Drug violence is  mighty bad in Rio:

Suspected drug traffickers shot down a police helicopter and set fire to five buses and a school in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, killing two policemen, police and media said.It is one of the worst recent outbreaks of violence in Rio and comes two weeks after the city was awarded the 2016 Olympic Games, despite worries over its high levels of violence and poor security.

Word that the International Olympic Committee responded to the news by saying “it’s still better than Chicago” are utterly unconfirmed.

Mark Steyn, writing about Hollywood’s instinctive cuddling up to Roman Polanski, hit a bunch of the usual points:  Hollywood’s boundless hypocrisy (they all but ran Mel Gibson out of town for crimes immeasurably less than Polanski’s), Polanski’s horrible life (not only losing three generations of his family between Hitler and Charles Manson, but having his surviving mother essentially reject him after the war to keep his stepfather happy).

That, alone, is worth the price of admission.

But at the end came a great point that’s easy to neglect amid the human cost of the rest of the story; Hollywood’s treatment of the likes of Polanski debilitates and infantilizes “art”:

Earlier bad boys – Lord Byron, say – were obliged to operate as “transgressive” artists within a broader moral order. Now we are told that a man such as Polanski cannot be subject to anything so footling as morality: He cannot “transgress” it because, by definition, he transcends it. Yet all truly great art is made in the tension between freedom and constraint. In demanding that an artist be placed above the laws of man, Harvey Weinstein & Co. are also putting him beyond the possibility of art. Which may explain the present state of the movie industry.

When art not only becomes an arm of the establishment (see:  most jazz since 1970, when arts grants replaced heroin as the main inspiration for jazz music in America), but when the establishment infantilizes artists, it takes away much of the reason to have art in the first place.

As Steyn notes, Polanski’s work since he went on the lam fits the pattern; except for The Pianist  (which was fantastic), it’s been fairly forgettable stuff.

Worth a read.

It’s just like John Edwards said.

In one America, if you do something wrong, you (often) get arrested, tried, and if (hopefully) guilty, you get punished.

In another America, if you’re friends with big enough people, then your crimes aren’t really “crimes”.
Like if you are a good Saint Paul DFLer who was implicated in a murder in the seventies but have been an impeccable liberal worker-bee ever since.

Or if you have powerful and famous friends.

Behold modern “Feminism” at work:

[Whoopi] Goldberg, star of The Color Purple and Sister Act, said: “I know it wasn’t rape-rape. I think it was something else, but I don’t believe it was rape-rape.

“He pled guilty to having sex with a minor and he went to jail, and when they let him out he said ‘You know what, this guy’s going to give me 100 years in jail. I’m not staying’. And that’s why he left.” Polanski was arrested in Zurich, Switzerland on Sunday and faces extradition to the United States. He fled the US in 1978 before being sentenced for the crime and has been pursued around the globe by prosecutors ever since.

Someone needs to pass the word Polanski’s a Republican.  That’ll fix ’em.

A generation of left-wing agitation directly led to violence in the streets of Pittsburgh this week.

The clashes began after hundreds of protesters, many advocating against capitalism, tried to march from an outlying neighborhood toward the convention center where the summit is being held.The protesters banged on drums and chanted “Ain’t no power like the power of the people, ’cause the power of the people don’t stop.”

The marchers included small groups of self-described anarchists, some wearing dark clothes and bandanas and carrying black flags. Others wore helmets and safety goggles.

One banner read, “No borders, no banks,” another, “No hope in capitalism.” A few minutes into the march, protesters unfurled a large banner reading “NO BAILOUT NO CAPITALISM” with an encircled “A,” a recognized sign of anarchists.

Violence, injuries and much property damage ensued. 

This sort of violence is the inevitable, direct result of the kind of rhetoric we’re getting from the left:

• Michael Moore’s assaults on “capitalism”
• The rhetoric of the likes of Keith Ellison and Dennis Kucinich – prominent Democratic/leftist legislators
• The demonstrations at the homes of AIG executives by groups of rent-an-outragers (we call them “TeabAIGers”), who made it very clear that the political is utterly personal
• The writings of vital lefty pundits like Nick Coleman and their disparaging references to “Big Cheeses”…
• The anti-business rhetoric of the likes of Andy Stein of the SEIU.
• The demonization of conservative causes, groups, and even thoughts by Janet Napolitano

…and many, many more, it’s clear to me that it’s inevitable that the left’s rhetoric on the economy is not only going to lead directly to violence; it’s already led there.

