1.) Rahm knew, Solyndra blew — Hey, remember when Rahm Emanuel said he couldn’t remember anything about Solyndra because he’s the mayor of Chicago now, so shut up? Despite his claim of municipally triggered memory loss, at one point Rahm did know all about it. In fact, he’s the one who wanted Obama to tout the now-bankrupt “green energy” company. TheDC’s C.J. Ciaramella reports:
“Despite Emanuel’s earlier amnesia regarding his involvement in the Solyndra transaction, emails released by the White House Friday at the request of congressional investigators suggest Emanuel had a personal hand in crafting the White House’s Solyndra strategy, including the President’s May 2010 visit to the solar panel factory. ‘[Klain] has talked to Rahm about this and feels Rahm wants this too (barring any concerns)—POTUS’s involvement was Rahm’s idea,’ Aditya Kumar, a White House director of special projects, wrote in an August 2009 email to other officials… ‘Ron said this morning that the POTUS definitely wants to do this (or Rahm definitely wants the POTUS to do this?),’ one White House staffer wrote to an Obama scheduler in August 2009, referring to Ron Klain, Vice President Joe Biden’s former chief of staff. When later asked by a reporter if the emails had perhaps jogged Emanuel’s memory, the former White House Chief of Staff said, ‘No, because I’m focused on exactly what I need to do here in the city of Chicago.'”
And part of that duty is dodging reporters’ questions about his misuse of taxpayer dollars while in the White House. Or maybe he really does have some sort of memory problem. Is it psychological? Physical? Shouldn’t he see a doctor?
2.) Gloria Cain vs. Bialek’s ex-boyfriend — There’s no real news in the Herman Cain “scandal” this morning, at least in terms of facts and evidence and all that boring stuff. But we do have another accusation and another denial. TheDC’s Caroline May reports:
“In her first ever televised interview Gloria Cain, the wife of Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, addressed allegations that her husband sexually harassed several women during his tenure as the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. Noting that she was nervous, Cain jumped right into addressing the most controversial charges against her husband with ‘On the Record’ host Greta van Sustren, saying that the allegations are not consistent with the man she married 43 years ago. ‘The first week and a half I think I was in shock, because I didn’t see it coming and there were such ugly things said… I know the person that he is and I know that the person that they were talking about — I don’t know who that person is and we have been married for 43 years and if I haven’t seen parts of that person in 43 years. I don’t think I am that simple that I would miss something that significant.'”
Of course, if you’re convinced he did this thing he’s accused of doing (in addition to the accusations nobody has bothered to describe to us yet), Mrs. Cain’s opinion would matter only if she said he did it. Moving on to more hearsay, May reports on Gloria Allred’s mastery of the law of diminishing returns:
“At a press conference Monday afternoon in Shreveport, La., a former boyfriend of Sharon Bialek, one of the women accusing Herman Cain of sexual harassment, corroborated what she has said happened between Bialek and Cain in 1997. Bialek’s attorney Gloria Allred introduced Dr. Victor Zuckerman, saying his decision to come forward was a direct result of Cain’s denial of the sexual harassment charges against him… A pediatrician and self-proclaimed Republican, Zuckerman confirmed Bialek’s story, recalling how the pair first met Cain at the National Restaurant Association convention. He confirmed that Bialek reached out to Cain, at his suggestion, for help finding a new job… ‘I can confirm that when she returned, she was upset. She said that something had happened and that Mr. Cain had touched her in an inappropriate manner,’ said Zuckerman. ‘She said she handled it but did not want to talk about it anymore. I respected her request and this issue was never brought up until recently.’ Bialek’s then-boyfriend explained that the pair have remained friends although they broke up shortly after her run-in with Cain. He also said it was his idea to involve Allred when other allegations of sexual harassment against Cain began surfacing several weeks ago.”
