Keith Olbermann has been fired by Current TV. Keith promises a lawsuit. Eliot Spitzer will replace Keith. Apparently, they were negotiating until yesterday:

The two sides tried to hammer out a setlement Thursday and into Friday, but with Olbermann insisting on tens of millions of dollars to pay out his contract, they remained far apart, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.

Here's Keith's full statement. Current TV's full statement is here. [More...]

Details of Osama bin Laden's life on the run, from a police report of an interview with one of his wives. Two of his kids were born in a Pakistani hospital.

Toulouse Update: French police arrest 19 suspected Islamic militants. They aren't suspected of playing a role in Mohamed Merah's killing spree, they are just part of a crackdown on "undesirables" that has followed it.

Who's buying a MegaMillions ticket? It's up to $640 million.

I'll be busy at work today, this is an open thread.

The "Walmart of Weed" is opening in Washington, DC, just blocks from the White House and federal buildings.

Lindsay Lohan is released from supervised probation with praise from the Judge. She still has two more years of unsupervised probation.

14 years for Rod Blagojevich and 10 days for his former Chief of Staff Robert Harris who cooperated with the Government. Harris was Blago's chief of staff for three years, from 2005 through 2008. [More...]

The Sanford Police have released the full, six minute camera surveillance video of George Zimmerman's arrival at the police department.

MSNBC reports the video was taken four hours after the shooting. Also:

In the video, there are no readily visible signs of injuries to Zimmerman's head or blood on his clothes. However, he is wearing a red jacket, which could obscure blood stains. Also, at one point, an officer pauses to look at the back of Zimmerman's head, which he claims was injured by Martin.

Appearing on NBC's TODAY on Thursday, Zimmerman's attorney Craig Sonner described the video as "very grainy." He also pointed out that Zimmerman had been "cleaned-up" and received first aid in the four hours between the incident and Zimmerman's videotaped arrival at the police station.

This WOFL FOX 35 extensive interview last night of George Zimmerman's father, Robert Zimmerman, a former judge and Vietnam Veteran, deserves equal time with the video released yesterday of Zimmerman arriving at the jail from which so many people are deducing Zimmerman wasn't injured.

There's no resolution in the interview, we're still left with George's version vs. the Martin family's version. While he discusses what he's learned from George and others about the fatal encounter with Trayvon Martin, the interview is as much about the effect of the incident on George and the family, and the hate that the case has generated, as it is about the facts. It's long and painful to listen to because there is so much grief in his voice. My synopsis is below:

Link.

In my view, it severely undermines Zimmerman's claims.

Speaking for me only

(TL:) Comments now closed.)

Clayton Osbon, the Jet Blue pilot who freaked out today on a flight causing the plane to be diverted to Amarillo, has been charged with interfering with a flight crew. He's also on a psychiatric hold.

The transformation of our federal government by FDR was made possible because the Supreme Court made a dramatic shift in view of how it should review congressional legislation. The Court adopted a policy of deference to the legislative judgments of the Congress when it exercised its commerce power, requiring only that the means chosen bear a rational relation to the ends the Congress sought to achieve. Of course, the Congress could not act in a manner that was expressly prohibited by the Constitution, but absent that, its policy choice need only be rational.

With this freedom of action, our federal government has acted countless times to address problems that were national in character. Thus we have an Environmental Protection Agency, a National Transportation Safety Board, a Federal Emergency Management Agency and, yes, a Social Security Administration and Medicare.

This change of approach by the Court was famously described in the 1938 case United States v. Carolene Products.

More from me on the SCOTUS and ACA.

Update: (TL): Here's the transcript from today's oral argument. You can also listen via these links.

Here are Monday's transcript and audio and Tuesday's transcript and audio.

Open Thread.

Update: The judge's ruling is here. Selected quotes have been added below.

After a six week trial, a federal judge in Detroit has acquitted 7 members of the Hutaree militia group charged with terror offenses.

Only weapons charges remain against the supposed leader, David Stone and his son Joshua.

On the second anniversary of the Hutaree arrests, U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts granted a defense motion Tuesday to acquit the militia members on seven charges, including seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. The most serious charge could have resulted in life prison sentences. She ordered the trial to continue against Hutaree leader David Stone Sr. and his son, Joshua Stone, on weapons-related charges.

Congrats to Jim Thomas, Bill Swor and the rest of the defense team. [More...]

Everyone seems to have an opinion about the Trayvon Martin case. Even though the facts aren't fully known, and few take the time to actually examine Florida's laws and the multiple fact-driven jury instructions in self-defense cases, those invested in one side or the other either make stuff up or selectively choose certain facts and ignore others to fit their agenda.

Let's look at a case that happened in Illinois. It went to trial and there was a sentencing. Where do you come down on the outcome? It is not equivocal to the Trayvon Martin case, although it does have a few parallel issues.

In University Park near Chicago, a man was walking his dog when it ran up on neighbor's lawn and peed. The homeowner came out and displayed a gun. He didn't use it at the time, but the dog owner, after seeing it, cursed the homeowner and punched him. The homeowner shot and killed the dog owner. [More..]

My preview of today SCOTUS oral argument on the mandate.

Open Thread.