Back to the sex stuff

As you'll recall, Ron Rosenbaum was told about a front-line presidential candidate at the center of a soon-to-be-disclosed sex scandal. His source said that the L.A. Times was sitting on the information. The source also said that "everyone knows" the story.

Here's an interesting response:

But, given what Rosenbaum has written, I think it more likely that he is being played by someone with a dirtier motive.

In DC media circles, the phrase "everybody knows about it" is often code. Political Operatives with sketchy info try to get a credulous reporter to disseminate their dirt by enhancing it's credibility with those 4 little words. Not only do the words ostensibly add credibility, but they also get the competitive juices flowing. Everyone wants to be first to break the STORY OF THE CENTURY!

This follow-up response by Matt Welch of the LAT (who had denied Rosenbaum's report) is also noteworthy...

Just wanted to emphasize — my denial is actually quite limited: I simply haven't heard anything, so I'm calling the "everyone knows" bit into question. There certainly could be a juicy rumor being investigated upstairs or across the country from me — God, I hope so! — but if so they've successfully kept from gossiping about it in a way that would reach my ears.

The right-wing blogosphere dismisses the idea that the scandal could involve a Republican; they prefer the theory that Hillary is having an affair with a female aid. Here's a good article about the accused paramour, Huma Abedin, who is the candidate's "body person." That was Charlie's job description in The West Wing. The purpose of the smear may well be to alert all Muslim-haters that a lady of that faith works for Hillary.

Incidentally, Ms. Abedin was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and was raised in Saudi Arabia. By all accounts, she is extremely conservative in her manners and demeanor.

The most insidious aspect of a "gay" rumor is that one cannot disprove such claims.