In what might be the fastest turn-around of scandal-to-resignation, New York Republican Chris Lee resigned his Congressional seat following a Gawker post that detailing his apparent flirtatious emails with a woman he met on Craiglist — accompanied by a shirtless picture of the then-Congressman in a bathroom.
Lee reportedly told the woman that he was a 39-year-old divorced father of one and a lobbyist. He then told Fox News, “I have to work this out with my wife.”
Lee will have to abide by the two-year cooling off period to become a lobbyist. The “divorced father of one” part could happen earlier (depending on how well he works it out and the state in which it gets filed). Former New York Governor David Paterson (D) signed the state’s no-fault divorce law in 2010.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s legendary womanizing now has Italian prosecutors preparing to try him on criminal charges:
The news that Sen. Jim Webb has chosen not to run for Senate next year against presumed GOP nominee George Allen — the guy he beat back in 2006 — is being received as nearly catastrophic for Dems’ chances of holding the seat. Maybe even terrible news for their shot at holding on to the Senate as a whole. But PPP has some interesting data which really makes me question that assumption. Read More
How Europe and Asia are utterly kicking our butts in high-speed rail. We tell the story in fourteen photos.
Utah’s new Tea Party Senator Mike Lee (R) isn’t ready to endorse his fellow Sen. Orrin Hatch (R).
Senator Webb says he’s not running for reelection.
Statement after the jump … Read More
Another in our occasional check-ins on the grim state of the employment market (via @rortybomb via @chrislhayes): Read More
Hill Republicans find a tax they can love — one that targets employers who offer health insurance with abortion coverage.
I’m not sure how I of all people could have missed this. But several readers have now pointed out that I somehow missed the ultimate 2012 fantasy campaigning candidate: John Bolton, the aspiring warlord who couldn’t get confirmed as Ambassador to the UN.