"A black sheriff?!": The Official Topic of Obama and New Era American Politics

[Mandark]

GOP needs less Gingrich, less Huckabee, more Fiorello La Guardia.

[Brehvolution]

and more Megan McCains.

[Dickie Dee]

he's batshit on social issues but doesn't tow the GOP line on many other issues... The party needs more Hucks, less Gingrichs

Wayne DuMond

[siamesedreamer]

who has the balls to watch this?

This Revolution: When I first learned that Rosario Dawson was starring in a Medium Cool homage/remake I remember thinking, “Wow. That sounds interesting. And terrible.” Sweet sassy mollassy, was I ever right. The film gained a modicum of notoriety when Dawson was arrested at the 2004 Republican Convention alongside other protestors. Then This Revolution sunk like a stone, deservedly so.

I have profoundly mixed feelings about Medium Cool. It contains perhaps some of the most powerful sequences in the history of American film (the ‘68 convention stuff is riveting) and pointed the way towards a new strain of timely, politically engaged docu-drama that blended documentary and narrative in new and challenging ways. Yet writer-director Haskell Wexler’s cult classic was less the opening shot of a cinematic revolution than a dead end. Few filmmakers had the balls to follow in Wexler’s rebellious footsteps, to put themselves on the front lines of violent social unrest to record history as it happens.

Medium Cool is half timeless super-genius, half-macho bullshit. As much as I love kindly, paternal, old-guy Robert Forster he was a bit of a lightweight in his youth and I found the film’s ‘tude and cock-of-the-walk swagger a little oppressive. If Medium Cool is half-genius, half-bullshit then This Revolution is 99 percent bullshit, one-percent genius.

The film stars the deeply unpromising Nathan Crooker (playing a character named Jake Cassavettes in a clumsy homage to Wexler’s plan to have Medium Cool star John Cassavettes as himself) as a ballsy reporter who just got back from being embedded in Iraq where he saw shit that you would never believe, man.

He also returns to girlfriend/boss Amy Redford, a suit who’s all, “Let’s hand over footage of activists to the Homeland Security Department so they can take away our rights and usher us into a nightmare Orwellian hellscape in which the corporate media colludes with a Fascist totalitarian government of the Wall Street Pigs, for the Wall Street Pigs and By The Wall Street Pigs”. That is her idea of pillow talk. It’s not surprising that Crooker finds himself falling for a single mother/Iraq War widow (Rosario Dawson) who’s all sensitive and soulful and ethnic and attractive despite her hideous blonde cornrows.

Political rapper Immortal Technique does a terrible job playing political rapper Immortal Technique in scenes where he dresses down Crooker for never covering how, you know, shit is real in the hood, G. Crooker’s disillusionment with the government and the AmeriKKKan corporate media grows even more acute when he falls in with a group of masked radicals and learns of his employer’s plans to hand over his tapes to the government to help it keep tabs on dissidents.

The pigs wanna shut Crooker down but he subverts the dominant paradigm by hacking into his cable news channel’s system and airing a terrible avant-garde provocation exposing the media’s lies. Factor in wooden dialogue, clumsy, strident non-stop speechifying, porn-level acting, hokey plot twists, and footage that looks like it was shot on grandma’s video camera and you have a hysterical manifesto that almost made me ashamed to be a progressive. Writer-director Stephen Marshall, co-founder of the Guerilla News Network, set out to make a Medium Cool for our era. Instead he made the cinematic equivalent of a “No Blood For Oil” bumper sticker.

Just How Bad Is It? Awful. Just god-fucking-awful

http://www.avclub.com/articles/winona-ryder-gets-her-mpdg-on-rosario-dawson-remak,27827/?utm_source=homepage_recent_features

Rosario Dawson is fucking hot.

[Human Snorenado]

The Luv Guv, Elliot Spitzer is on Rachel right now spittin' knowledge.  It's a shame America is so hung up on where our politicians put their schlongs, cause he'd be real useful as oh I dunno TREASURY SECRETARY right about now.

[The Fake Shemp]

'Babyface' look can help black CEOs, study says
However, white executives are hindered by similar characteristics

PHILADELPHIA - Black Fortune 500 CEOs with a "babyface" appearance are more likely to lead companies with higher revenues and prestige than black CEOs who look more mature, an upcoming study says.

In contrast with research showing that white executives are hindered by babyface characteristics, a disarming appearance can help black CEOs by counteracting the stigma that black men are threatening, according to the study from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

The study is scheduled to be published in the journal Psychological Science in September.

