Andrew Breitbart Needs To Be Investigated Over Shirley Sherrod Smear

I refused to go near the Shirley Sherrod smear story on my blog the past few days.  I did not want to give any…ANY…. free lip service to the lowest elements of the Republican Party.  What many of us suspected all along has been made known from the White House to the national news broadcasts, and as such I think it is our duty now as bloggers, and Americans to speak out. 

I speak for many who feel this is a sad way for everyone to act in this country.  The past 48 hours was not the best of who we are as a nation.  Of course, we know it did not have to happen had the mean-spirited and devil-ridden Andrew Breitbart not allowed the dark side to take hold.

What has happened to Shirley Sherrod this week is truly one of the most gut-wrenching and sad affairs that I have witnessed in some time.   The conservative echo chamber of crap started a lie which Andrew Breibart knowingly spun with his cozy ‘partner’ Matt Drudge, which was then picked up and made into a non-stop story on FAUX News, only to be regurgitated non-stop by right-wing nut radio.  Meanwhile official Washington could not (or would not) stand up to the conservative crap.  The mainstream media could not seemingly differentiate fact from fiction until the crap was so thick in the newsroom that someone slipped and fell.

All this has left me truly dismayed at almost everyone.  Everyone, that is, except for Shirley Sherrod.  This is the lady that I wish could sit at my dinner table as a guest.   She is the reflection of what is best about this country, the resiliency of the human heart, the courage to grow, and the strength of redemption. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the floater in the toilet, Andrew Breitbart.  He must…..MUST…. become a target. a lesson, a poster child for what can no longer be tolerated from the ruthless, amoral right-wing in this nation.  Therefore the U.S. Department of Justice Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section must go after Andrew Breitbart.  Now!  There is no way not to know that he is guilty of defamation of Shirley Sherrod’s character.

This Sounds Like A Nightmare

Camping to me is a hotel without the weather channel.  So when I read this story today about weddings and such taking place out in the wild at camps I became aware once again of how lucky I am to have conventional friends.  I love the outdoors for hiking and biking and such, but there better be all the amenities of home after the outdoor fun is completed.  To shove my tux in a bag so I can sleep on a bunk before the wedding sounds dreadful. 

Sleep-away camps—where kids swim in chilly lakes, make macramé bracelets and aim their arrows at archery targets—are finding a new life in the off-season as the host of weddings, bar mitzvahs, 40th birthday parties and other events. Many facilities are remote and more rustic than what many people think of as their ideal weekend away. Guests can expect to sleep in bunk-beds, stow dresses and bowties in cubbies, and spray on bug spray instead of perfume.

“Most people have to figure out who they’re going to seat together. We have to decide who is going to sleep together,” says groom-to-be Mr. Young, who expects to have four couples in each cabin.

By the time 31-year-olds Sarah Regensdorf and Justin Greenbaum of Ft. Lauderdale, Fl., got engaged, they’d been to so many local weddings that Mr. Greenbaum wanted to plan something that would be new for their friends. The bride’s wish: Camp Highlander in the mountains of Mills River, N.C., where she had been a camper for several summers in middle school.

So this past May, their 130 guests were picked up at the airport in yellow camp buses, called to meals by a bell, slept in cabins, did Mad Libs, and divided into teams for color war. On the wedding day, adults signed up for activities like horseback riding. One man got stuck on the zip-line. Says Ms. Regensdorf, a real-estate agent, “I’m not sure it’s meant for 30-year-old men.”

Many of the couple’s friends initially balked at the idea of mosquitoes and mess halls. Through the grapevine, Ms. Regensdorf says she learned, “People were saying, ‘Are there going to be mirrors in the bathroom? How am I going to get ready?” she says.

Closing Arguments In Rod Blagojevich Trial Next Week

This is moving fast.  Too fast for those of us who enjoy cheap theatre.

The defense rested its case without calling a single witness. The prosecution also rested Wednesday morning, and closing arguments in a trial that had been expected to stretch through the summer will begin early next week.

The decision, which reverses defense attorney Sam Adam Jr.’s opening promise to jurors, means an early conclusion to a trial that has revealed years of high-level wheeling and dealing that the prosecution labels racketeering and the defense calls Illinois politics as usual — unsavory, perhaps, but hardly criminal.

Without his testimony and the lengthy cross examination that prosecutors have prepared, the fate of an impeached two-term governor will rise and fall almost entirely on the government’s unchallenged case against him.

Blagojevich’s attorneys said they were divided on the wisdom of their client testifying.

Sam Adam Sr., Blagojevich’s lead defense lawyer, told reporters Tuesday that the testimony was unnecessary because “the government hasn’t proven all the things they said they’d prove.”

