We are a forgiving people," says one Democrat National Committee fundraiser. "Look, Eliot Spitzer is going to have his own national TV show on CNN -- why can't someone like Epstein be allowed to support political and philanthropic endeavors he cares about?"

To that end, according to Democrat insiders, former close associates to Epstein, like Clinton and Richardson, who is leaving office after the 2010 election cycle, have been approached by party officials about how to best engage Epstein's largesse without directly tying him to the Democrat party. It is not known whether Clinton or Richardson has been in contact with Epstein in the past two years.

"There are any number of ways for us to do that," says the DNC fundraiser. "If there is a foundation, he can give the money through the foundation to entities like The Tides, which will use his money confidentially to fund our causes. He can give dollars to groups like the Center for American Progress, where his name won't be made public. He's paid his debt to society, and we can't afford to have him stuck on the sidelines."

A DNC Fundraiser says, "He's paid his debt to society (Epstein), and we can't afford to have him stuck on the sidelines."

Obama Whines About Evil GOP Blocking More Reckless Spending

The guy has bankrupted us in 18 months, spending trillions with zero accountability, yet when he wants an additional $30 billion to give away and the GOP doesn't play along he pisses and moans like a little baby.

President Barack Obama is going after Senate Republicans who have stymied his proposal to create a $30 billion fund to help unfreeze lending for credit-starved small businesses.

His election-year push for additional job measures suffered a fresh setback this past week when the GOP blocked the small-business plan.

The president used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to accuse Republicans of "holding America's small businesses hostage to politics." He said the bill has the support of business groups and contains many ideas favored by both parties.

"Understand, a majority of senators support the plan. It's just that the Republican leaders in the Senate won't even allow it to come up for a vote," Obama said. "That isn't right."

Obama made clear that it's not only a policy disagreement, but a reason for voters to steer away from Republicans in November's pivotal congressional elections, which will determine whether Democrats keep their majorities in the House and Senate.

"When America is just starting to move forward again, we can't afford the do-nothing policies and partisan maneuvering that will only take us backward," he said.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky would have none of that talk.

He said Democrats have put the bill aside six separate times so they could move on to something else. "So from the beginning this bill clearly wasn't a priority to them — until they realized that they didn't have anything to talk about when they go home in August," McConnell said.

"Nearly every major piece of legislation this Congress has considered has had painful consequences for small businesses. Attempting to create a controversy isnt going to hide that from anyone," he said.

Photo of the Day: Hillary Arrives In Rhinebeck Wearing a Tent

As the fawning media inanity over Chelsea Clinton's wedding reaches its apex today, my only wonder has been what sort of hideous pantsuit her mother would be wearing. If this photo is any indication, we should be in for a good laugh.

More photos at the link.

'He’s Apologizing for Getting Caught'

The fallout continues for the laughingstock John Kerry and his woes over the good ship SS 1040. Or maybe to use his own words we should call it the Botched Joke. Ironically by running to his favorite newspaper to try and control the damage he's just kept the story alive.

A seasick Sen. John Kerry - eager to sail past the storm over taxes on his yacht - actually kept the story afloat by attempting damage control through a mea culpa interview with a favored newspaper, spin doctors and analysts said.

“He said himself he’s handled this badly and that he’s stretching out the pain. I guess that’s just continuing,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

“The worst part for Kerry,” said Suffolk University political professor John C. Berg, “is that people continue to discuss the $7 million yacht. If I were him I wouldn’t want my $7 million yacht in the paper all the time.”

Kerry told the Boston Globe he always intended to pay the state and local taxes - more than a week after the Herald first put the question to him about the New Zealand-built craft that the Massachusetts senator keeps in Rhode Island, where boat taxes are not collected.

“I said to people, on day one, ‘We will pay all taxes, all taxes,’ there’s no issue here,’ ” Kerry told the Globe.

Robert Bliss, spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, told the Herald yesterday that “a tax return has been filed” for Kerry’s yacht. He said the law forbids him from saying if the bill was paid by check, bank transfer or gold doubloons.

Hub public relations guru George Regan said Kerry made the fatal error of waiting too long to address the issue. The Globe interview appeared after a week of Herald reports, and after Kerry fled a gaggle of reporters seeking comment.

“PR wise, this was not one of his finest hours,” Regan said.

‘’But,” he added, “he had to put it to rest he just should have done it earlier in the week.”

This is not Kerry’s first awkward moment. In fact, the wind-surfing, joke-dropping Democrat trips up on a regular basis.

In 2006, Kerry scrambled to recover from a self-admitted “botched joke” after he told California college students to “study hard and do your homework . . . if you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

Former President Bush demanded that Kerry apologize for the “insulting” and “shameful” remark.

A few years earlier Kerry quipped that the Iraqi army was so weak “even the Italians could kick their butts.” That blunder didn’t sit well with Italian-Americans - especially Republicans.

Once again, the rival party is accusing Kerry of being out of touch and late to recover.

“It’s too little, too late,” said Tarah Breed, communications director for the Massachusetts GOP, of the payment for his yacht Isabel. “He’s apologizing for getting caught.”

Listening to local talk radio while on vacation in New England the Kerry story has dominated discussion and he's been mercilessly ridiculed. Of course people did the same to Ted Kennedy for years and still kept re-electing him.

Funny how Kerry weakly claims he was going to pay taxes from day one, yet if you look at the timeline, that just doesn't add up.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Maxine Waters To Face Ethics Trial

Joining Charles Rangel as another esteemed member of the Congressional Black Caucus to possibly face a trial. I have to figure she'll just start tossing around the R-word as her defense.

Nancy Pelosi was unavailable for comment.

Representative Maxine Waters, Democrat of California, will face charges of misusing her office and is expected to contest the claims in a House trial, the second powerful House Democrat to opt for such a public airing in recent days, Congressional officials said Friday.

A House ethics subcommittee has charged Ms. Waters, 71, a 10-term congresswoman, in a case involving communications that she had with the top executive of a bank that her husband owned stock in while it was applying for a federal bailout in 2008, two House officials said.

Charges are expected to be announced next week, several Congressional officials said, speaking only on the condition of anonymity because the proceedings remained confidential. Details of the specific accusations of wrongdoing were not available Friday evening.

The expected trial, coming just after the start of a similar proceeding on Thursday for Representative Charles B. Rangel of New York, would be a modern-day precedent for the House, Congressional officials said. At no time in at least the last two decades have two sitting House members faced a public hearing detailing allegations against them.

It would also be an embarrassment for the Congressional Black Caucus. Ms. Waters and Mr. Rangel are two of its most revered and long-standing members, and both have spent decades as key leaders in banking and financial services issues in the House.

Mikael Moore, Ms. Waters’s chief of staff, declined to comment on the case on Friday, saying that the congresswoman had not been formally notified of any action by the ethics committee.

Ms. Waters, at the time the investigation by the House ethics panel began last fall, was accused of intervening on behalf of OneUnited, a Boston-based bank. The Times reported last year that Ms. Waters called Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. in 2008, as the economy was in a free fall, to ask him to host a special meeting with executives from black-owned banks.

As a key House player on the Financial Services Committee, Ms. Waters often called Mr. Paulson. He agreed to arrange the requested meeting, The New York Times reported last year.

