What We Learned This Week: April 23 Edition
Media hires, volcanic ash, mayoral money in the Cayman Islands, and no repentence from Goldman Sachs. Heyo! All that and more key findings from the past seven days.
Eric Massa
‘Screw You’
Young Republicans chide David Paterson for, among other things, not calling a special election to fill the seat vacated by Democratic Rep. Eric Massa. The refrain is "screw you tax payer." Which is something.
Paterson has said he has concerns about how much money it'll cost to hold a special election, something he didn't raise Read More
Eric Massa’s Fellow Sailors Found Him Simply ‘Amazing!’
"Who is the man behind the hard stare?" asks The Washington Post this morning in a profile of Eric Massa.
The Post got its hands on Eric Massa's old Naval Academy yearbook from his salty sailing days, and--while most of the out-of-uniform portraits are breezy, smiling shots of young sailors about to graduate--Mr. Massa Read More
Fox Journalists Delighted With Glenn Beck’s Massa Disaster
Fox is at a crossroads because of Glenn Beck's antics, writes Howard Kurtz in The Washington Post this morning. Naturally, Roger Ailes loves Mr. Beck for the huge lead-in he provides to the network's evening lineup.
But Fox employees--the ones who still harbor hopes of being regarded as a legitimate journalistic outlet--so loathe Mr. Beck Read More
W.F.P. Demands Democrats Vote for Health Care Bill
Dan Cantor is throwing down the gauntlet, threatening to withhold the W.F.P.'s support for Democrats who don't support the health care bill in Washington.In announcing the move, the party noted "Votes on the WFP ballot line have been the margin of victory for Democratic Congressional candidates in New York five times since 2002: Tim Read More
Massa Massages and Massa-bation
Seinfeld: "If you're going to sexually harass people who work under you, dude, don't trade mark it."Meyers: "It's truly incredible to be New York's biggest disaster at a time when David Paterson is still governor."
What We Learned This Week
Well, David Paterson must be pleased that Eric Massa took over the news cycle.
Mr. Massa was kind enough to teach us some new words: fracking and snorkeling. Elsewhere, we discovered the goodness of Garden and Gun, the twisted beauty of a little blight, and the inevitablity of e-books. We also got a window into Andrew Read More
Daily News Fishing For Salty Massa’s Messages
The House Ethics Committee has said it's done investigating salty former Congressman Eric Massa, the Daily News has not.
Yesterday, the paper sent a reporter to the house where the alleged snorkeler admittedly lived with his male staffers before his chief of staff had a "conniption" over the arrangement. And, as it Read More
Paterson Patient on Massa Election, Still No Date With Investigators
David Paterson did not commit to a specific date by which he'd call a special election for the upstate congressional seat vacated by Democratic Rep. Eric Massa."I would not imagine it would be too long," Paterson said this morning during an interview on WOR News Talk Radio. Massa resigned from Congress amid accusations he Read More
Ethics Committee No Longer Pursuing Massa’s Fracking Nor His Snorkeling
The House Ethics Committee abandoned its probe of Eric Massa this afternoon--according to The Washington Post--concluding that it couldn't do anything to the former congressman even if it uncovered the fracking, or snorkeling, or text messages that appeared to be out there.
Republicans are pressing for the committee to complete its investigation, Read More
White House Thinks Massa’s Story Is Fracking ‘Ridiculous’
Eric Massa--the "salty," "fracking" former Congressman--will be on Glenn Beck at 5 p.m. today, and then on Larry King Live at 9 p.m. tonight, presumably to peddle the line that Rahm Emanuel, who is not above accosting legislators in the shower, forced him out of the U.S. Congress because of Mr. Massa's opposition Read More
Rahm and Eric, Before the Shower
Departing Congressman Eric Massa is certainly taking some of the shine off Rahm Emanuel Week.
"Rahm Emanuel is son of the devil's spawn," Rep. Massa said this morning--in addition to describing an awkward shower encounter. "He is an individual who would sell his mother to get a vote. He would strap his children Read More
Massa’s Salty Language: ‘Fracking’
So, after some brief rumors that "salty" Eric Massa might rescind his resignation, it's apparently still on for 5 p.m. Earlier today, the one-and-done congressman--who on Friday penned an open letter admitting to using inappropriate language around his staff--explained the situation that gave rise to the ethics complaint.
Mr. Massa apparently cut a Read More
‘Salty’ Massa Retiring on Monday
Congressman Eric Massa—who on Wednesday admitted to being "salty" on a conference call in which he did not take questions—has announced he will resign from Congress at 5 p.m. on Monday. The resignation seems to be an attempt to avoid an ethics investigation, following a harassment complaint by a male staffer.
"In that investigators would Read More
‘Salty’ Massa Denies Rumors, Won’t Seek Re-Election
Freshman Congressman Eric Massa declared himself "a salty guy" on a conference call (which was literally full of reporters) this afternoon, but called rumors--Politico is hearing he sexually harrassed a male staffer--"unsubstantiated without fact or backing," according to Roll Call and CQ.
Mr. Massa, who represents the Republican-leaning Southern Tier, barely won Read More