(more…)

Earlier today, I wrote a piece in which I noted that the leftymedia – specifically, the City Pages’ generic hypstr drone of the month Matt Hoffman, and DFL tabloidblogger Dusty Trice, had beaten the FBI to solving the Sparkman murder in Kentucky; Sparkman, the reports when, was found hanged from a tree with the word “Fed” supposedly scrawled across his chest.

Hoffman:

 Now a census worker has been found in what appears to be an anti-government lynching. Does [conservative MN Representative Michele] Bachmann own some responsibility?

Trice:

I’m going to say it again because sadly I feel it bears repeating. I strongly believe that the inflammatory rhetoric Rep. Michele Bachmann thinks passes for policy debate is going to end in violence. 

As I noted in my piece – the biggest violence was against fact and journalism.  As of the time Trice and Hoffman wrote their pieces, investigators weren’t even sure it was a murder, much less politically motivated.

And six hours later, they still aren’t!:

A spokesman for the Kentucky police told TPMmuckraker last night that police were still looking into death, that an autopsy has been scheduled, and no cause of death has yet been listed.

And the commander of the state police post handling the case told the Lexington Herald-Leader today that the police hadn’t confirmed it was a homicide. “There are too many unanswered questions for us to lean one way or the other,” she said. “Every scenario is still on the table. We have not ruled this is a hate crime against a federal employee.”

And an ABC News report suggests there could be more in play than raw anti-government feeling:

[S]ome people wonder if his death in the remote part of southeastern Kentucky known for its meth labs and hidden marijuana fields had less to do with his job than simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

If that speculation were accurate, the “Fed” that may have been scrawled on Sparkman’s chest could be intended as a warning by criminals to law enforcement to stay away, rather than as a pure expression of opposition to government — though it may be hard to separate those two motivations entirely.

Still, it’d be ironic; if Sparkman were murdered by criminals, that’d make his death the responsibility of a key Democratic constituency. 

Was that unfair?  Oh, I’m sorry.  I just find myself driven to say unfair things from the endless stupidity of the left, trying to link violence to dissent from The One’s (pbuh) vision. 

Indeed:

It’s not even entirely clear what Sparkman was doing in the remote area.

The left’s current meme is that conservative dissent is provoking violence; the local leftymedia has all but indicted (in their own minds) Rep. Bachmann of complicity in Mr. Sparkman’s death. 

And yet it seems the only violence is against fact, and against any sort of ethics.  Trice and Hoffman – among many, many others – jumped to a conclusion that was not only unwarranted, but that slanders each and every conservative that voices any level of caution about big government.

To paraphrase Matt Hoffman:  do people who leap to slander dissent deserve to “own some responsibility?” 

Other than being regarded as factual laughingstocks, I mean?

A third ACORN office has been busted allegedly trying to bend the rules to get a home loan for a “pimp”:

The scandal surrounding the left-wing activist organization ACORN has spread to New York, with employees at its Brooklyn office caught on video helping supposed ladies of the night get loans for their dream houses of ill repute.

Rather than reminding the women that prostitution is dangerous and illegal and advising them to change their careers, counselors at the social-services group shockingly offer suggestions on how they can launder their earnings.

And register to vote!

But the story the mainstream media isn’t reporting?  Not only is ACORN corrupt – they’re stupid!

They took these two seriously:

There’s not a chance in hell she looks like a brothel hooker – and the “pimp” doesn’t look like he could beat her up.

In a statement released Saturday, ACORN said that it could not defend the actions of its employees but that what O’Keefe and Giles did was criminal.

“And, in fact, a crime it was — our lawyers believe a felony — and we will be taking legal action against Fox and their co-conspirators,” the statement said.

Fox News aired the Baltimore and Washington tapes.

O’Keefe said, “ACORN wants it both ways.”