What Mr. Paulson did not know at the time was that Ms. Waters’s husband, Sidney Williams, owned stock in and had served on the board of OneUnited, whose chief executive turned the Treasury headquarters meeting into a special appeal for bailout assistance. The executive of the institution, one of the nation’s largest black-owned banks, asked for $50 million in federal aid, The Times reported.

Waters and Rangel should be the poster children for term limits.

Rangel, meanwhile, has been thrown under Obama's bus.

If Rep. Charles Rangel was looking for support from President Obama, he'd better not get his hopes up.

Obama last night called the ethics charges against Rangel "very troubling" and sharply noted that the embattled Harlem Democrat is "at the end of his career."

"I think Charlie Rangel served a very long time and served his constituents very well. But these allegations are very troubling," Obama said on the "CBS Evening News" in his first comments on the Rangel scandal.

"He's somebody who's at the end of his career. Eighty years old. I'm sure that what he wants is to be able to end his career with dignity. And my hope is that it happens."

It would be the first dignified thing he did in decades.

Megatool Prince Charles Declares He's Here to Save the Planet or Something

If ManBearPig is looking for competition as to who the biggest douchebag on the planet is, he need look no further. Why oh why can't these spoiled rich morons just shut the fuck up and enjoy life without looking for some larger purpose to justify their existence?

The Prince of Wales says he believes he has been placed on Earth as future King ‘for a purpose’ - to save the world.

Giving a fascinating insight into his view of his inherited wealth and influence, he said: ‘I can only somehow imagine that I find myself being born into this position for a purpose.

‘I don’t want my grandchildren or yours to come along and say to me, “Why the hell didn’t you come and do something about this? You knew what the problem was”. That is what motivates me.

‘I wanted to express something in the outer world that I feel inside... We seem to have lost that understanding of the whole of nature and the universe as a living entity.’

His impassioned comments come during a film about his belief that unbridled commerce has led to the destruction of farmland and countryside.

The documentary, called Harmony, is due to be aired on the U.S. network NBC in November to coincide with the launch of a book of the same name by the prince.

Charles is understood to have waived his author’s fee, and all royalties will go to his charity, the Prince’s Trust.

But the Prince has previously come under fire for hypocrisy over his eco-values.

Last year he commandeered a jet belonging to the Queen’s Flight to attend the Copenhagen climate change summit, generating an estimated 6.4 tons of carbon dioxide - 5.2 tons more than if he had used a commercial plane.

Graham Smith, of the anti-monarchy group Republic, said: ‘He is under the impression he has been sent to save the world and deliver us from our sins. It’s quite delusional.


‘He will have to be impartial and keep his mouth shut when he’s king. If he really believes this is his mission and he disagrees with Government in future, he risks plunging us into a constitutional crisis.

Hot Air and Instapundit link. Thanks!

Aww: Eddie Munster Finds His True Love

Well, it only took four decades, but love has conquered all. Sadly, Fred Gwynne is no longer with us to share the special moment.

t looks like there will be another big celebrity wedding in the Philadelphia area, as former "Munsters" star Butch Patrick is getting hitched.

Patrick, 57, is marrying former Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader Donna McCall in the near future.

How serious is the relationship? Patrick has moved to West Chester, Pa., in advance of the wedding.

McCall, 55, told a newspaper in western Pennsylvania she had corresponded with Patrick when "The Munsters" was on TV, and she tracked him down before a science-fiction convention this spring near Johnstown, Pa.

McCall also told the National Enquirer that she is a retired pharmacist who was a Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader from 1976 to 1979.

On May 9, the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat interviewed McCall at the convention.

McCall said she drove from the Philadelphia area to meet Patrick.

“My first crush was Butch Patrick,” she said.

Mine was Marilyn. I wonder whatever happened to her?

Update: Well, thanks to reader Johnston we found out what happened to Marilyn. Man, that Instapundit has some scary tentacles.

Surprise! Bedraggled North Korean World Cup Team Gets Off With Only a 'Public Mauling'

Give it some time, I'm sure public executions will commence at some point. As to the coach, he's now doing some, uh, construction work.

England's failed footballers should count themselves lucky that their ignominious World Cup exit was met with little more than a public mauling by the media.

Their counterparts from North Korea, who lost all three of their group games, have been subjected to a six-hour excoriation for "betraying" the communist nation's ideological struggle, according to reports.

There are even fears for the safety of the team coach, Kim Jung-hun, who was accused of betraying the son and heir of the regime's "dear leader," Kim Jong-il.

Early this month the players were summoned to an auditorium at the working people's culture palace in Pyongyang, forced onstage and subjected to a six-hour barrage of criticism for their poor performances in South Africa, according to the US-based Radio Free Asia.

Only Jung Tae-se and An Yong-hak were spared a dressing down as they flew directly to Japan, their country of birth and where they play club football, according to an unnamed Chinese businessman the station cites as its source.

The "grand debate" was reportedly witnessed by 400 athletes and sports students, and the country's sports minister. Ri Dong-kyu, a sports commentator for the North's state-run Korean Central TV, led the reprimands, pointing out the shortcomings of each player, South Korean media said.

In true Stalinist style, the players were then "invited" to mount verbal attacks on their coach, Jung-hun.

The coach was reportedly accused of betraying the leader's son, Kim Jong-un, who is expected to take over from his ailing father as leader of the world's only communist dynasty.

Radio Free Asia quoted the source as saying he had heard that Kim Jung-hun had been sent to work on a building site and there were fears for his safety.

North Korea watchers said the regime had been hoping to attribute the team's success to Kim Jong-un as it attempts to build support among military and workers' party elites for a transfer of power.

After the Red Mosquitoes, who reached the World Cup quarterfinals in England in 1966, narrowly lost their opening match to Brazil, the regime decided to televise the second group game against Portugal in what is believed to be the country's first live sports broadcast.

But the few North Koreans with access to a TV had to watch the team suffer a 7-0 thrashing, a defeat some reports attributed to orders by Kim Jong-il to play a more attacking style.

The reported episode highlights the potential perils of representing a dictatorship at professional sport.

This will no doubt have players flocking to tryouts for the 2014 World Cup.

Crazed Sex Poodle Cleared of Assault Charges

Can't say I'm surprised. Having that "D" after your name pretty much gives you carte blanche to do as you please.

Former Vice President Al Gore did not commit acts of sexual harassment "appropriate for criminal prosecution," according to office of the district attorney of Portland, Oregon, which has been investigating allegations that Gore made unwanted advances to a masseuse at a Portland hotel in 2006.

An Oregon woman, Molly Hagerty, claimed that Gore propositioned her and tried to hug her when she came to his hotel room to give him a massage.

But Senior Deputy District Attorney Don Rees, in a memo to the D.A., Michael D. Schrunk, wrote that Hagerty gave no indication afterwards that she was upset, as she later claimed.

At least we still have ManBearPig to kick around.

Gore had been accused by masseuse Molly Hagerty of trying to take advantage of her sexually while she was giving him a massage in his hotel room in 2006.

Hagerty came forward with her story in the wake of Gore's split from wife Tipper this year, and told her tale to the National Enquirer.

"Al Gore is a pervert and sexual predator," she told the tabloid. "He turned from Mr. New Age into a pervert...He grabbed me in a big bear-hug embrace from behind and began mauling my breasts."

Instapundit links. Thanks!

News From The Wackosphere

I truly admire the Russians for their unfailing consistency in one area. In fact, they have a lock on it: Paranoia.

