We all knew, deep down, that this was coming for years.  So it’s down to gallows humor until the early-morning press release announcing the filing.

The choice of last meal might be interesting for the ghoulish among us.  A case of Castrol?  A premium fill-up at Shell?  Or perhaps they go off the board and request tickets to Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.  (Of course, the Penguins may not be around to force a Game 5, on evidence given thus far.  But, then again, neither will GM.)

Feel free to send GM off in style here.

At our childhood Lutheran church, the chapel was called the sanctuary:

George Tiller, the Wichita doctor who became a national lightning rod in the debate over abortion, was shot to death this morning as he walked into church services.

Tiller, 67, was shot just after 10 a.m. at Reformation Lutheran Church at 7601 E. 13th, where he was a member of the congregation.…

Protesters blockaded Tiller’s clinic during Operation Rescue’s “Summer of Mercy” protests during the summer of 1991, and Tiller was shot by Rachelle Shannon at his clinic in 1993.

A 51-year-old male suspect was arrested about three hours after the murder.

George Tiller shot to death at Wichita church [Wichita Eagle, continuously updated]

Photo: Friend of Dr. George Tiller places flowers outside of Reformation Lutheran Church. [Wichita Eagle]

Update: Last Tuesday, Operation Rescue posted a news release titled “Tiller Abortion Worker Honored at White House by Obama”:

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Democracy!

In a special election on May 19, voters rejected a batch of measures on increasing taxes, borrowing funds and reapportioning state money that were designed to close a multibillion-dollar budget gap. The cuts Mr. Schwarzenegger has proposed to make up the difference, if enacted by the Legislature, would turn California into a place that in some ways would be unrecognizable in modern America: poor children would have no health insurance, prisoners would be released by the thousands and state parks would be closed.

Sounds like GOP nirvana – except for the part about freeing prisoners.

Deep Cuts Threaten to Reshape California [NYT]

Title: 5 Principles for a Successful Life: From Our Family to Yours

Authors: Newt Gingrich and Jackie Gingrich Cushman

Rank: 1,749

Blurb: “In these pages, Newt Gingrich and his daughter Jackie Gingrich Cushman — with the help of prominent people they know and admire, such as Bill Clinton, Rush Limbaugh, Mary Matalin, and David Petraeus — show how, by following just five principles, you can live life to its fullest.”

Review: “Of particular intrigue is the discussion of how winners have to be great at failing.”

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Remember how we couldn’t find any immediate wingnut reaction to Mancow’s waterboarding? Well, thanks to Gawker insisting on taking the word of a publicist at face value, they’re all over it now.

This video is making its way around the lefty blogosphere.  I made it to 47 seconds.  Good luck.

When America does a big-budget TV show, you get something like Lost, or maybe CSI. But when the Brits do one, you get this: