Biggest Tax Cut ever

Uh...maybe all the Republicans who are coming out of the woodwork to argue about how hard they fought this bill and how it was all Democrats doing might want to reconsider. And I'm not just talking about those two idiots who issued press releases bragging about things in the bill at the same time they were pimping themselves for having not voted for it

No...I mean the GOP as a whole is missing a pretty big talking point Obama has in his pocket now come 2012: tax cuts. That's right, as Benen points out , this bill also contains the biggest tax cut ever. To the tune of $282 Billion dollars. In essence, Obama and the Dems are going to be able to run for reelection and use this against every single Republican who is so eager to put their mug in front of a camera and proudly proclaim their vote against this bill.

Of course, 60% of the Bush tax cuts went to the top 20 percent of income earners with over 25% going to the top 1% of income earners. The tax cuts in this bill are short-term refunds paid directly to working and middle class families.

Chess versus checkers, ladies and gents.

Lott the Merciful

Yesterday, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott showed what separates him from one of the great villains of all-time, Ming the Merciless: Mercy.

See...Sheriff Lott announced that he would not be charging Michael Phelps with any criminal charges.

Of course, this is tongue-in-cheek, because mercy has nothing to with this, just stupidity. Lott admitted that he did not have any evidence to charge Phelps with any crime. This despite wasting tons of time, manpower and tax dollars. In fact, here is "Buford L. Lott's" exact quote:

“We had no physical evidence; we had a picture,” Lott told reporters. “We
didn’t have enough where we could go arrest him.”

No shit. Everyone else with a functioning frontal lobe knew that when you started all this mess, Leon, but you had to go and play Walking Tall before you acknowledged the obvious. If there is any justice to come out of this, Lott will feel the sting of his ridiculous actions the next time his name is up in the voting booth. Until then, Lott could learn something from Phelps. Maybe the good sheriff could even crib Phelps apology and run it as his own.

“But there are also some important lessons that I’ve learned. For me, it’s
all about recognizing that I used bad judgment, and it’s a mistake I won’t make
again. For young people especially — be careful about the decisions you
make.”

First, we go after the lawyers...

There is more than one way to skin a cat and right now, the folks who helped pave the way for the constitutional violations our last administration took part in are really sweating it.

You see, while everyone is fixated on whether or not Congress or a special prosecutor is going to be looking into the torture and illegal wiretapping W and his boys did, the attorneys that enabled their actions may have some head shots coming at them from a more simple foe: their state bars.

Seems the Office of Professional Responsibility for the Federal G is about to wrap up a report, which was started under W by the way, and that report could have dire consequences for the law licenses of these attorneys.

"An internal Justice Department report on the conduct of senior lawyers who
approved waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics is causing anxiety
among former Bush administration officials. H. Marshall Jarrett, chief of the
department's ethics watchdog unit, the Office of Professional
Responsibility(OPR), confirmed last year he was investigating whether the legal
advice in crucial interrogation memos "was consistent with the professional
standards that apply to Department of Justice attorneys." According to two
knowledgeable sources who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive
matters, a draft of the report was submitted in the final weeks of the Bush
administration. It sharply criticized the legal work of two former top officials
-- Jay Bybee and John Yoo -- as well as that of Steven Bradbury, who was chief
of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) at the time the report was submitted, the
sources said. (Bybee, Yoo and Bradbury did not respond to multiple requests for
comment.)"

This is a big deal for two reasons. First, the investigation was begun before Obama took office, so it cannot logically be attacked as being partisan (I still have faith in the GOP to attack it illogically, though). Second, while Congress or Obama may let those culpable off because of the image they want to project of trying to move past, State Bar Associations are liable to be another animal all together. Trust me, bar discipline can be tough. And nothing is harder on an attorney than stripping them of that license. The many decisions an attorney makes everyday should always made with attention to two things: a) what is in the best interest of my client and b) what are my ethical duties. Trust me, you don't make decisions that you think are going to bring that license off the wall. There are some folks right now who are worried about just that.

Ants, ants, ants...

Growing up here in the South, we all learn early on to hate the ant, thanks to the stinging welts left by the Red Imported Fire Ant (RIFA). If you want to know what moron "imported" these babies, you can blame a South American cargo ship that docked in Alabama in 1918. Chalk up yet another reason to hate Alabama, other than Nick Saban.

However, ants are pretty damn fascinating and a new book looks into their lives to an extent never quite done before. The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies by Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson.

The New York Review of Books has a write up on the book that provides some of the interesting tidbits the book has. It's worth a read. Enjoy.

Hattip: Benen and Hilzoy

John Tesh Rockin' the Roundball Rock live

Bill Simmons posted this video in his most recent post. For all you TeshHeads, it is pure, unadulterated musical gold.

The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations

Was Bush speaking from a personal place when he used the above phrase?

As Benen points out, his folks sure are practicing that soft bigotry.

Andy Card, the former chief of staff to President George W. Bush, said
Thursday that the public was plagued by misconceptions about the former
president, particularly in regards to his intelligence and openness to
information.
"First off, President Bush does know how to read."

Leon Lott channels Buford T. Justice

Richland Co. Sheriff Leon Lott gears up for a dimebag raid...


Apparently, looking for real criminals, you know like the two guys still out sticking up ATM customers, is not as high on Sheriff Leon Lott's to do list as busting college kids smoking up with a bong. Not content to let an unprosecutable-misdemeanor-at-best die, Lott is wasting time, money and manpower trying to somehow build a case towards Michael Phelps.

The good news is that this is the kind of ridiculous behavior that makes folks like me easy money.

Check out this video of my old boss from law school, Joe McCulloch, and Dick Harpootlian on Good Morning America.

On behalf of Joe, Dick and defense attorneys everywhere, I would to say, "Thanks Sheriff."