TSA

Scandals Of Orlando's Air Marshal's Office: Racist Games, Rampant Discrimination And Love For W.

Rachel Slajda | July 23, 2010, 6:10PM

The Federal Air Marshal office in Orlando has been plagued with scandal over the past few years, most famously for a Jeopardy-style game supervisors played with derogatory categories for African-Americans and people they thought were gay.

With the special agent in charge of the office, Bill Reese, announcing his retirement this week -- presumably due to allegations of discrimination and impropriety, although TSA officials say it's because of personal reasons -- we thought we'd recap some of what's allegedly been going in the office.

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John Ensign

Coburn Turns Over Emails To Feds Investigating Ensign Scandal

Ben Frumin | July 23, 2010, 5:29PM

Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) and Senator John Ensign (R-NV)

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) -- who acknowledged last year that he acted as an "intermediary" between Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) and Doug Hampton, the man with whose wife the Nevada senator had an affair -- has turned over emails to the feds who are investigating Ensign's affair, Politico reports.

Coburn and Ensign were roommates at a Christian house on C Street at the time of the affair.

Coburn didn't tell Politico what's contained in the emails -- but said "there weren't many."

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House Ethics Committee

Rangel At Press Conference: 'My Lawyers Are Gonna Kill Me'

Rachel Slajda | July 23, 2010, 2:52PM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) held a press conference today in his Harlem office to mostly brush off reporters' questions about the ethics allegations against him.

"My lawyers are gonna kill me," he began, "because they say the best thing in my best interest is not to make any comment. ... I don't know how to say no comment."

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Warren Evans

Detroit Police Chief Undone By The Lure Of Reality TV (VIDEO)

Eric Lach | July 23, 2010, 2:18PM

Fmr. Detroit Police Chief Warren Evans

Detroit Police Chief Warren Evans was forced to resign Wednesday, the same day that a local news station aired a slick six-minute video Evans made to pitch a reality TV show called The Chief, starring himself. Evans' ouster, and the public release of the video, ends a weeks-long story that began in tragedy but culminated in something closer to farce.

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Neil Armstrong

Customs Officer Charged With Stealing Neil Armstrong's Signature

Rachel Slajda | July 23, 2010, 2:08PM

Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11 astronaut

In one small theft for man, a customs officer has been charged with stealing a customs form signed by astronaut Neil Armstrong and trying to sell it at auction.

The Customs and Border Patrol tech, 50-year-old Thomas Chapman, allegedly helped Armstrong with his bags when the astronaut went through customs at Boston's Logan Airport in March. He then took the declaration form, signed by Armstrong, and, instead of filing it, took it home.

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Charles Rangel

Rangel, Asked If He's Worried About Losing His Job: 'That's A Dumb Question' (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | July 23, 2010, 10:09AM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

The House ethics committee announced yesterday that it will charge Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) with unnamed ethics violations. The step to form an adjudicatory subcommittee to try Rangel is a rare step, one last used eight years ago in the case of former Rep. Jim Traficant (D-OH), who was then expelled from the House.

But Rangel isn't worried.

Asked by MSNBC's Luke Russert if he's worried about losing his job, Rangel got defensive.

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Andrew Breitbart

Breitbart: I Was Targeting The NAACP. Honest!

Rachel Slajda | July 23, 2010, 9:19AM

Andrew Breitbart

After we reported yesterday that the Shirley Sherrod scandal came the same week as the Senate may vote on authorizing $1.15 billion in restitution for black farmers, Andrew Breitbart wrote us that that had nothing to do with it.

"No. Seriously. On everything I hold dear," Breitbart swore in an email to TPMmuckraker. As he has since the full-length video of Sherrod's speech came out, sparking a backlash against him, Breitbart reiterated that none of this was ever about Sherrod personally.

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Muslims

Mosque Trial Team: More Tales From The Anti-Muslim Front Lines

Evan McMorris-Santoro | July 23, 2010, 8:48AM

A mosque in Detroit (protesters decrying a planned Islamic community center and mosque near ground zero in New York inset).

Earlier this week, we delved into the growing anti-Muslim sentiment from conservatives -- often taking the form of outraged opposition to the construction of new mosques and Islamic cultural centers around the country. We offered three examples -- the vitriol aimed cultural centers set to be built in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Riverside County, California, and, of course, New York City -- to show that the real problem conservatives have with new buildings for Muslims to worship in isn't their proximity Ground Zero, but the very idea of new mosques themselves.

