Clintons to New Yorkers: Stop Trying to Drag Us Into Your Mayoral Election

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NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 21: Former U.S. President Bill Clinton (R) and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton smile during the annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) September 21, 2010 in New York City. The sixth annual meeting of the CGI gathers prominent individuals in politics, business, science, academics, religion and entertainment to discuss global issues such as climate change and the reconstruction of Haiti. The event, founded by Clinton after he left office, is held the same week as the General Assembly at the United Nations, when most world leaders are in New York City. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Last week sources said the Clintons wouldn't endorse Anthony Weiner if he runs for mayor for fear that Americans would suddenly remember that the president had a sex scandal of his own in the late nineties. (Was it a sexy AIM chat or something? We're a bit foggy.) Apparently Weiner and supportive wife/Hillary aide Huma Abedin aren't the only issue;  The Clintons aren't interested in choosing between Bill de Blasio, Hillary's 2000 Senate campaign manager, Christine Quinn, potentially the city's first female/openly gay mayor, and Bill Thompson, who would be the city's second black mayor. Hillary Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill tells Politico, “Secretary Clinton knows all of the candidates, she has worked with many of them, and is close with many of them, so won’t be weighing in one way or the other.”

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New Crazy Black Republican Is Craziest Black Republican Yet

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Chesapeake minister E.W. Jackson, speaks at the last Virginia Republican Senatorial debate before the June 12 Virginia primary, at the Fairview Park Marriott, in Falls Church, Va., on Friday, May 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The Obama presidency has been a golden era for right-wing kookery. Many aspects of this kookery, like gold fetishism or threats to default on the national debt, are simply too esoteric to filter into the general public and haven’t hurt the party’s image. Where Republicans have suffered damage is when their kook beliefs wander into the terrain of social issues, which hinge less on specialized knowledge, and the nuttiness is apparent to all. They keep throwing away winnable elections in this manner, and they may be about to do it again in Virginia.

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Ted Nugent’s Brother Is Unexpected

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The most interesting part of this Washington Post op-ed on guns by Jeffrey Nugent ("Ted Nugent’s older brother") is not the case it makes for expanding background checks. Everyone with the capacity for common sense thinks expanding background checks is a good idea, including, apparently, Jeffrey Nugent. The most interesting part of Jeffrey Nugent's op-ed is this line, right at the beginning:

Jeffrey Nugent is the former president and chief executive of Revlon.

We know they're brothers, but were they separated at birth or something?

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53 People Who Think We Should Just ‘Leave Rob Ford Alone’

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According to three journalists who separately viewed a clear and well-lit cell-phone video, Toronto mayor Rob Ford smokes crack. Many see this as kind of a problem. Crack is not only illegal, but it also tends to distract one from one's obligations and responsibilities — like, say, running a city of 2.6 million people. But there are some people who just aren't interested in whether Ford, the mayor of Canada's largest city, smokes crack with Somali crack dealers in his spare time. They want everyone to leave Rob Ford alone. 

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Obama Administration’s War on Leakers Includes Reading Fox News’s E-mails

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WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 06: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill March 6, 2013 in Washington, DC. Holder was asked about a variety of topics, including the federal budget sequester, the Fast and Furious program, the use of drone strikes on domestic targets and voter rights. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The prosecution of government employees who share information with journalists by the Justice Department under Barack Obama is not new — in fact, the administration has gone after more people than any in history (combined!) — but now people are paying attention. The DOJ's seizure of Associated Press phone records highlighted just how little patience the government has for those who leak national security information, and now the Washington Post has yet another glaring example: In the case against Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, a government adviser accused of leaking a classified report on North Korea, the government went all out on a Fox News reporter for doing his job.

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Weekend GOP Almost-Impeachment Update

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President Barack Obama, accompanied by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan checks for rain during their joint news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

The wackiest Republicans have been ready to impeach Obama from day one; the slightly more thoughtful members of the party are taking a wait-and-see approach. They are considering impeachment, but they aren't quite there. They are perhaps waiting for evidence that somebody in the Obama administration, at any level, broke any law at all. Then it's full go!