Ashley Cleek gives us the details.

Russian Scholar Warns Of 'Secret' U.S. Climate Change Weapon

As Muscovites suffer record high temperatures this summer, a Russian political scientist has claimed the United States may be using climate-change weapons to alter the temperatures and crop yields of Russia and other Central Asian countries.

In a recent article, Andrei Areshev, deputy director of the Strategic Culture Foundation, wrote, "At the moment, climate weapons may be reaching their target capacity and may be used to provoke droughts, erase crops, and induce various anomalous phenomena in certain countries."

The article has been carried by publications throughout Russia, including "International Affairs," a journal published by the Foreign Ministry and by the state-owned news agency RIA-Novosti.

In an telephone interview with RFE/RL, Areshev appeared to back off from claims he made in the article, saying that he was merely positing a theory.

"First of all, I would like to say that what I wrote in that article, even the citations, does not in any way claim to a be final truth. It is, if you will, speculation, in other words, the definition of an hypothesis," Areshev said.

Moscow is currently sweltering under record temperatures. On July 29 Moscow suffered its hottest day ever, with temperatures hitting 39 degrees (102 F).

But Russia isn't the only country suffering form a heatwave this summer. Indeed, the United States is also experiencing record temperatures. On July 24, temperatures in Washington, D.C. hit 37.7 degrees (100 F), and local weather services issued heat warnings for the first time this summer.

Areshev agrees that it is also hot in the U.S., but notes that the United States is significantly farther south than Russia, meaning that such high temperatures are not so surprising there.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), however, announced in July that land and ocean temperatures throughout the world were the highest ever, since they began tracking global temperatures in 1880.

Conspiracy Theories

In the article, Areshev voiced suspicions about the High-Frequency Active Aural Research Program (HAARP), funded by the U.S. Defense Department and the University of Alaska.

HAARP, which has long been the target of conspiracy theorists, analyzes the ionosphere and seeks to develop technologies to improve radio communications, surveillance, and missile detection.

Areshev writes, however, that its true aim is to create new weapons of mass destruction "in order to destabilize environmental and agricultural systems in local countries."

Areshev's article also references an unmanned spacecraft X-37B, an orbital test vehicle the Pentagon launched in April 2010. The Pentagon calls X-37B a prototype for a new "space plane" that could take people and equipment to and from space stations. Areshev, however, alleges that the X-378 carries "laser weaponry" and could be a key component in the Pentagon's climate-change arsenal.


The Pentagon was not immediately reachable for comment.

Areshev also cites the U.S. government's effort to use rain and cloud coverage to block the Vietnam Army's supply routes during the Vietnam War. He insists, however, that he is not a conspiracy theorist.

"My comments were not made in order to accuse the U.S., or any other country, of consciously influencing Russia," Areshev says. "That would be quite ridiculous."

Asked whether or not Russia was also experimenting with climate control methods, Areshev said since he is not a member of the government, he did not have information about such projects.

Ronald Reagan is laughing his ass off.

Via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Tale Of Two Parties - Which One Is In Disarray?

Although I am fed up with the politicians robo-calls, laugh at most of the commercials on the tv, and am mainly looking for the main event in November, I still enjoy watching all the games being played out in Georgia in regards to the governors race. What I find especially amusing is stories which has statements like this.

What follows is a story about the state of state politics in Georgia. It's a saga about the difficulty of being a Democrat running for statewide office in Georgia, a state where Republicans rule.

Really? Is that why the most recent governor is the first Republican to hold the office since Reconstruction?

What is making all the buzz around here is the buzz surrounding former governor, Democrat Roy Barnes who lost to said Republican in his reelection bid 8 years ago, trying to stay as far away from Obama as he can, going almost so far as leaving the state, when the PrezBo is here for a DNC fundraiser. Of course it is for the little people, if by little you mean someone who can afford $1,000 to get in the door and for $10,000 you can get a picture.

On the other hand you have Republican candidate for governor Karen Handel who is locked in a runoff race with former US Representative Nathan Deal. Sarah Palin has endorsed Karen and will be coming to Georgia to campaign with, and hold an event with Karen on the eve of the runoff election.

So while at least one of the Republican candidates is running towards someone who is supposed the most toxic substance in existence next to oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico, the Democrat is fleeing to parts unknown and denying any knowledge of who this guy Barack Obama is.

Besides the governors race there is also a campaign for one the US Representatives, held by a Democrat, Sanford Bishop, in a solid Democrat area of the state, but one in which even the incumbent Democrat is trying to disassociate himself from Democrat leaders, in particular Nancy Pelosi.

Mr Bishop's Republican challenger,Mike Keown, leveled the charge that Mr Bishop voted with Nancy Pelosi most of the time and the Bishop campaign was quick to deny the allegation. Well Politifact did some digging and welll...

The Washington Post keeps track of votes by each member of Congress. Bishop voted on more items than Pelosi, so we checked every time they voted on the same issue. PolitiFact Georgia reviewed their records and found that Bishop and Pelosi have voted on the same items 97 times since June 2008. The two voted the same way 92 of those 97 times, according to the Post database. The Post database found Pelosi voted with the majority of Democrats every time during this current Congress. Bishop voted with his colleagues in the Democratic Party 97.7 percent of the time during this Congress, the Post found.

When the Bishop campaign disputed the source of the data and provided an alternate Poltifact obliged them and found this.

PolitiFact Georgia also checked the Web site of OpenCongress, which detailed information of each bill. We found 61 pieces of legislation (we excluded a comparison of how they voted on congratulating the New Orleans Saints for winning the Super Bowl) that both Bishop and Pelosi voted on. The two representatives voted the same way for 58 of those 61 bills.

The last fall back statement from the Bishop campaign was of that it was the Republicans fault he voted the way he did.

"It only makes sense that Congressman Bishop would vote with his party to end Republican obstruction," he said.

What is it the Democrats don't understand about them being the party in power with the majority of votes and in truth there is little the Republicans can do to block them?

Sanford Bishop is no different from my Democrat representative, David Scott, who professes to be a Blue Dog but danged if I can find a single spending bill he has voted against.

Whiny Weiner Goes Insane on House Floor

They're losing it, folks.

Insane: Dem Leader Hoyer Calls Expiration of Bush Tax Cuts a GOP Tax Increase

Does this guy have a severe drinking problem or something? How on earth can Democrats letting Bush's tax cuts expire be translated into Republicans increasing taxes?

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said on Wednesday that the expiration built into the Bush tax cuts is a “Republican tax increase” for “working Americans” and the Democrats have “no intention” of allowing it to go into effect.

“We have no intention of allowing the Republican tax increase — that their policies would lead to — to go into effect for working Americans. Period,” he said. “We’re going to act and make sure that the Republican phase out and increase in taxes does not end as they provided for in the laws they passed.”

Hoyer’s press secretary told CNSNews.com in an e-mail that the Democratic Majority Leader was referring to the “middle class” when he said “working Americans.”

Hoyer also said at the press conference, “If we left the Republican policies in place, their [working Americans] taxes would be increased next year. We’re not going to let that happen.”

Isn't anyone with a job considered a working American?

H/T AoS.

Something For Charles Johnson to Whine About Today

When he staggers out of bed today no doubt he'll be harping on this. Peddling false accusations of racism is what he does for a living. Well, other than selling lame calendars.

