From the Thursday edition of the Morning Jolt:
Like the Sign Says, ‘Get a Brain, Morans!’
Those of you who suspect that the relatives of members of Congress get treated more leniently by law enforcement, your cynicism is well-founded:
Patrick Moran, the son of Democratic Virginia Rep. Jim Moran, is having a bad year. First, undercover video operative James O’Keefe caught him on tape half-heartedly discussing how to commit voter fraud . . . while acting as the field director for his dad’s campaign. Now Moran’s taken a more criminal turn, pleading guilty earlier today to beating up his girlfriend outside a Columbia Heights bar.
Moran and his girlfriend were fighting outside 14th Street bar The Getaway around 1:23 a.m. on Dec. 1, according to a police report, over Moran talking to another woman at the bar. Suddenly, Moran allegedly slammed his girlfriend’s head into the bar’s metal trash can cage.
After the attack, police described Moran’s girlfriend as “bleeding heavily from her nose and also observed that her nose and right eye were extremely swollen.” One of the ambulance technicians who transported her to Howard University Hospital told police that Moran appeared to have broken her nose and given her a skull fracture under her right eye.
Moran was arrested for felony domestic violence assault, but pleaded the charge down to simple assault today. He was sentenced to probation.
Probation! For a skull fracture!
Yes, this is the same Patrick Moran who had to resign from his father’s campaign after he told a hidden-camera reporter for James O’Keefe that he can vote in the names of other people by generating a fake utility bill that has the person’s name on it.
If you want to see something encouraging, Jason Linkins, a political reporter for the Huffington Post, appears to be as repulsed by the father and son as we are:
Now that the justice system has rendered a verdict, there’s nothing more for this product of Beltway privilege to do besides the whole spokesperson-enabled “putting the matter behind me” thing.
Those speaking for Patrick Moran, at this point, aren’t even trying to be decent about the matter. His father, the congressman, told the City Paper, “I hope their privacy will be respected . . . They look forward to putting this embarrassing situation behind them.”
Call it a grammatical hang-up, but I’m really baffled by the whole use of the third person plural, there, considering the fact that the woman who was beaten up outside a bar didn’t actually do anything “embarassing.”
I also have found that a great way to ensure that your personal privacy gets respected is to not beat your girlfriend up outside a bar. It seems pretty easy to surmise that the moment you start giving your girlfriend “a skull fracture under her right eye” in public is the precise moment the public starts taking a great interest in your personal life.
Ace: “So everyone in the ‘war on women’ press, the ‘Fourth Estate’ ‘afflicting the comfortable’ media thinks this is an appropriate sentence, huh?”
Our Dan Foster: “Call me old fashioned, but when you’ve compromised the integrity of a woman’s skull, I think you should be issued a jumpsuit and some soap on a rope.”
Not to brag, but I was loathing Jim Moran long before it was cool. Back in 2003, I wrote this piece for NRO (one of my first) about the extensive rap sheet the congressman had accumulated — and in some cases, it wasn’t figurative:
— In May 2001, Lloyd Grove, “Reliable Source” columnist for the Washington Post, reported that Moran’s house was the site of “a ruckus that a witness described as ‘something out of a Jerry Springer episode.’” According to Grove’s account, two female friends of Moran visited the recently divorced congressman and were surprised to find the other, and after screaming and door slamming, Moran had one of the women “by the arm, trying to get her out of the house.” Moran’s chief of staff, Paul Reagan, explained: “It was just two very good friends who came to give him birthday presents and were surprised that the other one was there.”
— In June 2000, Moran’s wife, Mary, called police to their home claiming the congressman pushed her. Moran told police he pushed her in self-defense when she came toward him, but Mrs. Moran disputed that. There was no evidence of assault, and charges weren’t filed. They divorced shortly after the incident.
— In April 2000, Moran said he was threatened by an eight-year-old boy who tried to take the congressman’s car keys by pretending he had a gun. In front of witnesses, Moran angrily carried the boy from a parking lot to a recreation center, where police interviewed both. No charges were filed against the boy or Moran.
— In 1998, amidst revelations about the president’s infidelities, Moran reportedly told the First Lady that if he were her brother, he would have punched President Clinton in the nose.
— In 1995, Moran had to apologize after shoving Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, California Republican, out of the House floor into a cloakroom.
Perhaps the rotting apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.