quote:

On June 24, Sanford arrived at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, at 5:43 am on Delta Air Lines Flight 110 from Buenos Aires, Argentina.[10] He was met at the airport by only one reporter, The State's Gina Smith, who had received a tip that the governor was in Argentina and, on a "hunch", went to the Atlanta Airport to meet a flight arriving from Argentina.[11][12][13] He gave her a brief sit-down interview, wherein he claimed that he was alone for the entire trip, and did not give any details other than that he drove the coastline.[12] Sanford said that he had considered hiking the Appalachian Trail, but at the last minute decided to do something "exotic".[12][14] Sanford redeemed an award ticket on Delta Air Lines Skymiles frequent flyer program.[15]

When asked why his staff said he was hiking, Sanford replied, "I don't know." He later said "in fairness to his staff," he had told them he might do such hiking. Sanford said he cut his trip short after his chief of staff, Scott English, told him his trip was gaining a lot of media attention and he needed to come back.[16] These events prompted Republican state senator Jake Knotts to comment, "Lies. Lies. Lies. That's all we get from his staff. That's all we get from his people. That's all we get from him."[14]

Several hours after arriving back in the United States, Sanford held a press conference, where he admitted that he had been unfaithful to his wife.[12][17] He told reporters that he had developed a relationship with an Argentinian woman whom he had met "a little over eight years ago, very innocently,"[18] and that the relationship had turned romantic about a year before.[12] Jenny Sanford had been made aware of his infidelities in January 2009 after discovering a letter that Sanford had written to an Argentine woman.[19]

In emotional interviews with the Associated Press over two days, Mark Sanford said he would die "knowing that I had met my soul mate."[20] Sanford acknowledged secretly meeting Chapur five times in 2009, including two multi-night stays, one in New York City and one in the Hamptons, paying expenses in cash to avoid detection.[21] Sanford also said that he "crossed the lines" with a handful of other women during 20 years of marriage, but not as far as he did with his mistress. "There were a handful of instances wherein I crossed the lines I shouldn't have crossed as a married man, but never crossed the ultimate line," he said.[20]

quote:

On Wednesday, Bobby Jindal became the first Indian-American to be a serious candidate for president.

The Louisiana Republican governor's bid also adds another little-known first: He's the first presidential candidate (that we know of) to participate in an apparent exorcism.

Here's the story.

Jindal, the son of Indian immigrants, grew up Hindu but converted to Christianity as a teenager. He would read the Bible by flashlight in a closet so as not to upset his parents, and he got baptized as a Catholic while attending Brown University. As Annie Gowen and Tyler Bridges write in the Washington Post, Jindal has made Christianity a central part of his life ever since.

Back in 1994, the now 44-year-old had just finished studying at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He moved to Washington to work at the major consulting firm McKinsey, when he wrote a piece in the Catholic magazine, the New Oxford Review, titled “Beating a Demon: Physical Dimensions of Spiritual Warfare.”

quote:

Suddenly, Susan emitted some strange guttural sounds and fell to the floor. She started thrashing about, as if in some sort of seizure. Susan’s sister must have recognized what was happening, for she ordered us to gather around and place our hands on Susan’s prostrate body.
I tentatively ap­proached the group and placed the edge of my finger­tip on her shoulder … In a voice I had never heard before or since, Su­san accused me: 'Bobby, you cannot even love Susan.'
The students, led by Susan’s sister and Louise, a member of a charismatic church, engaged in loud and desperate prayers while holding Susan with one hand. Kneeling on the ground, my friends were chanting, ‘Satan, I command you to leave this woman.’ Others exhorted all ‘demons to leave in the name of Christ.’
Whenever I concentrated long enough to begin prayer, I felt some type of physical force distracting me. It was as if something was pushing down on my chest, making it very hard for me to breathe. Being a biology major at the time, I greeted this feeling with skepticism and rational explanations. I checked my pulse for signs of nervousness and wondered what could cause such a sensation. Shortness of breath is a common symptom that can mean very little or may signal the onslaught of a fatal stroke. Though I could find no cause for my chest pains, I was very scared of what was happening to me and Susan. I began to think that the demon would only attack me if I tried to pray or fight back; thus, I resigned myself to leav­ing it alone in an attempt to find peace for myself.
… The students dared Susan to read biblical passages. She choked on certain passages and could not finish the sentence ‘Jesus is Lord.’ Over and over, she repeated ‘Jesus is L..L..LL,’ often ending in profanities.
Just as suddenly as she went into the trance, Susan suddenly reappeared and claimed ‘Jesus is Lord.’ With an almost comical smile, Susan then looked up as if awakening from a deep sleep and asked, ‘Has something happened?’