In the following days, reader emails poured in offering more examples of anti-mosque protests in all corners of the country. What's particularly interesting is it's not just new mosque construction that angers the right -- even the idea of Muslims reusing existing, non-mosque-looking buildings seems to be a step too far for many Americans.

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Fox News

Fox News: 'Big Mexican Women' Are Helping Afghan Soldiers Go AWOL In U.S.!

Eric Lach | July 23, 2010, 8:32AM

So some Afghan soldiers studying English at an Air Force Base in Texas and a "loose network" of possibly illegal and maybe overweight Mexican women walk into a bar. Stop me if you've heard this one.

(And if you have, you've been reading FoxNews.com.)

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Alvin Greene

Alvin Greene's Military Records: A 'Threat To Others' Who Was 'Unable To Express Thoughts Clearly'

Jillian Rayfield | July 22, 2010, 5:06PM

Alvin Greene

Not much is known about surprise Democratic South Carolina Senate nominee Alvin Greene, but military records obtained by the Associated Press provide some insight into Greene's honorable discharge from the Air Force in 2005.

A performance review describes Greene as "unable to express thoughts clearly," and
"not able to adapt to any changes to daily routine."

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Charles Rangel

Rangel Charged With Ethics Violation

Rachel Slajda | July 22, 2010, 4:55PM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) has been charged with ethics violations, the House ethics panel announced today.

The committee did not announce the specifics of the violations.

The panel has reportedly been investigating Rangel for the four rent-controlled apartments he rents in Harlem and his fundraising efforts for a City College of New York educational center named in his honor.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

In 1940s, Military Surveyed Troops' Feelings About Jews, Segregation

Rachel Slajda | July 22, 2010, 3:38PM

Troops in Afghanistan in 2003

Decades before the Don't Ask, Don't Tell survey, the military asked troops how they felt about two other groups of people: African-Americans and Jews.

The Advocate first reported that before President Truman integrated the military in 1948, the Pentagon conducted some surveys of servicemembers.

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Chris Ward

$500K Embezzlement Settlement Gives NRCC Fundraising Edge For June

Rachel Slajda | July 22, 2010, 12:08PM

Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), former chair of the NRCC

The National Republican Congressional Committee, which raises money to help put GOP butts in House seats, sent an email this week bragging in big red letters that it outraised its Democratic counterpart for the month of June.

The NRCC raised about $9.15 million and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee came in a close second with around $9.02 million. The difference: $138,000.

The thing that put the NRCC over the top? A $500,000 settlement from the NRCC's insurance company, stemming from the years-long bilking of the NRCC by its former treasurer, Chris Ward.

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Newt Gingrich

Gingrich On Ground Zero Mosque: We Should Be More Like Saudi Arabia

Jillian Rayfield | July 22, 2010, 9:37AM

Newt Gingrich

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is the latest to weigh in on the controversial plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero, posting a statement on his website yesterday laying out this ultimatum: "There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia."

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Shirley Sherrod

Sherrod: 'I Really Think I Should' Sue Breitbart (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | July 22, 2010, 9:01AM

Former USDA official Shirley Sherrod

Shirley Sherrod said this morning on CNN that she would like to "get back at" Andrew Breitbart.

Asked if she would consider a defamation suit against Breibart, the conservative blogger who posted the edited clip that got her fired, she said, "I really think I should."

"I don't know a lot about the legal profession but that's one person I'd like to get back at, because he came at me. He didn't go after the NAACP; he came at me," she went on.

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Race

Conservatives Try To Bash USDA Anti-Racism Suit, Shirley Sherrod

Rachel Slajda | July 22, 2010, 8:51AM

Members of the National Black Farmers Association march outside the USDA in 2002.

In defending his decision to fire Shirley Sherrod, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack explained multiple times that his department has a "sordid" and "checkered" history of both overt and institutionalized racism. But with the term "racism" being tossed around rather a lot recently, it is important to understand both what he meant -- and what role that acknowledged racism played in Shirley Sherrod's life.

It's also important to understand that Andrew Breitbart's timing of the release of the grossly distorted video of Sherrod, which he admits having had for weeks, may not be entirely random. Congress will soon vote on whether to fund part of a settlement between the USDA and African-American farmers who faced acknowledged discrimination -- farmers like Sherrod and her husband used to be. It's a tiny piece of the upcoming war supplemental bill.

