There are in politics, as well as in books, Unforgivable Curses.

On January 24, 1992, Ricky Ray Rector was executed in Arkansas.

By all accounts, Rector was a Bad Man. One night in 1981, he killed someone in a nightclub. He then shot a cop in the back. Finally, he shot himself in the head.

Alas, that last shot sort of missed. Rector was left alive, but brain-damaged. It was as that brain-damaged shell that Governor Bill Clinton made a point of executing him, just so primary voters would know he was “tough on crime.”

We’ve never forgiven Clinton for that. Whatever his successes, whatever his other high crimes, misdemeanors, and dry-cleaning bills, we’ve never forgiven Clinton for his capacity to fry a man in his pursuit of the presidency.

Read more »

“Until now she has declined to comment on whether the former housekeeper should be deported. But Wednesday, in an interview with Greta Van Susteren, Whitman answered the question head on. ‘Well, the answer is it breaks my heart, but she should be deported because she forged documents and she lied about her immigration status,’ Whitman said.” [LAT, via TPM]

Joe Sestak’s adorable little dog, and Joe Sestak’s adorable little dog’s shit, are inciting a riot among the wingnuts today. For the full experience, read these comments, and then watch the ad!

Gateway Pundit: “Sick. Joe Sestak Smears Dog Sh*t on Toomey in Attack Ad. The most offensive ad of the year.”

Townhall: “Pennsylvania’s Race Gets Dirty As Sestak Slings Feces”.

Read more »

“Calling all Iott Volunteers! Please join us for this very special pre-election rally with House Minority Leader, John Boehner. What a great way to start off our pre-election weekend. Please wear any Iott gear you may have!” [Iott campaign website, via The Atlantic]

Best.2010.Campaign.Ad.Evah.

Joe Manchin (D) has a new ad out for the West Virginia Senate race, and it trumps Carly’s demon sheep.

“We need 1,000 laser systems put in the sky, and we need it right now,” Raese is shown saying in the video clip.

Then in comes that John Williams Darth Vader theme music, images of people in storm trooper costumes on parade, and laser beams from the sky wiping out a public school, clean drinking water and a Social Security card. The final image: John Raese’s head on a storm trooper body, with laser beams raining down upon Earth in the background.

“John Raese’s ideas aren’t just crazy — they’re downright dangerous,” the announcer says.

[TPM]

It turns out that the Kentucky Rand Paul supporter who kicked the female Move On protester wasn’t the first old white guy to beat up on a young woman exercising her First Amendment rights. Turns out he was the second one to do so.

On October 15, Victor Phillips, 72, approached a group of five protesters standing outside the Walla Walla campaign offices of GOP senatorial candidate Dino Rossi. The group were wearing bags over their heads. He went up to one woman, aged 23, pulled the bag off of her head, and when she reflexively lifted her arm in self-defense, he hit her with “force,” according to the sheriff’s deputy who witnessed the entire incident and proceeded to arrest him for assault. According to TPM, Phillips told the police that he had wanted to “take a picture” of the woman.

[Tri-City Herald, via TPM]

Well, okay, not quite. More like field-testing:

Russian bears have grown so desperate after a scorching summer they have started digging up and eating corpses in municipal cemetries, alarmed officials said today. Bears’ traditional food — mushrooms, berries and the odd frog — has disappeared, they added.

Once offshore R&D is completed, the next phase will involve American cemeteries and Tea Party activists. Researchers hope that by ridding graveyards of their inhabitants, the chances of a Zombie Apocalypse will be greatly reduced. And with other species disappearing at an alarming rate, delicious McCorpses may be our only hope for survival.

Russian bears treat graveyards as ‘giant refrigerators’ [Guardian UK, via Yahoo]

More species slide to extinction [BBC]