Top Headline Comments 04-17-09
— Gabriel Malor

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 04:08 AM | Add Comment
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Zo's arrogance rant
— Purple Avenger

This is a truly outstanding rant. Vid below the fold. more...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 09:13 PM | Add Comment
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Tea Parties: How The Other Side Sees It (tmi3rd)
— Open Blog

So on the back end of the Tea Parties, and watching my former distant colleague Susan Roesgen beclown herself so utterly, we can already see a few effects of our Tea Partying on the Left, and how they're responding to it.

We can, of course, refer to the Left's infantile references to the Parties as "teabagging"... Rachel Maddow's 13 minutes of it were noted over at Hot Air, Anderson Cooper used that as his active verb, and so forth.

I did, however, see something that caught my attention that really summed it up for me nicely... more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 07:55 PM | Add Comment
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Former LAT Columnist Who Bailed for Obama Administration Proposes Federal Funding to Save Dying Media
— Dave in Texas

There is no truth in Pravda, there is no news in Isvestia, and I'll bet you a paycheck there's nobody in the current administration who knows what that means*.

Influential Los Angeles Times columnist Rosa Brooks has hung up her journalistic hat and joined the Obama administration, but not before penning a public proposal calling for some radical ideas to help bail out the failing news industry.

Brooks, who has taken up a post as an adviser at the Pentagon, advocated upping "direct government support for public media" and creating licenses to govern news operations.

It's not that the current model isn't doing the job properly. They just can't make ends meet while serving the public interest.

* including me cause I dicked it up.

I'll just go back to banging rocks together now, to communicate.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 07:19 PM | Add Comment
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Overnight Open Thread: Snakes on a Blog! (genghis)
— Open Blog

Yeah yeahÂ…I know. But just because the movie kindaÂ’ bombed that doesnÂ’t mean weÂ’re free from the growing snake menace. HereÂ’s a couple from yesterday at ABC (The Australian ABC).

Kids everywhere are influenced by pop culture and peer pressure. So why should baby pythons be any different? (seems like they'd seen the movie as well):

”Qantas had to take a plane out of service when baby snakes went missing from a package being carried in the cargo hold earlier this week. Twelve baby pythons were in the cargo of a flight from Alice Springs to Melbourne on Tuesday, but on arrival only eight were left.”

“"Our people called in a reptile expert and there was a suggestion that some of the baby pythons had eaten the other pythons because apparently it is not uncommon for baby pythons to eat each other," he said. Qantas staff then weighed the remaining baby pythons to determine if they were heavier, but they were not. "The only conclusion we could draw was four of them had broken free of the packaging," Mr Epstein said.”

Python cannibalism? Interesting. Currently the serpents remain at large and are described as “slithery”

Time for a little inter-species payback, dontcha think? Well hereÂ’s a nice Man Bites Snake story for you:

”A Kenyan man bit a python that wrapped him in its coils and hauled him up a tree in a struggle that lasted hours, local media said on Wednesday.”

WaitÂ…it hauled him up a tree? However, the intended victim/meal fought back:

”When the snake coiled itself round his upper body, Mr Nyaumbe resorted to desperate measures: "I had to bite it." The python dragged him up a tree, but when it eased its grip, Mr Nyaumbe said he was able to take a mobile phone out of his pocket and phone for help. When his supervisor came with a policeman, Mr Nyaumbe smothered the snake's head with his shirt, while the rescuers tied it with a rope and pulled.”

They had the motherfuckinÂ’ snake captured and bagged at one point in time, but it apparently escaped and is currently on the lam. And what is it about pythons, since theyÂ’re involved in both stories? ItÂ’s like theyÂ’ve become the pit bulls of the snake world. (Preemptive STFU: yes, yes, pit bulls, like any other breed are only as good or bad as their owners and training and most of the time are quite lovable and non-aggressive pets. And as far as we know, the python in the second article was simply trying to display affection for his new friend by giving him a big hug. Pythons are friendly like that)

Artist's depiction of a deadly snake

Notice: Posted by permission of AceCorp LLC. Please e-mail overnight open thread tips to xgenghisx@gmail.com. Otherwise send tips to Ace.

Posted by: Open Blog at 06:56 PM | Add Comment
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Individuals, Group Sue DHS Over "Rightwing Extremist" Report
— Gabriel Malor

The Thomas Moore Law Center has sued the Department of Homeland Security because of the "Rightwing Extremists" intelligence assessment released last week. The suit is filed on behalf of a pro-life group, an Iraq war veteran, and Michael Savage. All three allege First and Fifth Amendment violations. According to their allegations, the report has a "chilling effect" on protected political speech and subjects them to unequal treatment because of their political beliefs or veteran status. They seek a declaratory judgment, an injunction, and attorney's fees. The fairly short complaint is here (PDF).

