How did Tennessee County Commissioner Curtis Adams get his 15 minutes? By leaving the Democratic party and becoming a Republican...which led to his appearance on national tv.

He was asked about new party chairman Howard Dean, and he said he had "already got his tail in a crack."

He said the party "has gotten down so low that it would take a real pro to turn it around. He's not the one to do it."

Commissioner Adams told of how most elected officeholders in Hamilton County used to be Democrats and now are Republicans. Asked who he voted for in the last presidential election, he said Bush.

Crooks and Liars has the video.

Message to Mr. Adams: Good riddance. Don't let the door slam you...

Frank Rich writes up the Jeff Gannon story in his New York Times column. He lays it outin such a way that the MSM should now be ready to pick up the story. The primary issues are: how did this fake journalist get White House credentials to cover press briefings for two years (or more)? Did someone in the White House give him access to information about the Valerie Plame investigation?

Rich mentions the sex stuff, but it is relegated to this paragraph:

"Jeff" has now quit Talon News not because he and it have been exposed as fakes but because of other embarrassing blogosphere revelations linking him to sites like hotmilitarystud.com and to an apparently promising career as an X-rated $200-per-hour "escort." If Mr. Guckert, the author of Talon News exclusives like "Kerry Could Become First Gay President," is yet another link in the boundless network of homophobic Republican closet cases, that's not without interest. But it shouldn't distract from the real question - that is, the real news - of how this fake newsman might be connected to a White House propaganda machine that grows curiouser by the day.

Rich points out six other instances where the Bush Administration has used fake news to get its message out.

Fox News Sr. Judicial Analyst Andrew Napolitano rocks today in his passionately defense of New York defense attorney Lynne Stewart in the New York Times.

Ms. Stewart's constitutional right to speak to the news media about a matter of public interest is absolute and should prevent the government from prosecuting her. And since when does announcing someone else's opinion about a cease-fire - as Ms. Stewart did, saying the sheik no longer supported one that had been observed in Egypt - amount to advocating an act of terrorism?

In truth, the federal government prosecuted Lynne Stewart because it wants to intimidate defense lawyers into either refusing to represent accused terrorists or into providing less than zealous representation. After she was convicted, Ms. Stewart said, "You can't lock up the lawyers, you can't tell the lawyers how to do their jobs."

Good news...the tracking device company that a California public school planned to hire to provide radio frequency devices to be worn by students to track their whereabouts has backed out of the deal.

Background on the story is here.

German police are trying to determine who is behind the strange practice of planting the U.S. flag with Bush's visage in dog poo....[via Mark at Norwegianity--don't miss the photograph.]

Police in Germany are hunting pranksters who have been sticking miniature US flags into piles of dog poo in public parks. Josef Oettl, parks administrator for Bayreuth, said: "This has been going on for about a year now, and there must be 2,000 to 3,000 piles of excrement that have been claimed during that time."

....We have sent out extra patrols to try to catch whoever is doing this in the act," said police spokesman Reiner Kuechler. "But frankly, we don't know what we would do if we caught them red handed." Legal experts say there is no law against using faeces as a flag stand and the federal constitution is vague on the issue.

Former California Governor and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown is blogging...a simple affair using Typepad. Unfortunately, his first post is one endorsing a curfew for people on probation. [link via BuzzMachine.]

Why the get-tough-on crime position? Maybe because Brown already has thrown his hat in the ring for the 2006 California Attorney General's position.

by TChris

By the overwhelming margin of 389-38, the House of Representatives sent a strong message about the importance of keeping nipples covered during the Superbowl -- at least Janet Jackson's nipple. The House passed a bill that increases the maximum fine that can be imposed upon a broadcaster for "indecency" from $32,500 to $500,000. The bill apparently does not apply to right wing lunatics who shriek at their talk show guests, a sight far more indecent than a briefly exposed breast.

