It's fitting, I suppose, that we're waiting to see how this hostage situation plays out on the morning Wacky Wayne LaPierre is testifying before Congress. I'm guessing this bizarre tragedy is another custody dispute, but we'll see.

And this is the thing: It's not only the mass shootings that are the gun problem, or drug gangs in the city. It's also that average citizen, pushed to a sudden edge, feeling like his life is spiralling out of control, sees a gun as the way to get that control back. I'll show that S.O.B.!

It's the constant drip drip drip of one life lost at a time -- which is why it was easier to ignore before a classroom of children were taken out with an assault weapon. Yes, Mr. LaPierre, I can't wait to hear what you have to say!

(Reuters) - A standoff continued early on Wednesday with a gunman who boarded an Alabama school bus and fatally shot the driver before fleeing with a young child and holing up in an underground bunker, authorities said.

Dale County Coroner Woodrow Hilboldt confirmed the bus driver had been killed in the shooting Tuesday afternoon as children were being ferried home from school.

The gunman fled to a bunker on his property after the shooting, Alabama media reported. Hilboldt said it was his understanding that the child, variously identified by local media as 5 or 6 years old, was barricaded with the gunman in "some kind of a tornado bunker."

Local law enforcement gave scant details about the incident, but confirmed that one person had been killed and a child was present at the scene in Midland City.

Hilboldt said both the gunman and bus driver were in their 60s.

Law enforcement officials from multiple agencies were convened near the bunker on Wednesday as the standoff with the shooter continued overnight, said Dothan Police Sergeant Rachel David.

The shooting comes as national debate rages over gun violence, especially in schools, after a gunman shot dead 20 students and six staff members at a Connecticut elementary school last month.

Alabama media reported that the incident on Tuesday happened at approximately 4 p.m. local time when the suspect demanded the driver let a student off the bus.

There have been multiple shootings and an ongoing hostage situation at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin just south of Milwaukee. At least 4 are known to have been shot and multiple hostages are still inside the temple. More from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal:

At least four people were shot just after 10 a.m. Sunday at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, and a police SWAT team entered the building before noon and brought uninjured people out of the building at 7512 S. Howell Ave.

Among those who were shot was the president of the temple.

People were in the temple as early as 6:30 a.m. Sunday and many more were arriving for a service that was to begin about 11:30 a.m.

There were reports that children were taken to the building's basement after shots were fired.

Someone who sent a text message to a Journal Sentinel reporter shortly before noon said that there were two shooters with children possibly as hostages.

And the head priest was locked inside a restroom with a cell phone and that there were as many as 20 to 30 victims.

Oak Creek police were not giving out any information at this point.

It is not known at post time how many hostages are still in the temple, or how many gunmen may be involved in the incident. The shooter has been described as a bald man with a sleeveless t-shirt. We'll update as events warrant. You can watch the local livestream here.

Update: Four people are reported dead from the shooting

Update #2: The Oak Creek police chief just announced that four people are dead inside the temple, including an officer, three people are dead outside the temple, including one shooter. Three people are reported in critical condition in the hospital. One twenty year veteran police officer is in surgery after engaging the shooter. It is not clear if there are additional shooters still in the building or whether there are still hostages.

The influence of Big Money is everywhere. It's washing up on the shores of our Gulf Coast, creeping up on homeowners across the country and showing up in our schools and hospitals.

Our economy, our environment and our well-being are held hostage by lobbyists whose only care is retaining the power they hold. The need for reform is simple: we won't -- can't -- fix any of our country's problems until we end the dominance of money in politics.

On Tuesday, Californians have an opportunity to strike a blow against the entrenched system of money-dominated politics that puts lobbyists' interests above the public interest by voting yes on Proposition 15, the California Fair Elections Act.

Prop 15 will change the way we finance election campaigns, starting with a voluntary pilot project to provide limited public financing for Secretary of State candidates in 2014 and 2018. The Secretary of State referees our elections, so it's especially important that s/he has the best ideas and experience, not the most money.

And it pays for itself, primarily through a $350 per year registration fees on lobbyists, lobbying firms and lobbyist employers (right now, they only pay $12.50 per year in California, one of the lowest rates in the country and less than a daily fishing license).

