Gulf Coast Oil Spill

Allen: BP Will Swap Blowout Preventer, Give Failed One To DOJ

Rachel Slajda | August 6, 2010, 6:20PM

The Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer.

Adm. Thad Allen, the commander of the Gulf oil spill response, said today that BP will replace the failed blowout preventer on the Macondo well and, most likely, give it to the Department of Justice.

From the AP:

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Orly Taitz

Birther Queen Tries To Fight $20K Fine At Supreme Court

Rachel Slajda | August 6, 2010, 6:12PM

Orly Taitz

If you say nothing else about Orly Taitz, say she is persistent.

Taitz, birther lawyer extraordinaire, last month tried to fight a $20,000 fine by appealing to the Supreme Court. Justice Clarence Thomas denied her appeal.

So this week, she re-filed the appeal, this time directing it to Justice Samuel Alito instead.

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'Ground Zero Mosque'

'Museum Of Tolerance' Director Opposes Mosque But Built Museum On Muslim Cemetery

Rachel Slajda | August 6, 2010, 5:57PM

The Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles

The group behind the recently opened "Museum of Tolerance" museum in Manhattan has come out against a planned Islamic community center, which includes a mosque, near Ground Zero.

"Religious freedom does not mean being insensitive...or an idiot," Rabbi Meyer May, the Wiesenthal Center's executive director, told Crain's New York.

"Religion is supposed to be beautiful," he said. "Why create pain in the name of religion?"

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Pigford settlement

Senate Punts Again On Settlement For African American Farmers

Rachel Slajda | August 6, 2010, 3:47PM

Farmer Robert Horton, Sr., and wife, Maggie, of Tennessee have applied to be part of the USDA's Pigford settlement

The Senate tried twice yesterday to pass the Pigford II settlement, a $1.15 billion authorization for African-American farmers who were discriminated against by the USDA. The Senate failed, twice -- and now the authorization will have to wait until September, when senators return from recess.

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Bell City Council Officials

CA Pension Fund Knew Of City's Inflated Salaries For Four Years

Jillian Rayfield | August 6, 2010, 3:25PM

An angry crowd at a City Council meeting in Bell, CA

The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) learned that City Council officials in Bell, California were receiving ludicrously high salaries in 2006, but failed to take action, according to documents released yesterday.

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Citizens For Constitutional Liberty

Mark Williams Is Back In The Tea Party

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 6, 2010, 2:40PM

Tea Party Express spokesperson Mark Williams.

Well, that didn't take long. Less than three weeks after resigning from the Tea Party Express "to free the tea party movement from any more distraction based on my personal comments or blogs," Mark Williams is back at the helm of a tea party group.

As former TPMer Zachary Roth reports, Williams is a leader of the newly-founded "Citizens for Constitutional Liberty," a PAC "that plans to support conservative candidates and promote grassroots activism among Tea Partiers."

Williams, of course, is one of the few tea party leaders to come under direct criticism from other tea partiers. His blog posts and public statements, which tea partiers have endeavored to separate themselves from of late, led to his public grilling for a week following the "satirical" blog post about the NAACP that led to his resignation.

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Terrence Lakin

Birther Army Doc Defers Plea Until Oct. 13 Court Martial

Jillian Rayfield | August 6, 2010, 12:20PM

Birther Army Doctor Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin, who faces a Court Martial for refusing to deploy to Afghanistan, declined to enter a plea at his arraignment today in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

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Tea Parties

Is There A Coup In The Maine Tea Party?

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 6, 2010, 10:52AM

Something weird is happening with the tea party in Maine. In the past few days, tea party websites in the Pine Tree State have offered glimpses of what some are calling a coup at the one of the state's largest tea party groups, The Maine Patriots.

On Tuesday night, Amy Hale -- one of the leaders of the Patriots group -- posted an odd message to the group's website, suggesting that she'd been forced to give up control of the site, according to media reports (the post has since been removed):

I was cornered in the parking lot by 10+ people and told that bad things would happen to me if I did not give them the password and hand over Maine Patriots. Therefore, I no longer have control of Maine Patriots. Amy

Hale reported the incident to the police. Last night, she refused to comment on the matter because, she told me, "the investigation is ongoing." Details beyond what she wrote that first night are sketchy.

Piecing together posts from tea party websites in the past couple of days, however, paints a picture of a state tea party in disarray -- and a look at tea party paranoia.

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Charles Rangel

NYT: Lawmakers, Besides Rangel, Had Endowments Funded By Corporations

Rachel Slajda | August 6, 2010, 10:24AM

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

The New York Times reports today that many lawmakers in addition to embatted Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) have educational endowments in their honor heavily funded by corporations with business before Congress.

Although their spokesmen deny any similarity, the endowments have echoes of the Rangel Center, the CCNY educational center at the center of alleged ethics charges against Rangel.

