Random Nuclear Strikes

For My Information

Anyone out there have a decent amount of experience with Marlin 336 leverguns?

Some Instapundit readers think Glenn Greenwald (and the NYT hit piece on Cindy McCain discussed in his post) is trying to prep the battlefield to dilute the impact of the upcoming Barack Obama sex scandal.

According to the rumor, the staffer worked for Obama but was transferred to work at the Caribbean after Michelle Obama complained about the ‘close friendship’ between her husband and said staffer (whose name is Vera Baker, according to the Daily Mail ).

…Interesting about the Baker rumor is that it did not originate from Republicans, but from Democrats. Several individuals who call themselves partisan Democrats have raised the issue, and have talked about it with journalists for the Daily Mail but also, according to the daily, to journalists working for the Los Angeles Times.

Emphasis mine. That’s mostly from the Daily Mail, which is (ahem) not the most reputable rag. But then there’s this fascinating analysis including this interesting bit from HillBuzz:

FEC Senate campaign records show she was paid a pretty penny as “Finance Director”.

However, people familiar with Obama’s 2004 Senate campaign say Claire Serdiuk was Obama’s Finance Director. Looking through everything we can see online for that 2004 campaign, Claire Serdiuk is consistently listed as the Finance Director – because that’s what she was.

There’s no mention of Vera Baker…but Vera Baker was paid as the “Finance Director” too.

And then, suddenly, Vera Baker was relocated to New York.

…aaaand this:

Having now spoken to someone tracking the story, I can say:

1) It’s not just a silly little rumor.

2) It will break in some form shortly. The question is how prestigious an outlet breaks it. (PS, at best, it won’t be that prestigious, at least at first, but there’s a lot here so when someone finally touches, there is a good chance of an Edwards-like “Oh yeah, we were working on that too” pile-on.) Fire is being held as those who know the story try to get someone of import to break it; if they pass, it will be flooded out through secondary channels.

3) The story has a Fred Baron. Not The Fred Baron. But actually– an even better Fred Baron. The woman is “working” in the Caribbean drawing a salary from…. uhhh… let’s say from someone who is a big, shiny part of the dirty Chicago political machine….

Neoconlatina found an article from National Journal (very reputable) confirming that Vera Baker was Obama’s Finance Director. And from the comments on her post, we find this from RightWingProfessor:

If you check out the Cape Caribbean website, it says Vera Baker previously worked with Alta Capital Group. In fact, she was managing director for municipal trading for that firm. Alta Capital Group, located in Chicago, was founded by Adela Cepeda, an old friend of Michelle Obama from the Leadership Greater Chicago program of 1993.

http://center.spoke.com/info/pES7UIc/VeraBaker

http://www.lgcchicago.org/fellows.aspx?class=1993

So BO has an alleged affair, and his alleged popsy is then made managing director at a municipal finance firm (an area she has no experience in) headed by a friend of BO’s wife?

Look, I’ve said before that IMO, the only substantive reason to worry about a President’s sexual proclivities is, really, because of the threat of blackmailers affecting US policy…. I’d say this counts!

Let’s all keep an eye on the LA Times for the next couple weeks, shall we?