He's Not Even a Congressman Yet and the Scandal Rumors Have Already Started!!!

A local WNC blog called West and Center posted this earlier this morning:

Here's a rumor I heard yesterday that got my interest going: An acquaintance who is plugged into the local media told me of chatter from the Asheville Citizen-Times editorial staff about a "big story" in the works about our new Congressman, Heath Shuler. According to this acquaintance, the AC-T is currently mulling over the possibility of going public with a story that would potentially be damaging to Shuler. This acquaintance did not press for more information, so it is anyone's guess what this is, how scandalous or damaging it might be or what its future implications are. Or even if it will ever be public.

Great Jumpin' Jeebus on a Pogo Stick! The man's not even due to be sworn in as our new Congressman for another week and there are already rumors of "potentially damaging information" swirling around!

If this information is truly "damaging", then why is it just now appearing on the rumor radar, nearly two months after the election? Was it because the campaign was already dirty enough? Was it because it would have been dismissed as an even bigger desperation shot than former Congressman Charles "Lumpy" Taylor dumping almost $3 million of his own money into his campaign? There's no telling...

But i'm going to go out on a limb and guess that it was one of two things:

• A youthful indiscretion (which, knowing what we know about Shuler, is probably even less scandalous than the time when a friend of mine in high school decided that he was going to start rebelling against his Mormon family and - Sacre Bleu! - started drinking coffee!)
• Some kind of financial irregularity that will most certainly pale in comparison to some of The Lump's greatest hits.

To which i say to both: B.F.D.

Part of me wants to think that this is merely a whisper campaign initiated by a Taylor loyalist with the hope of this dirt gaining momentum before the swearing-in ceremonies next week.

At this point, it's just a rumor. And I like a good rumor as much as the next guy (especially that really persistent one involving Stevie Nicks, an 8-ball and fireplace bellows). While I realize the healing power of rumors (I'm sure that some of the wingnut wackjobs who troll the Citizen-Times' message boards would sure appreciate someone throwing them a bone like this), that's all this is, and I'd be willing to bet that this is much ado about nothing.

Just in case though, while one of my eyes is busy rolling at the ridiculousness of it all, the other eye will be keeping a close eye on the AC-T's RSS feeds...