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Bobby Thompson

Police Start Nationwide Search For Scamtastic Cuccinelli Donor

Rachel Slajda | August 6, 2010, 9:46AM

The man known as "Bobby Thompson"

The Ohio attorney general has issued a nationwide search warrant for the head of an alleged scam charity who donated tens of thousands to conservative candidates like Ken Cuccinelli and Michele Bachmann.

The man, known as Bobby Thompson, allegedly set up a scam charity called U.S. Navy Veterans Association, raising millions of dollars. He then allegedly pocketed 99% of the money for "administrative costs," and donated huge amounts to both the Virginia attorney general and the Minnesota congresswoman.

The Ohio AG, Richard Cordray, said Thompson "bilked Ohioans out of at least $1.9 million, and we estimate that nationally he collected at least $20 million."

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FCC

Google Pushes Back On Times' Report Of Verizon Deal

Eric Lach | August 5, 2010, 5:20PM

Google is disputing a New York Times report that the company is close to a private deal with Verizon in which Google could pay Verizon to ensure that its content received priority in reaching web users.

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PMA Group

Former Head Of PMA Indicted

Rachel Slajda | August 5, 2010, 2:14PM

The late Rep. John Murtha (D-PA)

Paul Magliocchetti, the founder of the now-defunct lobbying group PMA, has been indicted on eight federal charges for making illegal campaign contributions and false statements.

PMA, which closed down last year, was an influential defense lobbying group at the center of a scandal that threatened to take down at least seven Democratic lawmakers, including the late Rep. John Murtha, chair of the defense appropriations subcommittee. The House ethics committee last year cleared all the members of wrongdoing, and today's indictment does not implicate any lawmakers.

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Pennsylvania

Church Carnival Sets Up Shooter Game With Obama As Target

Rachel Slajda | August 5, 2010, 1:45PM

The "Alien Attack" carnival game

In Roseto, Pa., a carnival company closed down a shooter game called "Alien Attack," after complaints and news stories that President Obama was one of the targets.

The black "alien leader" is holding a scroll titled "Health Bill" and wearing a presidential seal belt buckle. He also has antennae and a troll doll with a KISS T-shirt on his shoulder.

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Same sex marriage

'I Feel Like I Don't Live In America:' The Best Worst Prop 8 Reactions

Rachel Slajda | August 5, 2010, 11:00AM

Supporters of Prop 8 in 2008

Yesterday, a federal judge ruled that Proposition 8 -- the voter initiative that amended the California Constitution to define marriage as heterosexual -- is unconstitutional. The usual pro-Prop 8, anti-gay marriage suspects began hollering almost immediately.

Here, the best of the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it):

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House Ethics Committee

Waters Pushes For Ethics Trial Before Elections

Rachel Slajda | August 5, 2010, 9:27AM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) wants the House ethics committee to set a date for her trial -- and to set one before November's midterm elections.

In a letter sent yesterday, Waters demanded that the committee release their allegations against her and that the adjudicatory hearing, or trial, be held as soon as possible, and before Election Day.

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Don Young

Feds Drop Don Young Investigation

Rachel Slajda | August 5, 2010, 9:09AM

Rep. Don Young (R-AK)

Rep. Don Young (R-AK) said yesterday that the Justice Department has dropped its years-long corruption investigation.

The DOJ has been investigating Young since 2007. The probe has reportedly focused on "pig roast" fundraisers organized by former oil executive Bill Allen. Allen told prosecutors last year that he gave gifts to Young, including a $1,000 set of golf clubs, as well as up to $200,000 in illegal campaign contributions.

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Religion

The New GOP Anti-Mosque Talking Point: Ground Zero Is Our Auschwitz

Megan Carpentier | August 4, 2010, 4:46PM

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

It isn't enough for Republicans to call on "peaceful Muslims" to "refudiate" the mosque and community center proposed for a site near Ground Zero, or to imply that the funding for it comes from terrorist organizations, or even to tell American Muslims that their religious freedoms should be held hostage to the decisions of the Saudi government. Nope. The new Republican talking point used to try to stop the construction of the community center and mosque -- and to make political hay of that opposition -- is that Ground Zero is their Auschwitz, and the Muslims who seek to build anywhere near it should know better, just like some nice nuns did in the eighties.

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Gay Rights

Prop 8 Ruled Unconstitutional

Rachel Slajda | August 4, 2010, 4:44PM

A federal judge in California has ruled that Prop 8 -- the voter initiative that banned gay marriage -- is unconstitutional.

Supporters of Prop 8 (that is, opponents of gay marriage) have already promised to file an appeal. The judge also approved a two-day stay on the ruling, asking lawyers to respond by Friday, when he will decide whether to suspend his ruling pending appeal.

So, for now, same-sex couples in California can't get their marriage licenses quite yet.

