Wonkette

Alphonso Jackson, the soon-to-depart Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, built a long and distinguished career on failure. He presided over a massive meltdown in the mortgage and lending markets by doing precisely nothing, even though the HUD oversees the Federal Housing Administration, which is supposed to ensure that poor people and first-time home buyers don’t end up impoverished and homeless when their loans go south. ANYHOW The Dumbocrats have been calling for his resignation, and now he is resigning. Not because he is terrible at his job, though! Because he needs to spend more time with his family, which does not yet hate him. That will change. MORE »

* Chris Matthews to judge this year’s Miss America pageant with AC Slater and a bunch of honky tonk b-listers. [Broadcasting & Cable]
* William Rehnquist spent his days in an OxyContin haze, just like you. [Above The Law]
* “If she goes out, she goes down” to join such classics as “if she smokes, she pokes” and “if she says ‘fuck,’ she fucks.” [Feministing]
* HUD Secretary Alphonso “Double Stuff” Jackson, shows off his impressive boot-strap pulling workout regimen. [Dean's World]
* A portrait of Bill O’Reilly that Stephen Colbert gave Harvard found to be suspiciously sticky. [The Crimson]
* Nouri al-Maliki wants to take his ball and go home. [Political Animal]
* Curt Weldon to use ill-gotten gains to pay fine on ill-gotten golf trip. [Roll Call]

* It’s his first week on the job, and Tony Snow has already drunk the Kool-Aid. [Examiner] MORE »

Yesterday we introduced you to Dustee Tucker, the HUD spokeshottie who has been trying to spin Secretary Alphonso Jackson’s recent, ill-considered remarks about the awarding of government contracts. Shortly after this matter blew up, Dustee Tucker left the office on leave, as reported by Think Progress.

When a scandal erupts and someone goes (or gets placed) on leave, it often looks highly suspicious. For example, Brian Doyle — the DHS official accused of trying to seduce a minor using a computer — was initially placed on administrative leave, before resigning from his post.

But with Dustee, it appears that she’s just on vacation. Sometimes a “scheduled leave” is just a “scheduled leave.” An operative advises us:

Read your coverage on Dustee Tucker. I know three facts:

1. She was voted most beautiful in high school.

2. She’s single.

3. As we speak, she is on vacation in Malibu Hawaii [per the Dallas Morning News]. Poor girl, I hear it is her first in over a year.

By the way, she looks a hell of a lot more like the girl from Greys Anatomy than Tiffani Thiessen. It’s better in person!

For those of you who can’t get enough of Dustee, some additional info about her from a college classmate appears after the jump.

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HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson’s defense of his April 28 remarks, in which he implied that a government contractor was denied a job after voicing opposition to the Bush administration, has been a communications disaster. Some of you may be wondering: Who’s in charge of the Secretary’s p.r. effort?

Someone who is now on “scheduled leave,” that’s who. Think Progress has the full details here, a post cataloging HUD’s inconsistent explanations over the past few days.

Our favorite detail: the HUD spokeswoman in question is named “Dustee Tucker.” We haven’t encountered a name this sexy since Stormie Janzen. And Dustee, just like Stormie, is quite attractive. Check out the drooling comments to this post, or just take a look at this picture:

We don’t make these names up, people. Sometimes truth is stranger — and better — than fiction.

After the jump, more Dustee Tucker photos — including one in which she bears a striking resemblance to Tiffani Thiessen, of “Beverly Hills, 90210″ fame.

Update: ThinkProgress now reports that (1) Secretary Jackson “deeply regrets” his “anecdotal remarks”; and (2) HUD Inspector General Kenneth Donohue will be investigating Secretary Jackson’s conduct.

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On April 28, HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson made some unfortunate remarks before a group of minority businesspeople. The Dallas Business Journal reported on the talk last week, but the story didn’t attract much attention.

Then we blogged about it, yesterday. And now, Senator Frank Lautenberg, Representatives Henry Waxman and Barney Frank, and independent watchdog groups are calling for investigations into the matter — and even Secretary Jackson’s resignation.

Coincidence? We don’t think so.

On a lighter note, an amusing story about a 2004 visit by Secretary Jackson to the Kennedy Center appears after the jump.

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HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, speaking before a group of minority executives in Dallas, had this to say about his interaction with an applicant for a government contract who voiced opposition to the president:

“[This contractor] made a heck of a proposal and was on the (General Services Administration) list, so we selected him. He came to see me and thank me for selecting him. Then he said something … he said, ‘I have a problem with your president.’

“I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘I don’t like President Bush.’ I thought to myself, ‘Brother, you have a disconnect — the president is elected, I was selected. You wouldn’t be getting the contract unless I was sitting here. If you have a problem with the president, don’t tell the secretary.’

“He didn’t get the contract,” Jackson continued. “Why should I reward someone who doesn’t like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president? Logic says they don’t get the contract. That’s the way I believe.”

Wow. We had a hard time believing Secretary Jackson actually said these things (although his honesty is refreshing). After talking to a HUD source, we find it less difficult to fathom. The results of our investigation appear after the jump.

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