Pelosi, Feinstein, Boxer Suddenly Realize Serial Sexual Harasser Is in Their Midst

Morning Jolt . . . with Jim Geraghty July 26, 2013 I depart for the NR cruise July 30; I understand that in my absence, someone -- not Jack Fowler -- will be sending you some sort of short list of NRO links and items. I may try to leave a small pile of evergreen items and frivolity for this person to use. I'm scheduled to appear on The Lead with Jake Tapper at 4 p.m. Eastern today, but as I've learned, these things can get canceled with little warning. You never know when George Zimmerman might suddenly reappear and save a busload of orphans or something. Pelosi, Feinstein, Boxer Suddenly Realize Serial Sexual Harasser Is in Their Midst Oh, come on. If you're holding an event on military sexual assault, sexual harassment, and violence against women and children, why wouldn't you want to have San Diego Mayor Bob Filner as your keynote speaker? The women around him say he's an expert on at least one of those subjects. A group of women military veterans announced Wednesday that it has rescinded an invitation to Mayor Bob Filner to speak at its conference in San Diego next month in light of the sexual harassment allegations against the former congressman. Filner, the leading Democrat on the House Veterans Committee when he was in Congress, was originally slated to be the keynote speaker at the National Womens Veterans Association of America's San Diego Mayors Benefit Gala on Aug. 30 at the U.S. Grant hotel. He was also set to receive a lifetime achievement award from the organization. NWVAA President Tara Jones said Filner is still invited to attend, but will no longer be allowed to speak. "After much careful thought and consideration, my board and I have determined and decided that Mayor Bob Filner will be removed as guest speaker on the topic of military sexual assault, sexual harassment and violence against women and children," Jones told reporters. The award has also been withdrawn, she said. I suppose I should give some credit where it's due; some prominent women Democrats in California have finally awoken and recognized that A) the number of accusations against Filner is reaching critical mass, as are his increasingly lame and implausible excuses ("I'm just a big hugger!") and B) their double standard was getting glaring enough for even low-information voters to notice. Had Filner been a Republican, he would already be at least as well-known as Todd Akin, with his face on the cover of Time magazine under the headline: "PARTY OF CREEPS: WHY THE GOP'S PROBLEMS WITH WOMEN KEEP GETTING WORSE." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi just brought down the hammer Thursday on NYC mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner and San Diego Mayor Bob Filner — two fellow Democrats who are imploding over various sexual scandals. And now California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer are piling on Filner, telling The Chronicle that he should start updating his resume. "I think I have spoken and acted in terms of Anthony Weiner, in terms of when he was in the Congress of the United States. In his case, in the case of Mayor Filner, clearly, they have both admitted they need therapy. I think maybe that therapy could better be accomplished in private." Boxer just weighed in on Filner via spokesman Zachary Coile: "As more women come forward, she believes this reminds her more and more of the Packwood case. If she were him, she'd resign." Feinstein told The Chronicle: "The allegations made against the mayor by multiple women are very serious and, candidly, shocking. The mayor needs to take a look in the mirror and decide if remaining in office is in the best interest of San Diego." Neither explicitly said, get out. Attribute that to the fact that he's a fellow Dem and to the formalities of how electeds talk about each other in their more civil, on-the-record moments. But the fact that they're calling him out in any way sends a message: Dude, get lost. Boy, that's a generous reading of subtext there, San Francisco Chronicle. Weiner Saga Becoming Amalgamation of Tom Wolfe Novel, Christopher Buckley Satire, and Saturday Night Live Sketch You're probably sick of Weiner stuff, but make room for three quick highlights. No, really. First, a guy in a Zorro costume claiming to be "Carlos Danger" approaches Weiner and asks him, "Why did you steal my name?" Somewhere, a Daily Show writer is sitting, watching it, and saying, "Dang, now I need to come up with a new idea." Secondly, marvel at how Weiner can make even the most basic statements exponentially creepier: "I don't believe I had any more than three," he said when asked at a press conference how many relationships since his resignation were sexual in nature. He doesn't believe it was more than three . . . but he's leaving some wiggle room, in case four or five or 30 more women come forward. Congressman, this isn't the Census. Could you give us a margin of error? Are we talking enough partners to form a basketball team, a football team, or a league roster? Finally, meet one of the young ladies chatting with Weiner recently: Sydney Leathers, the woman at the center of the latest Anthony Weiner sext scandal, told Inside Edition that the New York City mayoral candidate told her that he loved her, and that she said told him the same. Leathers had the