The case is expected to eventually get to the Supreme Court.

From Judge Vaughn Walker's decision:

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Stanley McChrystal

Army Investigating Rolling Stone Story That Led To McChrystal Ouster

Rachel Slajda | August 4, 2010, 3:32PM

General Stanley McChrystal

The Army is investigating what happened in the lead-up to Michael Hastings' article in Rolling Stone that lead to the ouster of Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the commander in Afghanistan.

"A four-star commander was relieved ultimately due to this article. We want to understand what happened here," an Army spokesman told CNN.

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ACLU

NJ Library Removes LGBT Book After Complaint From Member Of Glenn Beck's 9/12 Movement

Jillian Rayfield | August 4, 2010, 8:40AM

A public library in Burlington County, New Jersey has ordered all of the copies of "Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology" removed from circulation, after a member of Glenn Beck's 9/12 Project complained about the book's content.

The library cited "child pornography" as its reason for removing the book.

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Muslims

#BigotryFail: Plan To Harass Muslims With Dogs At CA Rally Collapses

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 3, 2010, 6:17PM

In the end, the people trying to stop the construction of a mosque in Temecula, California were vastly outnumbered by the crowd welcoming the growth of the Muslim community in Riverside County. Last week, we told you about the plan by some conservatives opposed to the construction of the new mosque to show up over the weekend outside the Temecula-area Muslim group's current digs to tell those inside they weren't welcome. To prove the point, the group planned to bring dogs -- which one protester characterized as pretty much the Muslims' mortal enemy, saying that Muslims "hate dogs."

Here's how it all turned out: the anti-mosque protesters were outnumbered by pro-mosque supporters, the local tea party disavowed the protest and called it hate speech, the protester we talked to dropped off the face of the earth and only one dog made it to the planned protest.

It was a fittingly unexpected end to an extraordinary tale.

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John Ensign

Ensign Registers Legal Defense Fund As Political Org

Rachel Slajda | August 3, 2010, 5:53PM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

Roll Call reports today that Sen. John Ensign has registered his legal defense fund as a 527 political organization.

A 527 is tax-exempt, but Ensign must report contributions to the IRS.

As Roll Call notes, it's an unusual move:

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Wikileaks

GOP Rep Doubles Down: Yes, We Ought To Execute WikiLeaks Culprit (VIDEO)

Ben Frumin | August 3, 2010, 4:29PM

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI)

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) is not backing down.

The Republican, who suggested earlier that execution might be a fine punishment for alleged WikiLeaks source Private Bradley Manning, defended his stance on MSNBC this afternoon -- and added that death might have been an appropriate punishment for Daniel Ellsberg in the Pentagon Papers case, too.

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J. Christian Adams

Adams: I Never Said Holder Is Disenfranchising Troops On Purpose

Rachel Slajda | August 3, 2010, 3:40PM

J. Christian Adams, former Department of Justice attorney

Former DOJ lawyer J. Christian Adams now says that he never meant to say the Obama administration was intentionally disenfranchising overseas troops.

In an interview today with TPMmuckraker, Adams -- who's also the driving force behind allegations of racial discrimination at the DOJ over the New Black Panthers case -- said he only meant that Justice Department bureaucrats don't feel like enforcing the law.

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Pigford settlement

Pigford Vote Delayed; Expected Tomorrow

Rachel Slajda | August 3, 2010, 12:37PM

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

A vote on approving $1.15 billion for the Pigford settlement, scheduled for last night, has been delayed. Senate Democrats expect to vote tomorrow instead.

Congress, especially the Senate, has struggled to authorize money for the Pigford settlement, which grants restitution to African-American farmers discriminated against by the USDA.

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Stephen Colbert

Colbert: David H. Brooks' $100K Flag Belt Buckle Makes It A Patriotic Duty To Salute His Crotch (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | August 3, 2010, 10:02AM

Last night, Stephen Colbert named military contractor David H. Brooks his "Alpha Dog Of The Week," after Brooks allegedly used company funds to pay for personal expenses, including a $100,000 ruby-encrusted American flag belt buckle which Colbert said "makes it a patriotic duty to salute his crotch."

Colbert added that Brooks also used the funds to pay for a face-lift for his wife, and pornographic videos for his son. "Although i seriously doubt his son will ever see anything more pornographic than his father f*cking over our troops to buy a face-lift for his mother," he said.

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John McCain

McCain's 'Danged Fence' Sheriff: The Government Is Our Enemy

Rachel Slajda | August 3, 2010, 9:51AM

Sheriff Paul Babeau and Senator John McCain (R-AZ)

Paul Babeu, the cue-ball-headed sheriff of Pinal County, Ariz., told CNS News yesterday that, when it comes to immigration, the federal government has become the enemy.

