Another case of IOKIYAR?

Apparently it isn’t a crime to wish harm, or even death, upon Barack Obama or the entire city of San Fransisco.

Maybe Mark Dion should read the following article from Free Republic (I know, shoot me), in which a threat on president Bush was considered a crime.

Standish store owner won’t face any charges

Steve Collins has denied any knowledge of the sign seeking bets on Obama’s assassination, authorities say.

The owner of a Standish general store will not face any charges from local police or the Maine Attorney General’s Office for a sign posted in the store earlier this month that asked customers to bet on the timing of an assassination of President-elect Barack Obama, county and state officials said Friday.

Oak Hill General Store owner Steve Collins denied any knowledge of the sign when a Cumberland County sheriff’s deputy arrived to investigate a report of it on Nov. 7, Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion said Friday. The sign itself was nowhere to be found at that time, he said.

And, even if the sign had not been removed, posting it was not necessarily a crime, Dion said. ”It doesn’t appear that it was constituting a criminal threat or a terrorizing incident,” he said.

The sign invited customers to participate in an ”Osama Obama Shotgun Pool” and wager $1 on the date of Obama’s assassination, according to two journalists for The Associated Press who saw it while checking out a tip of its existence. At the bottom, the sign read: ”Let’s hope someone wins.”

Of course it is… IOKIYAR!

Republican nerve and gall knows no bounds. Regardless of how that three-judge panel rules, I’m damn sure no one else brought up on similar charges will get the Larry Craig, sainted republican, treatment.

Craig’s lawyer is also going to argue that, since no one else was witness to the foot tapping other than the arresting officer, there was actually no harm done. Really, how stupid is that? If your speeding down the interstate is only witnessed by the officer writing your ticket, does that mean we can tear that ticket up right there in the officer’s face?

Why doesn’t Craig just come right out and say that, by being a well-known republican, and has many times voted against pro-gay issues, that he should be immune to any punishment when found committing gay acts? Kinda like McCain. The man runs on a reform platform. Since he speaks out on corruption in politics, he is immune from committing those very same corrupt practices. I call it politically correct GOP hypocrisy.

Foot tapping protected by First Amendment, Craig’s lawyer says

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) – In an effort to persuade a three-judge panel to throw out Sen. Larry Craig’s guilty plea, his attorney suggested Wednesday that his foot tapping in an airport men’s room may have been protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

The Idaho Republican was arrested in the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport in June 2007, after an undercover police officer accused him of soliciting sex by using hand signals and tapping his foot in a bathroom stall.

Two months after his arrest, and without consulting a lawyer, Craig later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.

In addition to suggesting that First Amendment may be involved, Craig’s lawyer, Billy Martin, also argued before the Minnesota Court of Appeals panel that no one besides the arresting officer saw the hand signals and foot tapping, which would mean no one else was offended by the behavior and, thus, make the disorderly conduct charge invalid.

Those RedState idiots.

Of course it’s wrong. No different than when Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell did it. The only difference here is the grand hypocrisy of RedState staff and visitors.

(CNN) — Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Don Fowler apologized Sunday for recently joking Hurricane Gustav’s expected landfall on the same day as the opening of the Republican National Convention suggested God was on the Democrats’ side.

A YouTube video of the comments posted by the conservative blog RedState.org and showed Fowler joking with South Carolina Rep. John Spratt about the timing of the hurricane while on a flight from the Democratic National Convention back to South Carolina. The person who filmed the conversation is not identified.

“The hurricane is going to hit New Orleans about the time they start. The timing is, at least it appears now, it will be there Monday. That just demonstrates God is on our side,” Fowler said, while laughing. Fowler also told Spratt that “everything’s cool.”

Democrats are dumbfounded that the race is as close as it is? I’ll admit, in the beginning, I was too. But several points started to make themselves clear.

RACE: I think we underestimate the amount of racism still alive in the country. How a person feels inside, as opposed to what they’ll say when being questioned / polled are many times two entirely different things.

STUPIDITY: We’ve been barraged with the message “America is #1″ since birth. No matter what the subject, this was the case. Same for education. Well, truth is, it’s all been a lie. We really are a dumb country. We have dumb health care. We build dumb cars. And we certainly vote dumb.

EASILY SWAYED: This actually is a subset of “stupidity”. This is for those who can count backwards from ten, while standing on one foot and touching their nose… but still can be taken in by slick, negative advertising - such as the type McCain’s campaign has been churning out lately.

RELIGION: Last, but not least, religion. It plays a big role in politics. When election season rolls around you know it’s time for wedge issues to be discussed… to death. But religion has a conservative bias, which I find strange. One would think “bearing false witness against your neighbor” (as McCain and his band of merry rethuglicans have done, and are still doing, against Obama) and shitting on “the least amongst us” (this one is a no-brainer) would turn true believers away from the GOP. But, nope. I guess I missed that part in the Bible on sinning: IOKIYAR!

