I couldn't post this one yesterday due to the 1-diary/day limit, and I was astonished that none of my fellow Michigan Kossacks have brought attention to it yet, but HOLY COW...
Matt over at Michigan Liberal has the details, but in a nutshell, here's what happened here in the Wolverine State this week:
The Players:
Michigan Attorney General/Hypocrite Mike Cox (Republican)
Well-Known Lawyer/Loudmouth/Annoyance Geoffrey Fieger (Democrat)
Unknown ('til now) Lawyer/Drunk Driver/Possible Sex Offender Lee O'Brien (Unknown)
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (Dem) is apparently NOT involved; the only reason I mention her here is that IF Cox ends up resigning over this mess, she gets to appoint his replacement, yay!!
The Story So Far:
--Married Atty. Gen. Cox is fighting tooth & nail to strip certain Michigan citizens of their rights, to "protect the sanctity of marriage", bla bla bla. However, I almost had some respect for him a few days ago for a letter he sent defending Fitzgerald's Plame/CIA investigation.
--Geoffrey Fieger, best known for being Dr. Jack Kervorkian's attorney (you remember, the assisted suicide guy), a perennial political gadfly, and the brother of the lead singer of The Knack, is planning on running against Cox for Attorney General next year.
--Earlier this week, Cox suddenly announced that he cheated on his wife a few years back, and that Fieger was planning on going public with Cox's affair if Cox didn't back off of a campaign contribution investigation he was conducting of Fieger. Fieger, of course, denies that he was blackmailing Cox.
That's just the set up. Since then? HOLY MOLY...I won't ruin the story; here's the developing story (scroll down to "Sex and the Michigan Attorney General" and read upwards from there for best effect):
http://www.michiganliberal.com
(Link updated due to reported problems)
Let's just say that the Story So Far involves (either confirmed or alleged):
--Adultry
--Blackmail
--Extortion
--Sexual Assault
--Masturbation
--Illegal Campaign Contributions
--Drunk Driving
--False Identity
--Trespassing
--Disorderly Conduct
--Probation Violation
--Outstanding Warrants
--Electronic Tethers
--a "Protect the Sanctity of Marriage" Attorney General
--Geoffrey Fieger
NOTE: For the record, Democrat or not, Geoffrey Fieger has an air of sleazyness throughout Michigan for years; regardless of whether he's guilty of anything in this particular case, he is *not* someone who makes me proud to be a Dem any more than Cox should make Republicans feel proud of themselves. HOWEVER, since it's Cox's future which is most relevant to the larger political question, I've updated the title to reflect which side of the aisle this is gonna have the biggest impact on.