[The Fake Shemp]

So I guess this whole Notre Dame visit is causing a bit of a circus, and I feel bad for the students.  Here are two viewpoints:

In South Bend, former Operation Rescue leader Terry has set up shop, scheduling rounds of protests. Followers stand at the university gates, holding up signs with photos of aborted fetuses. Last week, Republican gadfly Keyes was among 22 protesters arrested on trespassing charges.

"We want this to be a political mud pit for Obama," Terry said. "Our mission is to tar him with the blood of the babies so he can never shake it between now and 2012."

...

"I think it's good that he's coming and increasing dialogue, because that's what a university is all about," said Rumer, a junior. Many seniors, she added, "don't want their graduation to be ruined."

 

[Dickie Dee]

GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY

[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

GAAAAAAAAAAAAY

[close]

[Phoenix Dark]

i always wanted to marry a turtle

[Eric P]

WOULD YOU PUT REIGNS ON A RACE HORSE?  WHY MUST OUR TITANS OF INDUSTRY BE REIGNED IN?

Obama Administration Plans New Regulations for Derivatives

By David Cho and Zachary A. Goldfarb
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 2:51 PM

The Obama administration will detail this afternoon its plan to regulate the exotic financial contracts that helped fuel the global crisis and crippled some of the biggest names on Wall Street, such as American International Group, sources familiar with the matter said.

The proposal, which will require congressional action, imposes a number of restrictions on the so-called dark markets that trade a broad range of these instruments, known as derivatives, without government oversight.

An announcement is scheduled for 4 p.m. The heads of the Treasury Department, Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission are likely to jointly unveil the proposal.

The administration is seeking to amend securities law so that most derivatives would have to be traded through central clearinghouses regulated by the SEC and the CFTC.

In turn, the clearinghouses would require traders to maintain enough money in reserve so they could cover losses in any investments gone bad. These so-called margin requirements have been a hotly debated issue between the government and private traders because it curbs their profits.

The two government agencies would also impose record-keeping and reporting requirements for the traders, ensuring a paper trail for their activities.

In addition, the government is seeking to increase the powers of the market regulators to clamp down on fraud. The government would also have greater authority to prevent anyone from cornering a market, especially in commodity trading where a few investors can have an outsized effect on the price of a critical good such as natural gas or cotton.

Some derivative contracts would still be traded outside of the clearinghouses under the administration's plan. But such trades much be reported to the clearinghouses so that all investors could get a full view of the market activity.

Lack of information about derivatives raised grave concerns last fall as the crisis threatened to topple the financial system. Because regulators did not know precisely how many firms and investors were trading derivatives, officials struggled to understand how the crisis was spreading.

In the late 1990s, some government officials proposed regulating this market. But top economic officials inside the Clinton Administration were concerned about undermining financial innovations and rejected the suggestion.

The market for derivatives has since ballooned in the tens of trillions of dollars, outpacing the growth of the traditional stock and bond markets.

Suspicious have grown about whether traders have been able to use derivatives to manipulate the market. While the SEC has oversight over most kinds of securities and the CFTC has oversight over most kinds of commodities, many derivatives have escaped regulatory scrutiny.

Several companies have already received approval from regulators to set up clearinghouses. The derivatives industry, aware of looming regulation, has been pushing derivatives firms to move their contracts onto clearinghouse platforms.

Some analysts recently have been warn of loopholes in the administration's plan, which officials have hinted at in recent months. The proposal would allow a limited number of highly specialized derivatives to trade without going through a clearinghouse. Some analysts warn that this exception might lead derivatives traders to create increasingly complex derivatives to avoid regulation.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/13/AR2009051302393_pf.html

[Human Snorenado]

That's kind of like closing the barn door after you earlier happily opened it, encouraged the cows to leave, gave them liquor and flamethrowers and pointed them towards town... but I guess late is better than never.  Now if we could only publicly kill Larry Summers.

[Eel O'Brian]

if they tax my fucking soda, one of the relatively cheap little joys i have left in this world which isn't already taxed to the point of ridiculousness, i will go full-blown anarchist and start actively participating in the destruction of government

tax my cigarettes, fine, whatever, you're lying about where the money goes and it's a sneaky tax on the poor but whatever

tax my liquor, fine, same deal as the cigarette tax but whatever

you tax my fucking diet sun drop and you become my mortal enemy, black jesus

[Flannel Boy]

if they tax my fucking soda, one of the relatively cheap little joys i have left in this world which isn't already taxed to the point of ridiculousness, i will go full-blown anarchist

Admit it: this is just a ruse to get close to my Flannel Girl.