Professor Orin Kerr is already making fun of it, calling it a "frivolous" lawsuit. (Attorneys can be sanctioned for filing frivolous suits.) Kerr characterizes the suit:

As I read it, the lawsuit is claiming that the issuance of a government report criticizing certain groups violates the plaintiffs' constitutional rights. But the Constitution doesn't provide a constitutional right to have the government not say things that might be considered criticism. Perhaps the plaintiffs want the Constitution to be radically reinterpreted by activist judges to invent some brand-new constitutional rights?

I can only imagine that he hasn't actually read the report and fell for the lefty drivel trying to explain it away. A copy is linked from here. It doesn't merely criticize individuals or groups. It classifies individuals as susceptible to or aiding in the creation of violent criminals and that classification is based on political beliefs. In particular, the report identifies support for state and local government, the Second Amendment, border security, unborn children, and several other conservative issues as fostering violence. It makes generalized reference to "hate-groups" that, in context, refers to conservatives.

More than that--and this is the kicker--it does not merely focus on identifying, isolating, and preventing violence. That is something we can all agree is the proper job of government and there is, of course, no constitutional protection for committing violent crimes. Rather, the report specifically labels speech, conservative speech, as an activity of extremists. It then goes on to encourage law enforcement and other agencies to report "suspicious or criminal" activity to DHS or the FBI. A plausible explanation is that DHS is surveilling conservative groups and encouraging law enforcement to do the same.

So, no, I don't believe it is a frivolous lawsuit. Perhaps if, as Kerr apparently assumed, the report merely criticized "rightwing" groups and perhaps if it hadn't included a call to action.

This is not to say that it the lawsuit is without its problems. Though it is clearly not frivolous, it may not prevail on the merits. I'm not convinced that the plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged an injury caused by the report. Thus, as regularly seems to be the case around here, the first major hurdle for plaintiffs will be standing.

Bombshell Update: Stick this in your hole and smoke it! The DHS civil rights division (DHS has a civil rights division?) apparently raised concerns about the report. The department decided to issue it before those concerns were resolved. Hmm, the fevered conspiracy-mongering that this was released last week as a preemptive strike at the teaparties doesn't seem as unlikely now.

Discovery is gonna be a bitch.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:38 PM | Comments (10)
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"Torture" Memos Released
— Ace

If you're curious.

Expect a lot of panting about how awful all this is, and how wonderful it is to have a squeamish daffodil of a commander in chief.

Whoops: I got criticized for using the left's language -- torture -- and so I threw scare-quotes around it.

Posted by: Ace at 11:30 AM | Comments (1)
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Friendly Audience: Teabagging Network MSNBC Makes Deal With Napolitano; Only One Question Permitted on Extremist Report
— Ace

As if they needed a deal from Teabagging, Inc.: MSNBC had only planned to ask one question. And that hard-hitting, probing question was to be:

Republicans are making political hay over this report, but really, it's important we keep an eye on the rightwing crazies and it's just transparently partisan for them to suggest otherwise, isn't it?

The MSM loves asking questions like that of their beloved Democrats. Hint, MSM: If you ever ask a question where a politician responds, "Yes, exactly," you're not asking them a question, you're merely offering them the opportunity to endorse their own talking points.

But a deal's a deal. One question. One tough, fearless question.

Here's video of this horrid cow facing tough questioning -- on that fake news network, Fox.

Read the Story, Ace: It is about MSNBC, but the fault here falls on conservative tilting morning host Joe Scarborough.

The main point stands: They don't have to ask Chris Matthews or David "Choadmaster General" Shuster for such guarantees. They know the questioning will not only be friendly, but indeed helpful.

For Scarborough, DHS Secretary Brian Urlacher demands the one-question treatment.

Posted by: Ace at 11:10 AM | Add Comment
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Sarkozy: And I Said, Mr. President, Look Behind You; No One Is Following
— Ace

Somehow I believe Sarkozy more than Biden's fanciful accounting.

Obama, far from leading with his super diplomatic skills, had to be "shamed" into doing a damn thing during his National Lampoon's European Vacation.

"Unsubstantial," unoriginal, and wholly unimpressive, Sarkozy says.

Posted by: Ace at 10:41 AM | Add Comment
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Bammy Won't Prosecute CIA Officials Who Waterboarded Terrorist Murderers
— Ace

Thank Obama for small favors.

he Obama administration on Thursday informed CIA officials who used waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics on terror suspects that they will not be prosecuted, senior administration officials told The Associated Press.

Even before President Barack Obama took office in January, aides signaled his administration was not likely to bring criminal charges against CIA employees for their roles in the secret, coercive terrorist interrogation program. It had been deemed legal at the time through opinions issued by the Justice Department under the Bush administration.

But the statement being issued Thursday by Attorney General Eric Holder, the nation's chief law enforcement officer, is the first definitive assurance that those CIA officials are in the clear, as long as their actions were in line with the legal advice at the time.

JackStraw predicts a "nutroots explosion." He hasn't been paying attention. The nutroots will issue Important Action Alerts and Pretty Vicious Rants for precisely 24 hours, just to prove their principles are more important than Bammy, and they won't mean a word of them, and then we'll never hear about this again.

Posted by: Ace at 09:55 AM | Add Comment
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