quote:

“At a point in every person’s life one has to look deeply into the mirror of one’s soul and decide one’s unique truth in the world. Not as we may want to see it or hope to see it, but as it is,” McGreevey said, with his wife and parents standing beside him. “And so my truth is that I am a gay American and I am blessed to live in the greatest nation with the greatest tradition of civil liberties in the world. And a country that provides so much to its people.”

The resignation was prompted by threats that an attorney for Golan Cipel, the man with whom McGreevey had an affair, had threatened to file a sexual harassment lawsuit against the governor. Cipel was an Israeli McGreevey met on a 2000 trip and came to the U.S. to work on the 2001 campaign. McGreevey later named Cipel as his counselor and gave him a portfolio that included homeland security issues.

The attorney, Allen Lowy, said that a McGreevey representative offered Cipel money in exchange for his silence. Cipel alleges that McGreevey made “repeated sexual advances” to him while working for the state, but the statute of limitations for a lawsuit appears to have passed.

quote:

After the arresting officer read Craig his Miranda rights, the officer interviewed Craig about the restroom incident. At one point, Craig handed his business card to the arresting officer, which identified him as a U.S. Senator, and said to him, "What do you think about that?"[5] Craig told the officer that he was worried about missing his flight, and the arresting officer asked the police detective to call the airline to hold the flight. The detective reported that no one answered the telephone for the airline, and the arresting officer proceeded with the interview.

According to the arrest report prepared by Sgt. Dave Karsnia, "Craig stated ... He has a wide stance when going to the bathroom and that his foot may have touched mine."[8] Craig never used the term "wide stance" himself. According to the transcript of the police interrogation, Sgt. Karsnia asked: "Did you do anything with your feet?" and Craig replied: "Positioned them, I don't know. I don't know at the time. I'm a fairly wide guy."[7]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/hes-got-a-downton-abbey-inspired-office-but-rep-aaron-schock-wont-talk-about-it/2015/02/02/1d3f1466-ab1f-11e4-abe8-e1ef60ca26de_story.html posted:

The Rayburn House Office Building is a labyrinth of beige offices. And then, there’s . . . Rep. Aaron Schock’s new digs.
Bright red walls. A gold-colored wall sconce with black candles. A Federal-style bull’s-eye mirror with an eagle perched on top. And this is just the Illinois Republican’s outer office. “It’s actually based off of the red room in ‘Downton Abbey,’ ” said the woman behind the front desk, comparing it to the luxurious set piece at the heart of the British period drama. This was a bold room. But the confidence was a mirage. For on Capitol Hill, caution is king when it comes to the micromanagement of one’s image, even in the case of how a congressman decides to decorate his office.

And sometimes, a friendly outsider can inadvertently ruin a communications director’s day.
A blond woman popped out of an inner office. “Want to see the rest?” she asked. She introduced herself as Annie Brahler, the interior decorator whose company is called Euro Trash. She guided me to Schock’s private office, revealing another dramatic red room. This one with a drippy crystal chandelier, a table propped up by two eagles, a bust of Abraham Lincoln and massive arrangements of pheasant feathers.