And that's not all. From Calitics:

It also repeals a ban on public financing, so that local governments can create their own systems—and the system can be extended to other statewide offices with a vote of the legislature and the signature of the governor. Perhaps a Governor Jerry Brown might be inclined to sign a bill creating a public financing system for the 2014 governor's race, given the abhorrent spectacle of Meg Whitman spending $68 million and counting to buy the governor's office?

This isn't a full solution, but it starts us down the path of cleaning up our elections and returning power to the people. It is a great way to show the people of California that we can have democracy again, and not corporatocracy.

Prop 15 is tough:

• Candidates who agree to use public funds must prove they have substantial support by gathering signatures and $5 contributions from 7,500 registered voters.
• Participating candidates are banned from raising or spending money beyond the limited funds.
• Spending limits and reporting requirements are strictly enforced. Candidates can only spend on legitimate expenses. Violators would face fines, possible jail time, and prohibitions from running for office in the future.

Given the state of our state, this is a critical campaign. But this is not just important to Californians. People across the country are watching too, knowing that Prop 15 could open the door for similar reforms across the country. Hundreds of orgs and individuals (including Rep. Alan Grayson and Lawrence Lessig) support it. You should, too.

Angry Bear: A number of the big libertarian & rightwing blogs are putting up links to this post by Scott Sumner. I'm kind of surprised because the argument seems to have more than a few weaknesses.

Obsidian Wings: I hear screams to “take over” the operations from BP. And do what? Is there some secret naval division that handles deep-sea drilling that we have not deployed?

Hullabaloo: Throwing the tea party a bone

DownWithTyranny!: At least at the NYRB it's possible to discuss seriously what it means to be Jewish in America (and how that relates to Israel)

Brilliant at Breakfast: It's about holding the well-being of an entire nation hostage to PERSONAL GREED

Progressive Blog Digest: Git along little bloggies...

DOWNLOADS: (1150)

PLAYS: (4784)

Embed

Everyone but Fox analysts pretty much celebrated yesterday's release of the two American women held hostage in North Korea, thanks to Bill Clinton's diplomatic efforts.

On Fox and elsewhere on the right, as Ben Armbruster at Think Progress observes, it's all a bunch of sour grapes, claiming that we gave Pyongyang a propaganda victory. All of which goes to prove the old adage that ideologues think ideas are more important than people.

The worst of the bunch, though, had to be that sewer-dwelling toe-sucking gnome, Dick Morris, on Fox and Friends this morning with Gretchen Carlson, during which he called Clinton's successful negotations "ridiculous":

Carlson: How are we supposed to get the girls home, though, Dick? And I only have 30 seconds. How are we supposed to get them home?

Morris: I don't know. I don't know. Maybe they don't come home. Maybe they go to North Korea and live with the consequences of their decision to go there.

These people are really beyond redemption, aren't they?

MyDD: Porter Goss insults our intelligence.  This isn't about mere politics, Mr. Goss

thought crimes: Uh, guys...about that "LET Texas secede" joke...

AMERICAblog News|: Freed US hostage from Somalia-tanker slams Limbaugh's "disgusting" comments

Small Wars Journal: Pakistan in Peril

Wonk Room: Ignore 9/11, except as a defense of torture

ANNALS OF JOURNALISM: Neutral Coverage of Climate Change?...Mild in the Streets...Stop Snitching...Congrats...The Pulitzer-Winning Investigation that wasn't mentioned on TV...Bill Moyers talks Drugs, Crime, Journalism and Democracy with the creator of "The Wire"...Cillizza hearts Drudge...Maddow's numbers drop... Cognitive Dissonance...Ethical Patriot...Braying Jackass...Why pay when most righties will lie for nothing...

(full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign)

I wanted to report back on my post from Friday, warning that Gov. Schwarzengger was about to cut over 200,000 state worker's salaries down to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 -- a ploy in a political game being played by the Governor. He's trying to hold state workers hostage to try and place pressure on the Democrats instead of the Republicans who are holding up the budget.

Today, I have good news and bad news. It's Arnold's birthday. No, that's not the good news.

The good news is that over 28,000 of you stepped up and signed the petition to Schwarzenegger. The same day, he delayed signing the executive order that would have put the policy into effect.

The bad news is that he only delayed it to Thursday.

