Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire

by hilzoy

Last Friday:

"Weldon’s office reacted with outrage late Friday night, denying that an investigation is under way and claiming the report is an attempt to influence the Nov. 7 election.

"There is no investigation," said the congressman’s spokesman, John Tomaszewski. "There is no formal investigation and there is no inquiry. There’s nothing. This is nonsense, ludicrous.""

Today:

"FBI agents investigating U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon (R., Pa.) conducted six raids this morning - including at the homes of his daughter and a longtime friend.

In all, agents executed four search warrants in Philadelphia and two in Jacksonville, Fla., officials said."

Let's be charitable and assume that Weldon didn't know about the FBI investigation as of last Friday. The obvious thing to do would have been to instruct his spokesman to say just that: that he was not aware of any investigation. Assuming that Weldon's spokesman didn't make up his statement without any input from his boss, Weldon instead instructed his spokesman to lie, and to make what Republican candidates see to regard as an all-purpose answer to any development: the claim that it's just another effort to influence the election.

Curt Weldon: we already knew he was insane, irresponsible, a friend to repressive dictators, and corrupt. Now we can add: a liar.

Comments

[rilkefan]

"The obvious thing to do would have been to instruct his spokesman to say just that: that he was not aware of any investigation."

I think the obvious thing would be to contact the FBI and find out what was going on before sayiing anything.

[Ugh]

They must really have to goods on him for Bush's DOJ to do this raid three weeks before the election. Speaking of which, Saddam's verdict will be announced two days before the election, hmmm....

[liberal japonicus]

Ugh, you discount the presence of gay Democratic FBI agents at your peril...

[cleek]

*yawn*. another day, another imploded Republican congressman.

i happily admit to being wrong about Foley - the Dems managed to go two weeks without turning a Republican problem into a Republican gain. they could win me back yet - the kid doing GOTV for the Dems Saturday and the nice phone survey Friday helped, too. keep it up people!

[Ugh]

Ugh, you discount the presence of gay Democratic FBI agents at your peril...

*gasps* My God, the power of gay Democrats knows no bounds. Hmmm....Bush has an approval rating in the 30s, you don't think he's secretly...

[double-plus-ungood]

I'm sorry, this is completely off topic, and I wouldn't do it if it weren't completely essential, but here's a picture of Edward eating a sheep's ear.

From this post on his blog, in case the direct picture link stops working.

I always wondered what Edward looked like. With a sheep's ear in his mouth.

[Ugh]

Well ++ug, now you know, and knowing is half the battle. Or something.

[russell]

If I remember correctly the big scandals of 1994 were:

1. Some House members were abusing overdraft privileges with the House bank.
2. Some members of Congress were abusing their franking privileges.

Amazingly, that was only 12 years ago. Seems like a lifetime. Things were, apparently, simpler then.

Those were the days.

Thanks -

[Anarch]

Question for the cognoscenti of falsehoods: was Weldon's spokesperson lying or was he bullshitting? My money's on the latter, actually.

[liberal japonicus]

Some House members were abusing overdraft privileges with the House bank.

I followed that because the person who was at the center of the scandal, Jack Russ, was from my hometown, Picayune, Mississippi. Checking on wikipedia, it says that 77 Representatives either resigned or did not run for reelection.

Googling also finds this 1995 JSTOR article, which you can't read, but the first page is worth a few laughs.

[Lanky]

A few years ago here in Philly (just a few miles away), an FBI investigation was the best thing that ever happened to Mayor John Street.

(I don't think it's gonna work that way for Weldon)

[hilzoy]

TPMMuckraker has a pretty amazing video clip of Weldon blaming what seems like the entire world for the FBI probe:

"In addition to blaming the D.C.-based watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and its head, Melanie Sloan (who filed a complaint against Weldon with the FBI -- in 2004), the cabal (according to Weldon) now includes: former President Bill Clinton; former CIA official Mary McCarthy; former senior Justice Department official/9-11 Commission panelist Jamie Gorelick; former national security adviser Sandy Berger ("I know what he stole -- I know why he stole it!"); and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee."

Who knew that all those people had such influence over George W. Bush's FBI?

[KCinDC]

Speaking of scandals past, russell, Krugman today wrote:

Last year The Boston Globe offered an illuminating comparison: when Bill Clinton was president, the House took 140 hours of sworn testimony into whether Mr. Clinton had used the White House Christmas list to identify possible Democratic donors. But in 2004 and 2005, a House committee took only 12 hours of testimony on the abuses at Abu Ghraib.

And let's not forget the big scandal about which phone Al Gore used for fundraising calls.

[therightisalwayswrong]

It is just sad to witness the mass psychosis under which Weldon and the wingnuts are laboring here. It's a conspiracy of the liberal FBI! CREW did it! CREW wrote Ashcroft 2 1/2 years ago, knowing that the FBI would take till October 2006 to get around to it and jeopardize poor innocent Curt's reelection! Don't you see?

