A judge in Italy has ordered Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial in April on charges that he paid an underage girl for sex, and then abused his office by interfering in a police arrest of the young woman. The trial will be heard by a panel of three judges — all women.

[NPR: Berlusconi to Stand Trial in Prostitution Case]

Are you guys excited about budget season? I know I am. John Boehner, who helps run the government for Willy Wonka, is leading the charge against the President’s Budget Request. It’s like March Madness, except it lasts far longer and there is no real winner. With the President planning to cut the Budget by $1.1 trillion over the next ten years, the Republicans are angry, because they hate budget cuts.

No. That’s not it. They hate when the President does anything. And they especially hate it when he threatens to reduce  fuel subsidies and  money for the Department of Defense.  So, they do what they do, which is to be assholes and cut stuff people enjoy, like jobs and truth and America. What do they want to kill this year?

1:  Like I said, jobs:  Boehner: if “jobs are lost, so be it.” Remember during the campaign when the GOP candidates were all like, “Where are the jobs?   Where are the jobs?”  Apparently, they didn’t really give a shit.   Read more »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUERtAe73NI

Today is Day One of the Greatest Event to be at Madison Square Garden, to wit, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Tonight is the judging of the Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting, and Herding breeds. Tomorrow night is Sporting, Working, and Terrier breeds, and of course, Best in Show.  The poodle better not win.

I can’t decide who my all-time favorite Best in Show is. I was there when Josh the Newfie won, and who could forget Uno the Beagle?

[WKC Dog Show Info]

[Best in Show (movie)]

“Thousands of opposition supporters have clashed with security forces in the centre of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Police used tear gas and detained dozens rallying in solidarity with uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. There was one report of a death in Tehran.” [BBC]

We don’t know who Kevin McCullough is — “nationally syndicated host”, but who isn’t? — but with a Fox-hosted column entitled “Disrespectful Libertarians Hijack CPAC Poll”, this has to be good:

This year’s CPAC wasn’t about advancing conservatism. Rather, it exposed the radically disrespectful element of the libertine…

It is the libertarian in attendance that produced the free pornographic calendar passed out to attendees in 2010…

Libertarians and Conservatives are as different as Libertarians and Liberals. The truth is libertarians are the worst form of political affiliation in the nation. Combining the desire of economic greed, with the amoral desire to promote any behavior regardless of its cost to our culture is a stark departure from the intent of the Founding Fathers.

In case you haven’t guessed, Mr. McCullough is a knuckle-dragging mouth-breather social conservative. And while it’s easy to play up potential schisms on the Right — well, heck, why not?

Disrespectful Libertarians Hijack CPAC Poll — And Its Mission [Fox News]

“Shirley Sherrod, who was fired from her USDA job last year after Andrew Breitbart posted online an edited video of her, has filed a lawsuit for libel and slander against Breitbart in D.C. Superior Court… Breitbart was served with it this weekend, while attending the Conservative Political Action Conference.” [TPM]