8) Do you think the majority of accusations of racism in politics today are false?

A) Yes: 100% (62 votes)
B) No: 0% (0 votes)

Update: Just as we predicted, the lunatic checks in.

These people really suck.

What a dick.

Senator Liveshot: I Always Intended to Pay the Taxes I was Avoiding Paying

So nice to see the Boston Globe getting around to reporting on this story after a week of avoiding it. Just imagine the saturation coverage Scott Brown would receive from them if he skipped paying half a million dollars in taxes.

Senator John F. Kerry yesterday acknowledged for the first time that he mishandled the political fallout from questions about taxes on his new $7 million yacht berthed in Rhode Island, but insisted that he always intended to make the $500,000 payment once he had registered the boat in Massachusetts.

“Our fault,’’ the Massachusetts Democrat said in an interview. “I don’t think I dealt with it fast enough, effectively enough. There’s nobody to blame but myself for that.’’

This is a watershed event in America: A Democrat taking responsibility for his actions. Of course this never would be happening if the Boston Herald didn't expose this fraud.

Last Friday, Kerry issued a less-than-definitive statement about the matter, saying, “If I owe taxes, I will pay promptly.’’ That was followed over the next few days by a series of similar comments, fueling a stream of media reports about whether the senator was trying to dodge Massachusetts taxes.

Then, on Tuesday, Kerry said he would deliver a check for roughly $500,000 — “whether owed or not’’ — to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue to quell the controversy.

Kerry, during a 45-minute session with Globe reporters, repeatedly insisted that he never had any intention of permanently docking the yacht in Rhode Island to avoid paying taxes in Massachusetts.

Asked why he had not paid taxes earlier, he said he has not taken final ownership of the yacht because there were several changes still being made by a designer, whose team is based in Rhode Island. Thus, he said, he was not in a position to pay taxes in Massachusetts.

He said, however, that he could now take possession within days — possibly soon enough to go sailing this weekend. He insisted he always intended on paying taxes after taking possession, notwithstanding the conditionality of his earlier statements.

“If you guys think that John Kerry doesn’t have enough sense of either propriety or common sense, that I’m going to be sailing my boat around Massachusetts where I’m highly recognizable but it’s going to somehow stay in Rhode Island and I’m going to avoid a tax . . . I’d be crazy to think that I’m going to be doing that, and that was never our long-term intention here.’’

He characterized his initial response as definitive. “I said to people, on day one, ‘We will pay all taxes, all taxes, there’s no issue here,’ ’’ he said. But he acknowledged he did not get that message across.

Sure. That's why he was on seen on camera fleeing reporters earlier this week.

Kerry sounded drained at times from dealing with the controversy, explaining how he tried to keep up with the details as he was going “100,000 miles an hour’’ on Senate business. He spoke in his ornate Senate office, which is filled with photos of boating races and a model of the swift boat that he commanded in Vietnam.

He served in Vietnam? Wow, I never heard that one before.

Over recent days, as questions mounted, Kerry’s frustration showed; at one point he slammed a car door in front of a pack of reporters as he asked, “Can I get out of here, please?’’

Yesterday, even as he faulted himself for his handling of the controversy, he was defensive over the brouhaha.

He insisted that, while he was caught off guard on how the controversy appeared, he did nothing legally wrong in not initially paying the tax.

“Legally, I’m not compelled,’’ he said. “But politically, and in terms of the perception, that is something that came at us unexpectedly, before I had gotten to the point of doing what we needed to do. That’s the way it is, that’s the way life is sometimes. . . . I should have paid more attention and done it faster or whatever. I just didn’t think we had to.’’

Those taxes are for the little people, not the pampered, spoiled elitists like Liveshot.

Suckers Shell Out $30K to Dine With Obama and He Eats Alone

What did these people expect for their $30,000 contribution, to actually dine with King Obama?

Suckers.

The big spenders who shelled out $30,400 a head for dinner with President Obama at the Four Seasons restaurant and at Anna Wintour's house didn't actually break any bread with him.

After starting Tuesday night at a dinner for 60 high-rolling Democratic supporters hosted by hedge-fund billionaire Marc Lasry, Obama headed to a private room at the Four Seasons to wolf down steak, potatoes and broccoli with two aides before heading to Wintour's Greenwich Village home.

Obama arrived at the Four Seasons at 5 p.m. Spies said he gave a short speech and schmoozed with 60 attendees, including Lasry and Joan Ganz Cooney, wife of Blackstone Group's Pete Peterson, and ex-Martha Stewart CEO Sharon Patrick, sitting briefly at each table before dining alone.

His Highness later headed to yet another fundraiser at hosted by Wintour, where he talked fashion. The man has his priorities in order, not to mention a massive ego. His sheer charm is going to win over voters, he claims.

"One table wanted to talk about politics, but a lot of people wanted to talk about stimulating jobs in the fashion industry," said an insider. "Obama was interested in what they had to say, talked about fashion and mentioned his suit designer in Chicago." Senior advisor Valerie Jarrett trailed the president throughout the evening. "She sat at all the tables and took copious notes on what they were saying," said our source.

Obama also gave a brief speech, saying he's not worried about his low poll numbers and he plans to tour the nation to drive the message home to voters about his administration's achievements so far. "I've got my message across before and I'll do it again. This I know how to do," he said.

Millions of people are out of work due to his disastrous economic policies yet he gets to schmooze about his personal suit designer.

'Wrong Is Wrong No Matter Who It Is'

Even his constituents are sick and tired of the corrupt hack Charlie Rangel. Perhaps it's time he salvage whatever shred of dignity he has left and retire to his posh Caribbean hideaway where he can sleep in peace.

For a long time, Sharon Philip pulled the lever for Charles Rangel without hesitation, confident that the longtime legislator was the right man for her and for Harlem.

But after years of wondering whether the cloud of suspicion hovering over his reputation would eventually dissipate, she has now reached the grim conclusion that it is time to find someone new to advocate for the 15th District.

"I'm very disappointed," said Philip, 58.

She can't deny that he did a lot for the district. Unfortunately, that's what makes it so painful.

"No matter what he has done for the community, it doesn't give him carte blanche to do whatever he wants," she added.

"He knew better. I think he should resign. It would be in everyone's best interests."

And so it was among voters yesterday in Harlem, who expressed sadness, anger and betrayal after learning that their envoy in Washington had been charged with multiple ethics violations.

"It's long overdue," said Andrea Williams-Wright, 62.

"I'm born and raised in Harlem. He has done a lot for the neighborhood. At this point, he should go in dignity. He knew that the community knew something was wrong."

She summed it up: "Wrong is wrong no matter who it is."

Aggie Williams said he couldn't get over the fact that Rangel had multiple rent-stabilized apartments and was using one of them as a campaign office in violation of the law.

"I don't think it's fair," said Williams, who lives in Lenox Terrace, the Harlem building where Rangel lives.

"I'm probably paying more for my one bedroom than he is for the three apartments that he has."

Like many of the voters The Post spoke with, she wants him to step down from office.

Francis Stuart, 85, has lived at Lenox Terrace for some 25 years.

"I don't appreciate that he has got these rent-controlled apartments. It's an astronomical saving that he is making compared to me. And I'm on a pension," he said.

"He should not be able to have rent-controlled apartments. Hell, no. If anyone should have rent-controlled apartments, it should be me."

