Up, Up & Away

Sometimes the muse of poetic justice is in perfect alignment with the gods of comedy.

This is one of those times. In the wake of the Heller case, Gun Lover's Delight, the National Rifle Association didn't waste any time. A recent Georgia law allows concealed weapons to be carried in public places, which is in sync with the ruling just issues by the Heller court. The limits of the law are about to be tested, according to this article, Lawsuit filed over Atlanta airport barring guns:

The nation's busiest airport dueled with gun rights advocates Tuesday over whether a new Georgia state law allows visitors to carry firearms at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

City officials in charge of the airport declared it a "gun free zone" when the new law took effect Tuesday. Gun rights supporters, including a state legislator who helped pass the law, quickly filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the designation.

I think the only gun free zone that's going to be left after the NRA gets done is the grave. After all, why not airports:

The new state law allows people with a concealed weapons permit to carry guns into restaurants, state parks and on public transportation.

John Monroe, an attorney for the gun rights backers who filed the lawsuit, argued the Atlanta airport qualifies as public transportation. There are also restaurants in the terminal, which Monroe said should be accessible to gun-toting visitors under the new law.

Why not? If we're going to be supremely stupid about gun violence, lets go all the way.

I have to admit, this piece just made my day. The only thing better than this would be if there were a lawsuit to contest the ban on guns at the Supreme Court.

Mini Mia

Every once in a while, I like to update those stories that aren't resolved when originally reported. See e.g., Philly Fill-ins.

The Pantless Wonder, Roy Pearson, is one of those cases. See A Hole in His Pants. Of course, even though the situation is actually sad on many levels, that particular tale of a loony lawyer provides much mirth.

Another case I have followed, however, has no humorous elements. That is the case of Mia Sardella, the Drexel freshman accused of killing her infant son after he was discovered in the trunk of her car. Momma Mia.

There has been a dirth of news about the case, a matter that apparently has been noted by others as well. A smidgen of news was reported yesterday, Sardella in court as attorneys battle over documents:

Mia Sardella, accused in the January 2007 death of her newborn son, was in court Monday and will return July 21 as attorneys finalize the documents that must legally be turned over to the defense prior to trial.

The petite Sardella, 19, stood beside defense attorneys Arthur Donato and Jack Gruenstein as they attempted to thrash out with Deputy District Attorney Michael Galantino what, if any, documents are still outstanding.

Although the case was originally expected to go to trial in January of this year, apparently there is no scheduled trial date set at this point. Truthfully, I'd be surprised if this case ever goes to trial. I expect a plea agreement to be reached before then. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the sticking point is whether she gets credit for "time served," which in this case is electronic monitoring.

As I noted in Pretty Plea, this is truly a tragic situation. The issue for me is whether there has been favorable treatment granted to her because of her family. As I said then:

This brings me back to my original post on this case, which focused on the delays in charges being brought. See Different Strokes for Different Folks. Special treatment still seems to be the order of the day with the way this case is being handled from start to finish. Compare this, for example, with the 17 year old Georgia teen who served 2 years (out of a ten year sentence) for consensual sex with a 15 year old. Georgia Court Frees Man in Teen Sex Case.

As much as I decry that disparity in treatment, as I said in The Witness, in the end I still want to maintain a modicum of mercy towards Sardella. So the end result may not be something that I would object to. I guess I just wish that mercy would be shown to those who may not be as privileged as she. All too often, that's what's lacking -- from those who are fortunate enough to receive it themselves.

Cartoon of the Day

Mike Lester, Rome News Tribune

The Trustworthy Maverick

"You know, this election is about trust, and trusting people's word" McCain told a crowd of donors to his campaign. "And unfortunately, apparently, on several items, Sen. Obama's word cannot be trusted."

At a fundraiser in Kentucky, McCain said that voters should be wary of a presidential candidate who's word cannot be trusted, McCain: On Some Issues 'Obama’s Word Cannot Be Trusted'.
I couldn't agree more.