following exchange with Inside Edition's correspondent:  Q: "You told Anthony Weiner that you loved him? A: "Yes" Q: "Did he tell you he loved you?" A: "Yes." "I cared about him a lot," she said in an exclusive interview set to air tomorrow, but admitted she didn't quite love him at the time. "He was very important to me." Leathers says her feelings have since changed, especially after watching the disgraced former congressman at Tuesday's press conference with his wife, Huma Abedin. "I'm disgusted by him. He's not who I thought he was," she said. Who, precisely, did she think he was? Now, it's very easy to laugh at this woman. But presuming she's honestly describing her interaction with Weiner, the naïveté is almost sweet. She has almost literally every reason in the world to think he's a creepy, manipulative, selfish, liar . . . and she still comes to care for him, says she loves him, and actually trusts him. Of course, a lot of NRO commenters are concluding that everything is going as she expected, and she always intended to cash in on all of this for her 15 minutes of fame. Looking at the House Races and Even Lower on the Ticket . . . You can always tell which incumbents a national party committee thinks are most vulnerable by who they tout the most. The NRCC has the "Patriot Program," which lists 20 incumbents who . . . well, I'll let the NRCC describe it: "a goal-oriented program helps Members stay on offense and fully prepare for their re-election campaigns. Through a number of Member-based communications, fundraising and strategy goals established at the beginning of the cycle, the program helps to ensure that its members are ready to run well-funded and organized campaigns against their Democratic opponents." The current lineup: Reps. Dan Benishek (Mich.), Gary Miller (Calif.) Michael Grimm (N.Y.), Bill Johnson (Ohio), Tom Latham (Iowa), Tom Reed (N.Y.), Scott Rigell (Va.), Keith Rothfus (Pa.) Lee Terry (Neb.) Mike Coffman (Colo.), Steve Southerland (Fla.) Rodney Davis (Ill.) Jeff Denham (Calif.), Mike Fitzpatrick (Pa.) Bob Gibbs (Ohio), Chris Gibson (N.Y.), Joe Heck (Nev.), David Joyce (Ohio), David Valadao (Calif.), and Jackie Walorski (Ind.). Not too many surprises there; most of those districts were either carried by Obama or represented by a Democrat until recently. Meanwhile, the NRCC notices that the South Florida real-estate market is so hot, at least one Democratic congressman hasn't been able to move into his district. It has been almost a year since Joe Garcia told The Miami Herald's editorial board that he'd move into the new Key West-to-Miami-Dade Congressional District 26 if he won. Garcia won. But he hasn't yet moved. His office said the freshman Democrat is in the process of getting a place. Maybe he's just waiting for prices to come down. Meanwhile, Democrats are beginning to realize that having a pop-culturally-dominant messiah at the top of the ticket, but paying less attention down-ticket, has big consequences: Barack Obama has spent well over $1 billion on his political campaigns, but it's the $20 million to $30 million Democrats didn't shell out three years ago that is costing the White House as he slogs through the first six months of his second term. The GOP's wildly successful, low-key and stunningly cheap campaign to seize state capitals in 2010 has come back to haunt Obama and his fellow Democrats. It's now clear that the party's loss of 20 state legislative chambers and critical Midwestern governorships represents an ongoing threat every bit as dangerous as the more publicized Republican takeback of the House that same year. There was no stopping the GOP wave that year -- but strategists in both parties say Obama's team might have blunted it if they had somehow managed to cut into the GOP's cash advantage -- $30 million to the Democrats' $10 million -- in statehouse races by making campaigns at the very bottom of the ballot a priority. Eh. Obama has always been very skilled at persuading voters to believe in him. They're not so persuaded when he touts Jon Corzine, Martha Coakley, Creigh Deeds, or most of the 2010 Democrats . . . ADDENDUM: Somebody vandalized the Lincoln Memorial this morning. I'll bet that jerk really hated Rich's book. NRO Digest — July 26, 2013 Today on National Review Online . . . VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: A column on the Trayvon Martin case elicits an egregious attack. Untruth at The New Yorker KEVIN D. WILLIAMSON: Across several states, Planned Parenthood overbills and charges Medicaid for abortions. We Paid for Those Abortions CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Like Detroit, things that can't go on forever don't. Stein's Law ROBERT COSTA: Civil war threatens the state GOP in Iowa. Iowa Divided LAMAR SMITH: Republicans will benefit by working to make more Hispanics middle class. GOP Should Face Facts on Immigration Reform JONAH GOLDBERG: President Obama ran against cynicism — and defined his presidency by it. Cynic-in-Chief To read more, visit www.nationalreview.com Why not forward this to a friend? Encourage them to sign up for NR's great free newsletters here. Save 75%... Subscribe to National Review magazine today and get 75% off the newsstand price. Click here for the print edition or here for the digital. National Review also makes a great gift! 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