On Wednesday morning he unsealed indictments charging Michael McGuinness, the former chairman of the Oakland County Democratic Party, and Jason Bauer, the party's former operations director, with forgery and perjury. Bauer faces three additional counts of notary fraud because he notarized the candidates' petitions. The men could receive a maximum of 14 years in prison if convicted on the most serious charge of forgery.

The indictment alleges that the pair attempted to place two county commission candidates, Aaron W. Tyler and Ruth Ann Spearman, and a state senate candidate, Johnathan M. Young, on the ballot without the candidates' knowledge. The two men forged the signatures on the affidavit of identity and falsely swore under oath to qualify them to run, the indictment says.

A Free Press investigation last summer found that Bauer notarized petitions for a dozen tea party candidates statewide but Bouchard and Cooper couldn't say if any additional charges would be brought in connection with other races.

Besides prompting a criminal investigation, the plot backfired politically when the Michigan Supreme Court blocked the candidates from appearing on the ballot. Republicans insist that the entire slate of Tea Party candidates was designed to split the Republican vote and throw close elections to the Democrats.

Speaking about the president, Trump - in line with "birthers" who question the president's citizenship - said he, too, had his doubts that Obama was born in the U.S.

"Everybody that even gives a hint of being a birther ... even a little bit of a hint, like, gee, you know, maybe, just maybe this much of a chance, they label them as an idiot. Let me tell you, I'm a really smart guy," he said.

Fed up with a president "who can't make his mind up" as Libyan rebels are on the brink of defeat, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is looking to the exits.

At the tail end of her mission to bolster the Libyan opposition, which has suffered days of losses to Col. Moammar Gadhafi's forces, Clinton announced that she's done with Obama after 2012 -- even if he wins again.

"Obviously, she's not happy with dealing with a president who can't decide if today is Tuesday or Wednesday, who can't make his mind up," a Clinton insider told The Daily. "She's exhausted, tired."

He went on, "If you take a look at what's on her plate as compared with what's on the plates of previous Secretaries of State -- there's more going on now at this particular moment, and it's like playing sports with a bunch of amateurs. And she doesn't have any power. She's trying to do what she can to keep things from imploding."

Obama acknowledged the challenge last week in Boston. "Somebody asked me, how do we reinvigorate the population, the voter, after two very tough years?" he told Democratic donors. "How do we recapture that magic that got so many young people involved for the very first time in 2008?"One answer, the president said, is to persuade hardcore liberals to swallow their anger over political compromises the administration reached with Republicans, even when Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress.

[...] Some Democrats say they may need luck to replicate the passionate turnout of Obama's first campaign. The often-stated claim that voters would embrace the health care law once it began taking effect has proven mostly untrue. But another year may change that, these Democrats say.

For now, the Obama team is unveiling few new ideas specifically keyed to firing up core constituencies. A recent White House conference call urged young voters to hold roundtables, which administration officials may attend, to discuss priorities and offer feedback.
Beyond that, Obama eventually plans large rallies similar to those in 2008. They create showy spectacles that excite young voters, but they also serve a fundraising role. People who enter the stadiums or buy Obama T-shirts are asked to provide their names and contact information, which are used later to request donations and volunteer activities. [...]

The radiation has been reported to be "way below anything harmful."

The detectors went off - but the radiation that caused them to go off is not harmful. Uh huh.

What gets me is the the Japanese have been ridiculed for downplaying the seriousness of the situation there. It has been characterized as being a national trait. Pure racism, imo.