Instapundit links. Thanks!

'There Is No Genuine Connection Between Beer and Naked Women'

Oh, really? They've obviously not followed my exploits over the past couple decades. I might add that plying the womenfolk with some wine or margaritas definitely accelerates the process.

Feminists are calling for an ad featuring topless women clutching glasses of ale to be banned.

The beers match the hair colours of a curvy blonde, redhead and brunette, reports CEN.

Now feminist leaders are demanding that advertising authorities should ban the ads due to sexism.

One unnamed campaigner said: "There is no genuine connection between beer and naked women.

"The women have just been put there to sexualise beer. The advert is sexist against women."

Sure looks to me like those ladies are enjoying a cold one.

White House: Hey, Sorry for Trotting Out That Criminal for a Photo Op

They're the best and brightest or something. Do these clowns know what the words background check even mean? Of course since Obama is used to consorting with known criminals, maybe the value of the cheap photo op was just too much to resist.

President Barack Obama posed with a Charlottesville resident at a White House event on July 19. What we didn't know - and what the White House may not have known - is that court records show she's been found guilty of two crimes.

In his daily press briefing Thursday afternoon, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the White House would have never invited Leslie Macko to pose with President Obama had they known about her criminal past. Macko, a Charlottesville resident, stood next to President Obama as his example of the need to extend jobless benefits.

"We need to extend unemployment compensation benefits for women like Leslie Macko, who lost her job at a fitness center last year, and has been looking for work ever since. Because she's eligible for only a few more weeks of unemployment, she's doing what she never thought she'd have to do. Not at this point, anyway. She's turning to her father for financial support," Obama said in his speech.

Macko was once employed at ACAC Fitness and Wellness Center in the Albemarle Square Shopping Center. However, in April 2009, a month after being found guilty of prescription drug fraud, she lost her job as an aesthetician in the spa at ACAC.

CBS19 learned Thursday that Macko, who appeared in the Rose Garden with President Barack Obama on July 19, has had more than one run-in with the law. In June of 2007, Macko was charged with grand larceny. The charge was reduced in court to petit larceny, and she was sentenced to two years probation.

ACAC CEO Greg Wells tells the Newsplex that Macko was not terminated nor discharged because of any illegal activity, but Wells would not comment on the condition of her termination.

The Legal Aid Justice Center, which represented Leslie Macko in her claim for unemployment benefits, released this statement to the Newsplex Thursday evening:

"Between March 2005 and April 2009, Ms. Macko was employed as an aesthetician by ACAC. When she was terminated in April 2009, Ms. Macko applied for unemployment benefits. On June 15, 2009, Ms. Macko was determined to be qualified for unemployment benefits. ACAC appealed that determination. After a hearing on the merits of Ms. Macko's case, the original determination was affirmed on September 14, 2009.

Ms. Macko was convicted of two unrelated misdemeanors. Throughout the unemployment proceedings, ACAC never alleged that Ms. Macko's termination was related to those cases."

Joe Biden's Impeccable Timing

While his boss was busy being publicly fellated by the yentas of The View, his bumbling sidekick was busy pretending to care about the troops today, with predictable results.

Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview aired Thursday he would bet "everything" that there would be no explosion of sectarian violence when US combat troops leave Iraq next month.

Biden, in an interview recorded Wednesday as he welcomed home one of America's most combat-tested brigades from Baghdad, said he could not "guarantee" anything but believed that serious violence was unlikely.

"I'm willing to bet everything that there will be no such explosion," Biden said in an interview with the NBC "Today" show.

Well, how'd that work out?

Insurgents briefly raised the black flag of Al Qaeda in Iraq over a mostly Sunni neighborhood of Baghdad on Thursday during a brazen assault that killed 16 people and laid bare Iraq's fragility as the withdrawal of U.S. troops accelerates and the country's political crisis deepens.

Ten of the dead were from the security forces, four were members of the U.S.-allied Sunni militia Awakening, and two were civilians, according to the Ministry of Interior. In addition, at least 14 people were injured, and police said the casualty toll could rise as sporadic clashes between security forces and gunmen continued into the night.

The deaths of the seven soldiers and three policemen in Baghdad brought to 17 the total number of Iraqi security forces killed in incidents nationwide Thursday, underscoring the vulnerability of the security forces as U.S. troops are in the process of drawing down to a total of 50,000 by the end of August. Two Iraqi soldiers died in car bombings in Fallouja, four were killed in a suicide bombing north of Tikrit, and a policeman was shot dead in Mosul.

Oops.

Seems the folks who used to keep tabs on the body count in Iraq are a bit slow on the updates. Whatever happened to those grim milestones?

Most Ethical Congress Ever! Rangel Cuts a Deal; Update: Rangel Denies Deal Made

A real shocker, huh?

New York Congressman Charles Rangel has reportedly cut a deal to admit to ethical wrongdoing and avoid a potentially humiliating public trial.

Harlem friends of Rangel tell CBS 2 they have been told that the details could be unveiled when the House Ethics Committee meets Thursday afternoon.

It's the culmination of two years of scandal for the 20-term Democratic lawmaker. At issue is whether the former head of the House Ways and Means committee will admit to any serious ethical wrongdoing. Rangel is being charged with misusing his office for fundraising, failure to disclose income, belated payment of taxes and possible help with a tax shelter for a company whose chief executive was a major donor.

I guess another Democrat calling for his resignation is now meaningless.

Meanwhile, the AP reports the esteemed House Speaker stands by her efforts to rid her Congress of corruption. Who are they kidding?

Update: Rangel denies a deal has been cut. More here.

Gun Experts Poke Holes in Spy 's Excuse

Of course he tale of smuggling night-vision goggles so some folks in Russia could go hunting was ridiculous, but let's face it, the public is enamored with the hot Russian spies, and this just gives us an excuse to talk about her some more.

High-tech scopes a young beauty tried to smuggle onto a Moscow-bound plane at Kennedy Airport are designed to help soldiers take out the enemy from a mile away.

Latvian-born lovely Anna Fermanova told federal agents she bought the three night-vision scopes for her husband's hunting pals in Russia.

Gun experts said yesterday her story doesn't make sense.

"These are used specifically for an assassination," said security consultant Bo Dietl, a former NYPD detective. "You're not going to hunt deer with a super scope. That's crazy.

"You could take someone out with one of these scopes in the dead of night from up to a mile-and-a-half-away," he said. "I have friends in Iraq who use these. These are the real deal."

Dan Wasserbly, a weapons expert with Jane's International Defence Review, said the $7,000 Raptor 4X Night Vision Weapons Sight that Fermanova had is so advanced the average U.S. soldier wouldn't use one.

And it's used for automatic assault weapons, not hunting rifles. "It's a piece of serious military hardware," he said.

Fermanova, 24, was arrested July 15, four months after she tried to get past airport security with the scopes concealed in a pair of Ugg boots buried deep in her suitcase, authorities said.

Her lawyer, Scott Palmer, said his client was told they were needed for hunting. "If it was intended for other uses, she was not aware," he said.

The feds trained their sights on Fermanova after a confidential informant told them she was in the market for heavy-duty weapon parts, court documents said. A law-enforcement official said her arrest is part of an ongoing investigation into arms trading.