"Our own government has become our enemy," he said, "and is taking us to court at a time when we need help."

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Pigford settlement

Senate To Vote On African-American Farmers' Settlement Funds Tonight

Rachel Slajda | August 2, 2010, 3:52PM

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

The Senate is scheduled to vote tonight after 5:30 on whether to approve $1.15 billion for a discrimination settlement for African-American farmers.

The vote on the Pigford settlement will be a unanimous consent request, a spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid confirms to TPMmuckraker. That means it will pass unless a senator objects.

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Right Wing Extremist

Police: Prison Guard Killed Lawyer, Stole Guns For 'Overthrowing The Federal Govt'

Rachel Slajda | August 2, 2010, 3:00PM

Raymond Peake (left) and Thomas Tuso

According to police in Cumberland County, Pa., a prison guard allegedly killed a lawyer and stole his custom rifle -- part of a plan, the guard admitted, to steal guns in preparation for an armed coup.

Raymond Peake, a 64-year-old guard at the Camp Hill state prison, allegedly shot Todd Getgen to death at a local shooting range and stole Getgen's gun, a custom, silenced AR-15 rifle. He then allegedly stashed the gun with a fellow guard, Thomas Tuso, until he could put it in a storage unit.

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House Ethics Committee

It's Official: Ethics Committee Charges Waters With Violations

Rachel Slajda | August 2, 2010, 2:53PM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

The House ethics committee announced today that it will charge Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) with ethics violations.

The panel did not name the charges. They'll be announced at the first public meeting of an adjudicatory subcommittee, which was formed to determine whether Waters did in fact break any House rules.

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Immigration

Virginia's Cuccinelli Rules It's OK For Police To Check Immigration Status

Christina Bellantoni | August 2, 2010, 1:22PM

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) issued an official opinion that Virginia police officers can follow in Arizona's footsteps and ask for immigration status on routine stops.

The opinion comes in the form of a letter sent on Friday to state Delegate Bob Marshall, a Northern Virginia Republican who is among the legislature's most conservative members. Marshall has long sought stricter measures to ensure illegal immigrants receive no taxpayer-funded services.

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Department of Justice

Admin Responds To Military Voters Smear Made By John Cornyn, J. Christian Adams

Rachel Slajda | August 2, 2010, 12:08PM

J. Christian Adams, former Department of Justice attorney

The Department of Justice has responded to claims made by Fox News, J. Christian Adams and Republican Sen. John Cornyn that it's intentionally trying to disenfranchise military voters.

In a letter to Cornyn, (via Greg Sargent) the DOJ says the accusations are "simply untrue."

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House Ethics Committee

Reports: Rep. Waters Will Also Face Ethics Trial

Rachel Slajda | August 2, 2010, 10:35AM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) has reportedly decided to fight the ethics charges against her, becoming the second Congress member in a week to push for a public ethics trial rather than accept charges of wrongdoing.

Days after the ethics committee announced that Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) would face an adjudicatory hearing, it was reported that Waters will also be the subject of a similar ethics hearing.

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Birthers

Birther Army Doc Charges Referred To General Court Martial -- Arraignment Friday

Jillian Rayfield | August 2, 2010, 10:34AM

The American Patriot Foundation, which set up a legal defense fund for Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin, reports that the Birther army doctor's charges have been referred to a General Court Martial, and that an arraignment is scheduled for Friday.

Lakin is charged with refusing orders to deploy to Afghanistan because he believes President Obama may not have been born in the United States, and is therefore ineligible to be Commander-in-Chief.

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Tea Party Comix

Creator Of Racist 'Tea Party Comix' Speaks: I Do Hate Obama, But I'm No Racist

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 2, 2010, 9:52AM

A Tea Party crowd with a a Tea Party Comix inset.

The creator of the now-infamous "Tea Party Comix" has spoken. The response, sent to Comics With Problems' Ethan Persoff last week, ends speculation by some that the black-and-white comics featuring a racist caricature of President Obama might be a liberal parody gone wrong (or just misunderstood). In the rambling email sent early Thursday morning, the unnamed creator of the comics (the name was withheld by Persoff) suggests that they were created out of anger at Obama, but -- according to the creator -- not out of any intention to make a racial statement.

"I do not understand the connection with 'big ears' and 'racism', and I do not understand how a 'dark face' implies racism," the creator of the comics wrote to Persoff. "The accusation of 'Hate' is true, but it is the hate of an IDEOLGY [sic], not a of race of people..... I understand that the ideology has captured 80 or 90% of the race(s) in question, but it is STILL a AN IDEOLOGY and NOT a "race" that this comic book attacks."

Despite the denial of any racist intent, the creator told Persoff the comics are just too hot to handle and are being removed from sale.

A number of tea party leaders disavowed the comic books last week, claiming that they're an obvious plant by tea party opponents.

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