You can't make this stuff up: NY-13 republicans, terrified of losing a seat they've held for thirty years or thereabouts, are trying to get disgraced incumbent, Vito "Two Families" Fossella, back in the race.

The New York Times:

[D]espite the scandals in Mr. Fossella’s personal life, he remains popular in the 13th Congressional District, which includes all of Staten Island and portions of Brooklyn. Over the weekend, Mr. Fossella receive prolonged, thunderous applause when he appeared at the opening of Mr. Lanza’s campaign headquarters.

John S. Friscia, chairman of the Republican Party on Staten Island, who was at that event, said in an interview on Tuesday that he strongly supported the idea of Mr. Fossella’s running again.

“The congressman has a tremendous amount of good will and he has the respect of the people of Brooklyn and Staten Island,” Mr. Friscia said. “I think the people respect his performance on behalf of the people of the district. He’s shown himself to be a tireless worker.”

You know what? These people are a bunch of pigfuckers. If there's one thing republicans enjoy doing, it's waving their fingers in the faces of other people - unwed mothers, gays and lesbians, agnostics, whatever - and telling them that their values and lives just aren't up to snuff. But when Bristol Palin gets pregnant, or Vito Fossella spreads his seed like something you'd expect to see at Belmont, I don't know, it's a celebration of fertility or something comparably wholesome.

Why - why?!? - does anyone take these people seriously?

Just when you thought the Republicans were ready to shed one of their sleazier, more corrupt members, it seems he is hoping for a comeback. Disgraced Republican Vito "Two-family values" Fossella wants back on the ballot after pledging he wouldn't seek re-election after his drunk driving arrest and the revalation that he was, essentially, a bigamist with two families.

From the Daily News:

Don't count out disgraced Rep. Vito Fossella just yet.

Four months after a DWI arrest and revelations about an out-of-wedlock child forced him to forgo a run for reelection this fall, the shamefaced Staten Island Republican is looking for a way back on the ballot...

There's only one problem: The election lineup is already set.

Ex-Republican Assemblyman Robert Straniere and Democratic Councilman Michael McMahon won primaries last week. Paul Atanasio is the Conservative Party's nominee; Carmine Morano is the Independence Party candidate.

A candidate can only be bumped off the ballot now if they die, move out of state or are nominated to run for a judgeship.

As personal problems and scandal ended the political career of Staten Island Congress Member Vito Fossella, some Democrats and reporters seem to have awoken to what they say is a once in a generation opportunity to turn Democratic a Congressional seat long held by Republicans. (See also SI Advance, here .) As a result, the (in my opinion, conservative) Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, local Congress Members, Democratic Party "regulars" and the Working Families Party have endorsed NYC Council Member Michael McMahon over progressive, anti-Iraq-war candidate Steve Harrison. None of these groups, thus far at least, have shown any interest in the positions of either Mr. McMahon or Mr. Harrison. My sometimes ill-informed judgment is that ignoring the merits is a mistake. The reason why Democrats John Hall and Kirsten Gillibrand beat entrenched GOP Congress Members in 2006 was that they presented clear progressive programs to counter the Bush-clone policies of their opponents. In my view, to the degree that the Democratic party presents Bush-Cheney-Lieberman-clone candidates to the voters, it will lose.

To focus then on some of the issues which are crucial, in my view, I asked Council Member McMahon some questions He replied in part and you can (and should) judge those answers for yourself.

Below, however, are three questions which Council Member McMahon didn't answer. Because I respect the abilities of those who prepared the answers, I am persuaded that the omissions are deliberate. Those omitted answers concern issues which members of the next Congress will actually face.

More war? Mr. McMahon did not state whether, were he a member of Congress, he would favor or oppose further Iraq war funding. Billions of dollars, needed at home, are funneled into Iraq-war-profiteers and into an immoral and evil war. Check it out in more detail here . If we're to believe Nobel-prize economist Joseph Stiglitz, the total tab will come to three trillion . Can Mr. McMahon say no to such squandering? He doesn't say.

Democratic Congressional candidate Steve Harrison (NY13th CD Staten Island, Southwest Brooklyn), who in 2006 received a higher percentage of the vote than any Democrat ever under the district’s current configuration, is challenging September 9th primary opponent Councilman Michael McMahon to five debates, 3 in Staten Island and two in Brooklyn. The primary winner faces the eventual Republican nominee in November to replace incumbent Vito Fossella, who is not seeking re-election because of his recent scandals.

