This is how far it's gone. I wish David and I had a chance to include this Malkin nonsense in our new book, but we can't add much more.

Malkin: "Obama's war on fishing?!?!?!" In a March 9, post titled, "Obama's war on fishing?!?!?!" Michelle Malkin posted the ESPN column's claim that "[t]he Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters." Malkin added, "Longtime readers know I love to fish and have been at war with the anti-fishing nuts at PETA for years."

Here's the piece by Robert Montgomery on ESPN that got the wingnuts all lathered up.

After fish, what's next? Will Obama ban kittens? And then hold Kitten death panels?

Digby sez:

This is a woman who wrote book about liberals called "Unhinged" and she seems to believe that the Obama administration is secretly working as an agent of Code Pink and PETA. The Obama administration. At this point, they are so off the cliff that calling him a socialist is beginning to seem restrained. I'm expecting them to claim he's literally Satan by the next election.

It's too disorienting and weird to try to address rationally. The only thing I can do is shake my head and keep my fingers crossed that these people don't ever get their fingers on the button.

*sigh*

NY Times: (reg. req'd.)

The 110th Congress opened with the passage of new rules intended to curb the influence of lobbyists by prohibiting them from treating lawmakers to meals, trips, stadium box seats or the discounted use of private jets.
But it did not take long for lawmakers to find ways to keep having lobbyist-financed fun.
In just the last two months, lawmakers invited lobbyists to help pay for a catalog of outings: lavish birthday parties in a lawmaker's honor ($1,000 a lobbyist), martinis and margaritas at Washington restaurants (at least $1,000), a California wine-tasting tour (all donors welcome), hunting and fishing trips (typically $5,000), weekend golf tournaments ($2,500 and up), a Presidents' Day weekend at Disney World ($5,000), parties in South Beach in Miami ($5,000), concerts by the Who or Bob Seger ($2,500 for two seats), and even Broadway shows like "Mary Poppins" and "The Drowsy Chaperone" (also $2,500 for two).

The lobbyists and their employers typically end up paying for the events, but within the new rules.

Instead of picking up the lawmaker's tab, lobbyists pay a political fund-raising committee set up by the lawmaker. In turn, the committee pays the legislator's way.

NY Times offers this little menu of Lobbyist/Congress get togethers.

F0X reports about 10% of this story which is more than expected. Even the G0P's propaganda network may have given up on the Virginia Senate race.

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Phil Singer, DSCC:

Democrats are demanding that George Allen stop stonewalling and immediately release records addressing why multiple warrants were issued for his arrest in 1974 while he was a student at the University of Virginia. The court records of his arrests are missing but one of the few official documents detailing the circumstances surrounding his arrests is Allen’s application to the Virginia Bar Association. Allen has so far refused to release that information.

“Allen’s adamant refusal to release documents about his arrest record suggests that there’s more to this story and that he’s hiding something. Allen’s got a character problem and this stonewalling isn’t helping him any,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman Phil Singer said.

When news of the arrest warrants resurfaced this month, one of Allen’s aides said that one was issued for unpaid parking tickets and another for fishing without a license. The warrants are posted on an index (click here for a photo of the ledger), but Allen has failed to produce any written documentation verifying his explanation for why the warrants were issued and has not personally addressed the matter.

As we reported last week, FOX is doing all it can to try and turn the sexual suit against O'Reilly into a left wing conspiracy. Al Franken is their target and they are trying to dig up any kind of connection between the two.

We will keep you up to date on this as the information becomes available. We do know if Fox had anything by nowit would be all over the airwaves and in print over at the NY Post. So the fishing expedition has begun.