Lohse, a social work master's student at Southern Connecticut State University, says he has proven what many progressives have probably suspected for years: a direct link between mental illness and support for President Bush.

...but I'm having a hard time catching up...

A senior columnist for the inside-the-beltway publication Congressional Quarterly speculated on MSNBC's Hardball this afternoon that Vice President Richard B. Cheney may be the next to exit the Bush Administration, a report first caught by ThinkProgress. ThinkProgress has the video here.

You'll recall:

The homeowners' association demanded Jensen remove the wreath from her house, saying it doesn't allow flags or signs that are considered divisive.

The board got the message, it seems:

None of the three members of the board in the scenic town 270 miles southwest of Denver was available for comment late Monday.

Especially the board president, who thought it a Satanic sign and fired those of the board who disagreed with his conclusion:

Kearns and colleague Jeff Heitz both had their phone numbers changed to unlisted numbers Monday. Tammy Spezze, the third board member, did not return a call seeking comment.

And, regular folks stepped up for peace:

Jensen, a past association president, said she was overwhelmed with hundreds of calls of support and offers to help her pay the $1,000 fine that would be due if she kept the wreath up until after Christmas.

"We would like to thank everyone who has contacted us with moral support and offers of financial support. We are grateful to hundreds of complete strangers who felt so moved by this story they contacted us," she said.

According to today's NYDN (which is now devoting several pages to this case, following the Post):

Everyone seems to agree somebody shouted a warning about a gun moments before the cops fired 50 shots at a trio of unarmed young men in a car.

The question is who shouted. A civilian witness named China Flores - who admits to a long history with the law - insists it was one of the three young men who called out, "He's got a gat! He's got a gat!" to his friends. The young man, Trent Benefield, had seen a tall figure approach, holding something black at his side.

The tall figure was an undercover cop, and a published account citing police sources maintains that he was the one who shouted, "He's got a gun! He's got a gun!"

But the young men did not have a gun. The figure who approached them did. And Benefield would later say he and his two friends had no idea the man was an undercover police officer.

If Benefield was indeed the one who shouted, there remains the possibility that the other cops thought the warning had come from the undercover approaching the car. The cops would not have expected the three young men in the car to be the ones to call out that somebody had a gun.

After all, the cops had tailed the three young men from the Kalua Cabaret in Jamaica, Queens, suspecting they had a gun. The cops may well have mistaken the sudden shout about a gun to be confirmation from their comrade that the suspects were indeed armed.

At the same time, by Flores' account, the shouted warning prompted the driver of the young men's car to speed away from the curb and repeatedly crash into an undercover vehicle in an attempt to flee.

A further possibility here arises, a twist of tragic irony: Perhaps the same warning that caused the young men to flee also caused the cops to fire.

So, the up-to-two-drinks-allowed* cops follow the three partygoers from the troubled bar** at about 4 am Saturday.  One of the partygoers, maybe, says to his buddy that this other guy - an undercover - has a gun.  The three guys, seeing the undercover (who's in role, likely looking suitably seedy and dangerous), take off at the warning "gun".  The other cops, hearing the same warning "gun", open up on the black men trying to get away from the gun, not from any crime.

And, the detective union is still blaming the victims, for "using the car as a deadly weapon", notwithstanding that the police violated their own rules by firing into the vehicle.

-

*

Kelly conceded that one of the two undercover officers who were also inside the Kalua Cabaret on 94th Ave. in Jamaica before the shooting had a couple of beers, but he said it was not a factor in the incident. Sources identified that cop as a woman but did not divulge her name.

"We authorize them to have two drinks and no more," he said. "This whole initiative started at 1 o'clock in the morning. So they were in the club for as long as three hours."

Cops making an arrest are supposed to identify themselves, but the NYPD has found no witnesses who say they did, sources said. Benefield, who was hit three times and was in stable condition yesterday, told a pal that he and those in the car thought the cops were hoods.

"They didn't know they were cops," said Shamel O'Neal, 20, after visiting Benefield at Mary Immaculate Hospital. "They thought they were in trouble. They feared for their lives."

-
**  The cops were, it is undisputed, there to get one more bust related to that strip bar, so they could complete the case to close it down:

In March of this year, the club was hit with multiple violations following a raid by the Queens DA and NYPD.

The raid resulted in multiple arrests on weapon, drug and prostitution charges, and city building inspectors followed it up and declared Kalua an unsafe fire hazard with an exit blocked by a padlocked gate.

"It's a seedy strip joint, but the real draw was its reputation for cheap and eager underage hookers, who would meet patrons in the club and then go upstairs or out in the car," said a police source familiar with the club's history.

* * *

Following the March 2006 raid, the city seized the club's certificate of occupancy, and Queens prosecutors say they referred the case to the State Liquor Authority in April.

* * * ...the SLA began taking steps in June to revoke the club's license for five violations, including allowing a weapon on the premises, hiring a convicted felon and, in general, "failing to exercise adequate supervision."

Hearings ended Oct. 11, but as of yesterday, the administrative judge who heard the case still had yet to rule.

"That [decision] should be soon," said Crowley. "It really hasn't taken that long."

Meanwhile, since the SLA got the case, there have been several more prostitution and drug arrests involving the club, Queens prosecutors said.

Undercover cops on the scene during last Saturday's shooting were there to make one last arrest to shut the club under the state "nuisance abatement" law, police officials said.

11/27/2006 - 9:00 pm - Village Restaurant - West 9th and 6th Avenue: Barbara Bush (the twin) slurping oysters and sucking face with a Chaddy guy. I didn't see a purse . . .

I'm holding out hope that the latest NYPD "several dozen shots fired at unarmed innocent free man/men" incident (we seem to have one once a year or more)will open some eyes to the problems associated with the Guiliani model of aggressive policing.  Yes, there are no more homeless people looking to wash your car window for a buck at intersections, but you could get shot 50 times on the way home from work.  Nice trade off.