[Eel O'Brian]

does she have a stock of black market soda

[Oblivion]

if they tax my fucking soda, one of the relatively cheap little joys i have left in this world which isn't already taxed to the point of ridiculousness, i will go full-blown anarchist and start actively participating in the destruction of government

Now you're starting to act like a REAL Amurrican patriot, Eel. Just like all the others on the reasonable right.   

[Eel O'Brian]

i don't give a fuck about being a patriot, and i don't give a fuck about the right or the left, they can kill each other and eat the corpses as far as i am concerned

just leave my goddamned diet soda the fuck alone

you want to see smug progressive hipster douche heads spin and a bunch of spluttering bububububu, let them drop a coffee tax

[Oblivion]

For the record I was just messing around. 

[Eel O'Brian]

i know, just stating my politics* for the record







*the "Keep Your Fucking Hands Off My Few Joys In Life" Party

[Flannel Boy]

* Malek is all in favor of a soda tax

[Eel O'Brian]

i will steal your flannel girl and use her to destroy you

[Flannel Boy]

You'd have to steal her from her boyfriend first. 

I'd actually rather the government end sugar subsidies and directly tax high-fructose corn syrup. But I have no problem with a soda-tax.

Governments use tax policies to modify peoples' conduct all the time, to either encourage behavior--like going to school, having children, saving for retirement--or discourage behavior—like drinking or smoking. There's no reason why soda should escape such policies.

And the fact is that soda, and other sugary products, have negative externalities. Is it not fair that the cost of those negative externalities should be shouldered by soda drinkers, and not society in general?

[Eel O'Brian]

because they only have negative externalities when they are abused, and are harmless (even beneficial) in moderation

i will actively fight against such bullshit microtaxation

i don't need the fucking government to be my babysitter, especially since they tend to mismanage or outright abuse any iota of extra power granted them by the public they allegedly serve

and don't fool yourself into thinking it's because they want to modify your behavior for your own benefit - it's simply because they want the money

like the tobacco tax, i'd be willing to bet less than 10% of any soda or sugar tax revenue would actually reach any program it would be earmarked towards

spoiler (click to show/hide)

i propose a 100000% tax increase on products bearing the likenesses of the beatles, due to the negative externalities of being exposed to the beatles

[close]

[Flannel Boy]

because they only have negative externalities when they are abused, and are harmless (even beneficial) in moderation

Heavy consumption is a reality, and thus the negative externalities--increased rates of obesity and diabetes--are also realities.  A targeted tax on only those who abuse the products is not possible. Occasional consumers of the products might be unfairly hit, but isn't it unfair for society as a whole to pick up the tab for these costs. It's similar to how casual drinkers have to pay higher taxes for booze, even if their consumption is actually healthy.

i don't need the fucking government to be my babysitter, especially since they tend to mismanage or outright abuse any iota of extra power granted them by the public they allegedly serve

People do react to incentives and disincentives, even if you don't.
The government is not getting an extra power; they already have the power to create new excise taxes.

and don't fool yourself into thinking it's because they want to modify your behavior for your own benefit - it's simply because they want the money

like the tobacco tax, i'd be willing to bet less than 10% of any soda or sugar tax revenue would actually reach any program it would be earmarked towards

Considering future medical costs in America, the government has plenty of reason to use the revenues for health care.

[siamesedreamer]

The Obama administration is weighing plans to detain some terror suspects on U.S. soil -- indefinitely and without trial -- as part of a plan to retool military commission trials that were conducted for prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124223286506515765.html

[Crushed]

THE LAST
EIGHT YEARS
DID NOT HAPPEN

[Cheebs]

The Obama administration is weighing plans to detain some terror suspects on U.S. soil -- indefinitely and without trial -- as part of a plan to retool military commission trials that were conducted for prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124223286506515765.html

When you voted for Bush I think that negates you from criticizing these type of things.

[Eric P]

just join us in bashing pelosi's backpeddling, sd

[Phoenix Dark]

The Obama administration is weighing plans to detain some terror suspects on U.S. soil -- indefinitely and without trial -- as part of a plan to retool military commission trials that were conducted for prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124223286506515765.html

When you voted for Bush I think that negates you from criticizing these type of things.

what?

