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Journalist Hunter Thompson fatally shot himself tonight. Aspen Sheriff Bob Braudis, a close friend of Hunter's, has confirmed the sad news. He was found by his son, Juan Thompson. We will update as more information becomes available. Here is Hunter's latest Hey Rube column, dated February 15, 2005.

It ends with this line: So long and Mahalo.

(Code corruption messed up this post)

California Gov. ArnoldSchwarzenegger announced Wednesday night that he will veto legislation allowingsame-sex couples to marry.The announcement,made through his press secretary, Margita Thompson, said that the bill is inconflict with Proposition 22 a ballot initiative passed in 2000 to preventCalifornia from recognizing same-sex marriages performed elsewhere...

We're Number 24! Hit and Run

Happy World Press Freedom Day! To celebrate, take a gander at Freedom House's annual rankings [PDF] of press freedom around the globe. The U.S. has slipped a few notches down the chart to #24, tied with the recently totalitarian Latvia and Estonia, the liberty-lovin' Barbados, and some "countries" called Dominica and Canada. Explains the Freedom House press release:

While the United States remained one of the strongest performers in the survey, its numerical score declined due to a number of legal cases in which prosecutors sought to compel journalists to reveal sources or turn over notes or other material they had gathered in the course of investigations. Additionally, doubts concerning official influence over media content emerged with the disclosures that several political commentators received grants from federal agencies, and that the Bush administration had significantly increased the practice of distributing government-produced news segments.
"Even in established democracies, press freedom should not be taken for granted," said Freedom House Executive Director Jennifer Windsor. "It must be defended and nurtured."

Former Secretary of Health and Human Resources Tommy Thompson said today that the flu vaccine shortage thus demonstrated the kind of "careful, long-range planning" that the Bush Administration brings to bear on difficult problems. "One or two more vaccine shortages, and we'll be able to put away that so-called lockbox," Thompson boasted.

This

"Even in established democracies, press freedom should not be taken for granted," said Freedom House Executive Director Jennifer Windsor. "It must be defended and nurtured."

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I've been reporting for a long time on the many ways that the immigration debate has served as a critical nexus in the intersection between right-wing extremism and mainstream conservatism.

Last weekend, Sheriff Joe Arpaio -- the quasi-fascist chief law-enforcement officer of Arizona's Maricopa County, currently under DOJ investigation for his refusal to abide by court orders and his rampant racial profiling -- provided us with a crystalline example.

Because we got to see a classic case of someone in a position of real power lending the authority of his office to the empowerment of far-right radicals -- unintentionally, perhaps (though not likely), but with the same result regardless.

On Saturday, May 2, several thousand people came out to march in protest of Arpaio's increasingly thuggish tactics.

And as is often the case with such events, there was a little knot of neo-Nazis out there to counter-protest. This meant they were out there to support Arpaio.

The first part of the above video is taken from footage shot by one of these counter-protesters. A little ways in, you'll see a black Cadillac pull up containing none other than Sheriff Joe himself, who has decided to stop by and say hello to his supporters. He lets one of them pose for a picture.

As it happens, the young man posing for him is none other than Thomas Coletto, aka "Vito Lombardi" -- who, as Stephen Lemons reports, is not only the local leader of a neo-Nazi outfit, but was also busted for burglary in a supposed "Columbine"-type plot two years ago.

After posing with Arpaio, Coletto posted the shot on the neo-Nazi forum Stormfront.

And it's not as if Arpaio recoiled and hurried on when he figured out who he was talking to. You can see in the video he pulls over and shakes hands with someone in group standing with a Confederate flag.

The rest of the video is compiled from other footage available on YouTube, particularly the work of 287gGots2go, who let us see what this little clutch of white nationalists was like from the other side of the camera.

I think it tells everything we need to know about who Sheriff Arpaio counts on for his support. It also tells us everything we need to know about how these people feel empowered enough to come crawling out from under the rocks beneath which they usually hide.

