After Chicago Public Schools received millions in billionaire bucks from the likes of Betsy Devos, the Bradley Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael and Susan Dell foundation, they made the brave decision to shut down 50 public schools in areas where students most desperately need the safety of a neighborhood school.

It's always awesome when those with power stomp on those with the least ability to defend themselves, isn't it?

Via All In with Chris Hayes' blog:

Wednesday afternoon, the Chicago Board of Educationvoted to close 50 reportedly “underutilized” schools—49 elementary schools and one public high school—in what was the largest round of school closures to ever occur in a single American city.

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I'm not exactly sure what this SRWT even means, but it's probably some kind of "You Don't Need Guns To Kill You Can Do It With Knives Neener-Neener!" taunt. At any rate, Piers Morgan wasn't amused, and promptly banned Loesch from his show.

Regardless, if your first instinct upon hearing about some horrible act of violence is to take to Twitter to taunt your political opponents, you might want to get some help.

It's kind of a trick question. Because the whole point of the Obama "extend and pretend" policy was to pretend that the banks are financially sound (when they're not) and if they actually did do a study showing their precarious financial situation and it got out, that would present certain problems. So Sen. Warren has boxed them in nicely with this approach:

The U.S. Department of Justice appears to have neither conducted nor received any analyses that would show whether criminal charges against large financial institutions would harm the economy, potentially undermining a key DOJ argument for why the world’s biggest banks have escaped indictment.

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Via Buzzfeed, Medea Benjamin of Code Pink speaks out during Obama's counterterrorism speech today:

President Barack Obama was heckled during a major counterterrorism speech Thursday. The President was speaking at National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

The interruption was caused by Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin, according to reporters at the event.

“I’m willing to cut the young lady who interrupted me some slack, because it’s worth being passionate about,” the President said.

“Abide by the rule of law. You’re a constitutional lawyer,” the protestor said.

“The voice of that woman is worth paying attention to. Obviously I do not agree with much of what she said,” the President added.

The Washington Post reports:

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Wow, the hits just keep on coming. This week it's the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where a sergeant is accused of videotaping and peeping on female cadets.

New York Times:

The Army is contacting about a dozen women to alert them that their privacy may have been violated by the suspect, identified as Sgt. First Class Michael McClendon, and to offer support or counseling, officials said.

The allegations at West Point, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious military academy, come in the midst of growing outrage in Congress at the Pentagon, and from President Obama over reports of sexual harassment and assault in the armed services. They also come as the Army has begun integrating women into combat positions, bringing added demands for fair and equal treatment of those in uniform.

The revelations are especially startling at West Point, which has had problems with sexual assault but also has many progressive faculty members and prides itself on having an environment of discipline and respect. Women have been enrolled at the two-century-old institution, on a commanding bank of the Hudson River in upstate New York, for nearly 40 years.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who is to deliver the commencement address at West Point on Saturday, was briefed on the case Wednesday morning. Pentagon officials described him as “concerned and disturbed” by the allegations.

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The Hunting of the Snark: Whatever the facts…

Vox Verax: Republicans natter about "I" word.

First Draft: A masterpiece of the false equivalence genre.

The Impolitic: Ted Cruz don't trust nobody but himself.

Balloon Juice: Wishing for bigger middle fingers.

Guest post by Batocchio. E-mail tips to mbru AT crooksandliars DOT com.

Re-arranging the deck chairs (and sunbathers) for the book "The Art of Clean Up." The perfect Father's Day gift your kids can give your OCD ex-husband. Just sayin'.

The Art of Clean Up: Life Made Neat and Tidy
	Author: Ursus Wehrli

Open thread below...

Thomas Jefferson must be rolling in his grave:

If a woman in Virginia has a miscarriage without a doctor present, they must report it within 24 hours to the police or risk going to jail for a full year. At least, that’s what would have happened if a bill introduced by Virginia state Sen. Mark Obenshain (R) had become law.

And yet, the Virginia Republican Party wants to make Obenshain into the state’s top prosecutor. This weekend, Virginia Republicans selected Obenshain as their nominee to replace tea party stalwart Ken Cuccinelli (R) as the state’s attorney general.

Under Obenshain’s bill, which was introduced in 2009,

When a fetal death occurs without medical attendance upon the mother at or after the delivery or abortion, the mother or someone acting on her behalf shall, within 24 hours, report the fetal death, location of the remains, and identity of the mother to the local or state police or sheriff’s department of the city or county where the fetal death occurred. No one shall remove, destroy, or otherwise dispose of any remains without the express authorization of law-enforcement officials or the medical examiner. Any person violating the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Under Virginia law, a Class 1 misdemeanor carries a maximum sentence of “confinement in jail for not more than twelve months and a fine of not more than $2,500,” so Obenshain’s bill could lead to a woman who decides to take a day to grieve the loss of a pregnancy she’d hoped to carry to term spending a year of her life in jail for that decision.

Unless all the normal people turn out in massive numbers to vote, you can kiss sanity goodbye for this state.

When I was writing my book on the history of American political debate and change - The Progressive Revolution: How The Best In America Came To Be - in 2008, I was doing some research on the sequence of events in the 1960s, I was struck by the fact that so many big things happened so close together. As I wrote in my book:

"The civil rights movement inspired other progressives not only to help in the civil rights cause but also to come together around a range of other issues and constituencies. A renewed wave of feminism was sparked in great part by Betty Friedan's influential book The Feminine Mystique. The environmental movement gained broad public appeal when Rachel Carson's Silent Spring became a best seller. Students began to organize themselves. The Port Huron statement, written by Tom Hayden and others, prompted young people to get involved in politics through the student and antiwar movements. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was founded. Cesar Chavez used many of King's organizing tactics, as well as new ones of his own, to unionize farm workers in the agricultural fields of California. And as the 1960s wore on, progressives of all stripes looked with growing concern at the Vietnam War and began to protest in earnest against it.

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This morning, Lois Lerner went before a Congressional committee and invoked the Fifth amendment with regard to her role in the selection process for challenging applications for tax-exempt status.

“I have not done anything wrong,” she said. “I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations. And I have not provided false information to this or any other congressional committee.” But on the advice of counsel, she said, she would not answer questions or testify before the committee.

Lerner is the official in charge of the tax-exempt division of the IRS. She is the top of the top of the food chain when it comes to how the agency conducted itself in the selection and treatment of applications for exemptions. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, she has managed to avoid getting the axe.

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