Lavoni Kidd was born in Kansas. A star athlete, he led the Idaho Vandals in rushing in 1995. By 2003, he had earned an overseas scholarship.

That’s when the Feds arrested him at Dulles Airport.

”I was made to sit in a small cell for hours and hours and hours buck naked,” he told the New York Times in 2004. ”I was treated worse than murderers.”

Kidd was held without charge for more than two weeks, through a series of high-security prisons. Even when he was released, he was ordered to live with his in-laws in Vegas, with his travel restricted to adjacent states. He was required to check in with probation officers. His passport was revoked.

Kidd would not enjoy the freedom of an American citizen again for thirteen months — when a judge granted his request to remove the remaining restrictions. By that time he was divorced, under the strain of the circumstances. And although he had never been charged with a crime, much less tried or convicted, Kidd found it hard to get a job.

Maybe being called a terrorist by the FBI director had something to do with it.

Oh, sorry, we left out something. Back in college, Lavoni Kidd had changed his name. To Abdullah al-Kidd.

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Joe Miller scores a twofer today:

“East Germany was very, very able to reduce the flow… Now, obviously, other things there were involved. We have the capacity to, as a great nation, obviously to secure our border. If East Germany could, we could.”

Really, all it takes is the right security detail.

Joe Miller On Securing The Border: ‘If East Germany Could, We Could’ [TPM]

“So that’s what we want is a secure and sovereign nation and, you know, I don’t know that all of you are Latino. Some of you look a little more Asian to me. I don’t know that. What we know, what we know about ourselves is that we are a melting pot in this country. My grandchildren are evidence of that. I’m evidence of that. I’ve been called the first Asian legislator in our Nevada State Assembly.” [Las Vegas Sun]

“Alaska Dispatch founder and editor Tony Hopfinger sits with his wrists in handcuffs after being arrested by Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller’s private security detail Oct. 17, 2010.”

That’s the caption from the Anchorage Daily News. We can’t improve on it.

Miller security guards handcuff journalist [ADN]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BCa8xw9yGY

Y’know, Jack, when you put it that way, mocking Christianity, worshiping Aqua Buddha, and ending federal “faith-based” initiatives almost earns Randy a Coveted Stinque Endorsement.

But wait, it gets weirder: In their debate Sunday night, Randy came back strong with, of all things, a Joseph Welch reference:

“Jack, you should be ashamed of yourself. Have you no decency? Have you no shame?”

Is Kentucky dyslexic? Because it looks from here like they have their D’s and R’s crossed.

Rand Paul To Jack Conway: ‘You Demean Kentucky’ [TPM]

Title: “Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever”

Author: Justin Bieber

Rank: 49

Blurb: “Justin tells the story of his amazing journey from small-town schoolboy to global superstar.”

Review: “There’s no way to accurately convey the inherent absurdity in reading a memoir written by someone who is only 16 years old. I’m reminded of this Friedrich Nietzsche quote: ‘Gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.'”

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We completely missed this a week ago, but the source image of the Vitter/Angle “Illegal Aliens” ad has been identified.

The photographer is Chris Floyd. He took the photo in Altar, Mexico. In 2006.

The men I met that morning in the Altar town square told me that they were farmers from the far south of Mexico and that that season’s crop had failed, leaving them with nothing to sell and no option, they felt, but to make the journey north to America to seek work. At the point that photograph was taken not one of them had ever set foot in America, and I have no idea if they ever did.

Floyd told the Washington Post he doesn’t know their names. Under the circumstances, they preferred to remain anonymous.

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