Dan Weiss at Imagine 2050 has more.

I'm still trying to figure out who ran the worst campaign in the history of politics in the last 50 years. Was it Thompson or Giuliani? (OK, that's a little harsh) It had to be Rudy the front runner, but Fred ran a close second. Anyway, after his humiliating defeat, Fredrick is heading back to Hollywood.

Former Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson is returning to his career as an actor and signed a deal to be represented by the William Morris Agency, the talent group said on Monday.

The 65-year-old actor and politician was a candidate for the Republican nomination for U.S. president before dropping out of the race in January after garnering little support. Arizona Senator John McCain is the presumptive Republican nominee.

Maybe Dick Wolf will create another spinoff series: L&O: Lazy-boy Intent. About an aging DA that's just too tired to show up in court. Or, something...

Ha ha, just kidding, Mister Murdoch! Strange Tales (syndicated):

The BBC is spending more than $1 million to teach its staff the importance of telling viewers the truth. Vin Ray, director of the BBC's college of journalism, said the cost of taking 17,000 workers off the job for the two-hour training seminar would add at least another $1 million to the cost. Mark Thompson, the BBC's director general, ordered the training after the broadcaster admitted a series of bogus broadcasts, including made-up winners for phone-in contests and a misleading promotional video for a documentary about Queen Elizabeth.

Robert Somma (pictured left) a Bush-appointed federal judge was in full drag when he was arrested for DUI after rear ending a pickup truck in New Hampshire on February 6th:

"He had a difficult time locating his license in his purse. He passed over it multiple times before removing it," officer Paul J. Thompson wrote in his report.

Local news reports mention that Judge Somma resigned after pleading guilty to drunken driving. Other than the gay press, no one mentioned the black evening gown and fishnet stockings. Read on...

Howie was all over another story that isn't so lighthearted. Robert McKee(pictured right), a Maryland Republican Delegate, anti-child porn crusader and former bigwig in Mitt Romney's MD campaign was arrested after police found kiddie porn at his Hagerstown home:

Law enforcement authorities, both the FBI and county sheriff's office, who are conducting a child pornography investigation, seized two computers, videotapes and printed materials when they searched the Republican's home in Hagerstown 2 weeks ago.

You think? McKee was sponsored Maryland's Child Protection From Predators Act and a proposal to collect DNA samples from sexual predators. He also sponsored several other sexual offender and child abduction bills in the past. None of the reports coming out of Maryland so far have indicated whether it was little girls or little boys-- or both-- who the Republican was interested in. He's been very active in the Little League and, predictably, was a chaplain for the First Christian Church, a position Republican child predators often use to seduce young children. Read on...

Remember when Fred Thompson---crushed in SC---made his way to the podium to tell us nothing? 9iu11ani just gave a speech that sounded like a goodbye, but still didn't make his plans known. Reports are that he's negotiating with McCain's camp. He did make me laugh with this one...

Rudy: The party of Lincoln and Reagan and Bush...

Hahahahahaha...

Mock Paper Scissors: Tengrain Presents...Economic Stimulation!

Jesus' General: From Swiftboating to Pork Shot Hand Ointment.

No More Mister Nice Blog: Fred Thompson is convinced that Mike Huckabee is too liberal to be President. Did you get that?

One Po'd Veteran: Just a few stats from the war....Just a few. Stats. From the war....

The staff of the Mighty Corrente Building is having a fundraiser to cover their server costs. Help out if you can...

Mike is back tomorrow send tips to finnsagain AT aol...

If Thompson doesn't win this one will Lady MacCheney throw in the towel? And Mike really didn't mean anything meant by this:

“You don’t like people from outside the state coming in and telling you what to do with your flag,” Mr. Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas, told supporters in Myrtle Beach, according to The Associated Press.

“In fact,” he said, “if somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we’d tell them what to do with the pole; that’s what we’d do.”

He feels that the Confederate flag is a private matter for SC and nobody should be shocked by what it stands for...Or something...