For shame: A judge in Hamburg has filed a criminal complaint against Angela Merkel for being publicly happy Osama Bin Laden is dead. Turns out Germany isn’t big on praising death.
Speaking of Osama bin Laden, and his being dead: The Obama administration is demanding that Pakistan reveal the identities of top intelligence operatives to determine whether they had any contact with Osama bin Laden in the years leading to his assassination last Monday.
Yeah, about that: Bastion of truthiness Bob Woodward reports that finding bin Laden all began with an intercepted phone call and a shadowy pacing figure.
Oh, and: President Obama met with Navy SEALs yesterday, to commend them on assassinating Osama bin Laden.
Also, creepy: Al-Qaeda declares that it will carry out revenge attacks on the US.
Meanwhile, in Syria: Syria’s army has entered the city of Baniyas, a center of anti-government protest.
Majoring in comb-overs since 2005: Donald Trump’s for-profit university is under investigation from four different states for ripping off customers students.
The Mata Haris of conservation: Washington’s Department of Wildlife has instigated a crackdown against cavalier shellfish poachers through an undercover sting operation.
And a motley crew gets even motlier! Now Rudy Giuliani is saying he might run for president.
Does no backsies mean nothing to you, state?! The Seattle Times reports that the state no longer promises that the 520 bridge will be open by 2014.
And finally, because that’s enough of that, here is the new chair of the DNC, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, arguing like a champ. Good morning!
Give ’em hell, Debbie!
I want her to run for president in 2016.
I wouldn’t be too surprised that there’s no such thing as freedom of speech in Germany (or most of the rest of the world, either). They don’t recognize the right to bear arms either. Gee, maybe there’s a correlation.
Guiliani would be the least crazy Republican.
As much as I would not want Guiliani or any other Republican to be president, I think a solid showing by a relatively moderate candidate from that side could help purge the credibility of the Crazies in this country. That could only be a good thing.
@3: And yet you yourself have come out in favor of freedom of gun nuttery trumping freedom of speech. What do you make of that correlation?
I love Debbie Wasserman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@3
Did you know that it’s legal to own firearms in Iran? and the gun laws in Iraq under Saddam Hussein were more permissive than most of the US? Do you think that those places were more free than the U.S.?
@3 they have free speech with some consequences for what they’ve agreed via representative democracy to consider hate speech. Sure, it’s way more stringent than here, but they do have a rather unique recent history of having hate speech not lead to fun for the entire world, right?
It’s no more true to say they have “no such thing as freedom of speech” than it is to pretend that elected legislators placing controls on handgun and assault rifle ownership in the U.S. has equalled “no such thing as a right to bear arms”.
@8 “Sure, it’s way more stringent than here, but they do have a rather unique recent history of having hate speech not lead to fun for the entire world, right?”
Yes, and that is why I thought that the Gawker story was written by an ass. This should be celebrated as a good thing. A society that has learned firsthand of both self-imposed and projected destruction from the hysterical, irrational hatred of the Other learns its lesson? Heaven forbid that happen here…
@9, oh my yes, wasn’t that just awful? Germany’s got its problems, but their relatively forthright construction of a system to finally quit trying to dominate the world and just participate in it instead, you know we could learn a lot.
@10 Seriously, sometimes I feel like we’ve been transported back to 2002-2003ish talking about Freedom Fries and surrender monkeys.
Next time any of you complain about the IRS, try dealing with Germany’s equivalent, the Finanzamt. OMFG.
Kaine was the worst DNC chairperson, milquetoast, quick to agree with any Republican talking point, and dismantled Dean’s 50 state plan*. DWS gets in there and fights for the Democrats, a big improvement. Hopefully she’ll bring back the 50 state plan.
*Identifying strong, media ready Democrats to articulate our ideas everywhere, even in states or districts we have no hope of winning. Teabaggers and conservative extremists got a pass when the DNC stopped caring about decent representation on the local TV stations in the Midwest and South.
The 520 bridge should be closed permanently.
All it does is back up traffic into I-5.
@14: Fantastic idea. And would you say the same thing about the I-90 bridge when it becomes a major backup, after all the eastside-bound traffic goes that route instead of choosing the hour or more to drive around the lake every day?
Also, a for-profit school for real estate flipping headed by Trump being investigated for fleecing its students? Who could have possibly predicted such an outcome?