“You can’t fire the employees and then say I have defamed them,” he said.

Expect attorneys for the Baltimore office to try to trot out the same idiotic Maryland wiretapping law they pulled out against Linda Tripp when she taped her conversations with Monica Lewinski; under Maryland law, both parties to a (non-law-enforcement) wiretap have to know the conversation is being recorded (in most states, including Minnesota, only one party has to know they’re being taped); the laws seems to be invoked only to protect Democrat politicians and groups.

So some Democrats get the idea that peaceful dissent is protected speech, provided it’s a lefty doing the dissenting at least:

Lefties are upset with RamCo Attorney Susan Gaertner, who is prosecuting eight RNC protesters (who, to be fair, are accused of a lot more than “dissent”, and whose job it is, to be even fairer, to prosecute the accused as opposed to make value judgements about the “protesters'” various “causes”.

But no matter.  Glad to see that after a month of calling dissenters “Nazis” and “White Supremacists” and siccing the SEIU on ’em, y’all remembered that whole “dissent is patriotic” bit.

I have hope!

Conservatives often complain about judicial activism.

Many on the left, on the other hand, would much rather let judges make society’s important decisions.  Which is a bad idea in a democracy other than, y’know, the law, but more importantly depends on the integrity of the judiciary.

Which, sometimes, seems like a very bad idea:

Williams, 33, attended his cousin’s July hearing at Will County Courthouse in Joliet. His cousin, Jason Mayfield, pled guilty to a felony drug charge. As the judge sentenced Mayfield to two years probation, Williams let out a yawn, an involuntary faux pas in such a formal setting.

Circuit Judge Daniel Rozak thought the yawn was criminal and sentenced Williams to six months in jail, the maximum penalty for contempt of court without a jury trial.  Rozak’s order said that Williams “raised his hands while at the same time making a loud yawning sound,” causing a disrespectful interruption in court.

So in a strange turn of events Mayfield, the felon, will be able to walk freely, while Williams, the yawner, will have to spend at least three weeks behind bars for his offending yawn.

So in other words, the criminal walked, but the spectator had his life ruined; three weeks in jail plays hob on peoples’ jobs.

What was it they said about “absolute power?”

But it’s not out of character for Rozak.

Contempt of court charges are typically issued when a judge feels someone is challenging or ignoring the court’s authority, e.g., yelling at a judge, ignoring subpoenas, appearing in court drunk, etc.

But Rozak runs a tight ship. He has charged people who cuss in reaction to a sentencing and even jailed spectators whose cell phones interrupt proceedings. In fact, the Chicago Tribune found that Rozak has sentenced more spectators to jail for infractions involving cell phones than any other judge in Will County in the last decade.

Of the 30 judges in the 12th Judicial Circuit, Rozak has brought more than a third of all the contempt charges in the last 10 years.

I don’t suppose it’s possible to throw a judge out for frivolity?

…the other day, I tried to place some world events during the year.

The Mayaguez incident, of course; the fallout of Watergate; the fall of Saigon, of course…

…and Squeaky Fromme’s attempt on Gerald Ford.

And, blow me down, but Frommeis finally out of the joint:

Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme was a 26-year-old disciple of the cult murderer Manson when she aimed a semiautomatic .45- caliber pistol at Ford in September 1975 in Sacramento, Calif. Secret Service agents grabbed her and Ford was unhurFromme, now 60, is scheduled to be released on parole from the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth on Aug. 16, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the court-appointed attorney who represented her at trial.

Fromme, who got a life term, became the first person sentenced under a special federal law covering assaults on U.S. presidents, a statute enacted after the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Any dibs on being her counselor?

Rumors of her imminent appointment as the Obama Administration’s Mental Health Czar are, at this juncture, unconfirmed.

This sort of thing, alas, is a complete no-no:

According to court documents, Charles W. Papenfus, 43, allegedly told a sales representative during a May 18 telephone call that he would burn down the building and kill the employees and their families. He was indicted for making a terrorist threat, a Class D felony; and he could be sentenced to up to four years in prison if convicted.

Cross “threaten telemarketers” off my to-do list.

