If the cops can arrest Henry Louis Gates for "loud and tumultuous" behavior in his own home, they ought to be able to restore order in and outside of raucous town hall meetings.Those who are disrupting these meetings are more than just "loud and tumultuous." They are threatening bodily harm and death. The law enforcement community needs to get its priorities straight.

I've got to quit watching the Sunday morning talking head shows. Time and time again, the host welcomes a high level administration official and time and time again they pull the same tired trick out of their toolbox, which usually takes the form of, "Does the president <promise/commit> to <always/never> do <something>?"

This morning it was Larry Summers and Tim Giethner, both of whom were asked whether or not Obama was going to raise taxes on the middle class. Both of them refused to rule it out. Mind you, neither of them said Obama would raise taxes. In fact, Obama promised in the campaign that he would not. But that fact that two of his top officials wouldn't say that he wouldn't gets translated into "he might," and wingnuts will certainly interpret as "he will."

That's the news, folks. I'm sure the talking heads will now amplify this to an intolerable volume to the exclusion of all other topics and then pat themselves on the back for it when somebody from the administration or maybe even the president himself has to come out and "clarify" the remarks made by Geithner and Summers.

If that's journalism, I'd rather be uninformed.