Then, my phone rang.
It was Schock’s communications director, Benjamin Cole.
“Are you taking pictures of the office?” he asked. “Who told you you could do that? . . . Okay, stay where you are. You’ve created a bit of a crisis in the office.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/11/10/former-illinois-congressmen-with-downton-abbey-office-to-be-indicted-attorney-says/ posted:

Aaron Schock, a former Illinois congressman whose Capitol Hill office was decorated in the style of the TV show “Downton Abbey,” and whose six-pack abs landed him on the cover of Men’s Health, was indicted Thursday on charges that he misspent government and campaign money for his personal benefit.

Schock, 35, had resigned from Congress last year amid reports of alleged improper spending. The Republican said in a statement that he did so “in hopes of sparing loved ones the indignity of being questioned and harassed about unfounded allegations,” but the government pursued him nonetheless.

“Like many Americans, I wanted to have faith in the integrity of our Justice Department,” Schock said in a statement. “But after this experience, I am forced to join millions of other Americans who have sadly concluded that our federal justice system is broken and too often driven by politics instead of facts.”

The SituAsian posted:

DarklyDreaming posted:

And there was that time a Buzzfeed reported found out he had a Zune instead of an iPod, labeling him lame and uncool forever

quote:

This fellow here over here with the yellow shirt, Macaca, or whatever his name is. He's with my opponent. He's following us around everywhere. And it's just great. We're going to places all over Virginia, and he's having it on film and it's great to have you here and you show it to your opponent because he's never been there and probably will never come. [...] Let's give a welcome to Macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia.

quote:

Giuliani's marriage to his wife, broadcast journalist and actress Donna Hanover, had been distant since 1996, and the two were rarely seen in public together.[46] There had been no formal announcement of any change in their relationship, although Hanover had indicated that she and their children would not move to Washington if Giuliani won the race.[47] Beginning in October 1999, a new woman was being spotted at mayoral functions.[48] By March 2000, Giuliani had stopped wearing his wedding ring[46] and was being seen more in the company of this other woman, including at the Inner Circle press dinner, the St. Patrick's Day parade, and town hall meetings, but it was not yet fully clear whether the relationship was personal or professional.[49][50] While this woman had become a frequent subject of insider talk among the New York political circle, she had not been mentioned in the press.[48]

On April 20 Hanover announced that she would soon be taking over the lead role in Eve Ensler's controversial play The Vagina Monologues.[51] Political observers speculated that Hanover was partly engaging in a political act against her husband, as Ensler was a friend and supporter of Hillary Clinton[51] and the role would not go over well with social conservatives within the Republican Party. Giuliani declined to say whether he would attend one of her performances.[52] On April 22, the New York Post obtained photographs of Giuliani openly strolling on a Manhattan street with the other woman after they left a restaurant, but did not have more than a first name for her;[49][53] the Post sat on the story, but it was clear the relationship was a personal one.[49]

On April 26, television channel NY1 reported that Giuliani had undergone a second round of tests for prostate cancer at Mount Sinai Medical Center;[54] the same disease had led to the death of his father.[54] On April 28, Giuliani held a news conference to announce that he did in fact have prostate cancer, but it was in an early stage.[55] He was unsure of which of several types of treatment he might undergo, and that decision would impact whether he could stay in the senate race or not.[55] Hanover was not present at the conference, but issued a note saying she would support him in his decision process.[56]