Chicago’s orgy of violence continues, claiming a nine year old girl:

Chastity Turner, 9, was sitting on her grandmother’s porch washing her dog when someone opened fire from a van in the 7400 block of South Stewart Avenue.

Chastity was shot in the back or neck and later died at the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital. Three other people, including her father, were wounded in the shooting.

A 31-year-old man and 17-year-old boy were taken to Stroger Hospital of Cook County with gunshot wounds to the back. A third male, whose age was not immediately known, took himself to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

And again – isn’t it a good thing Chicago has the toughest gun laws in the country?  Because ONLY GOD KNOWS how bad this would have been if law-abiding civilians would have the right to discomfit criminals busy with this sort of thing.

It’s been almost a year since the Heller decision.  There’s hoping those Chicago lawsuits work their way through the system fast.

Former transit reporter mugged on his first light-rail ride:

When Chuck Laszewski and his 75-year-old neighbor set out to watch the Minnesota Twins play on Sunday afternoon, they were looking forward to great seats and a nice Father’s Day at the ball game.

They made it as far as the light-rail station.

Laszewski and his neighbor, Bobby Thomas, were fumbling with the ticket vending machine at the Lake Street stop on Hiawatha Avenue when they were blindsided by muggers just after a train left the platform around 12:45 p.m.

The attackers punched the men in the face, then chased them down the platform when they fought back and tried to run away. The muggers, whom Laszewski described as two men between the ages of 18 and 22, knocked down Thomas and took his wallet.

“He actually took some tougher shots than I did,” said Laszewski, 52.

“It’s really unconscionable what happened to him.”

This is in the middle of the day, in a ramp that’s rarely empty during the day, especially on game days:

Attacks such as Sunday’s are fairly uncommon, [Metro Transit spokesman Bob Gibbons] said. “The platforms are not a very smart place to engage in criminal activity, because of the camera system and the emergency telephones.”

Laszewski, who wrote about transportation for the Pioneer Press before switching to a job at a nonprofit group that advocates for public transit, said Sunday was the first time he had tried to buy light-rail tickets. On Monday, he laughed ruefully about the irony. “The minute I go use transit, I get popped.”

But that won’t stop him from boarding light rail again, he added. “We need it, and I’ll continue to ride it.”

Er…now that you’ve finally started?
Anyway – heal up quick, Chuck.

The story of the six technically-human organisms that stomped and kicked a dad half to death for objecting to their groping his daughter at Valleyfair last year is finally going out.

With a whimper, not a bang, as the last of the defendants takes the deal:

Derry Evans, 20, of Minneapolis; Terry L. Arnold, 23, of Brooklyn Park; Andrew D. Shannon, 20, of Minneapolis, and Anthony C. Gildersleeve, 21, of Edina each pleaded guilty to third-degree assault, a felony, in Scott County District Court. Arnold entered his plea May 28, Shannon pleaded June 1, and Evans and Gildersleeve pleaded June 4. All four will be sentenced Aug. 4.

Darris D. Evans, 21, of Brooklyn Park and DeVondre Q. Evans-Lewis, 19, of Columbia Heights pleaded guilty to felony third-degree assault on April 13. They will be sentenced June 22.

So for teaming up to stomp the living crap out of a guy who was defending his daughter, these six pieces of under-the-stove-greasy-buildup will get not more than five years, and not more than a $10,000 under the Minnesota sentencing guidelines.

I’m gonna guess that the victim is going to be paying for this crime a lot longer than the defendants.

Have you ever wondered what it felt like getting your skin peeled off you body in one long painful strip – rhetorically speaking?

Just try and pin yesterday morning’s tragic, stupid murder of an abortion doctor on all of conservatism using your usual, predictable, deeply-stupid, slack-jawed, straight-from-Media-Matters talking points.

Again – speaking rhetorically.

Dr. George Tiller, one of the nation’s few providers of late-term abortions despite decades of protests and attacks, was shot and killed Sunday in a church where he was serving as an usher.

I join with every credible conservative in condemning this sort of violence. The anti-infanticide movement is winning this fight without the need for violence;  indeed, these stupid, violent atrocities benefit the pro-infanticide crowd; as long as they can keep the people and the media focused on their own victimhood, then the focus is off the real victims, America’s “tissue masses”.

