Massa became a Democrat in 2004, at the age of 48 – in 1990 he was about 34 and had several years of GOP membership ahead of him. Obviously he’s a Larry Craig/MarkFoley type.

I didn’t take that as O’Donnell was implicating the entire Navy, far from it. Thing is you can’t report all those things, especially back then in the military. It’s not like anti-gay only happened once DADT was put in place. Take it from an ex-military and ex-navy guy, the #3 officer on the ship is virtually untouchable unless you have lots and lots and lots of concrete proof. If indeed Massa was considered on the “fast track” for Admiral by anyone other then himself then it becomes even harder.

Seeing borderline homophobic rhetoric in these statements is, in my opinion, taking them way out of context. Sure people will giggle at times when this kind of thing is mentioned in the same breathe as Navy but what do you expect when those same people probably picture The Village People anytime you mention the Navy and probably know the joke about 100 guys go underway in a sub and 50 couples return to port (I knew a gay guy on my ship that played that joke out lol). Sure there will be homophobic stereotypes by some people, it’s bound to happen. I just don’t think this was that situation or even borderline.

Oh yeah, you can bet your sweet…back of your front…that we didn’t have tickle fights on the ship either. Some ceremonies like the crossing the equator one that Massa mentioned do get rather nuts but not in that way. More of the “you’re gonna make me crawl through a tunnel filled with what???” kind of disgusting and smelly way. Friendly (for most of us at least) hazing at it’s most disgusting and vile…and it’s most fun.

I’m sure there are questionable incidents every day in every large corporation that don’t get reported, especially if the company is as bureaucratic or procedure-driven as an armed service. Let alone, one with a duty station that is often thousands of miles from land.

Bill, I guess you prefer the barney frank type. You can try all you want, but the guy was a total lib. He wasn’t voting for HC because it didn’t go far enough for him.

While I appreciate mediaite’s attempts to be balanced, and to hold both sides of the media wars accountable, this ad hominem attack on Lawrence seems especially thin skinned. O’Donnell is not perfect–who is–but he has shown a lot of courage in speaking truth to power.

My sincere hope is that Pelosi gets vaporized here. Her chest-beating about ‘most ethical Congress’ and ‘drain the swamp’ is now laughable in retrospect. With proof that she KNEW about Massa MONTHS AGO, Pelosi IS the swamp.

There are many ethical problems in Congress, to be sure. We are years away from having them resolved. However, I do think we can see some progress being made. To be sure, the progress is only relative to the lack thereof during the Gingrich and post-Gingrich Republican years, but I have to give Pelosi, as much as I dislike her, a bit of credit. She, unlike her Republican predecessors, seems to be doing something, making at least a tiny, first step.

Will Glenn Beck have John Ensign on his show to talk about ‘tickle fights?’ I think he needs to hurry — this is looking more and more like a coming federal indictment to be followed closely by federal housing for John Ensign. (thought Mediaite might want to give this some attention, too)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/us/politics/11inquire.html?hp

I do think, Bill, that Ensign is heading for an indictment. The Senate leadership does, too. This is too juicy a bit not to chew on otherwise. I think the chief beneficiaries of such an indictment will be the people of Nevada, of course, the people of the United States, and Harry Reid.

Related to this Ensign indictment, somewhat, is David Vitter. I rather imagine he is about to become the same fixture in the Senate he is in various cat houses in New Orleans and greater D.C. In other words, I think he will be re-elected. He is so weakened, so neutered, if you will, that his virulent brand of family values, when he is not catting around, suffers in the process, as do the good people of Louisiana. Well, it’s called accountability. I can’t shed too many tears for them.

Now we hear Massa wasn’t “really” a Democrat. Does it hurt the left having to make all those contortions?

Bill Adkins says:
March 10, 2010 at 9:19 pm

And here I was worried you wouldn’t be able to spin the whole Massa mess into being the “Republican’s” fault. HA!

Amazing.

barry says:
March 11, 2010 at 3:55 am

O’Donnell is not perfect–who is–but he has shown a lot of courage in speaking truth to power.

In other words: Hey, stop it! O’Donnell may have been out of line, but over-all, he’s good for the left, so let’s just ignore this, please.

The Real Royal King says:
March 11, 2010 at 7:42 am

Like what, exactly? Letting this Massa thing blow up, instead of nipping it in the bud from the start? Letting Rangel hold his chairmanship until the absolute last moment… even though this scandal has been around for years? What progress are you talking about?

Bill Adkins says:
March 11, 2010 at 8:22 am

Deflection.

The Real Royal King says:
March 11, 2010 at 9:52 am – 9:55am

Deflection.