Normally you'd feel some sympathy for people who are so impossibly stupid, but they let us off the hook by being complete dickheads.

http://www.citizensforethics.org/activities/campaign.php?view=38

[John Thullen]

Ah, the White House Christmas list. This brings back memories of Hillary's White House Christmas trees laden with condoms and butt plugs.

Such was the story put out by the merry government destroyers as they ran rampant through the 1990s.

And franking abuse! Now we 800 pages named Frank on naughty camping trips.

This is fun, watching them fall one by one, and seeing the black bile run from their lying mouths, the wretched Madame Gollum Bovarys.

It's not good enough, though. I want a scene, as in Lord of the Rings, Part III, when the King of the Dead and his irredeemable ones were recruited to fight Mordor's Orc Armies and they swarmed across the battlefield, destroying everything in their path.

Weldon is a minor Orc commander. Thwack!

Who's next? Madame Defarge wants them brought in carts by the threes now. Hurry it along. Time is short.

It is sweet, is it not, that the CIA, and now the FBI are accused of being havens and instruments of liberals?

Truly, these bitter gollums will be ungovernable. They bear watching, like al Qaeda. Maybe the Homeland Security Department was a good idea.

Of course, if the Democratic Party doesn't take the House, at least, then it is obvious that it is the electorate who likes corrupt scum in high places.

[Sean]

TPM just noted that Rep. John Doolittle is apparently also under investigation (part of the Abramoff probe).

Hmm, let's see: Cunningham, Ney, Delay, Foley, Reynolds, Hastert, Weldon, Doolittle. And Shimkus and Boehner should be on the list for Foleygate. And Burns and Frist are circling the bowl (but don't seem to know it yet). And George Allen, Rick Santorum, and Ted Stevens are disgraces in their own right.

These are just the ones who have been demonstrated to be insane AND corrupt (so far). The list of the simply insane is much longer (Jim Sensenbrenner, Tom Coburn, Saxby Chambliss and Chris Shays are all holding on line 2!).

[Jesurgislac]

A non-partisan movement everyone can get behind: The Missing Ingredient.

[ajay]

My God, the power of gay Democrats knows no bounds.

Suggested slogan: "We may be bent, but they're crooked."

[Ugh]

OT - apparently, we are all madmen.

[Dantheman]

Ugh,

Fascinating. As I've mentioned before, I was not here during Moe Lane's tenure, so maybe he has good qualities I am not aware of. However, everything I've seen of him in recent months suggests he is a partisan extremist who, as was once said about a British politician, could not see a belt without hitting below it.

So why are there any fond feelings for Moe here? Nostaglia for when he was here? A willingness to overlook flaws if someone has a sense of humor?

[Ugh]

DTM - to be fair, that post was by "Thomas," not Moe. I don't know what Moe meant by the term.

[Dantheman]

Ugh,

I am aware of that. Simply coining the term "ObWi Disease", when matched to other writings on his part about this place and people to the left of center in general, is sufficient for me.

[Ugh]

Simply coining the term "ObWi Disease", when matched to other writings on his part about this place and people to the left of center in general, is sufficient for me.

Fair enough.

[Ugh]

And while we're (or at least I'm) on the topic of Bizarro World, this is just too funny. In the course of celebrating the torture law and saying such balanced things as:

Here's some food for thought in this election season: had the Democrats been in control of congress, there would be no Military Commissions Act. And, to put it bluntly, the Newark skyline might look very different a year from now because it wasn't dumb luck that preserved it in 2005.

AcademicElephant puts up as a "a picture of the day", the Jersey City skyline, not Newark.

[John Thullen]

".. we are all madmen."

I'm very picky about the madmen and madwomen with whom I surround myself. Everyone here will do nicely. But then I'm crazy. ;)

Moe Lane is a good sort. Leaving aside the vast areas of disagreement we have with his political views, I do find it amusing that he can move into a completely different insane asylum and find the padded walls so .... normal.

As for John Cole, he strikes me as an equal-opportunity tearer of new ones. Now it's Redstate's turn. Thomas must believe himself to be Nurse Ratchit. Now he's just a little upset that Cole has a few remaining unfried brain cells. They hatses apostates.

Speaking of Cole, I've never understood how it is that the consequences of the Republican strategy of mobilizing the extreme social conservatives, folks he vehemently disagrees with, to gain an electoral majority so that he could have his wishes come true for tax cuts, smaller government, and whatever else he finds dear, were so invisible to him.

What? He thought they would hand him his policy goals and then go home quietly? He and Terry Schiavo were the only oblivious ones, I guess.

He's only slightly less crazy than I am.

[John Thullen]

Ugh:

The comments section offers the idea that John Kerry should be executed for treason.

