A John Edwards sex tape. Of course! The other shoe has fallen.

Elizabeth Edwards spoke at my daughter Genevieve's graduation commencement from Meridith College. She spoke of her husband as a wonderful man who was full of promise and hope. All the while she was aware thet he had made a baby but not with her. John Edwards will always be to me the quintessential lawyer, full of hubris and narcissism... There was a time when we looked to politicians and persons of high standing to provide a moral compass, that time has passed. Don't try to impress me with your words show me by your actions. The stae motto of North Carolina, is "Esse Quam Videri", "To Be Rather than to Seem"*. There is a whole lot of Seemin' and not a whole lot of bein'.

John Edwards in a sex tape?

(AP Photo/Jim R. Bounds)RALEIGH (CBS/AP) As if John Edwards was not dealing with enough problems already, new reports have surfaced that the former Democratic presidential candidate has starred in his very own tape that contains "several sex acts," reports media blog Gawker.com.

The list of Edwards' troubles has been piling up. Last week, Edwards admitted that he fathered a child with Rielle Hunter, a videographer he hired before his second White House bid. In a new book, a former aide claims that Edwards asked him to fake a paternity test and steal one of the baby's diapers to perform a DNA test on its poop.

Edwards is also facing questions about whether he improperly used campaign funds in paying more than $100,000 to Hunter’s production company.

The alleged sex tape which is said to feature Edwards and Hunter, "is explicit and reveals that Edwards 'is physically very striking, in a certain area,'" the site reported. Edwards' aide, Andrew Young, reportedly found the footage on an unmarked tape.

Young mentioned the existence of the tape in his book proposal last year, theNew York Daily News reported. He is scheduled to release the book on Feb. 2. Young initially claimed paternity of Edwards' child with Hunter.

Frances was born Feb. 27, 2008, indicating that the child was conceived in the spring of 2007, several months after Hunter stopped working for Edwards. John and Elizabeth Edwards renewed their wedding vows in July of 2007 to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary.

Elizabeth Edwards, whose cancer returned in an incurable form in March 2007, has stood by her husband despite the affair. She has said that it does not matter to her whether her husband fathered a child with Hunter, saying, "that would be a part of John's life, but not a part of mine." OH really? How devoid of morality that statement is.

Since admitting the affair in August 2008, John Edwards has largely gone into seclusion. He has acknowledged a federal investigation into his campaign finances while both Young and Hunter — with her child — have made appearances at a federal courthouse in Raleigh.

In the statement Edwards released Thursday, he said, "I will do everything in my power to provide her (Frances) with the love and support she deserves. I have been able to spend time with her during the past year and trust that future efforts to show her the love and affection she deserves can be done privately and in peace."

Edwards also said, "It was wrong for me ever to deny she was my daughter and hopefully one day, when she understands, she will forgive me."

Harrison Hickman, Edwards' longtime political adviser, called the situation "a lot more complicated than people think."

"There are a lot of adults involved," Hickman said in an interview broadcast on NBC's "Today" show. "I think they wanted to handle this in the right way."

"Elizabeth thinks that he should acknowledge this," Hickman said. He said it "has been a very difficult time for everyone...but especially for Elizabeth."

Edwards, a U.S. senator representing North Carolina from 1998 until his vice presidential bid in 2004, acknowledged in May that federal investigators were looking into how he used campaign funds.

Grand jury proceedings are secret, and the U.S. attorney's office in Raleigh has declined to confirm or deny an investigation.

Brantigny

*Cicero's essay ("De amicitia", chapter 98). In "The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli twists this phrase to Videri Quam Esse (To seem rather than to be) with respect to how a ruler ought to act.

Obama speaking to 6th graders.

...and it came to pass that the only one he could find to believe him were 6th graders.

Seriously, these are 6th graders, surely the made-made-god could have remembered a speech with out having to resort to teleprompters. How inspiring...

Brantigny

Obama has an earthquake machine, Hugo Chavez

Wow this is something, just last April this article was published on the Huffington Post...

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad - Presidents Barack Obama and Hugo Chavez have met for the first time, shaking hands as the Summit of the Americas gets under way in Trinidad and Tobago.

Photos released by the Venezuelan government show the two smiling and Obama touching Chavez on the shoulder.

The Venezuelan presidency says Obama initiated the handshake. It quotes Chavez as telling Obama he hopes for better relations between their nations.

Chavez also reportedly said Friday: "With this same hand I greeted Bush eight years ago. I want to be your friend."

As recently as last week, Chavez expressed a desire to "reset" relations with Washington.

Now Obama is the lil-ol-Earthquake maker. Well you never know. Chavez is such a butterfly when it comes to friends.

Brantigny

Haitians dying by the thousands as US escalates military intervention

Sometimes I need a laugh. I present a link to the World Socialist Website. As a Monarchist I realize what these usless idiots can do...

