Mercifully, there is no new episode of the Primary Reality Show this evening. But a certain case being argued before the Supreme Court will be to talk of the tavern.
So please join us tonight for an evening of jurisprudence under the influence at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking liberally. We meet every Tuesday at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. We’ll begin at our usual starting time of 8:00pm, but some folks will show up even earlier for dinner.
Can’t make it to Seattle? There are DLs meeting all around Washington state, including in the Tri-Cities and Bellingham tonight, Burien on Wednesday night, as well as Yakima and South Bellevue next Monday.
With 233 chapters of Living Liberally, including twelve in Washington state and six more in Oregon, chances are excellent there’s one near you.
As usual, I can’t attend. But raise a pint and give a toast in my direction, if you please.
The nation’s largest anti-gay-marriage group planned to use race to divide gays and blacks, the Human Rights Campaign says. The group’s internal memos released by a Maine court today said,
“Find, equip, energize and connect African American spokespeople for marriage, develop a media campaign around their objections to gay marriage as a civil right; provoke the gay marriage base into responding by denouncing these spokesmen and women as bigots…”
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com.....y-revealed
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Rightwing political operatives doing what they do best: Leaving a slime trail everywhere they go …
Yeah, give a toast to our wonderful candidate for governor. He’s quite a leader..no on I-502, canceling out on debates, and all the while maintaining the charisma of a garden slug..
Couldn’t the Democratic party have found anyone better than this?
Unless, Inslee rides some major Obama coattails, and even then I doubt if it will be enough considering the crossover voters, we better get used to the idea of McKenna as our next governor..
Yeah, inslee doesn’t seem to want to win. How much can mckenna mess up in a term?
Ride the coattails of Obama…The coattails of Bankruptcy, Inslee is running from them like wildfire. Even then he doesn’t have a shot in hell of beating McKenna.
3, 4
Jay Inslee has tremendous charisma. It’s freaking March. Don’t worry. Don’t spend it when it doesn’t matter. Compared to McKenna, it ain’t close. Years ago, on the Bainbridge ferry, I brought my 13 or 14 year old son to Jay, sitting at a table, to tell him that “here is your Congressman.” It blew my kid’s mind that he was meeting a member of Congress. (Granted, my kid was a bit politicized.) Jay, on a personal level, asked my kid how he was doing. Then, engaged him in conversation about things he might be interested in, not political. My son, who now lives in NYC, will be donating to Jay’s campaign.
More evidence that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. is a criminal enterprise:
“Pressure is building in Britain and Australia for fresh probes into Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, already under siege over phone-hacking claims, after allegations that it ran a secret unit that promoted pirating of pay-TV rivals.
“The Australian Financial Review on Wednesday alleged that News Corp had used a special unit, Operational Security, set up in the mid-1990s, to sabotage its competitors, reinforcing claims in a BBC Panorama documentary aired earlier this week.
“‘These are serious allegations, and any allegations of criminal activity should be referred to the AFP (Australian Federal police) for investigation,’ a spokeswoman for Australian Communications Minister Stephen Conroy told Reuters.”
http://www.cnbc.com/id/46874480
Zimmerman’s Violent Past Includes Assaulting Police
George Zimmerman was charged with felony assault against a police officer in 2005, but instead of being prosecuted, he accepted diversion into an alcohol rehab program, and also was charged with domestic violence against his girlfriend in that same year, MSNBC reported Tuesday night.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_n.....ce-officer
Newt Gingrich, out of money and steam, is gutting his campaign organization.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com.....uts-travel
Ever the elegant statesman of Fox Noise, Geraldo Rivera apologized for his “hoodie” remark — then retracted the apology.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_n.....tins-death
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Is this guy schizophrenic, or just an asshole?
Florida Police Chief Lied About Lack Of Probable Cause
Sanford, FL, police chief Bill Lee apparently lied when he said there was no probable cause to arrest George Zimmerman. In fact, the police officers who responded to the shooting and conducted the initial investigation and witness interviews didn’t believe Zimmerman’s version of events, believed a crime had been committed, and requested an arrest warrant; and it was the prosecutor’s office who hesitated to file charges, the Miami Herald reported this morning.
http://www.miamiherald.com/201.....harge.html
So why would prosecutors back away from a homicide case in which the investigating officers requested an arrest? Does the fact George Zimmerman’s dad is a retired judge have anything to do with it? Was there a fix in, until the case attracted a media spotlight?
http://rollingout.com/culture/.....d-arrests/
Roger Rabbit Commentary: The stench of the Trayvon Martin case is getting fouler every day.
The resolution of George Zimmerman’s previous scrapes with the law are suspicious, too. One of the previous charges against him was assault of a police officer which, if it had resulted in a felony conviction, would have kept Zimmerman from legally possessing a gun.
So, the question now is, did family influence keep George Zimmerman off the convicted felon lists?
