Mark Sanford (R-SC):

A guy from the northeast did a study on generational accounting. Generational accounting says what is the imputed tax for a young person born in America today? And remarkably, that number is 82,which at all ain’t that far from a thing called slavery.

Shorter Mark Sanford: When the South Carolina Supreme Court made me take the stimulus funds, I knew what it felt like to be torn from my family, sold into slavery, and beaten within an inch of my life.

Sanford Predict Stimulus Will Result in a ‘Thing Called Slavery’ [Think Progress]

Realizing, of course, that this comes from people who want English to be the official language:

On Saturday, Pat Buchanan hosted a conference to discuss how Republicans can regain a majority in America. During one discussion, panelists suggested supporting English-only initiatives as a prime way of attracting “working class white Democrats.” The discussion ridiculed Judge Sotomayor for the fact that she studied children’s classics to improve her grammar while attending college. The panelists also suggested that, without English as the official language, President Obama would force Americans to speak Spanish.

More GOP/Conservative FAIL after the jump.

Read more »

al Jazeera reports on behind-the-scenes Iranian clerical maneuvering:

Read more »

4:04 PM ET — Freeway overtaken by battle with the basij. Reported to be from today, near Azadi Square. It’s a bit difficult to tell what’s happening here but it seems that the basij are the smaller crowd on the right hand side, being confronted by the much larger crowd of demonstrators.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry_g_NL-dT0

From YouTube post:

Warning: May be extremely graphic I am submitting video from anonymous sources in Iran. Some video may or may not have been posted before.

Also, from Pitney:
Read more »

Presented without comment:

4:16 PM ET — “Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed.” A blog post in Persian, translated by the NIAC.

“I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I’m listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It’s worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them.

Read more »

Let’s forget the possibility that Senator John Ensign (R-NV) engaged in a second affair and turn our attention back to the first.  Cynthia Hampton’s husband, it turns out, wrote to Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly five days before Ensign ‘fessed up seemingly to ask her to bust Ensign.  He begins:

Here is my story. In December of 2007 in the midst of some very difficult personal issues that deeply impacted my family and marriage, Senator Ensign pursued and engaged in a relationship with my wife. Our families were lifelong friends, our children attend school together to this day, and our homes are in neighborhoods across from each other. My wife was the Senator’s campaign treasurer.

Interestingly:

Read more »