Via Crooks and Liars, is a list of the highlights of McCain's strongly held positions on the issues, as examples of the trusted maverick that he is:

• McCain was against the repeal of Roe v. Wade before he was for it.
• McCain was against torture before he was for it. Really for it.
• McCain was against crazy right-wing preachers like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson before he was for them.
• McCain was against Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy before he was for them.
• McCain was against shady Bush “Pioneer” Texas billionaire swift-boat financiers before he was for them.
• McCain was for the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law before he was against it and began breaking it.
• McCain was against Grover Norquist, whom he called “corrupt, a shill for dictators“ before he was for him.
• McCain was against BJU because of its “hateful,” “racist and cruel” policies before he was for it.
• McCain was against ethanol before he was for ethanol and then he was against it again.
• McCain was against a Martin Luther King holiday before he was for it. …

See Steve Benen of The Carpetbagger Report for more, It’s a delicate dance, and John McCain is ‘liable to break a hip’.

Yet why are the flips of Obama highlighted, while the ever growing changes in position by McCain all but ignored? Could it be the media's infatuation with McCain? Clearly, as between Clinton and Obama, the press preferred Obama. But they can't give up their first love -- John McCain. Now that the general election is upon us, McCain still wins the hearts of the media. The McLaughlin Group explored this issue on a recent show (video available at Crooks and Liars). Posing the question is the media smitten with McCain, several recent quotes from the media was highlighted:

Kind of like a Martin Luther [Chris Matthews - Hardball]

A man of unshakable character, willing to stand up for his convictions [R.W. Apple, NY Times]

An affable man of zealous, unbending beliefs [Richard Cohen, The Washington Post]

The hero who still does things his own way [Richard Cohen, The Washington Post]

Rises above the pack-eloquent, as only a prisoner of war can be [David Nyhan, The Boston Globe]

The perfect candidate to deal with what challenges we face as a country. [Mika Brzezinski, MSNBC]

Blunt, unyielding, deploying his principles, what he does do is what he’s always done, play it as straight as possible. [Terry Moran, Nightline]

Wordly-wise and witty, determined to follow the facts to the exclusion of ideology. [Michael Hirsh, Newsweek]

Willing to defy his own party and forge compromise. [Michael Hirsh, Newsweek]

Pragmatic in the service of the national interest, rises to passion when he believes that America’s best values are at stake. [Michael Hirsh, Newsweek]

The maverick candidate still. [Terry Moran, Nightline]

John McCain -- trusted maverick. He could do his own campagin ad just with those quotes.

(Cartoon via John Darkow, Columbia Daily Tribune)

Freedom Free Airlines

As I get ready to fly the unfriendly skies, heading home today after our jaunt to Miami for a few days of orientation at South Beach U for our daughter, this is certainly not the article I wanted to see. The US News & World Report, in Seizing Laptops and Cameras Without Cause, reports:

Returning from a vacation to Germany in February, freelance journalist Bill Hogan was selected for additional screening by customs officials at Dulles International Airport outside Washington. Agents searched his luggage, he said, "then they told me that they were impounding my laptop."

Shaken by the encounter, Hogan examined his bags and found the agents had also inspected the memory card from his camera. "It was fortunate that I didn't use [the laptop] for work," he said, "or I would have had to call up all my sources and tell them that the government had just seized their information." When customs offered to return the computer nearly two weeks later, Hogan had it shipped to his lawyer.

Although there are challenges that have been filed in court to this policy, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals case upheld the right of Customs and Border Protection to conduct searches without reasonable suspicion. Laptop Searches in Airports Draw Fire at Senate Hearing, so I'm not very optimistic.

John Dean also wrote about these issues recently, see Airline Passengers, Beware The Government Does Not Protect Your Rights When You Fly, As a Recent Federal Appellate Decision Attests and Why Congress Must Act to Protect Air Passengers A Lawsuit Brought by Passengers Trapped on the Tarmac Without Basic Necessities.

I've mentioned ad infinitum that I hate to fly, see e.g., Fear of Flying. However, it seems that the indignities only grow as time goes on. People grouse, yet acquiesce to the searches, seizures and dehumanization inflicted on us at airports. Of course, the reality is that we have not choice -- express an objection and security is alerted, leading to a detention, if not arrest. Emboldened, the government and TSA go further, ensuring that we have no privacy or any other rights if we dare decide to board an airplane.

