Coinkadink: one Cain accuser lives in David Axelrod's building; another serves in the Obama administration

Let me guess: Axelrod is "just a guy in the neighborhood", since Cain accuser Sharon Bialistock lives in David Axelrod's building.

Martha MacCallum, FOX News: "One of the things is that you lived at a 505 North Lake Shore Drive apartment, right?

This is the same building, it happens to be the same building David Axelrod lives in.

Do you know David Axelrod?

Ever have any interaction with him at all?

Sharon Bialek, Cain accuser: "I saw him in the gym.

I mean -- everybody nods to each other.

It is friendly building but I never had any interaction with him."

It turns out that Bialek has an extremely troubling background:

Ms. Bialek has had a long and troubled history, from the courts to personal finances – which may help explain why she has come forward 14 years after an alleged incident with Mr. Cain, powered by celebrity attorney and long term Democrat donor Gloria Allred.

In the courts, Ms. Bialek has had a lengthy record in the Cook County Court system [with] over [half a dozen separate] civil lawsuits... [and she] was also sued in 1999 over a paternity matter according to ABC 7 Chicago (WLS-TV)... In personal finances, PACER (Federal Court) records show that Ms. Bialek has filed for bankruptcy [twice] in 1991 and 2001...

...Curiously, if Ms. Bialek had intended to take legal action, the statute of limitations would have passed a decade ago... Which brings up the question of why she would make such reprehensible statements now?

The questions should be – who is financing her legal team, have any media agreed to pay for her story, and has she been offered employment for taking these actions?

Gee, let me guess: their name starts with an "A" and ends with "Xelrod".

Oh, what's this? You say Bialek has a history of filing false claims of sexual harassment?

"She was fired from her job, and her boyfriend suggested she contact Cain in hopes he could help her find employment... In this particular incident she was fired for falsely accusing her boss of sexual harassment, a charge denied by co-workers, as well as being pretty much a pain in the ass to work with.

"I remember her as a time-waster, and rabble-rouser. If she didn’t get her way she cried about sexual harassment”. A former co-worker, a female no less, emailed me. “She was trouble with a capital “T”. The fact that she waited 13 years and never said a word not even during Cain’s earlier forays into politics. She only now magically appears because Cain is leading in some polls and proving a threat to Barack Obama?

But, wait: that's not all. The only other accuser who has become public is an official in... wait for it... the Obama administration

...The Daily has revealed the identity of one of the women who, according to Politico, accused presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual harassment during his tenure as CEO of the National Restaurant Association... The Daily reports that Karen Kraushaar, a communications director at the Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General, was a National Resturant Association spokesperson when, she alleges, Cain’s inappropriate behavior took place.

Fascinating. But I'm sure the fact that all of these allegations were made by those with connections to Obama's political machine are purely coincidental.

Yoo hoo, Politico: NRA Chairman during Herman Cain's tenure says the anonymous allegations are, and I quote, "a hatchet job"

Politico smear merchants Jonathan Martin and Kenneth Vogel hardest hit:

...former National Restaurant Association board chairman Joseph Fassler offered a firm defense of GOP presidential front-runner Herman Cain, along with an explanation for how Washington’s best-kept secret — the identities of Cain’s sexual-harassment accusers — was also kept from the association’s board.

“The accusations? It’s a hatchet job, in my opinion,” Fassler told TheDC from his Phoenix, Ariz. office. “My gut tells me it’s a hatchet job. He gets a lead, he gets some traction, and the next thing you know, here come these allegations. It’s sad.”

Fassler said his four years in leadership positions on the association’s board — including one year as chairman and another as past chairman — overlapped with two and one-half years of Cain’s time as CEO. Fassler was first elected to the board in 1984, and was chairman in 1997.

While he said he had no reason to doubt the accuracy of reports that the restaurant trade group made five-figure payments to employees then embroiled in what is now a campaign scandal, Fassler said he was never informed about those payments while on the board.

Politico reported late Thursday that one of Cain’s accusers, then a 30-year-old female government-affairs staffer, reported an allegation of sexual harassment to an NRA board member within hours of what she said was an improper sexual overture.

Fassler’s account, however, either questions the accuracy of this account or suggests a communications failure among board members... He [said] he “never heard anything about Herman that would suggest he had those sort of allegations lodged against him. He was a professional. Thoroughly professional.”

Severance agreements, he said, were — and remain — “common” in human resource management. “You offer people severance agreements, unless they are for cause, all the time,” he said.

...Asked why no complaint about Herman Cain ever reached the board, Fassler put the episode in perspective, essentially seeing the amount of money involved as small-potatoes... Fassler drew a clear distinction between legal settlements for significant amounts of money and routine severance packages that would normally be handled far beneath the board’s level of responsibility.

...Fassler’s memories of Cain, he said, were all positive. He called the GOP front-runner a smart businessman, and said that even 15 years ago, the Georgia pizza mogul had a grasp of government policy and routine that was stronger than most of his peers... “Herman, during those days, did a very good job of getting our message heard on the Hill,” Fassler said.

On Friday, the National Restaurant Association itself described the salient details of the complaint:

“We have seen the statement Joel Bennett released earlier today on behalf of his client, a former employee of the Association. The Association consented to the release of that statement, at the request of Mr. Bennett’s client.

“Based upon the information currently available, we can confirm that more than a decade ago, in July 1999, Mr. Bennett’s client filed a formal internal complaint, in accordance with the Association’s existing policies prohibiting discrimination and harassment. Mr. Herman Cain disputed the allegations in the complaint...

...The Association and Mr. Bennett’s client subsequently entered into an agreement to resolve the matter, without any admission of liability. Mr. Cain was not a party to that agreement. The agreement contains mutual confidentiality obligations. Notwithstanding the Association’s ongoing policy of maintaining the privacy of all personnel matters, we have advised Mr. Bennett that we are willing to waive the confidentiality of this matter and permit Mr. Bennett’s client to comment. As indicated in Mr. Bennett’s statement, his client prefers not to be further involved with this matter and we will respect her decision.

So Cain has no idea what the agreement says and, further, the complainant is free to state what happened.

What do we get? Bupkis.

In related news, anonymous sources have revealed exclusively to me that Politico's pro journalists Jonathan Martin and Kenneth Vogel enjoy wearing women's underwear.


Related: Politico's Top Secret Scandal Selector Software

Good sign for Bachmann, Cain and Perry: Obama campaign preparing to run against Romney

Given the Obama administration's track record of failures (here's the short list: "Stimulus" programs, HAMP, HEMP, Cash-for-Clunkers, Obamacare, "Financial Reform", permanent 9% unemployment and 20% underemployment, the unlawful takeovers of GM and Chrysler, "Quantitative Easing", a new war, and $5.2 trillion in new Obama debt), I'd count this as excellent news for Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Ricks Perry and Santorum

Eight candidates took part in Tuesday's Republican presidential debate, but President Barack Obama's campaign focused its attention almost exclusively on one: Mitt Romney.

A day after Representative Michele Bachmann, businessman Herman Cain, and Texas Governor Rick Perry debated the economy with the former Massachusetts governor in New Hampshire, the Obama campaign held a conference call with reporters to zoom in on Romney alone.

The call was a sign the Obama campaign is preparing for the man most likely to take on the president in 2012, even if they cannot say that explicitly.

Shhh... no one tell the Axis of Fail that Herman Cain is currently leading Mitt Romney in the polls, having jumped 22 points in the last six weeks.

Bumper Sticker o' the Day: Biblical Proportions

Papa B relays this suggestion from Dennis Miller:

You can support Herman Cain here.