He said his son, Sam Adam Jr., worried that the sudden switch would alienate jurors who had expected the defense team to make good on its promise to put Blagojevich — and his wife Patti — on the stand.

Audio Files Of William Faulkner, Two Addresses, Readings, Q And A

This is something one does not get to hear everyday.

Faulkner speaks! Fifty years after he spent two years as writer in residence at the University of Virginia, the school has posted online recordings of the two addresses, the dozen readings, and the 1,400 questions that students, faculty, and interested townspeople of Charlottesville, Va., posed to the author. For Faulkner fans, these 28 hours of talking and reading are Christmas in July.

A harder-nosed critic might argue that these recordings are nice, but do they really add that much to what we know about the books, which are, to be sure, the important things first and last? All I can say in response is that when it comes to one of America’s greatest writers, I want to know all I can about how he lived, what he wrote, and what he thought about it all. Listening to his voice on these recordings, listening to him think out loud, I learned a lot.

Here he was, talking freely about his work and his work habits. No one in that time and place would have thought to pry into his personal life, but I hardly noticed, because he was so forthcoming about his work. It was the first chance I’d ever had to hear how a writer thought about what he did. In Faulkner’s case, the lesson was simple and pure: he thought about his characters as though they were real. In his mind, and he seemed not the least bit coy or fanciful about this, he was not creating a world, he was reporting on it.

Everyone was polite. The students were respectful but not servile—the greatest evidence of their respect was how well prepared they were. For his part, Faulkner was unvaryingly courtly and treated every question, no matter how naive, with serious consideration. Even as a teenager, though, I recognized that there was more than a little ham in the man. I’d spent most of my life in classrooms at that age, and if I had any expertise under my belt, it lay in knowing how various teachers worked a room. I’d never seen anyone who could match Faulkner. He answered the questions he wanted to answer, no matter what had been asked. He maintained a thrilling balancing act, tacitly acknowledging that his achievement was real and significant (he’d won the Nobel by this time) but managing at the same time to suggest a deference in his answers. He spoke as a no-nonsense craftsman who took pride in his tools and an honest job of work, and if you wanted to call him a great artist or a genius, well, that was your business. It was quite a show.

Tammy Baldwin Remains On Ballot, GOP Should Be Embarrassed

There was little doubt that the hyper-politicized actions of the Republican Party, this time being carried out through the Young Republicans, would fail.  Still, the questions raised concerning Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and her nomination papers had to proceed through the normal process.  I might add that these questions have been raised and answered before.

Some are slow learners it appears.

This angers me because the Young Turks, err Republicans, knew full well why our Congresswoman uses the address she does for her nomination papers.  It is no secret that Tammy Baldwin is gay, and it is no secret that there are truly screwy people who wish gay people harm.  Especially high-profile elected gay people.  With that said there should have been no question raised as to why Baldwin uses her Washington office as her voting address.  Who would want to begrudge her a level of safety that we all would want for ourselves in our home?  Shame on whoever concocted this idea as it shows no class whatsoever.  What it does show is a depth of dirty politics that most people are disgusted by.

As with any frivolous lawsuit brought to court, I think the Republican Party should pay the cost of making the GAB conduct a vote on this matter.  Let them pay for the paperwork and copying involved.  Knowing full well why this matter was not a legitimate issue the GOP should be held accountable for wasting taxpayer’s money.   After all, is it not the GOP who complain about wasteful spending all the time?

If this action against Baldwin is the best that the current crop of GOP hopefuls have in the Second Congressional District it is going to be one very long and embarrassing election season for them.

The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board on Wednesday unanimously rejected a complaint filed by the Young Republicans of Dane County alleging that she wrongly listed her campaign office as her address on the papers instead of her voting address.  

State election officials have long allowed Baldwin, who is openly gay, to use her campaign office as her address since she’s received threats since first elected in 1998. 

Drunk Driver, Airborne Car, Death, Injury

Just another night of drinking in Wisconsin.

One person has died in a crash on Madison’s near East Side early Wednesday morning.  

University of Wisconsin police first attempted to stop a swerving car on West Johnson Street around 12:45 a.m. The car’s driver sped away and officers lost contact with the vehicle, according to the report.  

Police said the suspect’s vehicle then crashed into a parked car at the nearby intersection of Williamson and Ingersoll streets. The car became airborne, flipped on its roof and hit a second vehicle, according to police.  

The car’s driver was pronounced dead at the scene. A passenger in the car was taken to a local hospital and treated for injuries.  

Identities of those involved haven’t been released. Officials said alcohol appears to be a factor in this crash.