The latest outrage is particularly troubling to me, because my laptop contains client information. That raises issues of attorney-client privilege, which would require me to try to stop the seizure and possible viewing of this information. I can just imagine my objecting to some security person trying to take my laptop and my ending up being taken away in handcuffs. I guess I just have to keep my fingers crossed that I'm not one of the (un)lucky ones.

On another note, luckily lightening didn't strike when I went into the campus chapel for one of the parent's sessions at the University.

Cartoon of the Day

Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News

South Beach U

Our daughter graduated a few weeks ago, The Graduate, and as I mentioned, she's going to college in Miami. I call it South Beach U.

We visited the school, among others, over spring break, The Whirlwind Tour, and all liked the place. What's not to like about going to college a few miles from South Beach?

The school is having its orientation program this week, so that the students can register for classes, meet their adviser, etc. and get a feel for the place. We're along for the ride. We'll also visit my brother, who lives in Delray Beach.

Believe it or not, the weather is reported to be hotter in Philly than Miami over the next few days. So, we're headed south for cooler climes. And a bit of beach time.

Gun Lover's Delight

As expected, the Supreme Court decided that the right to bear arms is an individual right and, in so doing, the Court struck down as unconstitutional the DC gun ban in the Heller case. As the Washington Post reported, Supreme Court says Americans have right to guns:

The Supreme Court says Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting, the justices' first major pronouncement on gun rights in U.S. history.

The court's 5-4 ruling strikes down the District of Columbia's 32-year-old ban on handguns as incompatible with gun rights under the Second Amendment. The decision goes further than even the Bush administration wanted, but probably leaves most firearms laws intact. (Emphasis added).

So the Court went further than the Administration even wanted. Justice Scalia wrote the opinion. It's a res ipsa loquitor, if I ever heard one.

And there's one more touch I just love. As SCOTUSblog observes, in A constitutional right to a gun:

Justice Antonin Scalia’s opinion for the majority stressed that the Court was not casting doubt on long-standing bans on gun possession by felons or the mentally retarded, or laws barring guns from schools or government buildings, or laws putting conditions on gun sales.

So, no guns in the courthouse. Big surprise. See Guns in the (Court)House. So, it's OK for shoot 'em ups on the city streets, but we have to make sure Scalia is safe.

The Elitist

“Even if you never met him, you know this guy. He’s the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by.”

When I first heard this quote, my first thought was that it sounded a bit like it was describing George Bush. With a few minor changes, of course. Make it a double Martini. He's slightly sloshed already, so he's leaning against the wall and his snide comments are slurred. Finally, scratch the beautiful date. Instead, it's some horsey-faced debutante, who got fixed up with him by two monied families hoping for a merger.

And the minute I dissed her, Maureen Dowd echoes my sentiments in her recent column, More Phony Myths (and not surprisingly, I enjoy her more when she's mocking Republicans). Of course, the quote was by Karl Rove and it was referring to Barack Obama. As Dowd said:

The cheap populism is really rich coming from Karl Rove.

* * * *

Obama can be aloof and dismissive at times, and he’s certainly self-regarding, carrying the aura of the Ivy faculty club. But isn’t that better than the aura of the country clubs that tried to keep out blacks? It’s ironic, and maybe inevitable, that the first African-American nominee comes across as a prince of privilege. He is, as Leon Wieseltier of The New Republic wrote, not the seed but the flower of the civil rights movement.

Unlike W., Obama doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder and he doesn’t make a lot of snarky remarks. He tries to stay on a positive keel and see things from the other person’s point of view.

He’s not Richie Rich, saved time and again by Daddy’s influence and Daddy’s friends, the one who got waved into Yale and Harvard and cushy business deals, who drank too much and snickered at the intellectuals and gave them snide nicknames.

