No, this isn't stormfront or some lunatic fringe NRA site, this is a newspaper in north Georgia with a circulation of about 65,000. The photo shows Obama with a crosshairs centered on his heart as if looking through a rifle scope.

"Good, bad or ugly, we tell the truth," he said.

Fredericks and senior editor Tim Altork said there was little internal debate over the appropriateness of the imagery, though they were aware it was likely to create a stir.

"We knew we were on the provocative edge," Altork said. "But it's a very fair piece, a smart piece."

The article was pitched and reported by veteran freelance journalist Alan Sverdlik, who said he was curious how law enforcement agencies were handling the increased number of threats lodged against Obama by white supremacist groups, some of whom are based around north Fulton. Sverdlik said Tuesday he had not seen the cover and had no input in its development.

The Beacon's publisher said the art "projected the story," one which he believes serves a valuable public interest: "We're hoping federal law enforcement takes notice."

So far, however, the content inside has been obscured by the furor over its illustration.

"Their slogan is 'responsibly provocative,'" wrote Miami teacher Rian Fike. "This is irresponsibly inflammatory.

As fearlessly as they "defend" their fear mongering piece it is noteworthy the online edition has had its frontpage changed while the article is still there. I encourage you to email the editor and express your displeasure at this incendiary piece of KKK masturbation material.

It's something so ridiculous, I had to check the article to make sure the byline didn't say Genghis. This had always been suggested by a few surrogates a trial balloon just to buy time not something to build a campaign on, but now it seems they've embraced it and are appearing less and less likely to make a graceful party saving exit. Remember that warm and fuzzy feeling we were starting to get for Clinton again. She was going to have a graceful exit, advisors secretly assured the press, she'd never press on to the convention. There was even talk of joining campaigns. Well, she's pressing a new argument where she's  ahead in the popular vote cause she's not counting caucuses while including MI and FL of course.

 

Clinton's claim to the popular vote includes counting ballots in Florida and Michigan - two states that chose to schedule early primaries in defiance of party rules - and doesn't count caucus states such as Iowa, where numbers have never been released.

Clinton said she and Obama are "still separated by less than 200 delegates out of more than 4,400" - and that neither candidate will have reached the magic number needed to take the nomination "when the voting ends on June 3."

 

She drew cheers when she told Kentucky voters she would continue the fight "until we have a nominee - whomever she may be."

Find the article here. For the longest time I felt that it was a few hardcore Obama partisans that were envisioning this nightmare scenario. Gang, I'm starting to get the feeling she's gonna go Samson on us and pull down the temple over her. As a UK paper cheekily intoned today, "Missing: One Concession Speech."