Palmer said his client will likely plead not guilty to knowingly trying to export controlled weapons when she appears in Brooklyn Federal Court in August. The charge carries 10 years.

Fermanova is under house arrest at her parents' home outside Dallas and would not come to the door yesterday.

Thanks to Hot Air for the link.

Good News: Judge Rules Looking Like an Idiot a Fundamental Right

Let's face it, pretty much everything is a right these days, so this comes as no surprise. Besides, you want to change behavior? Then ridicule is usually your best weapon. Being young and stupid is part of being young and stupid and these kids typically grow out of it and move on to dress like normal human beings once they realize nobody is going to employ them when they shuffle around with their pants around their ankles.

You have the right to look ridiculous.

A Bronx judge has thrown out a summons issued against a Bronx man for wearing saggy pants, finding that "the Constitution still leaves some opportunity for people to be foolish if they so desire."

Judge Ruben Franco said that although Julio Martinez may have offended the fashion police with his low-hanging and underwear-exposing pants, his manner of dress didn't deserve a ticket from a cop.

"While most of us may consider it distasteful, and indeed foolish, to wear one's pants so low as to expose the underwear . . . people can dress as they please, wear anything, so long as they do not offend public order and decency," the judge wrote.

Thanks to Hot Air for the link.

He Just Won't Rest: Obama Headlining Multiple Fundraisers

In a bid for greater transparency, they're all closed to the press.

President Barack Obama is stepping up his fundraising efforts as the midterm elections draw closer and Democrats need money to battle a Republican Party energized in part by voter concern over government spending and regulations.

Obama was to speak Wednesday at a sandwich shop in Edison, N.J., to tout a lending initiative aimed at small businesses. From there he was to travel to New York to tape an interview with the daytime talk show "The View" and attend two high-dollar fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee.

Obama is headlining four Democratic fundraisers in three days and hosting another four events next week. For now he's playing it safe, holding the eight events in noncompetitive states or in a competitive place where he's sure to be embraced: his home state of Illinois.

White House officials say Obama will campaign vigorously throughout the nation ahead of the fall elections.

"The fall campaign boils down to a choice between those who want to keep moving forward and those that want to take us back to the policies that got us into this mess," said White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer. "The president will help make that case across the country."

Wednesday's fundraisers in New York are closed to the media, as was a similar event Tuesday night in Washington.

Obama's election-year argument is taking shape: Despite unemployment that continues to hover near 10 percent, he wants voters to make a choice in November between his policies, which he says are pointing the country in the right direction, and those of the GOP, which he says led the country into recession in the first place.

Yeah, let's ignore the damage done by the Pelosi Congress.

Barack-Lash: Arizona Boycotts Failing

As SB 1070 is about to take effect Thursday, good news is being reported out of Arizona. I can't wait for Obama to take somehow credit for this.

Arizona's tourism industry has a target on its back, but the widespread boycotts over the state's immigration law might not be hitting the mark.

Recent data compiled by a market research group show hotel bookings across the state -- as well as in tourism hot spots Phoenix and Scottsdale -- have been on the rise the past two months.

The numbers could dispel warnings from local officials that Arizona stands to lose a fortune and dampen the chances that cities and organizations will be able to compel the state to reverse its immigration law by choking its economy with a sanctions-style business boycott.

"Fundamentally, the boycotts have been unsuccessful," said Barry Broome, president of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.

The data from hotel industry research firm STR showed that for the state of Arizona, hotel occupancy was up 5.7 percent in May and up 8.3 percent in June compared with the same time a year ago.

In Phoenix, occupancy was up 10.6 percent in June; in Scottsdale, it was up 10.7 percent for the same period. Revenue also was up, with Arizona hotels raking in $148 million last month -- up more than 11 percent from a year ago.

Broome said the state also has been able to attract new businesses
to locate in Arizona despite bad publicity. He said his group plans to announce 2,000 to 3,000 new jobs thanks to investment from California, where Arizona boycotts are in place in several major cities, over the next few months.

"Business continues," said Garrick Taylor, spokesman with the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

H/T Tammy Bruce.

Meanwhile, Sheriff Joe girds for the whiners.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is laying down the law on possible protests surrounding Senate Bill 1070, scheduled to go into effect Thursday.

"Thousands of people will reportedly descend upon Maricopa County this week in support of, or in protest to, SB1070," Arpaio said Tuesday.

"Intelligence gathering leads us to believe that several acts of civil disobedience are planned -- here at my office headquarters in the Wells Fargo Bank high-rise in downtown Phoenix, at the jails including Tent City and at Thursday's crime suppression operation which will be conducted by my deputies and posse members."

Arpaio said, "Activists and their celebrity sympathizers who wish to target this community and this sheriff by attempting to disrupt our jail and patrol operations will be unsuccessful as we will be fully prepared to meet those challenges head-on with appropriately staffed personnel and resources."

Several California pro-immigrant groups plan to travel to Phoenix to oppose the law, and a spokeswoman for one group has said they plan to "dare police to act."

I'll hold Obama and his race pimp Holder directly responsible for any violence.

"I've got news for them, they will be arrested if they try to keep me from booking people into that jail," the sheriff said.

Fresh off a raid early Tuesday on a Phoenix business suspected of hiring illegal immigrants, the sheriff said he would carry out his 37th crime suppression sweep on Thursday.

"As far as our human smuggling and crime suppression goes, we have two other state laws -- on human smuggling and employer sanctions," he said, "so we're still going to continue doing our jobs."

Alcohol: Is There Anything It Can't Do?

Drink up, folks. You'll feel better later.

A REGULAR tipple can reduce the severity of rheumatoid arthritis, researchers have found.

The research, published in the journal Rheumatology, found that arthritis sufferers who drink alcohol regularly are less susceptible to severe symptoms of the debilitating disease.

The study also found that teetotalers were four times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than people who drank alcohol on more than ten days a month.

Researchers looked at 873 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and compared them with 1004 people without the disease.

Dr James Maxwell, who contributed to the report, said patients who drank alcohol most frequently were found to have symptoms less severe than those who never drank alcohol or only did so infrequently.

Dr Maxwell said: “X-rays showed there was less damage to joints, blood tests showed lower levels of inflammation, and there was less joint pain, swelling and disability.

'Campaigning with Kerry Would be Like Campaigning with Thurston Howell III on Gilligan’s Island'

Why the Long Face?

One question not being asked following John Kerry's yacht debacle is why is he not being hit with tax evasion charges? If you or I stiffed our home state to the tune of about a half million dollars we'd be facing felony charges at the least. Whatever the case, here's hoping Liveshot's Democrat brethren feel the pinch.

Buoyant Massachusetts Republicans say U.S. Sen. John Kerry’s boat tax bumbling could turn the state’s already storm-tossed Democratic congressional campaigns into a fleet of S.S. Minnows: at risk of being lost.

“Campaigning with Kerry would be like campaigning with Thurston Howell III on Gilligan’s Island,” said Jennifer Nassour, chairwoman of the state’s Republican Party. “Could he be more out of touch?”

GOP consultant Ron Kaufman expects Democrats to flee from what he called “the sinking ship.”

“The thing that kills you the most in politics is two things - arrogance and hypocrisy. (Kerry) represents both of those,” said Kaufman. Kerry’s choice to dock his $7 million yacht in tax-free Rhode Island plays into voter anger about out-of-touch Washington insiders - the same anger that pushed U.S. Sen. Scott Brown to victory, he said.

