Text 8914, 116 rader
Skriven 2005-02-09 13:32:02 av Alan Hess
Ärende: more dirty politics
===========================
I don't think Bob Ehrlich is to blame for spreading the rumor, but the man who
spread the rumor is a friend and political aide of his who was seeking an
advantage for Ehrlich in the 2006 race, so the honorable thing to do would be
to apologize to the O'Malleys.  

Why are Republicans so interested in other people's marriages and affairs (real
or imagined?)  It's not as if all Republican marriages last 'til death do them
part with every husband and wife faithful until the end.

***********

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-omalley0209,1,3147104.stor
y?coll=bal-home-headlines
O'Malley decries rumors as 'despicable lies'
He calls infidelity accusations part of 'orchestrated' effort; His wife
describes effects on family; Ehrlich associate resigns after admitting to
targeting mayor


By Brian Witte
The Associated Press

February 9, 2005, 11:47 AM EST

Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley today denounced rumors of infidelity, as his
wife stood by his side and described how the rumors spread on the Internet by a
longtime aide to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. were having an effect on their
young children.

"These are despicable lies. These are falsehoods," O'Malley, a Democrat who is
thinking about running for governor in 2006, said in front of City Hall. "I
have always been faithful to my wife from our first date until this date. She
is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me."

O'Malley, considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, said he and his
wife, Catherine, have known about the rumors for about 18 months, thinking "it
was a falsehood that would blow through."

But the rumors persisted.

According to the rumors, O'Malley fathered a child with a television news
reporter and separated from his wife, who is a judge and the daughter of
Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran.

"It became pretty apparent that this was something sustained, something
orchestrated, something relentless and something that others were working very
hard to make sure it would not go away," O'Malley said.

Catherine O'Malley described the rumors as "one of the most difficult things
I've had to endure." She spoke of the effect the stories were having on their
four children, who are between the ages of 14 and 2.

She described how 7-year-old William brought home a report card last week and
needed it signed. She said she signed it, but William insisted his father sign
it, too.

Catherine O'Malley, who has been married to the mayor for 14 years, recalled
William saying: "'If daddy doesn't sign it, then they're going to think that
we're in a divorce,' and I just looked at him and my heart broke," she said.

Both the mayor and his wife thanked the media for not publishing or
broadcasting the rumors earlier.

"Katie and I are glad to be done with this," he said, "and we're going to go
back to the peoples' business."

O'Malley aides said after the news conference that the mayor and his wife would
like an apology from Ehrlich, who has said he didn't have anything to do with
spreading the rumors.

Ehrlich, a Republican, asked for and received the resignation of Joseph
Steffen, who confirmed Tuesday that he had discussed the rumor on the
conservative Web site FreeRepublic.com and in private e-mails, which were given
to The Washington Post.

Steffen, a spokesman for the Maryland Insurance Administration and who has held
a series of jobs in Ehrlich's administration, told The Sun: "The governor had
no idea. I don't even think he knows where the Web site is. If anyone is
guilty, it is me. There was no outside influence."

Steffen discussed the rumors on FreeRepublic.com last summer. He posted them
under the name NCPAC, a reference to one of his early employers, the National
Conservative Political Action Committee.

O'Malley first accused the Ehrlich administration of spreading the rumors
Tuesday after a news conference in Washington, where he likened the cuts in
President Bush's budget proposal for urban areas to the Sept. 11 attacks,
drawing fire from his fellow Democrats as well as Republicans.

O'Malley was among a group of mayors and other local officials who held the
news conference to criticize the president's proposal to cut spending for
community development programs by $2 billion.

"Back on September 11, terrorists attacked our metropolitan cores, two of
America's great cities. They did that because they knew that was where they
could do the most damage and weaken us the most," O'Malley said. "Years later,
we are given a budget proposal by our commander in chief, the president of the
United States. And with a budget ax, he is attacking America's cities. He is
attacking our metropolitan core."

O'Malley told The Washington Post he didn't intend to equate the proposed
budget cuts to a terrorist attack.

"The point I am trying to make is, for America to be strong, we have to
strengthen our cities. Because we're in the middle of a war, we need to be
strengthening and protecting our cities, not weakening our cities," he said.

O'Malley has been tapped by party leaders on several occasions to speak out on
behalf of cities. He was a keynote speaker at the Democratic convention in
Boston last year and was an early and open critic of the Bush administration's
assistance to cities for homeland security.

Copyright + 2005, The Associated Press

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