Not content to let Deranger Rick and Penn State steal the spotlight, Herman Cain! roars back today with a new website devoted to smearing his accusers getting out the truth about the Vast Perry/Romney/Obama/Media/Reality Conspiracy that will not rest until he’s taken down.

His lead post relates an Atlanta TV story that proves beyound doubt his innocence:

Private investigator TJ Ward said presidential hopeful Herman Cain[!] was not lying at a news conference on Tuesday in Phoenix.

Cain[!] denied making any sexual actions towards Sharon Bialek and vowed to take a polygraph test if necessary to prove his innocence.

Cain[!] has not taken a polygraph but Ward said he does have software that does something better.

Ward said the $15,000 software can detect lies in people’s voices.

Okay. First, we’d love to see how his Truth Software handles Apple’s Siri. But let’s see how Herman Cain! fares:

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzMYNONhfs4

When we saw this clip on Rachel last night, it was amusingly presented as a “video briefing” that the CIA presented to Saint Ronnie, who supposedly preferred this kind of thing to his one-page memos.

But when we go to the NBC background story, the spin is quite different:

CIA Historian Nick Dujmovic suggests the president’s reported reliance on videos were part of the myth of the “insubstantial president,” suggesting that there were only a small number of videos produced (each of which took a month to put together). Dujmovic adds that the idea did not come from Reagan or the White House but from the CIA, which in the summer of 1981 suggested some videos already in production might be “helpful for Reagan.”

Well, darn. Still, this video — which Reagan did watch in 1982 — is amusing in itself, if only for the fabulous Fifties retro presentation. And the reason we can present it here is even more amusing: It’s from the CIA’s YouTube channel.

Another Texas governor wantin’ to be Preznit:

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You would think that whatever the formal topic of tonight’s GOP debate, the real topic will be Herman Cain!’s special way with the laydeez. But we’re being told by Professional Chatterers that the expected gangbang may not happen — everybody but Mittens wants the Hermanator’s supporters, so they’ll go light on his indiscretions.

Let’s hope the experts are wrong, because we have four beers teed up for tonight’s Open Thread/Subtextathon, and it would be a shame if we only get through three of them.

I really hate to be the bearer of bad, shitty, terrible, apocalyptic news, but in case you haven’t heard yet, the European single currency seems to be on the verge of collapse (for reals this time). The New York Times today reports that interest on Italian government bonds has broken the 7% barrier, making it ever more costly for the Italian government to finance its debt. It’s sign that investors are growing ever more skeptical that Italy is immune from the possibility of default.

As painful as a Greek default would be, the world economy faces a much graver threat if investors abandon Italian debt and the cost of borrowing for the Italian government becomes prohibitive. Italy is the world’s fourth largest borrower after the United States, Japan and Germany. Indeed, it owes more than the other troubled countries on the periphery of Europe — Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain — put together.

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Dorothy Rabinowitz on Newt Gingrich: “His greatest asset lies in his capacity to speak to Americans as he has done, with such potency, during the Republican debates. No candidate in the field comes close to his talent for connection. There’s no underestimating the importance of such a power in the presidential election ahead, or any other one… Mr. Gingrich’s qualifications all ’round could well make him the most formidable contender for the contest with Barack Obama.” [WSJ]

So, is there a Vast Liberal Media Conspiracy to keep Herman Cain! from the White House? His smokin’ campaign manager has proof!

Herman Cain campaign manager Mark Block, in an appearance with Sean Hannity on Fox News just now, insisted that a relative of the second woman to publicly accuse the candidate of sexual harassment in the 1990s works at POLITICO.

“Her son works at POLITICO,” Block said of Karen Kraushaar, whose name POLITICO printed earlier today after other media outlets made her identity public.

As it happens, Josh Kraushaar was indeed a Politico reporter last year.

But by a nutty coincidence, Josh Kraushaar and Karen Kraushaar are — wait for it — unrelated.

Cain aide wrongly insists they’ve ‘confirmed’ accuser’s son works for POLITICO [Politico]