Unsurprisingly, the White House says that higher maximum fines "will make broadcast television and radio more suitable for family viewing." Creative artists worry that they will become the target of fines, which (until now) have always been levied against broadcasters rather than individuals. The House bill increases the maximum that can be assessed against an individual from $11,000 to $500,000. A similar bill in the Senate would set the maximum fine against broadcasters at $350,000 but makes no change in the maximum that performers can be ordered to pay.

by TChris

The law is all about competing policies, and the competition is fierce when the need for a free and unfettered press clashes with the desire to solve (or defend against) a crime. Journalists frequently have information that would benefit either the government or the defense in a criminal case. When they assert a privilege to avoid becoming a witness, they may circumvent a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to compel testimony, just as they may defeat the government's ability to haul witnesses before grand juries. Striking a balance between a journalist's need to protect sources (to assure that other sources will divulge hidden truths without fear of reprisal) and the legal system's need for witnesses is a difficult task.

Yesterday, TalkLeft pondered the unanswered questions in the ruling that denied New York Times reporter Judith Miller and Time Reporter Matthew Cooper the privilege to conceal the identities of the persons who talked to them about Valerie Plame's employment as a CIA operative. Today, some who think the court got it wrong are calling upon Congress to legislate a shield against the compelled testimony of reporters. Many states have laws that recognize at least some protection for a journalist's privilege not to burn a source.

Rathergate is back in the news. The New York Observer reports that Josh Howard, Betsy West and Mary Murphy, the producers asked to resign after the release of the independent report on Dan Rather's infamous '60 Minutes Wednesday' segment on President Bush's National Guard service, are not leaving. Instead, they have hired lawyers and are contemplating legal action against CBS for breach of contract and possibly, defamation.

After the 224 page report (pdf) was released on January 10, CBS President Leslie Moonves publicly criticized executive producer Josh Howard in this statement(pdf). Short version, according to the Observer:

Mr. Howard, Mr. Moonves said, "did little to assert his role as the producer ultimately responsible for the broadcast and everything in it. This mistake dealt a tremendous blow to the credibility of 60 Minutes Wednesday and to CBS News in general." The producer, he wrote, had been asked to resign, and the network was "taking a variety of actions to put this crisis behind us."

Howard reportedly has demanded a retraction.

Sources close to Mr. Howard said he believes that the report—which was assembled by an outside team of former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh and former Associated Press head Louis Boccardi Jr.—contradicts Mr. Moonves’ statement about Mr. Howard’s share of the blame.

Mr. Howard also believes, those sources said, that the report itself excludes evidence that would implicate top management at CBS and restore Mr. Howard’s reputation in the television news business.

Two prominent New York lawyers say CBS has potential exposure if Howard sues for defamation:

80 people have died after stun guns were used on them. The country's largest police organization shortly will announce an investigation into stun gun usage and safety.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Justice Department will also study more than 80 deaths to assess the risks in using the weapons, the group said Tuesday. The actions come as civil rights groups and some police agencies question the use of stun guns, which emit electrical charges to temporarily incapacitate suspects. It's the first time a national law enforcement association has called for a review of stun guns.

In additon,

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an interfaith activist group based in Atlanta, has also asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to declare a moratorium on the weapon.

And Indiana police say civilians shouldn't be using stun guns.

A new study by the Sentencing Project shows that 1.5 million felons who have completed their criminal sentences have been denied the right to vote. The laws vary from state to state. 34 states allow convicted felons to vote. 14 provide some sort of prohibition - with 8 providing a total ban. From the report overview:

An estimated 4.7 million Americans are not eligible to vote as a result of felony disenfranchisement laws that apply in 48 states and the District of Columbia. Election laws are determined by each state, and so disenfranchisement laws vary significantly across the country. Persons who are excluded from voting include people currently serving a felony sentence in prison or on probation or parole, as well as persons in 14 states which disenfranchise convicted persons even after completion of sentence.

Origin and author unknown--somewhere in the Keys...

President Bush was invited to address a major gathering of the American Indian Nation last weekend in Arizona. He spoke for almost an hour on his future plans for increasing every Native American's present standard of living. He referred to his career as Governor of Texas, how he had signed "YES" 1,237 times - for every Indian issue that came to his desk for approval.

Although the President was vague on the details of his plan, he seemed most enthusiastic about his future ideas for helping his "red brothers." At the conclusion of his speech, the Tribes presented the President with a plaque inscribed with his new Indian name - Walking Eagle. The proud President then departed in his motorcade, waving to the crowds.

A news reporter later inquired to the group of chiefs of how they came to select the new name given to the President.

They explained that Walking Eagle is the name given to a bird so full of sh*t that it can no longer fly.