[siamesedreamer]

The Obama administration is weighing plans to detain some terror suspects on U.S. soil -- indefinitely and without trial -- as part of a plan to retool military commission trials that were conducted for prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124223286506515765.html

When you voted for Bush I think that negates you from criticizing these type of things.

Who's criticizing? I just want to see you spin it. That's all. Do I need to bust out the hopenchange bus?

[Cheebs]

I am not spinning anything. I am on Obama's side about not releasing the photos though. I was always iffy about that. All it would do is cause more problems in the middle east. His call on that was right.

[Human Snorenado]

So let me get this straight- you just want to criticize Obama without offering any alternatives on tough issues?

Tell me sd, have you ever considered running for congress as a republican?  Cause you meet the only qualification.

[siamesedreamer]

Again, I'm not criticizing. Merely lolzing at the hopenchangers who are now probably on suicide watch.

If anything he's giving more credibility to the Bush way of doing certain things.

[Mandark]

Is Obama validating Bush's policies by continuing them (betraying his supporters in the process), or is he putting the nation at grave risk through his reckless and precipitous departures from Bush's policies?

I'm so confused.

[Van Cruncheon]

just chiming in to add my support for the beatles tax

and fuck obama: i want those pictures for my "best of the usa" beat-off collection

[Eric P]

impressive.

The great shaming of Parliament

May 14th 2009
From The Economist print edition
It has taken an almighty crisis for MPs to start cleaning up their act

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13649500

POLITICIANS who were dreading the day when their exploitation of Parliament’s lax expenses regime would be exposed may have consoled themselves that at least it would all be over in one go. Hundreds of thousands of mortifying pages detailing their claims since 2004 were scheduled for official publication this summer, despite the tenacious resistance of parliamentary authorities in the courts.

In the end, though, the revelations came in agonising stages. The Daily Telegraph obtained the leaked data and, on May 8th, began to publish it. The first to be exposed were ministers. Another batch of Labour politicians followed before the spotlight shone on front- and backbenchers of the Conservative Party. By the time the Liberal Democrats’ turn came round on May 13th, Parliament was on its knees.

The purchases dubiously claimed by MPs ranged from dog food and toilet brushes to thousands of pounds’ worth of home improvements. Much of the nest-feathering took place under the so-called second-homes allowance, worth up to £24,000 ($36,000) a year to MPs who require accommodation in both London and their constituencies. Some “flipped” the designation of their first and second homes in order to be reimbursed for work done on both. A few profited by sprucing up a second home on expenses before reclassifying it as their main residence to avoid capital-gains tax when they sold it.

The reaction of politicians to the great exposure has only slowly and fitfully begun to match public outrage. Gordon Brown apologised for the entire political class on May 11th. David Cameron, the Tory leader, and the Lib Dems’ Nick Clegg followed suit, declaring that colleagues would pay back unjustified claims. Andrew MacKay, Mr Cameron’s parliamentary aide, has resigned over claims his party deemed “unacceptable”; some MPs are returning money; pressure on Michael Martin, accused of an indulgent line on expenses as speaker of the House of Commons, is growing; and reform of the system is now inevitable. An inquiry by the independent Committee on Standards in Public Life, launched after previous scandals, is due to report this year.

But all this came after days of mealy-mouthed denial and obfuscation. Some MPs blamed the media (the Telegraph is said to have paid for what could be regarded as stolen information). Others insisted the controversial claims were technically within the rules, as if those rules were not made by Parliament itself, and as if their spirit did not matter as much as their letter.

Voters, forced by recession to live more leanly, are irate. A Populus poll conducted as the Labour and Tory revelations were being published showed the two parties down by four percentage points each, while the Lib Dems, yet to be exposed, were up by four. And 86% of respondents thought all the parties equally bad on expenses. Britain’s anti-politics mood did not need the boost that the expenses scandal has given it. In April a YouGov poll showed that a third of voters trusted no politician to tell the truth (Mr Brown and Mr Cameron were trusted by only 12% and 21%, respectively, of respondents).

Yet the perverse result of all parties being tainted may be that no party really is. The incumbents are culpable for letting a bad system fester for so long, and Mr Cameron produced a better and bolder response than Mr Brown. But the spectacle of wealthy grandees having their country homes renovated at taxpayers’ expense has done the Tory brand no favours. And the Lib Dems cannot afford to lose their unique selling point as Westminster’s nice guys. Labour, one of whose MPs is responsible for what is perhaps the gravest offence (Elliot Morley claimed £16,000 for a mortgage he had already paid and was suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party on May 14th), looks the worst, by a bit. But just as the sleaze that racked the last Tory government only amplified the defeat they were already due to suffer in 1997, so this scandal only reinforces the likely outcome of the next election: a loss for Labour, and grudging approval for the Tories.