Harrison wants to begin debating his opponent as soon as possible.

"I'm ready to go today" said Harrison, "Mike told the Staten Advance that he wants to discuss the issues. So let's discuss. I've been discussing Congressional issues for over two years. have a website, campaign team and money in the bank. It will be interesting to hear what Mike says about National issues and why he voted for congestion pricing and the largest property tax hike in history and why, as a Democrat, he's vying for the Conservative party endorsement."

Harrison soundly defeated Fossella, who ran on the Republican and Conservative lines ,all five times they debated in 2006.

Tuesday Update: I am such a stupid idiot. After trying to reach Council Member McMahon over & over, I was told to call his brother Tom -- who, as it turns out, is one of the smarter people ever to work in NYC government and is now a lobbyist. Now I understand why, whenever I talk to people about Council Member McMahon, they start talking about his brother. In any case, Tom is working on his brother's campaign and, I am told, I won't get answers soon will get answers within a day .
Liz Benjamin has learned that the Working Families Party has endorsed McMahon over Steve Harrison in the primary. See note at the end. The WFP had other primary endorsements as well.

Wednesday Update Anti-climax of the week: Domenic Recchia drops out to support Michael McMahon. So far as I can tell, Mr. Recchia has not been in the district in months. Via Jonah at The Albany Project: Recchia said" As Democrats, we have an incredible opportunity before us, to turn a red seat blue and bring true change and real leadership to the residents in Staten Island and Brooklyn. That will not happen if we are not united as a party. Therefore, I am withdrawing my bid for the 13th Congressional district, and will support our party's nominee, Mike McMahon. Thank you to all of the people who believed in me, worked for me and fought for me over the last year - especially those who encouraged me to stay in the race despite the altered political landscape. Most of all, I would like to thank the voters of the congressional district, who welcomed me with open arms and believed in my message. I have not made any decisions about my political future and have no further comment at this time" But if he runs for Brooklyn Borough Presidentn in 2009 no one will be even mildly surprised.

Frank Powers, Fossella Fundraiser & Finance chair, will be the GOP candidate to succeed the recently retiring Vito Fossella Jr. Late Thursday night, the County GOP nominated Powers, a Todt Hill resident money-manager, who promised to personally contribute $500,000 to his own campaign and raise more. While Rep. Fossella was not present, his Father, Vito Fosella Sr. and his Uncle, Frank Fossella – both GOP movers and shakers – spoke warmly of Powers “I think Frank Powers is a wonderful person,” said Vito Fossella Sr. (The Fossellas did not, apparently, say that Powers was a family man). The GOP, therefore, by nominating a Fossella ally signals that the campaign they plan is more of the same: more war, more torture, more foreclosures, higher gas prices. In my view Mr. Powers’ past alliance with Rep. Fossella will cause any claim of independence from Bush-Chaney-Fossella to flunk the giggle test.

Some professional political consultants viewed the choice of Mr. Powers as an error . Indeed, even Brooklyn Republicans were said to be unhappy .

Back to the Democrats! As you may know, NYC Council Member Michael McMahon was selected by the State Island Democratic County Committee to run for the Congressional seat not Steve Harrison who has been campaigning all this time.

A key question for me is: What sort of campaign will Mr. McMahon run against Mr. Harrison? Both the Staten Island Advance and Islanders I’ve spoken with view Mr. McMahon as a conservative Democrat. For example, this Advance Editorial called Mr. Harrison “too liberal” for Staten Island and Mr. McMahon as just right. In what may be a harbinger of campaign tone, it also repeatedly calls Harrison a Brooklynite . (Another Advance edit worth reading is here.. In addition, those watching this race should read Tom Wrobleski's long somewhat gossipy analysis in Sunday's SI Advance . Mr. Wrobleski suggests what many of us expect, that this will be a Democratic year for Staten Island and the 13th Cong. District. My read of his column is that he favors Mr. McMahon over Mr. Harrison.