Someone missed their shock treatments.

However, another individual points out that the photo is not of the Newark skyline, which would have been blown up if not for torture, but of Jersey City. I hate it when sane people break INTO the asylum.

[Slartibartfast]

RedState is sadly behind the times. Don't they know that the WTC was brought down by controlled demolition?

[Jesurgislac]

Dantheman: So why are there any fond feelings for Moe here?

Well, he's a fan of Pterry. Or was. He may now find Small Gods and other such objectively pro-terrorist novels unacceptable.

Seriously: he was a good guy. Then he left us and joined a different insane asylum ;-) and appears to have deteriorated. I mark the turning point, in fact, when he looked at all the research Katherine did to prove that the Bush administration was, yes, having people tortured... and decided not to believe it. (I had a similiar set-to with him when he refused to believe that the Bush administration intended to sell off Iraqi industry to foreign companies, but I admit I did the research to show it far less thoroughly than Katherine did hers.) Now he's actively for torturing people, providing the Bush administration says they're bad people.

I would like to think that he finds it hard to read Terry Pratchett these days. What worse could I wish someone? I certainly am not going to wish he himself should find out what it's like to be tortured: but if I were him, I wouldn't be able to look Vimes in the eye.

[hilzoy]

I'm puzzled by one aspect of Thomas' post, which I asked about in the comments there: namely, what blog, exactly, 'ObiWi disease' is named after.

[Ugh]

I'm puzzled by one aspect of Thomas' post, which I asked about in the comments there: namely, what blog, exactly, 'ObiWi disease' is named after.

Heh, I didn't catch that.

[dutchmarbel]

I kept on thinking "John? The only John here is John Miller afaik" until it dawned on me that noting except the title had any relationship with Obsidian Wings.

[Andrew]

I thought it was ObiWan disease...the desire to give a deadly weapon to a child and take him off on some tom fool crusade? No?

[Ugh]

I kept on thinking "John? The only John here is John Miller afaik" until it dawned on me that noting except the title had any relationship with Obsidian Wings.

Don't forget Mr. Thullen.

[Anarch]

I would like to think that he finds it hard to read Terry Pratchett these days.

That's one of the sadder things I've ever read.

[liberal japonicus]

I chuckled at this.

Perkins of the Family Research Council said he would not be surprised if derisive comments were made behind Christian leaders' backs.

"I have no misconceptions about how people in the Republican Party and the establishment view social conservatives. They are dismissive. I see how they prefer to work with fiscal conservatives," he said. "Having said that, I see it really as a marriage of convenience. We are not without significant gains by working with this administration."

The mention of 'marriage of convenience' attributed to a group that demands one respect the sanctity of said institution suggests that fooling oneself is a pretty common attribute for admin supporters.

[hilzoy]

Thomas has replied to my question. Apparently, we are a hate site. Equally apparently, he's not the sharpest needle in the pincushion.

[liberal japonicus]

Interesting grammatical revelation with that "I don't link hate sites". The missing preposition 'to' suggests to me that he doesn't actually assemble pieces to form a larger whole.

[dutchmarbel]

Ugh: true, tnxs. John T: sorry - it's just that you are "Thullen" in my head, don't know why exactly.

[Jesurgislac]

I like "Plaintitively, I did not". It sounds, well, plaintive. ;-)

Marbel, J.T. is "Thullen" in my head too.

[liberal japonicus]

An open thread entitled 'Thullen in my head' please?

[Jesurgislac]

Unwithe. It might make John thullen.

[liberal japonicus]

That's nothing but a myth...

[Jesurgislac]

I never myth.

[liberal japonicus]

btw, is it like 'sullen' or 'tooling'? I always thought it was the latter.

[Ugh]

Thomas has replied to my question. Apparently, we are a hate site.

When I muse about if, given the choice between eliminating al Qaeda or his political opponents, on my better days I think Thomas would at least hesitate before chosing his political opponents. On my better days.

Well now I've gone and proved his point, darn it. Also a fascinating statement from an editor at a site that has posters like this. Perhaps that's cherry picking but it's apparently the second time he's posted it and they do have a rather aggressive form of mock execution over there for posts they find disagreeable.

Equally apparently, he's not the sharpest needle in the pincushion.

I prefer: all foam no beer.

[Jesurgislac]

Yes, is John thullen or only tooling? Enquiring minds want to know...

[Slartibartfast]

Equally apparently, he's not the sharpest needle in the pincushion.

One would hope.

[John Thullen]

Pronounce the "Th", as in "the". Long "u".

I'm used to it being mangled.

I would remember John Miller long before John Thullen if we placed substance and level-headedness above all else. So it's O.K.
:)

Sometimes when I hear Thullen in my head, I cover my ears and go "la-la-la". He can be annoying.

