Once there were two law firm partners, Eric Magnuson and Tim Pawlenty. They were great friends and staunch Republicans, and worked together, along with Tim’s wife Mary, at a now-defunct law firm. They were such great friends that after Tim Pawlenty became governor, Eric Magnuson evenually became the Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. But lately they’ve been fighting each other, and are soon going to be fighting over when Al Franken gets his Senate seat.

Yesterday, Patrick Kennedy was gung ho to repeal Gramm-Leach. Today, he sounds much less sure.

Josh Marshall caught this snippet in a Politico article on the meeting between President Obama and the CEOs of major banks last Friday: “My administration… is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.” But is standing in the middle a smart idea?

U.S. vs Sons of Iraq.

Why does it seem that every Congressional Republican is a jerk?

Thursday’s ruling about US prisoners at Bagram says something the Obama Administration should have known already: the moral principles underlying habeas corpus apply everywhere. Governments have no right to arrest and hold any humans indefinitely without charges and an opportunity to challenge the basis of their detention.

America’s favorite felonious drug-trafficking illegal arms dealing document shredder gives us a history lesson.

People in an earlier thread were asking for a list of the 63 Democrats who joined with the 165 Republicans to pass an amendment putting a huge loophole in Alan Grayson’s bill, which would have forced TARP recipients to stop paying “retention bonuses” as long as they were being supported by taxpayer dollars.

Melissa Bean’s amendment says that as long as banks start paying back their loan money, which they can do

The White House is looking for a new florist. Not only is this an opportunity to integrate more contemporary arrangements into White House arrangements. But it’s also an opportunity to insist that the flowers that go into White House arrangements have been grown and processed under conditions that are safe for workers.

Oh, they got trouble, right there in Iowa — same-sex marriage has arrived. I expect to see the GOP bring out their 21st century version of Harold Hill, warning about the evils about to befall their fair state. Good luck with that, fellas.