Will SI Democrats prefer a righter Democrat Islander to a lefter activist from Brooklyn? Will Mr. Harrison's grass roots campaign be able to overcome party organizations in Brooklyn and Staten Island? If Mr. McMahon runs as a conservative pro-war Democrat, many people like me will be extra inspired to work hard for Steve Harrison.

We'll have Vito Fossella to kick around, but only for a while. The Staten Island Bush-clone, Cheney-acolyte, war supporter will not seek another term. Mr. Fossella's letter is here .

Washington Post Rep. Vito J. Fossella (R-N.Y.) will not seek reelection in November after admitting to an extramarital affair with a former Air Force official, which came after a drunken-driving arrest in Alexandria three weeks ago, Republican Party sources said.

Fossella is not resigning immediately, saving House Republicans from having to defend another seat in what would have been an expensive special election had he left Congress altogether. The party has lost three seats through such elections since March.

The Staten Island Advocate, Fossella's hometown newspaper, reported last night that he is to release a letter to constituents today.

The Staten Island Advance broke the story late last night

"Mired in scandal after revelations about the secret daughter he fathered with Virginia divorcee Laura Fay became public, Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) tells constituents in a letter to be posted on his Web site tomorrow, and released exclusively to the Advance, that he will no longer serve them in Congress after his current term expires on Jan. 3, 2009."

[Fossella statement]"After a great deal of consideration, I have made the decision not to seek re-election to the United States House of Representatives this November," .... "This choice was an extremely difficult one, balanced between my dedication to service to our great nation and the need to concentrate on healing the wounds that I have caused to my wife and family."

Steve Harrison, a leading Democratic candidate, had this comment:

"I'm relieved Vito Fossella finally made a decision. I believe he made the obvious one. I hope he and his family find peace in the near future and I ask Mr. Fossella to represent us well during the remainder of his term.

A face only a mother could love.

Vito Fossella is one of those politicians many an activist loves to not so much to hate but smack around. ">If you go to our archives, you're going to find our peeps here at the TDG have been working hard to help Steve Harrison smack Fossella down come November and it looks that the congressman is giving them plenty to work with these days.

Here's a list that'll put you up to date on the face of NYC's GOP :

Roy Moskowitz's Letter to the editor

Michael Bouldin's Baghdad Vito Freaks Out and Harrison, Steinem, and the GOP's Catholic problem

This morning I heard a Staten Island Republican ranting about how Vito Fossella's fathering an illegitimate child had nothing to do with his stand on the issues and he should stay in office.

Well, much as I would love to see him stay in office because he'd be easy to beat, it struck me immediately that a.) Vito Fossella's typical Bush "family values" stand and calls for Spitzer to resign mean Vito is a grade A hypocrite; and b.) seems amazing that breaking the law and endangering lives by driving drunk doesn't bother Republicans.

I called for Spitzer's resignation not because I gave a crap what he did with his free time, but because of his massive hypocrisy in prosecuting prostitution while being a participant himself. Similarly, any Republican who feels Vito Fossella's fathering an illegitimate child is ignoring the effect that will have on the life of the mother and child, as well as his own family and the gross hypocrisy that allows him to condemn others while engaging in fun himself. Fossella's family values rhetoric has to be contrasted with the reality of his screwing around, something that was well-known among Republican circles in Staten Island.

Republican Congressman Vito "Vino" Fossella is really not looking too good right now. His conduct the night of his drunk driving arrest is something he is going to have a hard time living down.

Mug Shot thanks to FossellaFive.org

Drunk driving AND a secret love child all revealed in one scandal. People are arguing over what to call this scandal. Simple "Vinogate?" "Double the Family Values?" "A Congressman Walked into a Bar?" Or, a suggestion on Daily Kos, "In-Vito Fertilization."

The behavior of Vito Fossella leaves much to be desired, though perhaps by Republican standards where even pedophilia is accepted, maybe he isn't so bad.

One picture says it all. Thanks to FossellaFive.org, here's Vito Fossella's mug shot from his drunk driving arrest:

I think we all should be thankful that Vito Fossella didn't hit anyone while driving intoxicated. Such irresponsibility is disgusting in anyone, but particularly in someone who is supposed to be a leader. As Steve Harrison, Democratic Candidate taking on Vito Fossella in the NY-13 Congressional race, says:

"Lawmakers cannot expect the people to follow the laws if they themselves disregard them."