THE OTHER SHOE DROPS: Updates To Previous Posts
† King Of The Heels: Bucking the national trend, “after many unsuccessful efforts at reconciliation,” Jenny Sanford announced her intention to file for divorce from Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC), who admitted to a long-term affair with a woman in Argentina he called his “soul mate,” reports ABC News:
In her first television interview, Sanford told ABC News' Barbara Walters about her husband's affair and openly discussed the heartbreak behind the headlines of their breakup.
"It's been a crazy year. ... Certainly his actions hurt me, and they caused consequences for me, but they don't in any way take away my own self-esteem. They reflect poorly on him," she said, in an exclusive interview as part of Walters' "10 Most Fascinating People of 2009." …
Sanford said she found out in January 2009 that her husband had been unfaithful, and she moved out of their house a few weeks before the scandal broke. …
And in the face of every political spouse's nightmare, Sanford broke the mold. She did not stand by her husband's side during his June press conference when he confessed to cheating. Sanford told Walters that the governor didn't ask her to.
"I wouldn't have. If he had asked me, I would have said no," she said.
She said when her husband called his Argentine mistress his "soul mate," "it hurt."
Sanford, a former investment banker and Georgetown alumna, was 27 when she married the governor 20 years ago. Many called her the woman behind the man, running his campaigns while raising their sons.
† ICE Goes After Fugitive Aliens (Finally): A three-day sweep led by 400 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and local law enforcement officers netted 280 fugitive aliens in CA, more than 80 percent of whom had prior convictions for serious or violent crimes, reports The Associated Press:
"These are not people who we want walking our streets," ICE director John Morton said. "We're going to focus on those people who choose to pursue a life of crime in the United States rather than pursue the American dream of education, hard work and success." …
"As we bring these people into custody, we're also contributing to the reduction of crime in our local communities. That's really the thrust of it all," said Robert Naranjo, an assistant field office director for ICE's detention and removal operations in Los Angeles. …
The arrests carried out from Tuesday to Thursday were similar to those made in prior years by fugitive operations teams, which were created in 2003 to help reduce the number of immigrants who failed to obey deportation orders.
† Well-Chosen Words: Part IX (third item): Atheist lawyer Michael Newdow is appealing the dismissal of his lawsuit challenging the custom of including the prayer "So help me God" at the end of the presidential oath of office is scheduled to be heard by a three-judge panel on December 15th. Without explanation, the panel rejected Newdow’s emergency motion to block the court clerk of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, from opening the proceedings with the prayer "God save the United States and this honorable court," reports The National Law Journal.
† Updates To Previous Posts (eighth item, Why We Need Gitmo): Attorney General Eric Holder made a surprise visit to the Metropolitan Correctional Center, the United States attorney’s office and the federal court in Lower Manhattan, where self-confessed September 11, 2001 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four fellow jihadis will be tried, reports The New York Times:
He met with security officials, including Raymond W. Kelly, the city’s police commissioner, and Joseph M. Demarest Jr., the assistant director in charge of the F.B.I.’s New York office, “to discuss coordination, cooperation and security for the potential upcoming trials of the 9/11 terrorists,” said Special Agent Richard Kolko, an F.B.I. spokesman in New York. …
Once the Justice Department announced on Nov. 13 that it was bringing its case to Manhattan, the Police Department began formulating plans for “security around the venue itself, and protection of the city,” including its bridges, transit system and landmarks, said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman. …
Mr. Kelly has told the Justice Department that the costs for security operations, including paying officers’ overtime, are expected to exceed the initial minimum estimate of $75 million.
When Senator Charles S. Schumer asked Mr. Holder in a Nov. 18 hearing in Washington if he would recommend that the president include money in the federal budget for the city’s extra security costs, the attorney general said, “New York should not bear the burden alone.”
NYC should not have to bear any of the burden. The Obama administration decided to try these five terrorists just blocks from where the Twin Towers once stood, and the federal government should pick up the tab.
Gershon said in her ruling that ACORN had raised a "fundamental issue of separation of powers. They have been singled out by Congress for punishment that directly and immediately affects their ability to continue to obtain federal funding, in the absence of any judicial, or even administrative, process adjudicating guilt."
Bill Quigley, the legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which brought the lawsuit on behalf of ACORN and two affiliates, said the decision sends a sharp message to Congress that it can't single out an individual or organization without due process.
"It's a resounding victory for ACORN," he said. "I'd be surprised if the government decides to appeal." …
Quigley said millions of dollars in funds should begin to flow again to ACORN next week. The judge said the "public will not suffer harm by allowing the plaintiffs to continue work on contracts duly awarded by federal agencies."
† Updates To Previous Posts (last item, GA Judge And Family Accused Of Slavery): Nigerian immigrants Emmanuel and Ngozi Nnaji hired an illiterate widow with six kids from their country to move to TX to be their newborn’s nanny in exchange for financial support of her children, free room and board, and $100 a month. Instead, the Nnajis forced her to work 16 hours a day with no days off for nine years, reports The Associated Press:
Emmanuel and Ngozi Nnaji are charged with forced labor conspiracy, forced labor, harboring a domestic worker for financial gain, conspiracy to harbor for financial gain, document servitude and making false statements to federal agents. The indictment outlines the rape allegations as part of the forced labor conspiracy. …
[S]he met Emmanuel Nnaji in 1996 while working as a nanny for his brother-in-law. Ngozi Nnaji's brother asked if she would go work for the couple in Texas and she agreed. …
The woman lived with the Nnajis first in their Irving apartment, then in their Arlington home, according to the complaint. After the couple had two more children, the woman cared for all three while also cooking and cleaning. She was not allowed to talk to anyone outside the home, according to the complaint.
Her family in Nigeria said they only occasionally received money, she told officials.
The Nnajis each face up to 55 years in prison if convicted. Ngozi Nnaji faces deportation because she is a Nigerian citizen.
† Updates To Previous Posts (last item, 10 Reasons Michelle Obama Should Be Proud – Really Proud – Of America): This latest installment in The Stiletto Blog’s ongoing series meant to help instill the necessary pride of country in Michelle Obama’s consciousness to enable her to serve as an unofficial ambassador focuses on UPS driver John Piontkowski who found a bank bag containing more than $5,000 just lying in the middle of the road, and never considered keeping the money. The Associated Press reports:
[A] Bank of America deposit slip show[ed] the money came from Stuyvesant Liquors in Jersey City. …
Store owner Don Knaus says he and his wife were busy running errands Wednesday and lost track of the money, which somehow landed in the road near their home. As they searched, their bank called to say the money had been found.
Piontkowski says Knaus gave him "a very nice reward."
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