The USDA settlements with African-American farmers are a longtime bête noire of the right, which they deem a giveaway to a core Democratic constituency. It's not clear whether Brietbart's release of the video was specifically intended to hurt the chances of other African-America farmers to receive recompense from decades of discrimination that caused them to lose their farms, but conservatives immediately used the video to attack the settlement. The discrimination claims, known globally as the Pigford settlement, is the elephant in the room, so here's the background.

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Shirley Sherrod

Vilsack Moves Into Full Damage-Control Mode After Sherrod Debacle (VIDEO)

Megan Carpentier | July 21, 2010, 4:57PM

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack

In the wake of the Shirley Sherrod debacle, and his Keystone Kops-eqsue role in it, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack shifted into a full damage-control mode this afternoon. He reportedly called Shirley Sherrod to offer her back her job (she was, at publication time, still considering), held a press conference at the Agriculture Department at which he offered her a public apology and prepared to follow it up with a reported confab with the Congressional Black Caucus.

So much for limiting the fall-out from the Breitbart video.

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Tides Foundation

Organization Targeted By Anti-Gov't CA Shooting Suspect Was Frequent Topic On Glenn Beck's Show (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | July 21, 2010, 4:40PM

TV host Glenn Beck.

The Tides Foundation, which prosecutors in California say was among the targets of the anti-government unemployed carpenter Byron Williams before he got into a chaotic shootout with several law enforcement officers Sunday, is also a favorite topic of Fox News host Glenn Beck.

Beginning in 2009 (and as recently as last week), Beck has repeatedly included the group -- along with ACORN, the SEIU and George Soros -- in his cabal of liberals and liberal organizations that are supposedly agents of President Obama's plan to spread Marxist and socialist ideas throughout the United States.

Of course, that doesn't mean that Beck necessarily inspired or influenced Williams' alleged plan to attack the Tides Foundation. But the group has been something of a whipping boy for Beck over the last year.

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U.S. Attorneys

AP: Case Closed In U.S. Attorney Firings With No Charges

Rachel Slajda | July 21, 2010, 3:21PM

Fmr. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

The AP is reporting that the Department of Justice has closed its investigation into the U.S. attorney firings and will not file any charges.

The Bush Administration spent several years fighting allegations that it had fired several U.S. attorneys for politically motivated reasons, and then ignoring subpoenas by Congress to testify about the firings. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigned because of the scandal.

You can find past TPMmuckraker coverage of the scandal here and here, and a timeline here.

Shirley Sherrod

Gibbs Apologizes To Sherrod; She May Get Her Job Back (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | July 21, 2010, 3:01PM

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs today offered an apology to Shirley Sherrod on behalf of the Obama administration.

He said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is trying to reach Sherrod as well, to offer his own apology and to "talk about their next steps."

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Rod Blagojevich

Defense Rests In Blagojevich Trial, Calls No Witnesses

Eric Lach | July 21, 2010, 12:37PM

Former IL Gov. Rod Blagojevich

In the end, America's loudest disgraced ex-governor stayed silent. The defense rested its case in Rod Blagojevich's corruption trial today, without putting a single witness on the stand.

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Shirley Sherrod

Breitbart Feels Sorry For Shirley Sherrod (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | July 21, 2010, 11:52AM

Andrew Breitbart

Andrew Breitbart, who posted the clip of USDA official Shirley Sherrod that got her fired, said today that he feels sorry for Sherrod.

"I feel bad that they made this about her, and I feel sorry that they made this about her," he told MSNBC. "Watching how they've misconstrued, how the media has misconstrued the intention behind this, I do feel a sympathy for her plight."

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Byron Williams

Prosecutors: Anti-Gov't Shooting Suspect In CA Wanted To 'Start A Revolution,' Targeted ACLU

Jillian Rayfield | July 21, 2010, 10:56AM

Bryon Williams was in a shootout with police in Oakland, California.

Anti-government shooting suspect Byron Williams has been charged with allegedly opening fire on police officers on Interstate 580 in Oakland, California, while on his way to "start a revolution" by attacking members of the ACLU.

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Shirley Sherrod

Vilsack Reconsidering On Sherrod, But Does She Even Want Her Job Back?

Rachel Slajda | July 21, 2010, 9:14AM

Former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod

In a statement sent at 2 a.m. today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack backed off his previous statements defending the forced resignation of Georgia rural development director Shirley Sherrod and said he's willing to reconsider.

"I am of course willing and will conduct a thorough review and consider additional facts to ensure to the American people we are providing services in a fair and equitable manner," Vilsack said.