Amid the din of recrimination, some MPs’ plaintive wails deserve to be heard. British politicians are neither corrupt nor lavishly remunerated by international standards. The revelations were less shocking than many observers expected. Some MPs have shown Cromwellian rectitude; the cynic’s mantra that they are all bad is nonsense. And while much of Britain’s anti-political mood is a justified response to a scandal for which MPs must do penance, some reflects a basic nihilism they can do little about. A popular television satire, “The Thick of It” (and its recent film adaptation, “In the Loop”, with its prescient gag about a politician expensing porn films), is funny viewing but its central conceit that everyone in politics is stupid and malign is all too widely held.

The expenses scandal was born of two traits often found in British public life: a preference for “muddling through” over rational design, and a reluctance to ditch a flawed system until it falls apart in a crisis. As MPs’ earnings fell over time behind those of bankers and family doctors, and as their role changed to include constituency work better done by local councillors, they could have debated, openly and from first principles, the issue of pay and expenses. But rather than risk honest analysis of what MPs are for and what they are worth, they improvised a solution by treating expenses as a way of topping up their income. And instead of abandoning this approach when its flaws came to light—mini-sleaze stories have abounded in recent years—they procrastinated until a crushing torrent of revelations pushed them into action. The failure to act sooner will damage their reputations for years.

[Mandark]

Yeah, I've read about that.  I think even with all they squeezed from the expense accounts, the average MP makes about £100k/year which is high but not ridiculous.  It's an important job.

They could have probably voted themselves a raise a few years ago when the economy was good and sparked a lot less outrage.  I think it's the sneakiness and willingness to bend the rules which has really irritated people.

[siamesedreamer]

Roubini is a fantastic economist. But, he kinda fell from favor for me because of him not being fully honest about the Summers/Geithner financial link to RGE Monitor. He definately hasn't been as critical of some of their policies as Krugman and others.

[Human Snorenado]

OH JESUS H CHRIST RON PAUL NAMED ONE OF HIS SONS RAND

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[Human Snorenado]

  RAND PAUL FORMS EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE TO RUN FOR KY SENATE IN 2010

KY could conceivably get a crazier Senator than Jim Bunning.  Awesome!

[siamesedreamer]

 

I love it.

[Mandark]

@ GRAND PAUL

...

[Phoenix Dark]

where's the funny?

[FlameOfCallandor]

[youtube=560,345]vJHKtLnT0Ak[/youtube]

[The Fake Shemp]

Ugh, really?

[Kestastrophe]

 

[Brehvolution]

Garbage as usual

[The Fake Shemp]

Garbage as usual

 

[Mandark]

I didn't notice who posted that video and assumed it was someone getting lulz at the expense of an awful conservatarian attempt at humor.

[Phoenix Dark]

[youtube=560,345]vJHKtLnT0Ak[/youtube]

Would have been better with Morgan Freeman narrating

[siamesedreamer]

Over/Under on Pelosi losing her house speaker position?

[Phoenix Dark]

In an interview with ABC News, Newt Gingrich denounced House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the harshest of ways on her claims the Bush administration lied to her about their use of interrogation tactics.

Said Gingrich: "I think she has lied to the House, and I think that the House has an absolute obligation to open an inquiry, and I hope there will be a resolution to investigate her. And I think this is a big deal. I don't think the Speaker of the House can lie to the country on national security matters."

He added: "I think this is the most despicable, dishonest and vicious political effort I've seen in my lifetime."

More: "She is a trivial politician, viciously using partisanship for the narrowist of purposes, and she dishonors the Congress by her behavior."

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/05/15/gingrich_rips_pelosi.html

Heh, he might as well be describing himself

[siamesedreamer]

Huntsman resigned to become ambassador to China.

[Human Snorenado]

Over/Under on Pelosi losing her house speaker position?

not gonna happen, this is a week long story at most.  you'll have something else to fake being outraged about next week, obama's good like that.

[Cheebs]

Huntsman resigned to become ambassador to China.

Genius. David Axelrod said he was the only Republican that he feared in 2012 and they took him out by giving him one of the most important ambassadorships in the Obama Administration.

