Maybe if we start signing our posts “Dick Sweat”, we’ll get some love around here.

The Daily Show Picks on Blogs, Too! [Gawker]

On Tuesday, he was a pawnbroker.  On Wednesday, he was the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois.  On Thursday, he’s dead meat.

Ladies and gentlemen: Scott Lee Cohen!

The newly minted Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor said Wednesday that he doesn’t think a 2005 domestic battery arrest should hurt the party’s chances in the fall general election, although records in the case raise questions about his version of events.

Scott Lee Cohen, a pawnbroker who poured millions of dollars into his surprise victory in the little-publicized contest among half a dozen candidates, had previously disclosed the arrest. He described it Wednesday as an argument with his drunken girlfriend and said he didn’t lay a hand on her, though she called the police and had him taken into custody.

But the official police and court records on the October 2005 incident show the woman alleged Cohen put a knife to her throat and pushed her head against the wall. Public records show that the woman, his 24-year-old girlfriend at the time, pleaded guilty to prostitution that same month.

The misdemeanor charges against Cohen were later dropped when the woman did not show up in court. Through a spokesman, Cohen on Wednesday denied the woman’s allegations that he physically assaulted her and used a knife.

Proving, once again, that Illinois voters know how to pick winners.

Oh, and he’s not dropping out.  Joy.

Number of words used by Sarah Palin’s ghostwriter on her Facebook page to denounce Rahm Emanuel for saying “fucking retarded” in a private meeting: 390

Number of words used by Sarah Palin’s spokesbot in an email to denounce Rush Limbaugh for repeatedly saying “retards” to his audience of millions: 15

Palin Camp Rips Limbaugh, Hits His “Retard” Comment As “Crude And Demeaning” [Plum Line]

Fearing he might be smeared by liberals as possessing common decency, Orrin Hatch is walking back comments that suggested he supports the right of citizens to defend their country:

“It’s deeply regrettable that liberal groups are misconstruing my position on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ for activist purposes. I certainly do not support repealing this policy,” Hatch’s statement on Thursday said.

But a day earlier, MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell asked Hatch in a live interview about repealing the policy…

“I believe there are very outstanding, patriotic gay people who serve in the military and they ought to be given credit for it. And they shouldn’t have to lie about being gay,” Hatch said.

Added Hatch, “I just plain do not believe in prejudice of any kind.” Unless the wrong people applaud him for it, of course.

Hatch creates uproar on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ [Deseret News, via ThinkProgress]

We think this clears things up, but somehow we remain confused:

The Culpeper County school superintendent said Monday that the school system had never formally removed a version of Anne Frank’s diary from classrooms following a parental complaint that some passages were objectionable.

Of course, that was how the local rag originally reported it: “school officials immediately chose to pull this version and use an alternative copy.” No formality required!

Read more »

Judson Phillips, whose for-profit Tea Party Convention begins today, demonstrates how his acute grasp of math will soak his event in red ink, understating the Bush Deficit by a mere trillion dollars.

Tea Party profiteer downplays Bush’s fiscal mess before throwing him under the bus [ThinkProgress]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh0IMFsPYLs

We suppose it speaks well of the Republic that Jon Stewart and Bill O’Reilly can have a civil televised discussion, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t have preferred a Crossfire/Cramer takedown.

Read more »