So think carefully, lefties.

Long, thin strips.

Again – speaking purely rhetorically.

Minnesota’s Gang Strike Force is temporarily shutting down due to, er, irregularities:

Commissioner Michael Campion also said he will hire a former federal prosecutor and former FBI agent to investigate the agency, and will restart the funding only when he is sure the problems are fixed.Legislative Auditor James Nobles said the missing cash adds up to more than $18,000. Thirteen cars are also missing.

Read the whole thing; it shows what happens when government gets too much power.  For example – Bill Clinton’s property-forfeiture laws?

The report found that a member of the strike force sold a seized flatscreen TV to a student worker for $30. The TV had to be recovered when the original owner asserted his legal right to get it back.

Joel Rosenberg has a fictional(ized) conversation with Public Safety czar Michael Campion on the subject:

“You called me, Mike. Don’t interrupt so. As I was saying . . . if I had to guess, a real thorough investigation would exonerate a bunch of guys, and might just convict a few. I dunno. But, either way, it would do something to persuade people that you really want to get to the bottom of this, and not apply a slow-rolled coat of youknowwhat.  And cover up your tipping off the perps, and all. ”

“Yeah. I see your point. Get to the bottom of it, even though we screwed up by announcing the investigation before we preserved the evidence.”

“Yup. Admit the screwup, do your best, clear the innocent and arrest the folks you’ve got reason to think are guilty . . . and let the system handle it while you move on. Glad you called?”

“Not really.”

“Didn’t think so.”

“Hey, I’m just trying to help, Mike. Really.  But, relax, it’s not like there’s any proof that they shredded — “

*click*

Read the whole thing; fictional though it is, it reports the details behind the story better than anyone in the mainstream media…

From the “They Eat Their Own” department, Surber notes that Josh Marshall is accusing Maureen Dowd of plagiarism

[Marshall] posted on Thursday: “More and more the timeline is raising the question of why, if the torture was to prevent terrorist attacks, it seemed to happen mainly during the period when we were looking for what was essentially political information to justify the invasion of Iraq.”[Dowd] published today: “More and more the timeline is raising the question of why, if the torture was to prevent terrorist attacks, it seemed to happen mainly during the period when the Bush crowd was looking for what was essentially political information to justify the invasion of Iraq.”

Surber:

Whoa, wait. You are not allowed to do this? D’oh!

Silly question, Don.  They have a Code of Ethics that excuses these things.

This does answer the title to her book, “Are Men Necessary?” Yes. Someone has to write her columns…

Ow. Snap.

I see this leading to a Maureen Dowd/Mary Mapes/Nancy Pelosi tour; maybe call it “See The Oppression Of the Patriarcy?!?”

Kiefer “Jack Bauer” Sutherland gets a little last-minute pub in for tonight’s Day Seven finale, getting arrested for an assault that reads like it was aimed at Tony Almeida:

[Sutherland] has been charged with misdemeanor assault after he was accused of head-butting fashion designer Jack McCollough at a New York nightclub early Tuesday, police said.

Sutherland was charged after he arrived at a New York police precinct Thursday afternoon to answer investigators’ questions about the incident.

Rumors that actress Annie Wersching failed to prevent the assault, as she sized up head-butting Perez Hilton herself, are unconfirmed as this is written.

“It’s OK To Look!“:

British-based Galina Rusanova is accused of of punching and kicking flight attendants and – at one point – ‘snapping like a dog’ while trying to bite a crew member’s leg.

Rusanova appeared at court in Bangor, Maine, on Friday, charged with assault and interference with a flight crew. She will remain in custody before a detention hearing in a US district court on Monday.

In fact, Match.com might already have an in with her:

According to the FBI, Rusanova went to Los Angeles to visit a man she me on the internet and was returning to London on Wednesday when her flight was diverted to Bangor.

The 54-year-old is known in Britain as a respected artist, actress and author who mixes with the rich and famous at London society and charity events.

According to court documents, after her arrest she spent the night at Eastern Maine Medical Center for observation and is said to have told FBI agents: ‘It’s typical of me. I sometimes do crazy things.’