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Bush Administration

Former Bush Official May Just Get Probation In Geeks On Call Case

Jillian Rayfield | July 21, 2010, 9:00AM

Former U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch

Scott Bloch, former U.S. Special Counsel in the Bush Administration, is facing a possible probation sentence this week after pleading guilty in April to misdemeanor contempt of Congress. Bloch is on trial in connection with his use of Geeks On Call to scrub his computer while he was under investigation for misusing his office.

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Shirley Sherrod

WATCH: Full Video Of Sherrod's Speech

Rachel Slajda | July 20, 2010, 7:40PM

Former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod

The NAACP just posted the full video of Shirley Sherrod's speech in front of the Coffee County NAACP this past March.

The relevant part starts about 16 minutes in. Sherrod is talking about how her father was killed by a white man when she was 17; that night, she says, she made a commitment to stay in the South and work toward change.

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Robert Blagojevich

Today's Moment Of Blago: When Gov't And Fundraising 'Bleed Over'

Eric Lach | July 20, 2010, 6:54PM

Former IL Gov. Rod Blagojevich

Today featured the prosecution's cross-examination of Rod Blagojevich's brother Robert -- and ended with the ex-governor's lawyers saying their client may not take the stand after all. After all this build up, could Blago sit silently through his trial? What happened?

Blagojevich's lawyers say they don't think the prosecutors have proven their case. But The Chicago Sun-Times suggests keeping Rod off the stand may have something to do with Robert's performance during cross examination. "In just the first 10 minutes of cross-examination Monday, Robert Blagojevich, who had overseen the Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund, found himself contradicting his own statements and having to explain a secretly recorded and previously unheard conversation." Today's Moment of Blago comes from Robert, and via the Sun-Times.

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Shirley Sherrod

Sherrod Says Her Father Was Killed By A White Farmer

Rachel Slajda | July 20, 2010, 6:52PM

In one of her interviews with CNN today, Shirley Sherrod said that 45 years ago, her father was killed by a white farmer.

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Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck Defends Shirley Sherrod: It's Possible 'This Woman Deserves Her Job Back' (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | July 20, 2010, 6:44PM

Shirley Sherrod may have found an unlikely ally: Glenn Beck.

Beck defended the USDA appointee, who resigned after Big Government posted a controversial video clip of a speech she gave to the NAACP earlier this year. In the clip, she described an incident when she debated how much to help a white farmer in need of assistance, though she has said that her remarks were taken out of context.

Beck said today that it's possible she "deserves her job back."

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NAACP

NAACP Backs Off After Watching Full Tape: 'We Were Snookered'

Rachel Slajda | July 20, 2010, 6:21PM

Former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod

In a new statement, NAACP president Ben Jealous has backed off his original criticism of Shirley Sherrod after watching the full tape of her remarks.

Jealous, who originally called Sherrod's actions "shameful," now says the whole thing a "teachable moment."

Jealous said that, after reviewing the full tape (which we still haven't seen) and speaking to Sherrod and the white farmers in question, the NAACP has realized it was "snookered by Fox News and Tea Party Activist Andrew Breitbart into believing she had harmed white farmers because of racial bias."

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USDA

USDA, White House Deny White House Involvement In Sherrod's Forced Resignation (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | July 20, 2010, 6:01PM

Former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod

Officials with the USDA and the White House this afternoon deny that the White House had any involvement in the forced resignation of Shirley Sherrod from the USDA. And Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said she was was asked to resign because she had opened herself up to future allegations of racism.

Sherrod was asked to resign yesterday over a video clip from a speech she gave in March to a Georgia chapter of the NAACP. Sherrod, until yesterday the Georgia state director of rural development, told an audience that in 1986, while she was working with a farm aid nonprofit, she didn't do all she could to help a white farmer.

Since her forced resignation, Sherrod has claimed repeatedly that her boss in the USDA told her the White House wanted her to resign.

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Shirley Sherrod

Breitbart On Sherrod's NAACP Speech: 'I Did Not Edit This Thing'

Rachel Slajda | July 20, 2010, 3:58PM

Andrew Breitbart

The crux of the Shirley Sherrod controversy is what she said outside of the two-minute video clip posted by Big Government -- whether she was, as she claims, telling a story about how she overcame racial prejudice while helping poor farmers in Georgia, or whether the clip is a good encapsulation of her views. So we asked Andrew Breitbart, the founder of Big Government, why he hasn't posted the full video.