If the Republicans are right, that could make the state’s senior senator an electoral albatross. A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Lowell) declined to say if she would welcome Kerry at the oars in her own re-election bid. But former state Democratic Chairman Phil Johnston called the boat scandal a passing squall.

“I think John Kerry remains very popular,” said Johnston, a consultant for congressional candidate and Norfolk District Attorney William Keating. “Bill Keating would be happy to have (Kerry) campaign for him.”

Tory Mazzola of the National Republican Congressional Committee, countered that the squall hit at the worst possible time for Dems fishing for Brown voters.

“It is certainly a drag on Democrats going into a tough election season where they already have to defend a record of raising taxes and spending recklessly,” said Mazzola. “When it comes time to pay their bill to Uncle Sam they conveniently forget.”

Howie Carr can't help but gloat.

Sen. John “Liveshot” Kerry was so angry last night he threw somebody else’s tax bill over the White House wall.

The real JFK had PT 109, and now all John Forbes Kerry is left with is PT 1099.

Even Christy Mihos and Jack E. Robinson held out longer against the DOR than Liveshot did, and that reminds the senior senator of what he likes least about the 21st century: The Globe can’t protect him anymore.

Why, did you see those riff-raff reporters Monday in Weymouth, chasing him into the SUV, asking him those impertinent questions about his tax evasion?

Don’t those ruffians know who John Kerry almost was? Why, if Diebold hadn’t stolen all those votes in Ohio in 2004, it’d be Liveshot’s picture hanging in the lobby of the Yale Club on 44th Street in New York City, right alongside Clinton’s and Bush’s.

Would that it were, would that it were...

Why the long face, Sen. Kerry?

You know very well what Mama T served him for dinner last night - hot tongue and cold shoulder - especially when he started asking her questions like “Lovey, have you seen the checkbook?”

He’ll be down at the bank first thing this morning: “Can I get me a cashier’s check for a half-million dollars here?”

Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.”

Or as John Kerry would put it, “Taxes are what everybody but me pays for civilized society.”

Benjamin Franklin said, “In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.”

That, and rich liberal Democrats trying to cheat on their taxes.

Douchebag of the Week: Lincoln Chafee Dares to Question New England Icon

This is the clown who was a Republican while he saw it fit, and then abandoned the party for political expediency. Now he's taking on the guy who helped deliver the Red Sox the World Series in 2004, and questioning the infamous bloody sock, no less. Can you be any dumber?

Call it New England Politics 101. When you're running for office in Red Sox Nation, you don't take a Red Sox player's name in vain. Especially not the one who shed blood as he helped end that soul-crushing 86-year drought.

But that's exactly what independent gubernatorial candidate Lincoln Chafee did in speaking about former Red Sox ace Curt Schilling in an interview on WPRO's The John DePetro show Tuesday.

"I just remember his own teammates didn't like him," Chafee said of Schilling. "They thought he was a bit of a salesman. I remember one of his teammates said he painted his sock, the bloody sock, that he painted it. Kevin Millar I think said that. I don't know if I trust Curt Schilling."

He was talking about the larger issue of Schilling's role in a controversial state economic development deal that will give Schilling's video game company, 38 Studios, a $75-million loan guarantee if he moves it to Rhode Island from Massachusetts. Chafee criticized the Schilling agreement for encumbering more than half of a new state loan guarantee program and risking it "on one company that's never had a penny of revenue yet."

But what many will remember is that Chafee criticized the guy who got the Sox a win when they needed it most: Game 6 of the 2004 playoff series against the Yankees. Not to mention he maligned the sock that has since been enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Put it up there with failed Massachusetts Senate candidate Martha Coakley, who famously referred to Schilling as a Yankee fan and poked fun at her opponent, Scott Brown, for standing outside Fenway Park shaking hands.

Diehard fans never forgave her. And Scott Brown is now Senator Brown.

The Chafee camp was quick to retract the talk radio comment, sending The Providence Journal this statement by late morning: "Senator Chafee regrets that what he intended as an off-hand reference to published reports about the bloody sock has deflected attention from the crux of this issue."

He went on to say: "Senator Chafee respects Curt Schilling's achievements as a professional athlete and his support of charitable causes. At the end of the day, however, his first concern is to protect the interest of Rhode Island taxpayers, on whose shoulders the burden of a 75 million dollar loan default would ultimately fall."

We here at PolitiFact don't typically check one-time shots from the hip, so we considered ignoring this flap. But by Tuesday afternoon, as the Chafee gaffe made national news and readers urged us to jump on it, we decided to take at look at the rumor that's been swirling for years.

It appears by all credible accounts that Chafee is, in fact, wrong.

The story begins with an ankle injury Schilling suffered in a playoff series against the Angels. Team doctors temporarily fixed a ruptured and dislocated tendon in his right ankle to keep it from moving, allowing him to pitch in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees.

Here's what The Providence Journal story about that October 2004 game said: "Schilling, who apparently was bleeding through his sock, was pitching through discomfort. TV cameras caught him wincing as he followed the flight of Miguel Cairo's two-out double to left-center in the third inning, the first Yankee hit of the game."

Ah yes, it's coming back now, chills and all. You know the ending. Schilling kept pitching, helping to vault the Sox past the Yankees to capture the American League title and then win the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Even this Yankee fan has the utmost respect for Schilling. To question his integrity--six years later--is just beyond stupid.

Mother of the Year Candidate Busted for DWI

How depraved do you have to be to be bombed out of your skull with your kids in the car? Thanks goodness one of her children took matters into her own hands. I just can't imagine how you could be so depraved to endanger your own kids like this. Just imagine how terrified these poor kids were.

A Long Island mom was arrested after her daughter made a series of 911 calls on her cell phone claiming her mother was driving drunk, authorities said.

Jamie Hicks, 48, was driving with her two children, ages 10 and 12, in the car when one of them, her 12-year-old daughter, frantically called 911 several times as their green Buick was speeding along Interstate 84 at about 6 p.m. Sunday in the upstate town of Southeast near Brewster.

Police said the 12-year-old, who was not identified, told the police dispatcher that her mom was drunk.

New York State troopers from Brewster stopped Hicks, of Islip, after getting the calls. Cops said Hicks had been swerving into other traffic lanes when she was pulled over.

Hicks had a blood-alcohol level of 0.18 percent -- more than twice the state's legal limit of 0.08, police said.

She was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated with passengers under the age of 16, a felony, and misdemeanor driving while intoxicated. She was charged under Leandra's Law, which makes it a felony to drive drunk with kids in the car.

Hicks was released on $2,000 bond on Monday. She is due back in court on Aug. 17

The incident is reminiscent of the Taconic car crash, which occurred a year ago Monday, that killed eight people.

Kerry's Second Wife's First Husband's Trust Fund to Pay Taxes on Luxury Yacht

He was against paying taxes before he was for them.

Sen. John Kerry has told the Massachusetts Department of Revenue he will pay taxes to Massachusetts on his new $7 million yacht even though the vessel is based in tax-free Rhode Island.

In a statement Tuesday to The Associated Press, the Democrat said, "The payment is being made promptly."

The 2004 Democratic presidential nominee has been dogged by charges of tax evasion since last week, when the Boston Herald first reported about his decision to dock the 76-foot sloop Isabel in Newport, R.I. Doing so spared Kerry a $437,500 one-times sales tax charge in Massachusetts, as well as about $70,000 in annual excise taxes.

