Akkam’s Razor

Can’t help but wonder why Pat Meehan’s sudden resignation, news that Vince Fumo isn’t resigning, and yet more alleged shenanigans regarding Curt Weldon have all crossed through my feed reader today?  Maybe there’s some meat to allegations of political prosecution at the urging of the Bush White House?  You may recall that the FBI had to run the investigation against Weldon as the Delco GOP (and Meehan) had no interest in investigating their own, having focused their attention on Philadelphia Democrats (rightfully so).   Or is the former Arlen Specter aide (or his sidekick) planning on running against Joe Sestak?

The Inky has an article with John Gallagher, a Center City lawyer and Russian trade expert.  Gallagher has an interesting interpretation of what a Representatives obligations are to his constituents:

"I was very lucky to have my representative also have an interest in Russia," Gallagher, a resident of Weldon's district, said in his spacious office at 18th and Market Streets in Center City.

Gallagher said Weldon, in trying to help him in Moldova, was simply providing good constituent service. "It's my congressman's job," Gallagher said. "He represents me, and a foreign country wronged me."

Agents who searched his law office were investigating possible violations of a federal bribery law, Gallagher said. "Of course I didn't pay Curt Weldon," he said.

Gallagher is the first "subject" to speak about the pre-election raid.  The distinction between "subject" and "target" is immense - needless to say, someone else is the "target".  Subjects typically provide evidence and corroborate - targets are typically the focus and subject to prosecution.

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Curt Weldon…Independent Fighter for Curt Weldon.
Originally uploaded by rzklkng.

Funny story here…

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CNN has confirmed (via Rawstory) that there is an ongoing investigation into Curt Weldon's abuse of his influence in order to secure his daughter lobbying contracts.

Oh, and what's this about Weldon and intelligence fabrication, and a possible link to Iranian WMDs and justification for our next war?

And the last bit of Weldon wonder - Weldon, his daughter, ANOTHER company his daughter (and Delco GOP power broker Charlie Sexton) does business with, and some interactions with them and Weldon.

From Wikipedia about Itera Group LTD:

There has been a link from the GOP-ran US Department of Justice, refocusing attention on Curt Weldon regarding possible abuse of office in garnering work for his daughter, Karen Weldon, in exchange for legislative intercession on the behalf of her clients.  These are, of course, old charges. 

Weldon defenders are quick to point out the "political nature" of the leaks, especially this close to the election.  And for once, I think Crazy Curt is right (although his wanting to play Indiana Jones looking for WMD and stubborn insistence into the viability of Able Danger and a vast 9/11 conspiracy are definite reasons to question his logic).  Weldon's problem is that he's looking in the wrong direction.  His shrill cries of "every liberal group in the country is after me!" have largely gone unnoticed, and his functioning as a rubber stamp for an unpopular president, party, and policies will be felt at the ballot box, despite any efforts by the county political machine.

All signs point to the NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee) throwing in the towel on some unwinnable races, all but conceeding the House (let the Democratic skeptics note that Howard Dean's 50-state strategy is singularly responsible for this).  At this point, it appears they are abandoning the river banks of the House and are instead moving to higher ground - the Senate.

Since the start of the campaign, I have received 1 Sestak mailer versus 6 Weldon mailers - 1 from Weldon's campaign and 5 anti-Sestak mailings from the NRCC.  I received TWO this Friday.  Weldon is in a dead heat.  I suspect that this leak is the "bullet in the head", giving them a politically tenable reason to leave Weldon hoisted on his own petard, allowing them to focus instead on lil' Ricky Santorum, who might find himself in a similar situation in not too much time.

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The second Curt Weldon mailer that I received is a pure “Swift Boat” attack piece on Retired Navy Admiral Joe Sestak.  Again, as you might recall, Weldon had avoided service during the Vietnam War, despite having a low draft number.  Subsequent explanations from the Weldon camp, have been inconsistent at best, with his initially claiming that he received a college deferment, and then later that he received a medical deferment for poor eyesight.  There has never been a clear answer given as to whether either of these is accurate.

It’s almost unbearable, the onslaught of negative TV political advertisements.  So and so did this, and he or she did that, all meaningless political babble designed to punch your hot buttons without a shred of legitimacy or truthfulness.

Let’s tale a moment and review a trio of Curt Weldon campaign mailers that arrived on my door.

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