"I don't have it," Breitbart told TPMmuckraker in an interview. Breitbart said his source sent him just the edited clips at first, but is in the process of sending the full video.

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USDA

Agriculture Secretary Stands By Asking For Sherrod's Resignation

Rachel Slajda | July 20, 2010, 3:48PM

Dep. of Agriculture Sec. Thomas Vilsack

The USDA just released a statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack defending his decision to demand the resignation of Shirley Sherrod, the Georgia director of rural development, over a video posted on Big Government.

The statement:

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Mark Williams

Tea Party Express' Sal Russo: Mark Williams Is No Longer Affiliated With Our PAC

Eric Lach | July 20, 2010, 2:26PM

Tea Party Express spokesperson Mark Williams.

Tea Party Express spokesman Mark Williams' 'accidental' racism continues to have big consequences -- the tea party group that he's long been the public face of is now pretty much disavowing him.

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NAACP

NAACP Now 'Conducting Investigation' Into Sherrod Video

Rachel Slajda | July 20, 2010, 2:08PM

Former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod

The NAACP, which originally condemned USDA appointee Shirley Sherrod, is now saying it is conducting an investigation of her story and will issue a new statement.

"The NAACP is conducting an investigation into the recent revelations about the situation with Ms. Shirley Sherrod, including attempting to speak with Ms. Sherrod, the farmer in question and viewing the full video," the NAACP said in a statement to CNN. "Following a full and comprehensive process, we will issue an updated statement."

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Glenn Beck

Good As Goldline: Congress And CA Law Enforcement Probing Glenn Beck's Favorite Gold Seller

Jillian Rayfield | July 20, 2010, 1:31PM

Fox News Host Glenn Beck

Authorities in California have opened an official investigation into Goldline International, which urges consumers to buy gold to protect themselves from the supposed inevitable devaluing of American currency -- and features Glenn Beck in some of its advertisements.

A House Commerce subcommittee also announced today that it's planning a hearing on Goldline, which "uses aggressive sales tactics and conservative spokespeople such as Fox News' Glenn Beck to sell overpriced gold coins."

According to the Santa Monica City Attorney's office, the investigation was opened after it received more than 100 complaints from customers, some of whom alleged that gold was sold to them under false pretenses, and others who claimed they did not receive the gold as advertised.

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Race

USDA Appointee Forced To Resign After Edited Speech Released By Breitbart (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | July 20, 2010, 1:03PM

Former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod

Shirley Sherrod, an appointee to the USDA, was forced to resign yesterday after Big Government posted a video of a speech Sherrod gave in March. In the video, Sherrod, who is black, recounts how, 24 years ago, she didn't help a white farmer as much as she could.

In the speech, given to a local Georgia chapter of the NAACP, Sherrod recounts a time when, while she was working for a land assistance fund, a white farmer came and asked her for help.

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Deepwater Horizon

Contractor: BP Pumped Unusual Chemicals Into Well Before Explosion

Rachel Slajda | July 20, 2010, 10:14AM

An explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig

A contractor working on the Deepwater Horizon when it exploded testified yesterday that the day before the explosion, BP had pumped an unusual chemical mixture into the well -- a mixture that later rained down on the rig like "snot."

Leo Lindner, a drilling fluid specialist for M-I Swaco, told the panel investigating the causes of the explosion that BP decided to mix two chemicals the company had a surplus of -- two chemicals that aren't usually mixed -- and pump them into the well to flush out the drilling mud.

"It's not something we've ever done before," he said.

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Muslims

Mosque Ado About Fear-Mongering: Right Wing Takes On Muslim Worship Anywhere And Everywhere

Evan McMorris-Santoro | July 20, 2010, 8:58AM

Protesters against the proposed Cordoba House, a community center and mosque near ground zero (Islamic Center of America inset).

Long story short: It's starting to become clear that some conservative groups think that if Muslims are able to worship on American soil, the terrorists have won.

In big cities and small rural communities, from New York to Tennessee to California, the right-wing fear machine is spinning up to take on the construction of mosques and Muslim community centers. In each case, the argument is essentially the same, when the hedging is peeled away: you don't necessarily have to exercise your freedom of religion in the privacy of your own home, but hey, you can't do it in public here either.

July is proving to be the month where the tea party movement is finally coming to grips with -- and rebuking -- some of its more racist elements, a move that many observers would say is a long time coming. But at the same time, plans to build an Islamic community center near the Ground Zero site in New York City has brought to the surface a different kind of bigotry among some conservatives -- namely, the idea that if Muslims are allowed to worship where they want, terrorist violence will spread across the country.