Shaun Mullen calls Rove the Lee Atwater knockoff. I think he just shoots off these little nastygrams into the media to see what sticks. Of course, Liberals and others alike have been puzzling over the "country club" tag, since Bush is certainly the true county club denizen, while the reality is that Obama wouldn't be admitted to most country clubs, even if he tried.

And best of all, Jake Tapper of Political Punch continues the country club metaphor a bit further, pondering:

But the picture Rove paints is interesting. Who, pray tell, is Rove at this country club?

The guy telling funny stories near the band?

The charming president of the club's philanthropic arm?

The brainy guy with all the sports scores?

Or the guy who vandalizes your car and blames it on the kitchen staff?"

Countdown's Keith Olbermann has to have his say on the issue as well:



The GOP has tried for years to make the word "elitist" a slur for intelligent and has managed to erase the connotation of the word, which traditionally means someone of an elite social class or financial status. However, as Jon Stewart said not so long ago, having someone who is "elite" or superior as President is not a bad thing. See Elitist, Everlasting or Explosive?.

Finally, a TPM reader suggests that the intent was to focus on the "beautiful date" line, which certainly wasn't Michelle in Rove's mind. Rather, it was the kind of woman who frequents a country club -- a beautiful white woman. Where Will the Republicans Go?. That image will certainly have its intended effect among a particular segment of the population -- those who haven't quite taken to that whole interracial dating thing, you know?

This goes along with the recent comments by Washington Post reporter Josh Weisman, who observed that Obama is much more "white than black, beyond his skin color," based upon his upbringing. See Reporter labels Obama ‘much more white than black’.

If he's not a radical black muslim, he's a (sorta) white elitist. Either way, is that someone we'd be comfortable with in the White House?

UPDATE (6/30): Arrogant is the new uppity. But of course. Silly me, why didn't I think of this?

John Ridley of The Huffington Post explains the new Code word for Uppity in When Rove Calls Obama Arrogant, He Means "Uppity":

Arrogant, of course, is a euphemism. In the monochromatic bunkers from which old-schoolers cling to power the true word they use is 'uppity' when hurled at blacks. It's the 'B-word' for women. I'm not sure what the Rovian ilk use for the Latinos and Asian-Americans who dare claim their due, but I'm sure it's equally as derisive and wielded with sick pleasure.

It's Downright Orwellian

George Orwell
Born this day in 1903

“Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.”

See also, GOP: George Orwell's Prophecy


(Image of orwell via Krakit)

Return of Scrunchy

Well, good news on the case of the missing cat. The other day, I wrote that our cat hadn't come home for several days, which was unlike him. Above all, he hates to miss a meal.

Last night, Scrunchy showed up after a 5 day vacation.

My husband was taking the garbage out around 11 pm & heard a cat meowing inside our neighbor's garage, which sounded suspiciously like Scrunchy. The door was locked, so we called our neighbors. We could hear him meowing and when they opened the doors, he disappeared.

Either the noise of the garage doors opening or the fact that there were strangers around must have scared him. I even left some food by the door, but he wouldn't come out. He must have run up the stairs of the garage and hid behind some stuff for a while, but I finally coaxed him out. He ate his meal & I brought him home. He looks fine, but maybe a little thinner.

We're not sure how long he was inside the garage. Our neighbors have been doing yard work, so they've been in and out of the garage over the past few days. He snuck in at some point, but we don't think he could have been in there the whole time, since his voice was strong and he doesn't look like he's starving. He's not giving details of the rest of his vacation.

Of course, he's now downstairs howling to be left out.

Cartoon of the Day

John Sherffius, Daily Camera

MoDo has no MoJo

In the waning days of the Clinton campaign, and thereafter, Hillary and her supporters claimed that sexism was a big part of the reason for her loss.

I've said before that I don't disagree that sexism was prevalent during the coverage of the campaign, as was subtle racism, but I don't think it was the reason that she lost. See Oh, Dear Me. In part, I believe it's because a racist is much less likely to vote for a black person than a sexist is for a woman. Someone can believe a woman is shrill -- or even a bitch -- and still end up casting a ballot for that person (they may even think it's a good quality for a president). Not so for someone who hates black people. The Washington Post carried 2 articles on Sunday discussing race and the election. See Hate Groups' Newest Target and 3 in 10 Americans Admit to Race Bias.