Sad thing is, many of you feel somewhat rested and relaxed that Obama does have a lead, even if a small one. You shouldn’t be. Have you forgotten the last two presidential elections? Do you remember how close they were? Did you forget that the underdog in both still managed (against all logical odds) to come out the winner in the end? Have you forgotten about our republican supreme court or our republican-built voting machines? Wake the hell up people!

Why White House race is a close call

You can’t keep a good man down.

That might be the simplest way to sum up John McCain’s campaign for the US presidency right now. He’s not winning, but he’s running stronger than anyone knows how to explain. [...]

CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser says the Democrats are “dumfounded [sic] that this election is closer than it should be, at least according to the national polls.”

So what’s happening?

Obviously, people like McCain personally in a way that has nothing to do with his party, his support for President Bush or the wars the president has been leading.

But also, think of the US election as a referendum on Obama that Obama isn’t winning. He’s doing well, but many Americans still won’t vote for him and McCain is the beneficiary.

Republican sex scandals abound. David Vitter… Larry Craig… Ted Haggard… Mark Foley… Bob Allen… the list goes on. Punishment? Are you joking??

I’m still waiting for republicans to apologize to Bill Clinton for the way they treated him over the Lewinsky scandal, and to American taxpayers for the millions they blew through funding the investigation.

But I won’t hold my breath. These bastards are the biggest bunch of in-your-face hypocrites to have ever roamed the planet.

Senator Vitter won’t testify in sex case

WASHINGTON - Sen. David Vitter will not have to testify about his ties to an upscale Washington escort service, a defense attorney said Monday, sparing the Louisiana Republican an embarrassing trip to the witness stand.

Vitter has been on notice for more than a week that he could have to appear during the prostitution trial of Deborah Palfrey. Palfrey’s attorney, Preston Burton, said he would rest his case Monday without calling Vitter or any other witnesses.

Vitter has acknowledged being involved with Palfrey’s escort service and has apologized for what he called “a very serious sin.” He has since avoided most follow-up questions.

Remember kids, IOKIYAR!

Well, he’s got that title up until he’s granted a full pardon, which Bush hasn’t ruled out. Why would he need one though? Does anyone seriously doubt Libby will go though suffering any repercussions of having that title? Others would! You and me, we’d be damn lucky to ever find employment. But with Libby’s high-end GOP friends, he’ll never be affected by it. He’ll get his pardon though. Bank on it!

“Another of Libby’s attorneys, William Jeffress, has said Libby deserves a pardon.”

Yes, he does. A republican committing perjury and obstruction is clearly protected under the “IOKIYAR” law.

Libby to Drop Appeal in CIA Leak Case

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby is no longer appealing his conviction in the CIA leak case, a tacit recognition that continuing his legal fight might only make things worse.

Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted of perjury and obstruction but President Bush commuted his 30-month prison sentence in July. Had Libby won a new trial, that commutation would be meaningless and Libby would again face potential prison time.

“We remain firmly convinced of Mr. Libby’s innocence,” attorney Theodore Wells said Monday. “However, the realities were, that after five years of government service by Mr. Libby and several years of defending against this case, the burden on Mr. Libby and his young family of continuing to pursue his complete vindication are too great to ask them to bear.”

Libby was convicted of lying and obstructing an investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity. He was the only person to face criminal charges in the case.

These people never cease to amaze me. Rush Limbaugh, not a defender of the ACLU, was all too glad to have the group come to his defense when it suited his needs. Now Craig is doing it. Standard IOKIAR (It’s OK If You-re A Republican) bullshit line of thinking.

But the in-your-face hypocrisy is only half the story. How does having the charges dropped on a free’speech technicality remove the stain of “gay bathroom sex” from Sen. Craig? Will the NASCAR crowd simply forget about it? I don’t think so.

Craig to claim sex sting arrest unconstitutional

ACLU agrees, says senator’s foot-tapping in stall was protected speech
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Idaho Sen. Larry Craig will argue before an appeals court that Minnesota’s disorderly conduct law is unconstitutional as it applies to his conviction in a bathroom sex sting, according to a new court filing.

This is the first time Craig’s attorneys have raised that issue. However, an earlier friend-of-the-court filing by the American Civil Liberties Union argued that Craig’s foot-tapping and hand gesture under a stall divider at the Minneapolis airport are protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech.

Craig has been trying to withdraw his August guilty plea to disorderly conduct. A judge turned him down earlier this month, and now Craig is taking his request to the state Court of Appeals. The conservative Republican at one point said he would resign from the U.S. Senate but now says he will finish his term, which ends in January 2009.

Associated Press

MSNBC.com