Sounds like someone’s getting six free months of Match!

Finally someone in our government puts their butt where their mouth is on Darfur:

Ellison said he and the other members of Congress who were arrested succeeded in bringing national attention to the Darfur crisis that they wouldn’t have received otherwise. “I could have sent out a press release, but it would be, ‘Yeah, so what?'”

True.

And every day Rep. Ellison is in jail is a day he’s not voting to enact his ruinous agenda.

It was a win-win.

Please, Rep. Ellison; let me letter your next sign.  And perhaps you could take Rep. McCollum with you.

The editors of the National Review break the ice and reach the decision that for three generations dared not speak its name; the “War on Drugs is Lost”:

We have found Dr. Gazzaniga and others who have written on the subject persuasive in arguing that the weight of the evidence is against the current attempt to prohibit drugs. But NATIONAL REVIEW has not, until now, opined formally on the subject. We do so at this point. To put off a declarative judgment would be morally and intellectually weak-kneed.

Things being as they are, and people as they are, there is no way to prevent somebody, somewhere, from concluding that “NATIONAL REVIEW favors drugs.” We don’t; we deplore their use; we urge the stiffest feasible sentences against anyone convicted of selling a drug to a minor. But that said, it is our judgment that the war on drugs has failed, that it is diverting intelligent energy away from how to deal with the problem of addiction, that it is wasting our resources, and that it is encouraging civil, judicial, and penal procedures associated with police states. We all agree on movement toward legalization, even though we may differ on just how far.

The NR’s current editors- Buckley Jr, Szosz et al – weigh in on the subject.

The big point: the War costs us more in terms of lives, civil liberties and diversion of effort from dealing with addiction than it could ever be worth. In the past forty years, more people have died in the War on Drugs – 90-odd deaths from turf wars and habit-feeding robberies for every one to overdose – than died in Vietnam and Korea, and we’re farther from “victory” now than ever.  The “war” has taken much of Central America down with it; the turf wars for those feeding America’s jones kill many more people in Mexico than are dying in Iraq or Afghanistan right now.  And the worst part is, allof that sacrifice – every neighborhood destroyed, everyone killed in every botched drug-mugging, every cop caught in every gang-war crossfire, every broke dealer murdered for falling behind on his payments or tripping his capo’s suspicions – is in vain.  Every one.  None of them will lead to anything better.

It’s time to look into ending this particular “war”.

The One appoints a ‘border czar’:

The former federal prosecutor will oversee Homeland Security’s efforts to end drug cartel violence along the U.S.-Mexico border and reduce the flow of illegal immigrants sneaking across the border from Mexico into the United States.

He could get the job done.

As long as his only job is to move in a desk for David Petraeus to sit in.

…that this came from any American gun show:

The M1919 or the girl.
Or much of this, for that matter:

Oh, yeah – and that machine gun at the top?  It’s not an “anti-aircraft gun”.  It’s a Browning M1919A1 on a tripod, for shooting at ground targets – like other drug dealers, in this case.  It’s WWII-vintage, made in the USA, probably sold to Mexico or another Latin American nation’s military…

…and not, mind you, via a gun show.

That, or I’ve been shopping at the wrong gun shows.

St. Paul Police say they’d just as soon Kathleen Soliah stay in California after her upcoming parole.

Cali agrees (I add emphasis):

“The police officers on both ends of this case are united in their opposition to Ms. Soliah’s attempt to once again run away from her crimes,” said LAPPL President Paul Weber. “Governor Schwarzenegger has the power to stop her this time, and we are asking that he exercise that power.”

“Returning Soliah to the same neighborhood that harbored her during her 24-year flight from justice is hardly conducive to strict parole monitoring,” St. Paul Police Federation President Dave Titus wrote in his letter to the governor. “When Soliah has paid her entire debt to California, then and only then, should she be allowed to live where she chooses. Making parole convenient for the perpetrator is a travesty of justice.”

In 1975, Olson, as part of radical group SLA, participated in two failed pipe-bomb attempts on Los Angeles Police squad cars and a bank robbery in which one person was killed.