So he’s the one who suggested Allred? What a thing to admit. Zuckerman doesn’t know any details, and they broke up soon afterward and didn’t talk about it again until just last week. And oh yeah, by the way, Zuckerman has filed for Chapter 11 as well. Not that it has anything to do with any of this. Stay tuned next Monday afternoon when Allred trots out Bialek’s cleaning lady, who noticed she seemed kinda bummed at the time.
3.) Cainfused — What about Cain himself? Yesterday he had a lot of trouble answering a question about Libya, as TheDC’s Alex Pappas reports:
“Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain had so much trouble articulating his position on the United States’ role in Libya on Monday that he admitted he was confused. ‘I got all this stuff twirling around in my head,’ Cain told reporters and editors during a meeting with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The newspaper posted the video online of Cain stumbling on the question of whether he agrees with President Barack Obama on Libya. ‘Ok. Libya,’ Cain said, closing his eyes to gather his thoughts, letting several seconds go by. ‘President Obama supported the uprising, correct?’ he asked the editors. ‘President Obama called for the removal of Gadhafi. I just want to make sure we’re talking about the same thing before I say yes I agree or no I didn’t agree. I did not agree with the way he handled it for the following reasons.’ He then paused and said, ‘No, that’s a different one.'”
Oof. Not good. Some are saying this was even worse than Perry’s cognitive flatulence during last Wednesday’s debate. Well, this isn’t going to convince anybody that Cain should be president, but at least he can point to it when people scoff at him for saying he doesn’t remember encountering Sharon Bialek at a Tea Party event a month ago.
4.) Hardest-working president in U.S. history is very disappointed in you — The other day, President Obama took a break from golfing and partying and vacationing and taking golf-party vacations to tell you that you’re lazy. How’s that one going over? TheDC’s Jeff Poor reports:
“That didn’t sit well with Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer, who fired back on Monday’s ‘Special Report’ on the Fox News Channel. According to Krauthammer, Obama is willing to point out everyone’s shortcomings except his own. ‘No one is asking him to go out there and to be a jingoistic cheerleader,’ Krauthammer said. ‘But when you call your own country “lazy” when you are abroad, and call it “unambitious and soft” when you are home, I think what you are showing is not tough love, but ill-conceived, ill-concealed contempt.'”
That’s not fair, Dr. Krauthammer. Obama doesn’t have an ill-concealed contempt for us. It’s not concealed at all.
5.) Bloomberg finally takes out the trash in Zuccotti Park — Now that the word “Zuccotti” has become indelibly synonymous with lawlessness and filth, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg is finally doing something about it. NYT:
“Hundreds of New York City police officers cleared Zuccotti Park of the Occupy Wall Street protesters early Tuesday, arresting dozens of people there after warning them that the nearly two-month-old camp would be ‘cleared and restored’ before the morning and that any demonstrator who did not leave would be arrested. The protesters, about 200 of whom have been staying in the park overnight, initially resisted with chants of ‘Whose park? Our park!’ as officers began moving in and tearing down tents. The protesters rallied around an area known as the kitchen, near the middle of the park and began building barricades with tables and pieces of scrap wood. Over the next two hours, dozens of protesters left the park, while a core group of about 100 dug in around the food area. Many locked arms and defied police orders to leave. By 3 a.m., dozens of helmet-clad officers, watched over by Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, closed in on the remaining protesters. They pulled them out one protester at a time and handcuffed them. Most were walked out without incident.”
So far there’s no truth to the rumor that Bloomberg decided to move in on Zuccotti Park only when he heard reports of an empty Burger King bag.
6.) Today’s words of wisdom from Alec Baldwin’s Truther, er, Twitter feed — [No quote this morning, but apparently he’s taking his cue from the dictum that a picture is worth a thousand words, because he’s been posting pictures of people who’ve disagreed with him on Twitter. Click the link to see. Is there someone in Alec Baldwin’s life who can help him?]
VIDEO: Joe Theisman tells Obama to stop pointing fingers
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