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   Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Gnter Grass still thinks reunification was a bad idea.
 Forty years of writing from Taylor Branch, James Fallows, Katherine Boo, Marjorie Williams, Joshua Micah Marshall, and more.
 With help from Washington, the for-profit college industry is loading up millions of low-income students with debt they'll never pay off.
 The best recent memoir from republican Washington is a hoax. That should tell you something.
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October 15, 2009
ENSIGN'S PRECARIOUS FUTURE.... Sen. John Ensign's (R-Nev.) recent scandals haven't held the media's attention, but if the sitting senator is subjected to a criminal investigation, I'm hoping that'll change. To briefly recap, Ensign's sex scandal initially broke in June, and pointed to a controversy in which the conservative, "family values" senator carried on a lengthy extra-marital affair with an aide, who happened to be married to another aide. Ensign's parents tried to pay off the mistress' family. Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that the Republican senator pushed political and corporate allies to give lobbying contracts to his mistress' husband, Douglas Hampton. Despite laws prohibiting aides from lobbying for a year after leaving the Hill, Ensign and the aggrieved husband allegedly ignored the rule, and the senator used his office to cater to the needs of those who hired Hampton. What's next? John Bresnahan and Manu Raju report on the likelihood of Justice Department prosecutors taking an interest in Ensign's case.
Peter Zeiderberg, a former Public Integrity prosecutor for the DoJ, who helped lead the Scooter Libby prosecution, told Fox News that a criminal probe of Ensign "is likely." Maybe then the media frenzy would kick in? Howard Kurtz noted the other day that David Letterman's sex scandal "has unleashed a tsunami of coverage," but "serious allegations involving Sen. John Ensign have barely produced a trickle." Why? because the Ensign story "is complicated and not very visual." Let this be a lesson to politicians everywhere: if you're going to have a lurid affair, make it as messy and complex as possible. The media apparently only cares about the sex scandals that are easy to explain. —Steve Benen 2:20 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (17)Comments
There are still many unanswered questions from the Clinton administration that need to be investigated before scarce Justice Department resources are squandered in new investigations. Posted by: Al on October 15, 2009 at 2:25 PM | PERMALINKwhat's complicated about a case where a politician slept with a staffer while both of them were married to other people? all that corruption stuff is just gravy... Posted by: dj spellchecka on October 15, 2009 at 2:29 PM | PERMALINKIf only someone could find that blue dress. Posted by: beep52 on October 15, 2009 at 2:35 PM | PERMALINKAnd they're attractive people... you'd think the teevee would want to show lots of pictures of them. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Knc4hX7Lzys/SnnX-qKOEXI/AAAAAAAAAW8/faROwEK91eE/s1600-h/john-ensign-mistress-cindy-hampton-picture.jpg There are still many unanswered questions from the Clinton administration that need to be investigated before scarce Justice Department resources are squandered in new investigations. Al, I guess you think we can only investigate one murder at a time. You had your shot at Clinton and all the while Republicans were doing the same thing. Shame on you, let go of Clinton's zipper. Posted by: Candinvincible on October 15, 2009 at 2:43 PM | PERMALINKYou forget, Steve, that Ensign is a SENATOR. And the President is a former member of that August Body; we must circle the wagons, he's an Esteemed Colleague, Unseemly Haste, etcetera. Besides, it would Look Bad for a Democratic administration to go after a Republican. . . (Cue the violins and Harry Reid) Posted by: DAY on October 15, 2009 at 2:48 PM | PERMALINKHey haven't you figured out that Al is a parody. Because if he's not he's a new species of monkey. Posted by: Gandalf on October 15, 2009 at 2:50 PM | PERMALINKimpunity abounds. state murder in texas. ho-hum. Posted by: neill on October 15, 2009 at 2:55 PM | PERMALINK"And they're attractive people... you'd think the teevee would want to show lots of pictures of them. With all due respect, but this is attractive? How come this cheerleader smile is deemed attractive in the first place? Sarah Palin has the same sharkish grin. These fake plastic faces give me the creeps. Posted by: Vokoban on October 15, 2009 at 2:56 PM | PERMALINKthe Ensign story "is complicated and not very visual." huh? oh, come now Howie, you mean to tell me with a straight face that the public has too hard a time wrapping their heads around a United States Senator banging a campaign aide? Surely you jest. No matter, Howie's premise that Letterman's "scandal" is allowing Ensign to stay "under the radar" is ridiculous anyway. This Ensign thing has been brewing for a long while without coverage...long before Letterman was blackmailed. Posted by: oh my on October 15, 2009 at 2:57 PM | PERMALINKHe was buying a guy's silence and using his influence, power, and money to do it. How is this complicated? Posted by: gradysu on October 15, 2009 at 3:07 PM | PERMALINKLet this be a lesson to politicians everywhere: if you're going to have a lurid affair, make it as messy and complex as possible. The other lesson is to declare yourself a Republican before you have it. Posted by: qwerty on October 15, 2009 at 3:19 PM | PERMALINKmy prediction: Gingrich's scandals were pretty simple and straightforward, and the media paid precious little attention to them. Posted by: Lifelong Dem on October 15, 2009 at 3:41 PM | PERMALINKIt's a power smile. Its the "I'm cool and you're not" smile. It's being a bitch in a way that you can't accuse someone of being a bitch. Exactly what the teevee considers "hot". Posted by: converse on October 15, 2009 at 4:40 PM | PERMALINKSen. John Ensign's (R-Nev.) recent scandals haven't held the media's attention Darn liberal media! Post a comment
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