As Giuliani mulled over his medical options, on May 1 Hanover announced that she was postponing her appearance in The Vagina Monologues due to "personal family circumstances."[57] On May 2 the New York Daily News published a brief item about Giuliani's other woman, without name or description.[58] On May 3 the New York Post finally published its photographs of Giuliani and the woman, now identified as Judith Nathan,[58] leaving a restaurant together,[46][59] under the front-page headline "Rudy's Mystery Brunch Pal is Upper East Side Divorcée".[60] (Some observers felt that Giuliani, known for his ability to manipulate the New York media,[61] had been eager for news of the relationship to come out.[53][61]) Later that day, Giuliani responded to a barrage of questions on the subject at a news conference by acknowledging Judith Nathan publicly for the first time, calling her "a very good friend" and expressing his annoyance that her privacy was being invaded.[46] The next days were filled with New York media coverage on Nathan's background and on the relationship.[53] On May 6 Hanover held an unusually-located news conference at the back of St. Patrick's Cathedral before the funeral of Cardinal John O'Connor;[50] visibly trembling, she said, "I will be supportive of Rudy in his fight against his illness, as this marriage and this man have been very precious to me."[50] The following day half the press tried to stake out Nathan's known locations while the rest pestered Nathan's hometown relatives in Hazleton, Pennsylvania;[62] Giuliani looked weak in a public appearance.[62]

On May 10, Giuliani held what The New York Times described as an "extraordinary, emotional news conference" in Bryant Park to announce that he was seeking a separation from Hanover,[59] saying, "This is very, very painful. For quite some time it's probably been apparent that Donna and I lead in many ways independent and separate lives."[59] Regarding Nathan, Giuliani said "I'm going to need her now more than maybe I did before", making reference to his battle with cancer[59] and her background in nursing.[48] Regarding the senate race, he again did not commit to a decision, saying, "I don't really care about politics right now. I'm thinking about my family, the people that I love and what can be done that's honest and truthful and that protects them the best. I'm not thinking about politics. Politics comes at least second, maybe third, maybe fourth, somewhere else. It'll all work itself out some way politically."[59] Giuliani had, however, neglected to inform Hanover in advance of his announcement; her reaction was described as distraught.[59] Three hours later, she held her own news conference at Gracie Mansion, where she said, "Today's turn of events brings me great sadness. I had hoped to keep this marriage together. For several years, it was difficult to participate in Rudy's public life because of his relationship with one staff member."[59] In this, she was making reference to Cristyne Lategano, the former communications director for Giuliani;[59][63] Vanity Fair had reported in 1997 that Lategano and Giuliani were having an affair, which both of them had denied.[63] Hanover continued, "Beginning last May, I made a major effort to bring us back together. Rudy and I re-established some of our personal intimacy through the fall. At that point, he chose another path."[59]

State Republican leaders, who until now had avoided talk of replacements for Giuliani should he not run, now gave more attention to the matter, with the state party convention coming up on May 30.[64] Former possible contenders Rick Lazio and Pete King immediately indicated they were available;[64][65] other names mentioned included Wall Street financier Theodore J. Forstmann and Governor Pataki, although the latter indicated no interest.[64] Giuliani continued to ponder his senate race decision; when he had dinner with Nathan on May 12, they were trailed by a flock of photographers.[66] Giuliani canceled campaigning and fundraising trips to upstate New York and California on May 13, suggesting he would not run,[66] but then resumed fundraising and suggested he was inclined towards running on May 15.[67] Two Republican county chairmen became upset at the indecision, saying, "Like Waiting for Godot, we have Waiting for Rudy", and, "We need a decision. Like tomorrow would be nice. Because this is getting ridiculous."[67] A top state Republican said, "He seem[s] to like the attention. He seems to be going through some sort of catharsis in public. And we're like psychiatrists watching it. I can't quite figure it out. I don't think anybody can."[67] Clinton, meanwhile, said as little as possible about the situation, preferring to let Giuliani's drama play out on its own;[68] on May 17, as he huddled with his doctors over whether to choose surgery or radiation as his treatment[69] while facing conflicting political advice from his aides,[70] she won the unanimous approval of delegates to the Democratic Party state convention at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, giving a constrained acceptance speech because she did not know her general election opponent.[71]