Zimmerman’s father is a former judge. We now know the duty cops who responded to the shooting wanted to arrest Zimmerman, and it was the prosecutor’s office that blocked Zimmerman’s immediate arrest. We also know the police chief lied when he said the police see grounds for an arrest — presumably to provide cover for the prosecutor.
Another thing we know for sure is that Robert Zimmerman, the shooter’s father, claimed his son didn’t follow the victim — which is contradicted by his son’s own statements to police.
This sure looks like an influential father pulling strings to keep his habitually miscreant son out of trouble.
# 12: Zimmerman’s father didn’t really have to do anything. That’s not how it works in small towns in the South. Someone up the chain realizes who his father is, and it gets swept under the rug. It could be because the father is a politician, a retired judge, or simply a fellow Rotarian or lodge member. The local news media doesn’t question such conduct, for exactly the same reasons.
In such a case, there is no “smoking gun” (pun not intended), because nothing is in writing or said. The person making the decision to drop the prosecution merely finds some reason or another to exercise his discretion to not prosecute.
But a black teenager is unlikely to have a father with similar connections.
This is interesting… Cheap labor conservative farmers are 7.6 billion out of pocket and they probably are all still brainwashed that AGW is a liberal plot:
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/.....is-extent/
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/.....-the-road/
One of those brainwashed by Faux’s propaganda war against the Volt was Bob.
# 15: In a fight between the interests of the automobile industry and Big Oil, it’s no contest – the Republican Spin Machine will pick Big Oil every time. They might as well, because they pretty much doomed any potential vote or support from the auto industry by their opposition to the auto industry bailout plan in 2009.
Update on Newt’s campaign implosion: One of those “full-time staffers” being laid off, purportedly for cost-savings purposes, is his campaign director. Remember that this was the campaign director who was brought in to salvage Newt’s campaign after most of his staff quit when it became apparant that Newt wasn’t serious about campaigning, and was only using the campaign to sell books and promote his future as a Fox News pundit.
All that’s left is Newt’s “old guard” of personal lackeys, who persumably can be persuaded to work for free. But that might go over like a lead baloon considering Newt’s and Calista’s penchant for fine dining, private jets, and expensive clothes and jewelry
Does anyone know anyone who owns a Chevy Volt? Any reports on how well these cars perform?
18 – I’m sure there’s some warts to the things but that kind of gas sipping vehicle has nothing but upsides in my view.
The “crossover” vehicle is making waves these days. Roomy yet more fuel efficient than SUV’s. Gas consumption in this country peaked in 2007. SUV sales were 20 percent of all car sales. Now it’s 5 percent and crossover vehicles are taking up the slack.
I’d like to see continuously dropping gas consumption as a permanent trend in this country.
Holes In Zimmerman’s Story
There are, The Grio says, “problems” with George Zimmerman’s account of his shooting of Trayvon Martin.
http://www.thegrio.com/special.....php?page=1
A thoughtful analysis of last summer’s debt negotiations concludes it was Boehner, not Obama, who couldn’t deliver his party’s votes for a compromise.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com.....debt-talks
Be Careful Of What You Wish For …
“[I]f the Republicans knock down Obamacare, … Democrats will push a Medicare-for-everybody single-payer plan.”
http://www.economist.com/blogs.....are-reform
@21
The problem has always been that Boehner can’t deliver votes.
Heh.. This video is going viral big time:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/video.....e-16024475
No blood.. He doesn’t look he’s hurting at all. Shit, if he was injured in any significant way we’d at least some form of first aid – bandages, something.
It doesn’t look like the cops that’s examining Zimmerman’s “wounds” is wearing gloves, which he would be if there was blood.
It looks to me like the cops did their job and the prosecutors dropped the ball. Which if true is somewhat comforting.
@24 And now we have witness tampering by the police …
” … Brown alleged, police tried to lead her son to agree to certain assertions, such as the race of the person on the ground and what he was wearing.”
Plus there’s this:
“Brown alleged that the lead investigator ‘told me this was not self-defense,’ saying she should ‘read between the lines’ because ‘this was racial stereotyping.'”
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_n.....lf-defense
Roger Rabbit Commentary: What’s really on trial here is Sanford, Florida’s good ol’ boy system. And the National Rifle Association (see below) …
Meanwhile, what is now crystal clear is that George Zimmerman was an immature hothead who shouldn’t have been allowed to carry a gun in public.
And what is equally clear is how irresponsible and dangerous the NRA’s position on gun “freedom” really is to innocent law-abiding citizens like Trayvon Martin.
Police Station Videos Contradict Zimmerman’s Story
“Newly released video of George Zimmerman at the Sanford Police Department the night he shot Trayvon Martin to death show the neighborhood watch volunteer without blood on his clothing or bruises on his face or head.
“His clean-shaven picture … appears inconsistent with Zimmerman’s … statement to police that … Martin jumped him from behind, punched him in the nose and pounded his head into a sidewalk, according to a police report first described by the Orlando Sentinal.
