Scarce put up New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's speech defending his nomination of Solahi Mohammed to NJ's Superior Court earlier. And as much as I find to vehemently disagree with Chris Christie--and there are volumes of disagreement-- there's something refreshing in seeing a Republican reject typical xenophobic memes and speak on an intellectually honest level.

The question on Sharia Law seemed to set Christie off, as he said exasperated:

“Sharia Law has nothing to do with this at all, it’s crazy! The guy is an American citizen!” He concluded that the “Sharia Law business is just crap… and I’m tried of dealing with the crazies,” adding with disgust and frustration that “it’s just unnecessary to be accusing this guy of things just because of his religious background.”

Lawrence O'Donnell thought so too, and awarded Christie with the first ever The Last Word standing ovation for refusing to capitulate to the ugliness that is the Republican Party's unabashed islamophobia and rightfully characterize those practitioners as "crazies."

Unfortunately, there's consequences to be paid for such honesty. Certainly, getting applauded by liberals on the derided liberal station MSNBC isn't good for one's conservative cred. Next thing you know, Christie's mug will be up on Pammy Geller's website as a islamo-fascist terrorist lover.

You just have to see it to believe it, but yes, that's exactly what she did.

• 10:58 p.m. ET

Points Scoring: The Scorer's Table unenthusiastically reports this bout as going to Senator John Kerry by 12 rounds to 4, with 5 rounds even. On individual points, Senator Kerry is awarded a net total of 19 points, and President Bush a net of 2, having undermined his own effort with no less than eight points subtracted, three of them in a disastrous 12th Round in which the President had to be told time was up, answered a question with, in essence, 'all of the above,' and stumbled by inadvertently criticizing himself by claiming the borders of Texas were tighter than they'd been when he was Governor there. He also lost points for having twice invoked the 2000 election, and for once having given back at least a minute of time when the question hadn't really been answered.

Balloon Juice: We are all strapping young bucks now

Bay Area Houston: Giving the bird back to the Harris County, Texas GOP

his vorpal sword: CNN, A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing: Governor Moonbeam?

The Reaction: How long have Republicans been back in power?

Pruning Shears: Recalibrating convenience, privacy and security

Happy Valley News Hour: Tea Party 'Howl'

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The speaker in this video is ex-New York Times Reporter Kurt Eichenwald giving a keynote speech at the 2010 HCCA Compliance Institute. In this short clip, Eichenwald describes the culture at Columbia/HCA as one driven by a "cult of personality" centered around Rick Scott. He goes on to describe the fraud that went on at the company under Scott's management as systemic, and directly related to the culture and attitude of the company, along with an utter lack of compliance safety nets.

This is the man Florida just elected as governor of their state. With due respect to my friends in Florida, WHAT were you thinking?

Via NPR:

It wasn't so long ago that Scott built the biggest and brashest chain of hospitals in the land. Back in the '90s, Columbia/HCA, as the company was then called, had hospitals from coast to coast and a reputation as one shrewdly run operation.

But there was trouble under the surface, as whistle-blowers and government investigations ultimately revealed.

Columbia/HCA's profits were fueled in part by kickbacks paid to doctors and inflated bills sent to Medicare and Medicaid, the Justice Department alleged.

Of course, Scott excused himself during the campaign by saying he was never convicted of any crimes. Well yes, that's true. He wasn't, mostly because he turned tail and ran days before FBI raids on HCA facilities. Still, the company was nearly destroyed in the process, and ultimately had to pay the largest fine for Medicare fraud in history.

Novelist Carl Hiassen has a pretty blunt assessment:

Of his years as chief of Columbia/HCA, Scott says he takes responsibility for what occurred, but insists he didn’t know anything illegal was going on.

The fraud was so massive and institutionalized that his statement can’t be taken seriously. If he truly didn’t know what was happening all around him, he’s an incompetent fool.

Yes, that was my sense of things, too, and of course, he *did* know what was happening.

Meanwhile, the man who can’t grasp the definition of a promise has plenty of big ones to peddle. At every appearance, Scott grandly pledges to single-handedly slash property taxes, create 700,000 new jobs and shrink state government.

And right after that, he’ll climb into a great big balloon and fly Dorothy and Toto back to Kansas.

This is the guy Floridians have elected to implement the Affordable Care Act. The same guy that owns health centers across Florida. The same guy who allowed systemic and rampant fraud of the federal government to take place.

Good job, Florida.

Note: It looks like they're not allowing their live stream to be embedded. You can watch the stream here or listen here.

Jeb Bush: Hurricane Dennis Could Be Fault of Michael Schiavo

via Swift Report: Florida Governor Jeb Bush has asked a state prosecutor to investigate possible links between Hurricane Dennis and Michael Schiavo. Governor Bush said that he connected Mr. Schiavo with the category 3 storm after realizing that Dennis spelled backwards is actually 'sinned.' read on

This is a pretty funny satire from Deanna Swift.

You Run Arnold, We Run Jennifer Yellow Dog Blog

Quark Soup

Check out this major blunder, written by Misty Edgecomb of the Bangor Daily News:

Instead, the Bush administration is promoting voluntary energy efficiency and pollution reduction programs - which EPA officials estimate will reduce emissions by 18 percent over a decade without harming the economy.

Of course, it's not emissions that will decrease 18 percent over the next decade but -- emissions as a percentage of GDP. Emissions will continue to increase.

What's so bad about this is that it's precisely this type of confusion which the Administration was hoping people would make when they shifted their emphasis from emissions to emissions intensity. Reporter Misty Edgecomb fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

Don't miss these stories  Kicking Ass

Don't miss some important stories coming out of the DNC today:

• Governor Dean announced a huge investment in state parties, beginning with a half million dollars to four states as a pilot program that will go national.
• Dean called on Dennis Hastert to stop protecting the scandal-ridden Tom DeLay and to restore the power of the Ethics Committee to conduct meaningful investigations.
• Americans are growing more and more wary of Republicans, according to three different new polls. President Bush's approval ratings are dropping, and Americans strongly disapprove of the recent behavior of GOP leaders.

emissions intensity -- emissions as a percentage of GDP. Emissions will continue to increase.

What's so bad about this is that it's precisely this type of confusion which the Administration was hoping people would make when they shifted their emphasis from emissions to emissions intensity. Reporter Misty Edgecomb fell for it hook, line, and sinker.