At first, the government didn’t admit that “Bill Smith” worked for the government (and it remains unclear who he works for). Only after the defense confronted them with that fact did they concede he was, but they claimed these earlier contacts have no connection to this case.

This threat is empty, and should be regarded with a laugh and a recess appointment for CFPB as soon as possible. In addition, they should elevate this threat. “Republicans just sent me a letter saying that they’ll stop the business of the Senate if I dare install someone to protect consumers getting ripped off by banks and mortgage companies,” would be a sample public statement.

The Pentagon has released video found at Osama bin Laden’s home. It shows a grey bearded OBL watching images of a black-bearded OBL engaging in jihad.

Dunn divides the book into a prologue and four parts. The prologue describes the continuity of her falsehoods and their uses, from her beginnings to the present. The four parts, in turn, concentrate on her ascension in Alaska, from Wasilla to Juneau; the 2008 national campaign as John McCain’s running mate in a presidential contest; her return to Alaska until the July 2009 resignation; and her national presence over the past 20 months, as a unique sort of new wave political grifter who combines televangelism, celebrity cult social media presence and radical right-wing hate subtexts in unique ways.

Doncha just love the phrase “…softening in the jobs market”? As if the jobs market for the last few years hasn’t already been closely resembling a marshmallow in strength.

As state representative Steve Simon puts it: “How many more gay people does God have to create before we ask ourselves whether or not God actually wants them around?”

There’s not all that much in this Bob Woodward piece on the raid to get Osama bin Laden that hasn’t already been reported generally elsewhere: just some details about the surveillance leading up to the raid (which I’ll discuss below) and a cute anecdote about how they measured bin Laden’s corpse to make sure it was taller than six feet.

This has been a trend this year with Republicans all over the country. In states where the GOP won big in 2010, they have been using their margins to push through state laws that will make voting harder for groups that tend to vote against Republicans. Similar actions have been taken in Kansas and Wisconsin.

Things were going along pretty well for the Bush Administration Apologists Alumni Association. Sure, they were out of their old offices, but things were good. Obama adopted their wars as his own, the economy has sputtered along long enough to have become (in the public’s mind) at least as much Obama’s fault as theirs (thus the cries of “deficits! deficits! deficits!” from those who launched us into two wars), and most of the BAAAA have landed in cushy lucrative new digs.

Then Obama had to ruin it by getting bin Laden. Suddenly, all the old discussions are back — at least as far as torture goes — and this has at least some of them very worried, like Michael Mukasey.

He should worry. A lot.

It’s beginning to seem as if the Feds knew they had got their man, and only needed to generate a violent plot around him to save thousands of lives from danger they managed to make up for Mohamed to implement, with their extensive assistance.