In his statement, Kerry says, "Whether owed or not, we intend to pay the equivalent taxes as if the boat's home-port were currently in Massachusetts."

Please. If he didn't legitimately owe the tax he'd still have his wife cut a check? Who's he kidding?

Jeb Bush Nixes 2012 Run for White House

Probably a good call considering the Bush brand wasn't exactly loved when his brother departed the White House, although he'd be preferable to the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The jockeying over which Republican will take on President Obama in 2012 is in full swing, with some likely candidates (Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty) taking all the traditional steps to set up a run while other potential challengers test the waters.

One Republican who has generated considerable speculation inside Washington is former Florida governor Jeb Bush, brother of President George W. Bush and son of President George H.W. Bush. Bush has become more politically active in recent months, appearing at fundraisers and making endorsements, and is well positioned to win the key early primary state of Florida should he enter the race.

Now comes word that Bush is ruling himself out. "I am not running for president," he told Louisville ABC affiliate WHAS, according to Politico.

Bush previously elected to forgo a Florida Senate run. It's worth noting that many presidential candidates - among them Barack Obama - flatly insisted they would not seek the presidency before jumping into the race.

Meanwhile, Rick Santorum, the socially conservative former Pennsylvania senator crushed in his reelection bid four years ago, is making his plans to enter the race more and more obvious.

As CNN reports, Santorum "met privately last week with several of his former Capitol Hill staffers to pitch the idea of a presidential bid in 2012."

Santorum is dreaming. The guy got his clock cleaned by Bob Casey in 2006. If you get blown out in your own state you can't possibly believe you've got a chance.

Great News: Another Hot Russian Spy Busted

Move over, Anna Chapman, you've got some competition.

Looks like the Cold War is really heating up.

A young Russian beautician faces federal felony charges in Texas for allegedly trying to smuggle night vision scopes to Moscow -- just weeks after the feds broke up a massive Russian spy ring, according to a bombshell new report made public today.

Anna Fermanova, 24, was busted July 15 when she returned to the US after spending four months overseas. She was charged with "knowingly and intentionally" attempting to export "from the United States to Russia defense articles on the United States Munitions list," according to documents posted on thesmokinggun.com.

The state-of-the-art vision goggles cannot be exported without pre-approval from the Department of State since the items are considered weapons, officials said.

Fermanova told thesmokinggun.com that the charges were "false allegations" and "too sensitive to be discussed."

Fermanova works in Moscow giving English lessons to Russian students. Her lawyer, Scott Palmer, called the case "really silly," adding that Fermanova's husband planned to resell the night vision scopes to hunters.

Palmer declined to discuss where Fermanova came up with the $15,000 to purchase the three devices (two devices were purchased for $4,000 each and a third was $7,000). He also said Fermanova emigrated with her parents to the United States from Latvia when she was a young girl and is currently an American citizen.

According to her Facebook page, she is a 2005 graduate of the Ogle School of Hair Skin and Nails,and Texas state records show that she holds a cosmetologist license expiring next August.

I'd like to ogle her some more myself.

Naturally, she's on Facebook.

Thanks to Hot Air for the link. Apparently her Facebook page has been removed. A couple more photos of her are here. This one is pretty good.

Former Governor To Obama - I'm Busy

Former Democrat Georgia governor, and now candidate for governor again, Roy Barnes apparently has better things to do when Barry O comes to Atlanta for his $10,000 a pop photo op.

Not even an Aug. 2 visit to Atlanta by President Barack Obama will bring Barnes back. “He’s going to be in Middle and South Georgia,” campaign manager Chris Carpenter said Saturday.

Barnes has bet his campaign on rural Georgia — the one that turned its back on him in 2002 for his removal of the Confederate battle emblem from its place on the state flag.

To be sure the furor over the flag did get folks passionate, but what really did Mr Barnes in was the teacher's union. He proposed all sorts of measures to hold teachers accountable and was for a merit pay system. This didn't sit well with the teachers and they either stayed away from the polls or voted for his opponent, our current governor and the first Republican governor of the state since Reconstruction.

Good ol Roy has the Democrat vote sewn up in the state but his problem is the Dems ain't exactly too enthused about turning out at the polls as witnessed by our recent primaries. Republicans turned out in almost a 3 to 1 margin. Garnering all the Democrat votes in the state won't get him elected, and the current attitude towards all things Democrat in this state are so toxic that he can't really count on turning too many Independent or Republican votes to his side.

The sad part is I like Roy, or used to anyway. We were neighbors, sort of. We lived in the same city for awhile and his brothers still run the local hardware store, but with this campaign season he has completely forgotten about those reforms he proposed as governor and is now groveling back to the teachers acceding to their every wish. Some people may not have been in Georgia when he was governor, some may have forgotten how his actions as governor now no longer reflect his campaign statements, but the vast majority of residents do. To borrow an expression from a license plate that used to be popular around these parts, "Forget, Hell No!"

Barney Frank Flips Out Over a Dollar

Good grief. If this clown is going to whine and moan over a dollar discount for senior citizens, maybe he should just do like other seniors and retire.

Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank caused a scene when he demanded a $1 senior discount on his ferry fare to Fire Island's popular gay haunt, The Pines, last Friday. Frank was turned down by ticket clerks at the dock in Sayville because he didn't have the required Suffolk County Senior Citizens ID. A witness reports, "Frank made such a drama over the senior rate that I contemplated offering him the dollar to cool down the situation." Frank made news last year when he was spotted looking uncomfortable around a bevy of topless, well-built men at the Pines Annual Ascension Beach Party. Frank's spokesperson confirmed to Page Six that his partner, James Ready, asked the ticket office for a regular ticket for himself and a senior ticket for Frank, "but was turned down because Frank didn't have a resident ID."

Leftwing Icon Apologizes for Anti-Semitic Rant

The darling of the left, Oliver Stone, has apologized for his latest
anti-Semitic rant.

Filmmaker Oliver Stone apologized for remarks about the Holocaust and Jewish media influence that were criticized as being anti-Semitic.

“In trying to make a broader historical point about the range of atrocities the Germans committed against many people, I made a clumsy association about the Holocaust, for which I am sorry and I regret,” Stone said today in a statement released by his publicist, Rubenstein Communications.

The apology followed comments Stone made to the Sunday Times of London. In an interview promoting a new documentary, Stone also discussed a project in the works, “Secret History of America.” He told the Times “Hitler was a Frankenstein, but there was also a Dr. Frankenstein. German Industrialists, the Americans and the British. He had a lot of support. Hitler did far more damage to the Russians than the Jewish people.”

Stone also discussed in the article what he called “Jewish domination of the media,” and said Israel “f***** up United States foreign policy for years.

Oliver Stone, a strong supporter of Hugo Chavez and who thinks Joe Stalin was misunderstood, made his latest whacked-out comments while promoting his new documentary that tries to rationalize Hitler's atrocities.

I'm also wondering when the left will say "enough already" with this guy and tell him to take a hike. Probably about the same time that flying pigs divebomb your car on the expressway.

I've noticed a disturbing tolerance on the left these days for nut jobs like Stone. It seems like you can get away with any kind of racist hate filled speech these days as long as you are on the left side of the political spectrum.