“In the video, apparently taken by surveillance cameras outside and inside the police station, Zimmerman’s face and head are clearly visible and show no injuries consistent with the kind of fight Zimmerman’s statement described.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....d=webmail1
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Mrs. Rabbit noticed something else about this video. Noting how the police escorted him inside, she said “they’re treating him like a guest.”
Evidence is piling up that this was a murder and police coverup.
Zimmerman was handcuffed, and an officer frisked him in the police garage, but notice how the cops were 10 feet away instead of holding onto him as he walked into the building. That is not standard police procedure for handling a person in custody. They always have an officer holding onto the subject during movement so the subject can’t make a run for it. When, for example, did you ever see courthouse video of a defendant being allowed by the police to walk into a courtroom in the manner you see in this video? They treated Zimmerman like a VIP.
@27
He might not have been carrying legally. He had a regular CC license, but there’s a different license for CC for people that are armed as part of their jobs, like armed security guards.
It looks to me like the cops did their jobs, but the higher ups quashed it. But, I’m predisposed to think that the working folks did the work and the higher ups had agendas to push and asses to kiss so they got in the way of the work.
@29
It looked like there weren’t any gloves being used by the police officer that inspected Zimmerman’s wounds. If there was blood on Zimmerman they would have been wearing gloves.
Also, if he was in a life threatening beat down wouldn’t he be walking a little bent over or limping, maybe wobbling a bit? I’ve spent a little bit of time in a dojo and have gotten punched in the face in an attempted mugging. Getting hit hard hurts. You’re probably not going to to be walking so great after getting your head bounced off the pavement a couple of times.
Walker Aides Charged With Stealing Veterans Funds
“Two Milwaukee County officials appointed by Scott Walker when he was county executive were charged Thursday with embezzling more than $60,000 intended for veterans and their families, instead using the stolen funds on everything from Caribbean cruises to wedding expenses to renewing Walker-for-governor websites.”
Oh, and don’t miss this part:
“Prosecutors also charged a third man – Brian Pierick, Russell’s domestic partner – with two felonies for child enticement.”
http://www.jsonline.com/news/s.....48913.html
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Now isn’t that just like Republicans — stealing money from veterans and … child luring.
Or this part:
“Prosecutors accuse Russell with using the stolen money to help pay for his trip to Atlanta to attend a weekend political strategy session in December 2010 with Herman Cain and his chief of staff, Mark Block, to discuss Cain’s now-defunct presidential campaign.”
(Link above)
As long as we’re talking about that professional fundraiser who was arrested for stealing from Democratic candidates, let’s not overlook that Republicans steal from their own candidates:
“Russell pleaded not guilty to a single misdemeanor embezzlement count, for taking $550 from the campaign fund of a County Board candidate, Larry Spicer. He is also accused of stealing another $3,000 from another County Board candidate, Chris Kujawa ….”
(Link above)
The stupid ass trolls say we’re “jealous”:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html
They’ll never say we’re all being screwed by a system that’s gamed for the very few.
TAX, TAX, TAX soak the rich. Rebuild America. A job for everyone who needs one. You can have propserity or you can have oligarchy. You can’t have both.
@35 It’s not only being stolen from workers and consumers, it’s also being stolen from shareholders. A favorite trick of 1-percenters is to give themselves huge stock options and then cover up the share dilution by using the company’s profits to buy back shares (usually at high prices) so shareholders won’t notice how the executives are skimming off all the profits for themselves.
36 – Yes, the opinion piece is a bit off the mark. I understand the riches flowing to the TOP ONE TENTH of the top one percent are even more egregiously off the charts compared just to the rest of the one percent.
For a moment, I’m putting politics aside. Earl Scruggs has died:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/28/.....?hpt=hp_t3
He developed the 3-finger banjo-picking roll, and otherwise revolutionized bluegrass music. He also opposed the Viet Nam War, but that’s irrelevant as I consider the death of a childhood hero.
@38
Sad sauce. Scruggs was a favorite of mine.
Celebrate Celebrate dance to the Obamacare demise
40 – Awwww. Our resident yd(iot) birfer is a TDN fan..
Sigh….
Poor Mitt. He tries to be funny, and fit in with the crowd. But it just comes off as being… awfull.
He was videotaped tody telling what he himself introduced as a “humerous story” about how his father, as CEO of American Moters, had closed the factory in Illlinois and moved operations to exesting locations in Wisconsin. Apparantly Romney Sr. wanted to avoid the UAW and higher taxes in Illinois. What Mitt Romney thought was so humerous about it, apparantly, was that Romney Sr. then had to run for office in Illinois, where such tactics weren’t appreciated very much.
Mitt Romney’s “humerous” story about laying of 5,400 people in Illinois”
I guess that passes for humor in at the country club, but today it went over like a lead balloon.