It was interesting to see in the aftermath navel gazing of the media over its role in sexist reporting that the NYTimes is faulting its own coverage of the Clinton campaign, by chastising Maureen Dowd's treatment of Hillary in her columns, Times Public Editor Hammers Maureen Dowd's Coverage Of Hillary. As Digby said, her gender stereotypical references have long been a part of her modus operandi. Twisted Modo.

In fact, I stopped reading Maureen Dowd over her coverage of Hillary Clinton, because I thought it was so vile and horrific that it crossed the line from biting sarcasm to personal attack. Of course, I also attributed it to part of her extreme form of Clinton hater disease. She, of course, has skewered George Bush often enough, much to my delight. See, e.g., 'White House Wives'. However, I can't help feel that the extremely nasty tenor of her Clinton attacks was somehow personal. Being caddy myself, I thought that perhaps her personal venom was a result of her having been rejected by Bill.

I suppose that opens me to a claim of being sexist, but sometimes it's just worth it.

Cartoon of the Day

Adam Zyglis, Buffalo News

Good-bye George

George Carlin -- the curmudgeon comedian has died.

For more Carlin clips, see The Good George.

I'm Off to Catland

It looks like our cat Scrunchy has left us, since he's been missing for several days.

As I noted in comments at KIKO'S HOUSE, he went missing last year for a few days and then turned up none the worse for wear, demanding his meal. But he's been gone for over 3 days, so I'm beginning to think we may not see him again. He loves to wander the neighborhood, but he always comes back in the morning and early evening for his meals. When we pull in the driveway after work, he's often waiting for us under the gazebo.

He doesn't usually wander off too far from the house (so as to not miss a meal) and my husband and I have checked around the neighborhood looking for him, but no sign of Scrunchy. Our daughter just got back from a week-end at the shore, so she doesn't know & we don't have the heart to tell her. Especially in nice weather, Scrunchy usually eats & runs, so the fact that he wasn't here when she came home last night wasn't unusual.

The above is a picture of Scrunchy shortly after he arrived at our house in April of 1998. This is a more recent shot. Unlike me, he's not into political news.


See also It's Time to Go

Cartoon of the Day

Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal Constitution

You've Changed

I promise that this will be my last post bemoaning the passage of the FISA Amendments by the House on Friday (at least until next week when the Senate acts to make this bill a law), but the issue is so important that I can't just let it go.

Here's Keith Olbermann's take on the issue, joined by John Dean of Nixon fame. Who better than Dean should know the "if I say it's the law, it is" theory of governance.

And Barack Obama has officially joined the ranks of those politicians without a soul. For me, the moment for McCain was when he voted against the ban on torture, for Hillary Clinton it was when she used race as a wedge issue in the campaign. And this weasel move by Obama is yet another of those moments.

Now that the primary election is over, he can afford to betray the progressive and liberals, since they have no where else to go. As Paul Kane of the Washington Post puts it, Obama Supports FISA Legislation, Angering Left:

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) today announced his support for a sweeping intelligence surveillance law that has been heavily denounced by the liberal activists who have fueled the financial engines of his presidential campaign.

In his most substantive break with the Democratic Party's base since becoming the presumptive nominee, Obama declared he will support the bill when it comes to a Senate vote, likely next week, despite misgivings about legal provisions for telecommunications corporations that cooperated with the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program of suspected terrorists.

In so doing, Obama sought to walk the fine political line between GOP accusations that he is weak on foreign policy -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called passing the legislation a "vital national security matter" -- and alienating his base.

In his discussion on Countdown, John Dean defends Obama, saying that Obama pledged an investigation into criminal conduct of spying on citizens and that this bill does not immunize criminal conduct, only private litigation for violation of the law. He suggests that perhaps Obama plans to reserve that right to go after the Administration and telecoms even with the passage of this law.

Would that it were true, but I'm certainly not counting on it. Obama is much too much of a moderate to take on such a battle.