Malkin Column: Ladies Against Sen. Sleaze-Bob Menendez
Conservatives are always told they don't do enough to reach across the aisle. We're divisive, obstructionist and hostile to bipartisanship. So in the spirit of unity and comity, I'm announcing the formation of a new social justice group: Ladies Against Senator Sleaze-Bob.
Now all I need are some principled Democratic ladies and liberal media lionesses to step up to the plate with me to protest the vulgar, sexist behavior of Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.
Surely, Nancy Pelosi, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Cher, Sandra Fluke, Eva Longoria and I can all agree that when a powerful Washington politician abuses his power to victimize young women, we should join hands to demand justice. Right?
Surely, Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Arianna Huffington, Rachel Maddow, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Lena Dunham, Tina Fey and every card-carrying member of NOW across America are outraged by this Beltway playboy's tawdry exploitation of underage prostitutes.
And surely, Hillary Clinton, Valerie Jarrett, Stephanie Cutter and Michelle Obama are all sickened by this top Democrat's profligate election-season jaunts to the Dominican Republic on a shady donor's private plane.
Oh, wait. What? You haven't heard about Menendez's war on women from the left-wing War on Women brigade? Nary a progressive peep? Well, knock me over with a Code Pink feather boa. Not sure how the story could have slipped their news-savvy feminist minds.
The divorced Menendez is in slowly bubbling hot water over a couple of trips he's taken over the years to the Caribbean for sex parties with young women, reportedly including a 16-year-old minor. The left-leaning watchdog group CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) and the right-leaning publication The Daily Caller were the first to publicize allegations last November that Menendez solicited prostitutes with his creepy donor pal Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen.
On Wednesday night, the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General raided Melgen's home and hauled away more than 30 cardboard boxes. The news jogged Menendez's memory and — mirabile dictu — the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee suddenly remembered that he owed nearly $60,000 to Melgen as reimbursement for two private-jet flights taken three years ago.
While Menendez's office blames a "right-wing blog" for his troubles, CREW released an e-mail yesterday detailing Menendez's encounters with four Dominican female escorts at an island resort owned by Melgen. One of the women wrote about Menendez's pervy proclivities: "That senator also likes the youngest and newest girls. ... In the beginning he seemed so serious, because he never spoke to anyone, but he is just like the others and has just about the same tastes as the doctor, very refined. I think they were taking us more often to get us checked (medically) because of him."
The women, who accused Menendez of stiffing them out of their pay, said they feared retaliation, because they "know the kind of people (we're) dealing with."
And we know how leading Democratic men on Capitol Hill are dealing with the news. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., derided the news source of the scandal for bringing up "a lot of non-issues." White House spokesman Jay Carney punted in response to a question about whether President Obama still has confidence in Menendez: "I don't have anything for you on that." And other than a stray joke from Jay Leno, the Democratic-entertainment complex has nothing to say, either.
So it's time for my fellow Ladies Against Senator Sleaze-Bob to represent. Where you at, LASSes? The political boys club is calling the exploited women of tax-evader Melgen's Doll Palace liars and trying to sweep this pedo-tainted scandal under the rug. I guess some "binders full of women" are more equal than others.
Michelle Malkin is the author of "Culture of Corruption: Obama and his Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks and Cronies" (Regnery 2010). Her e-mail address is malkinblog@gmail.com.
