Werewolves of Washington

I laughed when radio talk show host Michael Medved used that phrase in his show today, the werewolves of Washington, he said, referring to all the 3 AM phone call political ads being run. First Hillary does one here in Texas to lay ownership to foreign policy experience, then she does one in Pennsylvania to bash McCain on the economy, then McCain does one to smack Hillary and Obama both on economic policies and raising taxes. Doesn't the woman ever sleep?

There is little I agree with Senator Debbie Stabenow, D-MI, as far as domestic policy goes, but, I do have a bit of a soft spot for her today. Her husband, Tom Athans, was found to be involved in an 'incident' with a hooker after contacting her through the Internet. The twenty year old is reported to have charged $150 for oral sex, which considering the other recent sex scandal stories in the news, is a bargain basement price. Kudos to him for frugality, I suppose.

The news is "very disturbing and serious. Obviously it's a deeply difficult and personal matter," said Stabenow, the first woman elected Senator from Michigan. Stabenow and Athans were married in 2003, Stabenow being a divorcee since 1990. She and her first husband, Dennis, have two grown children, a son and a daughter. They also have a daughter-in-law. The photo of the couple adorning the top of her Senate web page has been removed. There yesterday, gone today.

Something that struck me was that the 57 year old Stabenow has a noticeably younger husband. Athans is 46 years old. You go, Debbie.

Athans is a former Executive VP for Air America after Democracy Radio folded in 2005. Now he is listed as founder of TalkUSARadio, a struggling radio network for liberal talk shows.

So, I'm sorry to think about Stabenow's now public humiliation.

Yesterday I read an interview online from GQ Magazine. Magazine writer Lisa DePaulo published an interview with Karl Rove. The interesting nugget for me concerned something Barack Obama wrote in his book. Rove didn't mention which book, but I assume it is the most recent one. I wouldn't know first hand as I have no plans to read either of his books.

Rove answered a question from DePaulo that, yes, he knew all the candidates running for President on a rather casual basis. McCain the most, of course, and disclosed that he supports McCain and has contributed to his campaign. He mentioned he occupied Hillary's old office in the White House when Rove worked there. Then he got to Obama. Turns out Obama and Rove have a mutual friend in Ken Mehlman. Mehlman was a Harvard Law School classmate of Obama's. "And so as a result, whenever in the last three years he's been around at the White House, I've gotten to see him, and we sort of would hang around and chitchat about things." Then he mentioned being in Obama's book.

"He wrote that 'people like Newt Gingrich, Tom Delay, Ralph Reed, and Karl Rove say we are a Christian nation.' And I did not say that. I confronted him about it. At the White House."

De Paulo asked, "And what did he say?"

Rove responded, "Well, first he denied that I was in the book! And then he denied that it said that I said that it was a Christian nation. And then when I pulled out the thing (he had a copy of the offensive page with him) and showed it to him, he sort of blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. And I thought, That's who he is. I mean, look, he may claim that he's for a different kind of politics, but that was a cheap shot. And I'm not certain if any of the four said it either. But it was like, you know, Let's just strap it in there and see if it goes someplace."

Well, at least Obama didn't strap Hitler in there, too.