We delivered your petitions to the Governor on Monday and created a funny, snarky video you can see above, about our adventure trying to get someone to accept the darn petitions. It helped to have an Assemblymember along with us and a bunch of cameras and reporters, or else we would have been sent straight to the mailroom.

We have about 24 hours until the Governor signs the executive order. Which means we still have time today to pressure Arnold to stop holding state workers hostage to his political budget negotiation games.

On behalf of hundreds of thousands of state workers, please pick up your phone right now and call Arnold. Click here for the phone number and a form to report back your call.

UPDATE: We've already received some interesting call reports, like this one from Gary:

Staff member tried to convince me that things will be alright with our finances because my partner, who is a teacher, can get a zero-interest loan since the banks know that the employees will be getting the money eventually. I told her that we didn't want to be pawns in their political games and that the governor & legislature need to work it out. She said she would pass it along.

Jim Himes, who is running against the very erratic Chris Shays in CT, is liveblogging on FDL right now....

The last year has been fascinating and challenging. The Bush administration and its supporters in Congress, like Chris Shays, have so wildly bungled nearly every aspect of governance that it is hard to know where to start. Our fiscal deficit has ballooned, our credibility abroad has been destroyed, our economy is hostage to foreign creditors and spiralling oil prices, our Constitution has been tossed aside like so much used Christmas wrapping, and the really critical problems facing most of America--healthcare, education, rocketing energy prices--have been ignored. Seriously . . . where to start?...read on

Remember Chris Shays and his starring role in: "Blogger Rage"

Download (3706) | Play (3802) Download (1994) | Play

Jim Himes is trying to get 500 contributors by Monday night...

For quite a while, many of us have wondered whether Republican officials in Washington have any apparent talents at all. Governing is clearly not their strong suit, but are they completely without skills?

Absolutely not. The 49-member Senate Republican minority has done something no Senate minority in American history has ever done: they’ve filibustered more bills than any Congress ever has — and they broke the record with a full year to spare.

The latest came this morning, when the Senate GOP filibustered an omnibus budget bill, the 62nd Republican filibuster since the 110th Congress began in January.

“In just one session, a minority in Congress has prevented a mind-blowing 62 pieces of legislation from going to the floor for an up or down vote,” said Campaign for America’s Future co-director Roger Hickey. “Our report shows how over and over again, the uncompromising minority has thwarted the will of majorities in Congress and of the American people, holding the Senate floor hostage to a radical right-wing agenda.” […]

Eric Lotke, Campaign for America’s Future research director and lead author of the new report, calls the obstruction a “deliberate strategy.” He observes that the congressional Republicans block legislation, then blame the Democrats for getting nothing done. “It’s like mugging the postman and then complaining that the mail isn’t delivered on time.”

Brian Young, noting the historic quality of the achievement, added, “Only a group with a near-pathological disregard for the actual health of our democracy, only a group with a single-minded focus on the cynical political strategies of their consultants, only a group with an imperious disdain for the people of the country could’ve pulled off such a feat.”

Will Bunch thinks so:

A publication for photojournalists called Photo District News has been covering the heck out of the Bilal Hussein situation, and they ran a long and interesting piece last night entitled "The Man from Fallujah." Overall, it's a good read for anyone who's been following the story, but I found this piece of the saga especially troubling.

Did an anonymous blogger some 11,000 miles removed from the front lines stir up the probe of the imprisoned AP photographer?

Sure sounds like "Rusty" played a key role here in all of this:[..]

Last week, The Jawa Report said a military source e-mailed to thank the blog for helping in the case against Bilal Hussein. The source told the blog he was an investigator at Abu Ghraib prison who recognized Hussein (who was held there for a time) as the much-criticized AP photographer, and notified his superiors.

In an e-mail interview, the blogger known as Rusty (who refused to give any details identifying himself) told PDN why he initially thought Hussein's work was so suspicious. He said Hussein was producing photographs of two particular insurgent groups in Fallujah, the Army of Ansar al Sunnah and Tawid wal Jihad, or al-Qeada in Iraq.

"The groups, at the time, routinely murdered any one they believed to be a 'collaborater' or 'spy'. It was also when any foreigner they found they held hostage and then beheaded," the blogger wrote. "Yet Hussein was given free access."