George F. Will, speaking on This Week, defended his claim that the Internal Revenue Service mess is kinda like Watergate:

in the sense it's the use of the Federal machinery to punish enemies of the administration. ... I brought Watergate into this because abuse of the IRS was Second 1, Article 2, of the Articles of Impeachment of Richard Nixon.

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Obama Criticized for Not Acting on IRS Scandal He Didn’t Know About

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WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 13: U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a joint news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron in the East Room of the White House May 13, 2013 in Washington, DC. The two leaders discussed the prospect of an European Union-United States trade deal and the ongoing civil war in Syria. During his three-day visit to the United States, Cameron will also be briefed by the FBI about the Boston Marathon bombings and will travel to New York to take part in United Nations talks on new development goals. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

On Fox News Sunday, Paul Ryan listed the key points investigators need to clear up in the IRS scandal:  “Who knew? When did they know? Why did they do this? How high up in government did it go?” Answers to those questions are already trickling out, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that the chief White House lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, was informed last month that the investigation into the targeting of mostly conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status would probably conclude the IRS acted inappropriately. Yet, the White House insists that President Obama only learned about the controversy when it was made public on May 10, sparking more debate about when the president should have been informed, and what action his administration should have taken.

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Virginia GOP Candidate Has Questionable Theories on Homosexuality, Planned Parenthood, and the KKK

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Virginia's already-grim gubernatorial race got a new injection of right-wing craziness to complement Ken Cuccinelli's, as minister and lawyer E.W. Jackson won the nomination for lieutenant governor Saturday after a ten-hour voting process at the state Republican convention. Jackson, who has not held political office before (but unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2012) beat out more experienced candidates by appealing "as a grass-roots crusader for the Constitution and social conservatism," the Washington Post reported. "I might even be more extreme than Ken," Jackson said recently. The paper says the comment was meant "facetiously," but now that Jackson's the candidate it's been easy to find examples of him being bombastic. Five of the most dramatic follow.

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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton answers questions from people from around the world during a "Global Townterview" at the Newseum January 29, 2013 in Washington, DC. Clinton took questions from youths from around the world via satellite and social media including Twitter, Facebook and Skype in advance of her last day at the State Department Friday.

Clinton 2016 Speculation Extends to Former Staffers

Since Hillary Clinton's dozens of less-than-Shermanesque statements on her potential 2016 presidential run have already been cataloged and analyzed in every way imaginable, the Washington Post has moved on to her former campaign staffers. Following interviews with "nearly two dozen veterans" of Clinton's last campaign, the paper determined that four top advisers — Howard Wolfson, Neera Tanden, Mark Penn, and Patti Solis Doyle — have moved on and have no intention of working for Clinton again. That means that if Clinton is running, she'll have to find a way to forge ahead without her notoriously dysfunctional (and ultimately losing) 2008 team.

Video of the day

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In The Mag

Back on the Trail

When Mark Sanford decided to run for office again, he asked his ex-wife, Jenny, for her blessing. Whether he has her vote is another matter.

By Jason Zengerle

Reading List

Wonkblog Jan. 21, 2013

The Case for Deficit Optimism

For all the sound and fury, Washington’s actually making real progress on debt.

By Ezra Klein
Salon Jan. 15, 2012

The NRA's Democratic Helpers

Harry Reid and other pro-gun Democrats leave Obama in need of unlikely allies.

By Steve Kornacki

From the Archives

New York Magazine / Nov. 5, 2010

Boehner's Army

After November's glitch, Boehner, McConnell and Congress strike familiar poses.

By John Heilemann
New York Magazine / Jan. 25, 2009

With Friends Like These

Obama drew progressive ire from day one.

By John Heilemann
New York Magazine / Nov. 30, 2008

Hiding In Plain Sight

How one undocumented family lives in our sanctuary city.

By Jeff Coplon