[Ugh]

Pronounce the "Th", as in "the". Long "u".

Thyooolen?

[Dantheman]

"Pronounce the "Th", as in "the". Long "u"."

So Thullen rhymes with foolin'. Somehow that's appropriate.

[liberal japonicus]

they do have a rather aggressive form of mock execution over there for posts they find disagreeable.

That samurai kirisute-gomen vibe? I find the unreflective embrace of half baked notions of bushido psychologically revealing, in that their view of bushido seems to be anchored in an all encompassing loyalty to a master narrative that can not be questioned (which is why the best Japanese samurai flicks portray ronin or masterless samurai who are only beholden to their own personal honor).

Assuming that any lurkers are interested in a rather different interpretation of bushido that takes it to task for being a unyielding and irrational viewpoint that doesn't admit the possibility of human kindness and change, check out Kobayashi's film Seppuku. I just wonder who will play the role of Hanshiro Tsugumo over at the house of Redstate.

[Ugh]

And, if anyone wonders why I constantly refer to redstate.com as Bizarro World, the current post by Erick on the front page is quite the sight to see. Here we learn that:

(a) We know right now that recent polling is oversampling Democrats; and this is
(b) a concerted effort to demoralize the Republican base; which is
(c) a repeat of 1992; and the Foley allegations are
(d) charges that Democrats held for over a year.

All presented as undisputable facts. I guess there's no arguing with that.

[CharleyCarp]

I don't wonder why you call it Bizarro World, but why you pull back the curtain. After that wild and crazy tax code, you're looking for some sanity?

[liberal japonicus]

Yes, Ugh, but are they Known Facts™?

[Ugh]

After that wild and crazy tax code, you're looking for some sanity?

Hmmmm. No comment. ;-)

Yes, Ugh, but are they Known Facts™?

Hah! I was going to throw the ™ in there but decided not to.

[Andrew]

It is always fascinating to see what people of different political persuasions consider facts.

[Slartibartfast]

Does anyone pay attention to polls aside from politicians and their fluffers?

[JakeB]

"So why are there any fond feelings for Moe here? Nostaglia for when he was here?"

I'm getting this notion that Nostaglia is the peculiar emotion Mafiosi feel when they have to pull the trigger on an old associate because he's crossed the line somehow.

[Ugh]

It is always fascinating to see what people of different political persuasions consider facts.

That's a good point, and certainly I fall prey to this. As someone who was a staunch Repulican from circa 1993 through early 2004, and defender of the current administration up to that point, I do wonder sometimes if I've swung too far in the other direction (though I often think that I would return to the party if they ever return to what I thought they stood for, rather than the "power at all costs" group that currently rules us).

But reading things like what I quote above makes me wonder how such people come to the views they have. Not just Democrats have "alleged" to been behind the Foley scandal, or "are thought to have been" or some similar qualifying language, but they "are" behind it, with no evidence at all except accusations by Republicans implicated in the scandal (and plenty of evidence to the contrary).

That's not to say that Democrats don't engage the same sorts of things. It's human nature to discount what disagrees with your worldview and credit what agrees with it. Anyway, not sure what point I was trying to make.

[Slartibartfast]

"Priest Who Molested Foley Found To Be A DNC Operative" in 3...2...1...

[liberal japonicus]

As Jon Stewart said, Opus Gay strikes again...

[John Thullen]

"Thyooolen?"

Just the "th" in "the". Then the long "u".
Like the "h" in "Ugh" is silent except when you see a big spider crawling along your bedspread. Also not like that. ;)

Now I feel exactly as I did the first day of every grade in school, when I would spend considerable time instructing the teacher how to pronounce my name. By the time I got done, I was mispronouncing it --- "Smith".

One year, the teacher called out John "Thorn" the first day. I let it slide.

"Seppuku" and "fluffing" all in one thread!

Incidentally, to inject Tyson (and I'd like to) into this serial thread, I notice he's planning on a series of public assaults on, I mean boxing matches with, women, children, and celebrities.

I hope he runs with George Allen for Vith Prethident.

[CharleyCarp]

Ugh, can you drop by my bloglet for a minute?

[Ugh]

Ugh, can you drop by my bloglet for a minute?

Done.

[bril]

Quit Delaying... why is corruption only an issue when it is Republicans?

Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., is scheduled to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, but only because he agreed when Pelosi previously made clear that she intended him not to waste time on impeachment proceedings against President Bush. But now we learn that Conyers has his own problems with obeying the law. There is so much wrong with the Conyers situation that Pelosi shouldn’t have to think twice about nixing Conyers’ chairmanship. ...

Pelosi should withdraw Conyers’ appointment as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee because he is unfit for the position and because the ethics mess simply cannot be cleaned up with such an individual leading the House committee most directly concerned with upholding the majesty of the law.

How many corrupt Dem's can we ignore?