Today the banner line reads,

Haitians dying by the thousands as US escalates military intervention
By Bill Van Auken 22 January 2010

Thousands of Haitians are dying every day for lack of medical care and supplies, according to a leading humanitarian aid group. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has announced that it is expanding the US military presence in the country, maintaining Washington’s priority of troops over humanitarian aid.

The US-based medical aid group Partners in Health has warned that as many as 20,000 Haitians may be dying daily due to infections such as gangrene and sepsis that have set in, as the majority of the injured receive no medical care or are treated in facilities that lack the most basic supplies.

“Tens of thousands of earthquake victims need emergency surgical care now!!!,” the organization said in a statement posted on its web site. “The death toll and the incidence of gangrene and other deadly infections will continue to rise unless a massive effort is made to open and staff more operating rooms and to deliver essential equipment and supplies.”

Partners in Health has worked in Haiti for more than 20 years. Its co-founder, Dr. Paul Farmer, is the deputy United Nations envoy to Haiti and a senior professor of public health at Harvard University.

This is another case of the socialist elements of the world rearraging the facts to suit themselves. Since they consider the world stupid sheeple they can get away with lies because the believe that no one will know the facts. more...

WSWS here is a news flash for you. If it weren't for the US military thousand maybe millions will die.

OBTW Socialism has died.

Brantigny

Air America has crashed.

Big Journalism blog has this story about the demise of Air America. Unfortunatley the former hosts of this jacobin network are now free to go to MSNBC, CNN, CBS, and NBC. based on the downturn in their viewership this may preview that end of idiocy on the TV too.

It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our Board, that we must announce that Air America Media is ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon, and that the Company will file soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code to carry out an orderly winding-down of the business.

The very difficult economic environment has had a significant impact on Air America’s business. This past year has seen a “perfect storm” in the media industry generally. National and local advertising revenues have fallen drastically, causing many media companies nationwide to fold or seek bankruptcy protection. From large to small, recent bankruptcies like Citadel Broadcasting and closures like that of the industry’s long-time trade publication Radio and Records have signaled that these are very difficult and rapidly changing times.

Those companies that remain are facing audience fragmentation as a result of new media technologies, are often saddled with crushing debt, and have generally found it difficult to obtain operating or investment capital from traditional sources of funding. In this climate, our painstaking search for new investors has come close several times right up into this week, but ultimately fell short of success.
With radio industry ad revenues down for 10 consecutive quarters, and reportedly off 21% in 2009, signs of improvement have consisted of hoping things will be less bad. And though Internet/new media revenues are projected to grow, our expanding online efforts face the same monetization and profitability challenges in the short term confronting the Web operations of most media companies

When Air America Radio launched in April, 2004 with already-known personalities like Al Franken and then-unknown future stars like Rachel Maddow, it was the only full-time progressive voice in the mainstream broadcast media world. At a critical time in our nation’s history — when dissent on issues such as the Iraq war were often denounced as “un-American” — Air America and its talented team helped millions of Americans remember the importance of compelling discussion about the most pivotal events and decisions of our generation.

Through some 100 radio outlets nationwide, Air America helped build a new sense of purpose and determination among American progressives. With this revival, the progressive movement made major gains in the 2006 mid-term elections and, more recently, in the election of President Barack Obama and a strongly Democratic Congress.

Laws have changed for the better thanks to this revival…..but all the same our company cannot escape the laws of economics. So we intend a rapid, orderly closure over the next few days. All current employees will be paid through today, January 21. A severance package will be offered tomorrow to full-time current employees with more than six months of tenure.

We will strive to assist affiliates and partners in achieving a smooth transition. Starting at 6 pm EST today, we will provide our affiliates, listeners and users a selection of encore programming until 9 pm EST on Monday, January 25, at which time Air America programming will end.

We are proud that Air America’s mission lives on through the words and actions of so many former radio hosts who are active today in progressive causes and media nationwide. In the years ahead, as we look back, we should all be proud of our passionate determination to assure that our nation’s progressive voice would be heard loud and clear. Through the hard work and dedication of current staff, and those who preceded you, a lasting legacy was forged which will now continue through other voices and venues.

Thank you.
Je suis désolé...

The basic truth is NO ONE LISTENED!

Brantigny

White House is worth less today than a year ago.

From the Huffington post.

Zillow: We first gave the White House a Zestimate in January 2009 as the Obama family was preparing to take residence. At that time, we estimated it was worth $308 million, based on the home's physical attributes (132 rooms! 55,000 square feet!), historical value and housing performance in the local Washington, DC market.

Today, as President Obama prepares to mark his first anniversary in office, our estimates put White House at a bit less: $292.5 million, a drop of $15.6 million, or 5.1 percent from last January.

As the country goes so goes the neighborhood?

Pity Obama doesn't have to pay property taxes on it.

Brantigny