Alvin Greene, Charlie Rangel, Maxine Waters and other strange creatures

With Alvin Greene indicted on obscenity charges, Rangel and Maxine Waters facing high profile ethics charges, this is not the best time ever to be a Democrat. Or so you would think.

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Nevertheless when Rangel threw his party/fundraiser, every Democrat in New York, including Dem Senators Gillibrand and Schumer, came trooping in, along with scumbag in waiting, Andrew Cuomo. But that's what you get with the party of corruption. Meanwhile Gillibrand, dumped her NRA endorsement so far overboard that it can't even be seen anymore. How far overboard? So far that she's gotten the nod from the Brady campaign. Did Gillibrand change her mind about gun control? No, because like all modern politicians she never had a mind to begin with. Gillibrand didn't care much whether she supports or opposes gun control, so long as it's the thing that helps get her elected. And what made her electable in her old district, made her hard to elect statewide. So bye bye NRA, hello Brady. When asked about Rangel, Gilli responded with the expected mealymouthed gibberish

"You know, no. You know we are all really focused on what we are doing for New York right now, trying to turn the economy around. And last night was really about just celebrating a man's life of public service," she said.

Maybe her new nickname should be the Titanic after all. Republican challenger Rick Lazio has responded by hammering Andrew Cuomo over the Rangel fundraiser with a series of ads But beyond the deceptiveness, the subway scene points up Andrew Cuomo's deceptiveness, on a par his "off the record" smear campaign against Governor Patterson. This is a man who likes to do his dirty work from the shadows. And it shows. Schumer, like Cuomo, has kept it off the books, refusing to even comment on it. Meanwhile up over in DC, Obama is taking a break from his vacation, with a vacation. Because there's nothing like working hard at a vacation to make a man want another vacation. It might be better for everyone concerned if Obama just went on vacation permanently by resigning, but then he wouldn't enjoy all the benefits he does now. So instead here we go, with a whopping fifth vacation. While many Americans are struggling to pay for a single vacation, the Obamas have blown more than the cost of most people's homes, on vacation after vacation after vacation.

There they go again. For the fifth time since July, the first family has set plans to board Air Force One for a frilly vacation, a 10-day return trip to exclusive Martha's Vineyard where they are expected to stay at the 28-acre oceanfront Blue Heron Farm that rents for up to $50,000 a week. But first the Obamas will be traveling to the Gulf Coast of Florida for a mini-vacation as a way to encourage other vacationing Americans to head to the beaches that have been shunned by tourists worried about oil-slicked sands due to the Gulf oil spill. They are expected to travel to Florida this weekend, return to Washington for a few days then it's off to the Massachusetts island August 19.

So after being guilted into the great act of self-sacrifice, of going on vacation in the gulf area, they're keeping their focus on the usual haunts of the rich and famous.