http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/01/31/george.obama.arrest/index.html

I have no comment on this story itself, but it does bring up something I had not considered: are Obama's close blood relatives in Africa vulnerable to harassment (and, obviously, much worse) by folks wanting attention from the US?  Perhaps moving these folks to the US would make sense for security reasons?

Per the link Josh provided on the front page:

64% of GOP voters support Palin '12

"Ninety-one percent (91%) of Republicans have a favorable view of Palin, including 65% who say their view is Very Favorable. Only eight percent (8%) have an unfavorable view of her, including three percent (3%) Very Unfavorable. When asked to choose among some of the GOP's top names for their choice for the party's 2012 presidential nominee, 64% say Palin."

It just hit me like a ton of obvious.  The Republicans at the top have worked very hard to cultivate followers.  That's the Republican base now: followers.  But these followers are not necessarily loyal to the folks who brought them together.  They just want to follow.  And followers tend to prefer a charismatic leader.

So these folks at the top were right about being able to build a powerful, gullible constituency.  But they overestimated their ability to control such a beast.  Easily led just means easily led, not easily led BY THEM.

Good luck with that.

Two junior high school students in Mississippi were kicked off of their school bus for saying Barack Obama's name.  Other students were threatened with suspension.

http://www.wapt.com/video/17928161/index.html

In my opinion this should be national news.  Those kids (and their community) should see the entire country react to these racist fools, same as if they showed up for work in Klan linen.

You may have noticed a similarity between the odd sentence structures favored by our president and Sarah Palin.  It's no accident.  And it doesn't mean they are fools.  They are using a rhetorical technique (I forget the name) that banks on the fact that most folks aren't really paying attention.  The sentences don't matter.  It's the repetition of the idea that matters.  That's why you hear stuff about "and I didn't blink cuz when you are in such a situation you just can't blink and so I didn't blink because you shouldn't blink..."

When you are front and center paying attention it is utter nonsense.  But what about the folks who aren't really paying attention?  Well.  Their minds tend to just process those heavily-repeated portions of the sound bites.  Consciously or not.  If that sounds like subliminal messages, well, that's not too far from the mark. 

"If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you're disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier. Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself."

Of course the notion that one can change the government by enlisting in the armed forces may be the silliest statement of the convention, topping even Mitt's remarks.
Do note the word "enlist"--that means not an officer (a distinction not lost on McCain).  McCain didn't enlist in the Armed Forces.

About two years ago my boss, a former postal inspector, went to a reunion of sorts with his postal inspector friends. He told me that many of his friends still employed as postal inspectors were complaining about their work load. Why? Because they were given lists of people and addresses and were ordered to hold all mail addressed to those people and turn it over to federal authorities (I assume the FBI, but he wasn't specific). Later the authorities would return the mail, which would then be delivered as usual without the target being aware of the process. I didn't hear any concerns about privacy (my boss--former boss now--is a staunch Republican) but rather with the inefficiency of the process--it was felt to be a massive amount of work that was unlikely to turn up much, if any, useful information.

Naturally I wanted to grill him, ask him if there were warrants and if these were citizens and so forth, but I was afraid of scaring him silent. At the time I planned to investigate the matter on my own and, if it panned out, to write an article about it. But I was a new dad for the second time on top of working 80-hour weeks and eventually forgot all about it.

Until I read about the Ashcroft hospital incident and the unwillingness of anyone to confirm which domestic spying program was in question that night.

I promptly wrote to tips@tpm, thinking they had the resources to follow up on the story better than I did. I never heard back. But I've yet to see anyone mention that this is (was, possibly, I don't know that the program still exists) going on, which seems like a big deal to me--even if the targets are foreign nationals and the authorities do have warrants. I haven't been able to turn up anything about it with Google.

TPM readers, does this sound like a story to you? I'm in a good position to investigate now, but I have nagging doubts that this isn't really news, or that it has already been covered elsewhere. I am entirely confident my boss wasn't making the story up--he's not a stickler for the truth but nor is he at all creative. Lie to gain the upper hand in a business deal, sure; spin stories out of the ether? No way.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- America's top military commander in Iraq has sent a letter to troops challenging them to "occupy the moral high ground" after a Pentagon survey showed some service members were reluctant to report the "illegal actions" of fellow personnel.

...

Survey results also showed that about 10 percent admitted mistreating noncombatants or damaging their property when it was not necessary.

Only about 47 percent of Army soldiers and 38 percent of Marines agreed that noncombatants should be treated with dignity and respect.

In the letter, Petraeus also underscored that torture to obtain information from the enemy was "wrong."

More than a third of soldiers and Marines reported that torture should be allowed to save the life of a comrade.

"Beyond the basic fact that such actions are illegal, history shows that they also are frequently neither useful or necessary," Petraeus said.

Story here

Gee, I thought according to this administration torture was OK as long as the subject doesn't suffer organ failure or die. I mean, it's not torture unless there is organ failure or death. I mean, do as we say, not as we do.

Yesterday Gonzales would not say whether or not any US citizens have been handed over to foreign governments to be tortured. He tried to qualify his answer, but plainly he was not willing to put himself in danger of perjury. Meaning he believes it is a distinct possibility.