Finally, on May 19, Giuliani held what The New York Times again described as "an emotional, riveting news conference" that "reached a new level of introspection" to announce that he was dropping out of the senate race:[72] "This is not the right time for me to run for office. If it were six months ago or it were a year from now or the timing were a little different, maybe it would be different. But it isn't different and that's the way life is."[72] He added that, "I used to think the core of me was in politics, probably. It isn't. When you feel your mortality and your humanity you realize that, that the core of you is first of all being able to take care of your health."[72] He said that he would instead devote the remainder of his mayoralty trying to overcome the hostile relations he had with many of the city's minority groups.[72]

Aruan posted:

Let's never forget when Rudy imploded his own Senate campaign:

quote:

Never forget he married his cousin, never forget that he literally was a noun, a verb, and 9/11 incarnate in 08.

Haschel Cedricson posted:

I would like to nominate the renaming of Mount McKinley to Denali.

The Board of Geographic Names was petitioned to change the name to Denali, but lawmakers from William McKinley's home state of Ohio didn't want that to happen. They discovered a loophole stating that the Board of Geographic Names was not allowed to rename any location that was mentioned in any pending legislation. So, for forty years congressmen from Ohio kept intentionally adding the name "Mount McKinley" to bills, which made it so the name wasn't able to be changed.

Hilariously, though, there was ANOTHER loophole that stated if the Board of Geographic Names didn't resolve a petition one way or the other within a reasonable time frame then the Secretary of the Interior was allowed to unilaterally change the name on their own. And since forty years is by no means a reasonable time frame, the Obama administration officially changed the name to Denali and it remains Denali today.

quote:

When asked about the 'naughtiest' thing she had ever done during in an interview with ITV News, May recalled a time when she upset a group of local farmers.

After some deliberation, May told journalist Julie Etchingham: 'Well, nobody is ever perfectly behaved, are they? I mean, you know, there are times when… I have to confess, when me and my friend, sort of, used to run through the fields of wheat, the farmers weren't too pleased about that.

Aruan posted:

HashtagGirlboss posted:

The scandal itself wasn’t what I’d call funny in any sense—it was about sexual assault back when the Democratic Party was still occasionally willing to take their members to task for such things.

twerking on the railroad posted:

History since he was removed in 2011 disagrees. Katie Hill, Jon Conyers, Al Franken, all removed just like David Wu.

goethe.cx posted:

Ignore him, he's trying to start a Biden derail

Aramis posted:

Vice President Dick Cheney drunkenly shot someone in the face, and for a hot second, we were all crossing our fingers that it had been Dan Quayle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney_hunting_accident

ewiley posted:

Speaking of which, this was the dumbest scandal I can remember

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/64689/never-forget-time-dan-quayle-misspelled-potato

Oh my god I’m

quote:

Yes, the President of the United States of America had a boot Corporal hold an umbrella for him while he gave a speech.

The reactions were interesting because people let their political butthurtedness flow into their opinions on the matter. People seem to forget that we’re Marines, and this is exactly the kind of poo poo that Marines do. Somehow, holding an umbrella for the President and the Turkish Prime Minister is seen as demeaning, while all of the other bullshit that Marines do every day is not. I find it entertaining to see Marines on my Facebook page saying things like, “I would have told him to gently caress off and hold his own umbrella.”

No you wouldn’t.

Shut up.

We’re Marines, if the President of the loving United States asks you to hold a loving umbrella, you hold a loving umbrella. As well, the day I give a poo poo about a boot Corporal holding an umbrella is the day I’ve forgotten what the Marine Corps is. Honestly, holding an umbrella for the President is probably the least demeaning thing I could imagine doing as a Marine, as opposed to the other bullshit I had to do every day. No one would think twice about asking a boot to police call cigarette butts across the entire base at 5am, but the minute this boot has to hold an umbrella for the Commander in Chief, people get upset.

He’s the President, he rates an umbrella.

Get over it.

evilbastard posted:

Which led to this comment : https://terminallance.com/2013/05/17/terminal-lance-presidential-service/