[Fragamemnon]

Huntsman resigned to become ambassador to China.

I found it mind-boggling that a Republican governor with 80% approval in his state couldn't get his judicial appointments through the state Senate. Ambassador to China > dealing with manchildren state legislators.

Huntsman would have an uphill battle in a Presdiential primary. Shaky fundie bona fides due to the civil union stuff + mormonic eruption in the Bible Belt would pretty much have him doing worse than Mittens.

[The Fake Shemp]

Keyes, priest arrested at Notre Dame protest

By TOM COYNE – 8 hours ago

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Former Republican presidential hopeful Alan Keyes, a Roman Catholic priest and 19 others were arrested Friday after marching onto the University of Notre Dame campus to protest President Barack Obama's planned commencement speech.

The arrests marked the third straight Friday that protesters have been detained. They are angry about the school's decision to give Obama, who supports abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research, an honorary degree and have him speak at Sunday's commencement.

"Notre Dame is arresting a priest," the Rev. Norman Weslin, founder of the Lambs of Christ abortion protest group, said as Notre Dame security personnel put plastic restraints on his wrists Friday. "Why are you arresting a priest for trying to stop the killing of a baby? You've got it all backward."

Weslin, 78, who has been arrested dozens of times at abortion clinic blockades, was carried off on a stretcher. He and two others were charged with resisting law enforcement.

All 21 arrested were charged with trespassing. Keyes and five others were ordered held in the St. Joseph County Jail until Monday because it was their second time being arrested on a charge of trespassing at Notre Dame, said Sgt. Bill Redman, St. Joseph County Police Department spokesman. Bond was set at $250 for the others.

None of those arrested were students.

On May 1, anti-abortion activist Randall Terry and another man were arrested on campus while pushing strollers containing dolls covered in fake blood. On May 8, Keyes and 21 others, many of them pushing strollers containing dolls covered in fake blood, were arrested.

On Friday, there were no strollers or bloody dolls, but some of the protesters carried signs that read: "Defend her honor, rise and strike for the unborn."

About 35 people, many of them carrying anti-abortion signs, were standing on the four corners outside the school's front gate shortly before noon when a group of about 40 people led by Keyes and Terry marched up. They stopped briefly to say some prayers and to listen to Keyes, who lost to Obama in the Illinois Senate election in 2004.

"It is not consistent with God's love to honor those who have rejected that great gift of love in principle," Keyes said.

After speaking, Keyes then led a smaller group onto campus. They made it about 100 yards on campus before they were stopped by campus security. Keyes was taken into custody immediately, and the others were told to leave or they would be arrested.

Terry did not go onto campus, saying did not want to get arrested because he needs to remain free to lead more protests Saturday and Sunday.

"The reality is that if I get hung up in jail, I'm the only guy on the outside who knows how to keep this thing moving. It's strictly a leadership issue," he said.

St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Michael Scopelitis issued an order Thursday changing how bond is set for a person charged with a crime while already out on bond on a pending charge. Previously, such a person could have been released under a presumptive bond schedule. Now they must await a probable cause hearing, Scopelitis said.

... ugh.

[Phoenix Dark]

Huntsman resigned to become ambassador to China.

I found it mind-boggling that a Republican governor with 80% approval in his state couldn't get his judicial appointments through the state Senate. Ambassador to China > dealing with manchildren state legislators.

Huntsman would have an uphill battle in a Presdiential primary. Shaky fundie bona fides due to the civil union stuff + mormonic eruption in the Bible Belt would pretty much have him doing worse than Mittens.

He wouldn't come close to winning; the whole "he could challenge Obama!" thing sounds like a smokescreen. He'd get crushed in Iowa and SC. And if he won the nom how would a pro-gay, anti-family, social liburl get the south to come out of the house? Obama could pick up Georgia or some shit

and oh yea, he's mormon

[siamesedreamer]

Agreed. The idea he had a shot mainly stems from Axelrod's comment anyway.

He showed up as sixth in a GOP insider poll released yesterday. Jindal was first and Haley Barbour was second. 

[Human Snorenado]

The only reason people were saying Huntsman might have a chance is that he might... in the general, and only if the wingnuts hadn't all decided to stay home or vote for the Constitution Party candidate.  He'll never get the nomination in today's psycho rump remnant of the GOP.

[Cheebs]

He deserves some credit his social views aren't due to having to moderate to win in his state. He is from fucking UTAH. He could be a kkk'er and probably still have won out there.