Let nobody forget – that “one person” was 42 year old Myrna Opsahl.   Soliah’s “Symbionese Liberation Army murdered the mother of four in utter cold blood – Opsahl was in the wrong place at the wrong time – on April 21, 1974.

In [Patricia] Hearst’s account, Olson later asks Emily Harris, who had been listening to radio reports, “How’s the woman who was shot?”

“Oh, she’s dead,” replied Emily Harris, airily. “But it really doesn’t matter. She was a bourgeois pig anyway. Her husband is a doctor. He was at the hospital where they brought her.”

Hearst says that Bill Harris mocked Opsahl’s death, referring to her as “good, old Myrna” and congratulated the robbers for having committed a “gas chamber” offense.

It was two years ago Tara McKelvey profiled Soliah’s family here in the Twin Cities in Marie Claire. They still think Soliah is the victim.

In a way, I hope California lets her come back. Having their revolutionary hero among them would certainly bring out the true colors of an embarassingly-large chunk of the St. Paul DFL.

Via A Democracy

What’s the news here: the lefties hacked Norm Coleman’s donor database and published it,.or that they are trying to wrap themselves in a mantle of phony righteousness for doin it?

John Hinderaker notes:

It’s impossible to say whether Wikileaks hacked Coleman’s site and is now making the information public out of frustration at lack of publicity, or whether a different Democratic Party group did the hacking and passed the information off to Wikileaks to be illegally disseminated. I replied to Wikileaks’ email asking for a name and telephone number and saying that I would like to interview them; needless to say, I didn’t get a response. Like so many leftists, they prefer to hide behind a cloak of anonymity.

Which is no surprise to any of us who’ve dealt with these people, ever.

A week or two after the liberal hacking of Coleman’s site took place, I got a notice from my bank that my credit card numbers had been stolen and patently improper charges were being rung up. As a result I had to cancel that credit card and get a new one. I didn’t know it at the time, but it appears that in all probability, I was one of the victims of the Democrats’ hacking of Coleman’s web site.

Just another day in contemporary American politics. Liberals break the law, violate their opponents’ privacy, either commit or facilitate theft, and meanwhile assure the rest of us that they did all of this because of their moral superiority.

Lefties are claiming that it wasn’t a hack; Paul Schmelzer at the Minnesoros “Independent” carries out his paymasters’ will, tells us “2+2=”orange””:

the database was not revealed by hackers, according to IT professional Adria Richards, who was the first to share news of the unprotected file in late January.

“It’s not hacking,” she said. “I didn’t use any hacking tools. A browser was my tool.”

Richards said she discovered the database by entering normcoleman.com, into OpenDNS’ cache-check tool, which gave her an IP address where the Web site lived.

Simply copying that address into a Firefox browser revealed the Web site directories for colemanforsenate.com.

Richards didn’t download the database herself, but she posted a screen capture of what she’d found online after she made the discovery.  An IT consultant  for 10 years, she published her findings on her blog to educate others about the risks of improperly managed websites, she said.

“All you needed was a Web browser,” she said. “It’s like I walked over to Norm Coleman’s house and saw his door was open, took a photo of the open door and posted it on the Internet.”

Ah.  So the Democrats didn’t have to work especially hard to get the information and puiblish it.  That excuses everything!

Attention, ethically-challenged liberals and Minnesoros “Independent” staff (pardon the redundancy): if someone leaves the door to their house unlocked,and you walk inside, take out all their wife’s underwear and put it on and leave the building, you are still a thief and a cross-dresser, even if the door wasn’t locked!

Most of us know this.  The rest?

They’re anonymous leftybloggers, obviously.

Chris Rock once famously noted that if you find yourself on Martin Luther King Street anywhere in the US, be very careful.

Likewise, anytime you find yourself at an event to promote non-violence, duck:

Montgomery County police say 16 people were arrested after a fight broke out during a concert held to promote nonviolence and to remember a Silver Spring teen killed last year…Police say fighting broke out near the stage toward the end of the concert and at least one person resisted arrest. Police say 16 adults and juveniles were arrested for offenses such as assault and disorderly conduct.

Inveigling teenage boys to be “non-violent” at a concert is like holding an Obesity Anonymous meeting at a Lays potato chip factory.