Weasels on both coasts

I wanted to hand out just one set of weasel ears this week, but we'll settle for 2, or, actually, more, depending on one case.

The first Weasel, you can imagine, is Mariah Yeater, 20, the California woman who has accused singer Justin Bieber, 17, of fathering her 3 month old child. TMZ.com reported on Friday, and the story was picked up today by the New York Daily News, that Bieber wasn't Ms. Yeater's first choice. According to TMZ.com, Little Ms. Baby Mama first claimed it was her ex-beau, John Terranova, of Las Vegas, whom she confronted 11 months ago. That escapade led to her being arrested when she pulled a Britney Spears, if you will, going postal on a car window. Terranova, like Bieber, denied being the father. Nearly a year later, Ms. Yeater turned her attention to Bieber because, she claims, he's the only other one who could've done the deed. Riiiiiiiiiiight. Sure, and chickens have lips.

Seems to me that Ms. Yeater is doing this for the money, after all. She can't remember who the father really is, can't be bothered to locate the dude, and figures, well, I can make a big payday going after someone famous. She claims now that her brief encounter with Bieber in a Staples Center restroom lasted less than a minute and that Bieber felt embarassed and blew her off. Somehow, I kind of doubt that ever actually happened now. She apparently can't find a job, either, to support her newborn, isn't going to school, so she's looking at a quick payday that'll set her for life. Nuh-uh. We're looking at seeing a mug shot of her real soon. They say that she could be busted for having sex with a minor, since Bieber was 16 at the time of the alleged incident, but it's more likely now that a slander/libel suit and/or charges of filing a false report or fraud will be headed her way, along with the weasel ears.

Closer to home, the race for Mayor of Troy is coming down to the final days, and the Republican Party is getting desperate. They succeeded in getting independent candidate Jack Cox, Jr. knocked off the ballot on a legal technicality, and Cox, after initially opting for a write-in campaign, changed his mind earlier this week, and formally dropped out, throwing his support behind Rensselaer County Legislator Lou Rosamilia, who has a slim lead in the Gramercy poll sponsored by The Record.

An attack ad paid for by "friends of Carmella Mantello", on behalf of the Republican candidate, has begun airing, and, while I have not seen the ad in its entirety, what I do know is that the GOP strategy now consists of distorting facts to try to manipulate voters and swing votes their way. Business as usual, I know, but I have to believe that after Cox was bounced from the ballot, there had to be more than a few disenfranchised voters that might've taken offense at the GOP's tactics. Eliminating Cox may actually end up being a tactical error on the GOP's part, and the attack ad might just be the final nail in the coffin. For the GOP, that is. As I said before, the Mayor's office tends to alternate between the two major parties every few years, and now it's the Democrats' turn, it would appear. We'll know for sure come Tuesday.

What is sure is that the anonymous political strategist responsible for the ad has also earned the weasel ears. Just when you think we can go through a full political campaign without any mud being tossed around, there's always going to be someone lurking in the shadows. Since the Rosamilia campaign hasn't taken any cheap shots, why should the GOP? As I asked before, what are they afraid of?