Profiles in Courage... a.k.a, I Now Have a Book to Sell

Former Homeland Security Secretary and George Reeves lookalike Tom Ridge is blowing the whistle on the Bush Administration:

Among the headlines promoted by publisher Thomas Dunne Books: Ridge was never invited to sit in on National Security Council meetings; was “blindsided” by the FBI in morning Oval Office meetings because the agency withheld critical information from him; found his urgings to block Michael Brown from being named head of the emergency agency blamed for the Hurricane Katrina disaster ignored; and was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush’s re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over.

Fuck Ridge. If that's how he felt, he should have walked out and held a press conference when it actually mattered. Instead, he wrote it in his fucking diary, stayed on the job for another month, kept his mouth shut and saved it for his book years down the road.

[h/t DougJ at Balloon Juice]

The Furious Index

129 — Barack Obama's pledged delegate lead over Hillary Clinton.

103 — Barack Obama's super-delegate lead over Hillary Clinton.

50 — Number of supedelegates Barack Obama picked up yesterday.

1 — Number of superdelegates Hillary Clinton picked up yesterday.

154 — Days until Election

Hillary Clinton's hypothetical, last-ditch path to the nomination now is to convince super-delegates to support her instead of Obama. Despite her ungracious attempt to upstage him last night and any attempt to take this thing to quadruple overtime, Obama's face was on the front of every newspaper in the world this morning as the nominee for President of the United States.

What unpledged superdelgate is going to come out for Hillary now that Obama is official? Maybe some Deep South freaks who need to cater to their constituencies, but it won't be for Hillary's benefit.

But more importantly, Hillary needs to peel away superdelegates already pledged to Obama. She's on the fucking pipe if she thinks that's going to happen short of Obama getting caught in bed with a dead hooker AND a live boy.

And it needs to be noted, this arm-twisting, doubt-sowing super-delegate strategy has been her strategy for the last few months, and it hasn't worked yet! Obama gained more superdelegates yesterday than Clinton has gained since Feb 5.

Who in their right mind thinks she'll have any better luck with that strategy now?

This is probably all about leverage and her last ditch attempt to get what she can from Obama and assert her agenda, rather than actually continuing this insane political deathwish, but as with last night, Hillary Clinton hasn't failed to disappoint me yet.

Moron of the Week: Tim Couch (the Congress one)

Obviously frustrated that everytime he comments on a blog people assume he's a failed back-up NFL quarterback, rather than a failed back-bench Congressman, Rep. Tim Couch of Kentucky wants to ensure that everyone knows exactly who everyone else online is...

Kentucky Lawmaker Wants to Make Anonymous Internet Posting Illegal

Kentucky Representative Tim Couch filed a bill this week to make anonymous posting online illegal.

The bill would require anyone who contributes to a website to register their real name, address and e-mail address with that site.

Their full name would be used anytime a comment is posted.

If the bill becomes law, the website operator would have to pay if someone was allowed to post anonymously on their site. The fine would be five-hundred dollars for a first offense and one-thousand dollars for each offense after that.

Representative Couch says he filed the bill in hopes of cutting down on online bullying. He says that has especially been a problem in his Eastern Kentucky district.

Action News 36 asked people what they thought about the bill.

Some said they felt it was a violation of First Amendment rights. Others say it is a good tool toward eliminating online harassment.

Representative Couch says enforcing this bill if it became law would be a challenge.

I don't think you'll have to worry about enforcing it, Representative Moron.

Interesting that this whole article never mentions this idiot's party. You know he's gotta be a Republican because this is so fucking stupid. So I checked, and he is. Oh, congratulations, Congressman, this IS stupid enough to get you on "The O'Reilly Factor" or wherever...

Next up for Representative Couch? He's sick of walking down the street and not knowing who everyone is—what the hell is up with these anonymous citizens? His solution? A law requiring everyone must at all times wear one of these...