No, I'm not being hyperbolic or ironic with that headline. The prez set up a bipartisan commission of unelected rich guys who have taken it upon themselves to tell us we must both pay higher taxes and accept fewer services. And unsurprisingly, much of Official Washington thinks this is an ingenious idea because everyone in America hates it.

And what's worse, it's inspired creepy authoritarians like Kevin Huffman to declare that commission co-chairs Bowles and Simpson should "go rogue" if the people whom we elected to represent us don't go through with their plans:

Debt commission co-chairs should go rogue

By Kevin Huffman

The chairmen of the president's debt commission should keep on pushing, and threaten to go rogue, if needed. Their proposal Wednesday went down like a lead zeppelin. Their own commission members pussy-footed away from it; the president's knees showed early signs of buckling. And raise your hand if you were stunned when Nancy Pelosi disavowed it for cutting benefits and Grover Norquist slammed it for raising taxes? Well, at least they are consistent in their cowardice.

It probably didn't help that Bowles and Simpson released their paper the same day British students took to the streets in violent protests over Prime Minister David Cameron's austerity measures. You could imagine Republican strategists watching TV and thinking to themselves, "When we said 'Tea Party' we meant the peaceful kind."

[...]

This is precisely why the commission is not an effort to build bipartisan congressional consensus.

Which brings me to the rogue part of the operation. Bowles and Simpson surely released their thoughts because they can't get 14 commissioners to support them and because they certainly can't get either party on board. If they feel strongly about the deficit, they should go totally independent, get some private funding, and engage in the 2012 elections. Demand a balanced budget plan from every national candidate. Release an independent report card of what the deficit will look like for each plan (and run TV ads showing, e.g., "Sarah Palin's deficit reduction plan: F.") And in case anyone needs a real wakeup call, play some footsie with Mike Bloomberg if and when he gets bored in New York.

Ah yes, let's draft Mike Bloomberg, the ultimate fantasy candidate for rich people who hate Social Security and Medicare!

Also: It isn't "cowardice" to be an elected representative and oppose something that your constituents will absolutely hate, especially when it was concocted by two jerks who haven't held elected office in God knows how long. The Bowles/Simpson "plan" is basically a compromise where they agree to kick the American people in both the nuts and the teeth equally rather than focusing exclusively on one or the other. It's a plan so politically toxic that anyone who votes for it will not only be driven from office but also likely kidnapped, strapped to a rocket ship and fired into the sun. It's that freaking bad.

In a way, I find it comforting that so many of our elected representatives are giving this toxic piece of trash a "HAAAAAAAAIIIIIILL NO!" It shows that they're still responsive somewhat to public pressure and that our country hasn't yet become a feudal state run by unelected commissioners. Here's to the little pleasures in life, eh?

Right-wingers have been having fun in recent weeks with the ACORN "gotcha" videos supposedly showing community organizers indulging in illicit behavior. But they're about to discover that the undercover video can be a two-edged sword.

Over the past year, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been sending out private investigators to gun shows around the country, focusing on locales where NYPD and other local law enforcement are seeing guns arriving from. And what they showed was incredibly revealing.

It shows the dirty little secret that everyone who attends gun shows with any kind of discerning eye can tell you: There are a lot of illegitimate transactions taking place at them -- and particularly a lot of sales of guns to people who could never pass a background check.

John Rosenthal described in some detail last year just how big the "gun show loophole" is. Like, Mack-truck sized:

At approximately 5,000 gun shows each year in 32 states, criminals and terrorists are allowed to purchase firearms from private gun dealers without an ID or background check. Although many gun dealers are federally licensed and therefore legally required to contact the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to ensure that a prospective purchaser is not prohibited from possessing firearms, private sellers have no such requirement.

The report produced by the New York mayor's office investigation -- which, along with the videos, will be available for public view at 11 a.m. PDT today (we'll post them at C&L then) -- reveals that 63 percent of the gun vendors approached by the team were willing to sell to a person who told them they couldn't pass the background check.

Unlike the phony ACORN undercover operation -- which only offered for public view a single instance of actual miscreancy, and refused to report the several instances in which they were turned away -- this report is clear that some gun vendors adhered to the law.

But some 19 out of the 30 vendors approached sold to investigators who said they'd probably fail a check. Along the way, they bought semi-automatic handguns and assault rifles. All told, 39 of 51 attempts to buy a gun illegally were successful. Several vendors told their buyers that they probably wouldn't pass a check either.

Only 11 vendors said no.

There were exchanges like this caught on tape:

"I don't need your address."

"No background check?"

"Nothing. Just show me that you're from Ohio."

"That's good about the background check because I probably couldn’t pass one."

"I don't care. All's I got to do is demand you show me your license."

"You don’t care about the background check, right?"

"Nope. Nope. I wouldn't pass either, bud." [grin]

"Is that right?"

This is why some 30 percent of all illegal gun traffic in the United States emanates from gun shows. It's long past time to shut this travesty down.

We'll be back later this morning with video and more details.