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Today's Moment Of Blago

Today's Moment Of Blago: The Sherlock Holmes Defense

Eric Lach | July 19, 2010, 4:31PM

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D)

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's defense in his corruption trial began today. A central part of his lawyers' argument is expected to be that Blago is a naive man who got bad advice. Blagojevich himself has spent months in the media spotlight projecting an image -- deliberately or not -- as a smiling oaf. The defense thinks the jury will buy this story. We think it's ripe for comic moments.

In that spirit, we bring you the first installment of Today's Moment of Blago:

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Gay Rights

International Gay Rights Group, Opposed By GOPers, Wins UN Status

Rachel Slajda | July 19, 2010, 2:07PM

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ)

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission today won accreditation from the United Nations despite Republican efforts to defeat the group's application.

As we told you last week, Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Trent Franks (R-AZ) wrote a letter to the other countries who sit on the U.N.'s Economic and Social Council -- countries including anti-gay strongholds like Egypt and Saudi Arabia -- urging them to vote against the New York-based group's application.

Their effort failed, and the resolution passed 23 to 13, with 13 abstaining.

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Tea Party Express

Tea Party Express' Mark Williams: King Of 'Accidental' Racism

Evan McMorris-Santoro | July 19, 2010, 12:50PM

Tea Party activist Mark Williams.

Is the Tea Party Express' Mark Williams a racist? He certainly says he's not. But Williams -- the spokesman for one of the tea party movement's most Republican establishment-connected groups -- has shown himself to be a virtuoso when it comes to, I guess accidentally, writing and saying racist things. (Two quick examples: There was that time he called Muslims "animals of Allah" in an email and that other time he called President Obama an "Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug" on camera.)

This week, Williams' accidentally racist chickens have come home to roost. After posting one of his most overtly racist (accidentally, I guess) statements ever to his personal website after the NAACP passed a resolution calling on national tea party leaders like Williams to condemn racist rhetoric seen at tea party rallies in the past, Williams has found himself ostracized by a growing number of tea party groups across the country.

Not even his friends are standing up for him now. It's a surprising end for the man who helped to transform the tea party into a Republican political force.

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Oakland

Upset About 'Left-Wing Agenda,' California Man Suspected Of Shootout With Police

Rachel Slajda | July 19, 2010, 12:43PM

The truck. Inset: Guns recovered from the vehicle.

A California man, whose mother said he was upset about Congress' "left-wing agenda," allegedly opened fire on police officers during a traffic stop in Oakland early Sunday morning.

The man, identified by local news reports as Byron Williams of Groveland, was allegedly pulled over for driving erratically by the California Highway Patrol. As the officers approached his truck, they saw several guns and ammunition, according to police, and they saw the suspect reach for a handgun.

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Birthers

Birther Army Doctor Explains Himself Ahead Of Court Martial: 'Americans Deserve Answers' (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | July 19, 2010, 10:22AM

Lieutenant Colonel Terry Lakin

Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin released a new video over the weekend explaining his decision to waive a preliminary hearing, likely paving the way for a General Court Martial. Lakin said in the video that his requests for evidence were refused, which "made it impossible for me to present any defense."

The army doctor had refused to deploy to Afghanistan, citing questions about Barack Obama's eligibility to serve as President.

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Military Contractors

WaPo: U.S. Intelligence System Too Massive To Be Effective

Rachel Slajda | July 19, 2010, 9:55AM

The Pentagon

The Washington Post's big story on the country's sprawling intelligence system and the military contractors it employs -- the same story that caused the State Department and Office of the Director of National Intelligence concern over what it reveals -- was published today.

The two-year project, compiled from public records, finds that the U.S. intelligence system has grown so much since Sept. 11, 2001, that it has become too big to manage or even fully understand.

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Joe Biden

Biden Fined $219K For Illegal Campaign Contributions

Rachel Slajda | July 19, 2010, 9:45AM

Vice President Joe Biden

The Federal Elections Commission has fined Vice President Joe Biden $219,000 for accepting illegal donations and failing to disclose payments and debts.

According to an FEC audit, Biden's 2008 presidential campaign didn't return $106,000 in campaign donations that went over the individual limit of $2,300. There were also $85,000 in "stale checks" -- checks the campaign wrote to vendors and contributors which were never cashed.

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