Race Hustling Progressives

The video's from PJTV.

And see Jonah Goldberg, at National Review, "Playing the Race Card Again: Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and all the usual suspects exploit the Trayvon Martin story."

‘White Hispanic.” That’s how the New York Times, Reuters, and other media outlets have opted to describe George Zimmerman, a man who would simply be Hispanic if he hadn’t shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The term, rarely if ever used before this tragedy, is necessary in telling the Martin story in a more comfortable way.

What’s the comfortable way? It’s the way the blame for Martin’s death belongs squarely at the feet of “the system.” And “the system” is a white thing, don’t you know?

For instance, in a remarkably uncritical interview with the Los Angeles Times, the Reverend Jesse Jackson explained that with the election of President Obama, “there was this feeling that we were kind of beyond racism.” He continued: “That’s not true. His victory has triggered tremendous backlash.” Indeed, “blacks are under attack.”

Jackson apparently includes in this racist Obama “backlash” record home foreclosures for African Americans and black unemployment. It would have been nice if the L.A. Times had asked Jackson to work a little harder to connect those dots.
Jackson also laments that “targeting, arresting, convicting blacks and ultimately killing us is big business” in America.

RTWT.

Rachel Maddow on Late Show with David Letterman

Well, I posted on Leon Wieseltier's ultimate smack down of Rachel Maddow earlier: "Leon Wieseltier Slams Rachel Maddow's New Book, Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power."

Her book is here.

And here's Maddow on Letterman's show a couple of nights ago. She really hates the military, literally everything about it:

Magic Johnson Group to Buy L.A. Dodgers for $2 Billion

The main story's at the Los Angeles Times, "Magic Johnson-led group is picked as Dodgers' next owner":

A group led by Lakers legend Magic Johnson emerged Tuesday night as the new owners of the Dodgers, ending months of uncertainty for the storied but troubled baseball franchise.

Johnson, who guided the Lakers to five NBA championships during the "Showtime" era of the 1980s, is a partner in the group along with longtime baseball executive Stan Kasten and movie executive Peter Guber. The controlling owner would be Mark Walter, chief executive officer of Guggenheim Partners, a Chicago-based financial services company.

Walter and McCourt met privately in New York on Tuesday, coming to an agreement only hours after Major League Baseball owners approved three final bidders.

The winning group paid $2 billion for the team -- a record for a sports franchise -- according to an announcement issued jointly with previous owner Frank McCourt.

"I am thrilled to be part of the historic Dodger franchise," Johnson said in the statement, adding the new owners "intend to build on the fantastic foundation laid by Frank McCourt as we drive the Dodgers back to the front page of the sports section."

And see: "L.A. celebrates Magic Johnson and new Dodgers owners." And more at the link.

Justices Question Extent of Federal Power

At WSJ, "Arguments Over Health-Care Law Veer Into a Challenge to Medicaid as Obama's Signature Measure Faces a Rough Ride":

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ended three momentous days of argument Wednesday over the constitutionality of the Obama administration's signature health-care law, with opponents pushing their rhetoric into fundamental questions about the limits of Washington's power.

Conservative justices suggested that if one part of the law is judged unconstitutional, the entire health overhaul with hundreds of provisions may have to fall with it. In the afternoon, the case took a twist that upended expectations, as the conservatives challenged the basis of the federal-state Medicaid program.

Together, the questions underscored the rough ride the administration suffered over the three days that left President Barack Obama's top domestic achievement in doubt. On Tuesday, justices challenged the law's centerpiece, the requirement that Americans carry health insurance or pay a penalty.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, the likely swing vote, sharply questioned both supporters and opponents, leaving his ultimate position in doubt.

In his final minutes before the court Wednesday, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli sought to seize the patriotic mantle from the law's challengers, who have portrayed their effort as a defense of fundamental American values.

Expanding health coverage through the private insurance market or Medicaid, as the Obama law envisions, will extend "the blessings of liberty" to individuals hobbled by disabilities or families decimated by illness, Mr. Verrilli said. "There will be millions of people with chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease" who won't have to worry about medicine, he said.

But as the marathon arguments—extended 30 minutes, at the order of Chief Justice John Roberts, to a total of 6½ hours—neared an end, it was Paul Clement, representing 26 Republican-led states opposed to the law, who had the last word.

"I certainly appreciate what the solicitor general says, that when you support a policy, you think that the policy spreads the blessings of liberty. But I would respectfully suggest that it's a very funny conception of liberty that forces somebody to purchase an insurance policy whether they want it or not," Mr. Clement said.

He added that the health law's expansion of Medicaid "is a direct threat to our federalism."

See also, the Los Angeles Times, "Justices poised to strike down entire healthcare law." (At Memeorandum.)

BONUS: Pundette has more.

Spike Lee Apologizes After Placing Elderly Florida Couple's Lives in Danger

This part of the story keeps developing. See the Orlando Sentinel, "Elderly couple abandon their home after address is posted on Twitter as that of George Zimmerman." (At Memeorandum.)

The couple is interviewed at Fox News Tampa Bay, "Spike Lee re-tweet targets wrong home."

And now after the pressure of a week-long Twitter campaign, Lee has issued an apology: "Spike Lee apologizes over tweeting wrong address."

That's laudable, but without the outrage from conservatives on Twitter, it's doubtful Lee would have come clean. The director made no attempt to even address the issues during a lecture he gave last night at the College of William & Mary. See, "Trayvon Who? – Spike Lee Fails to 'Do the Right Thing' at William & Mary":

Spike Lee comes to Va. and misses an opportunity to offer his point-of-view on the biggest racial controversy of the year.

RTWT.

George Zimmerman Police Surveillance Video

There's lots of reporting at CNN.

Anderson Cooper had on former L.A. ADA Marcia Clark. She was highly skeptical that Treyvon Martin attacked George Zimmerman. She argued that Zimmerman didn't look shaken up, he didn't look like someone who had been attacked.

The full story's an ABC News exclusive, "Trayvon Martin Video Shows No Blood or Bruises on George Zimmerman."

The initial police report noted that Zimmerman was bleeding from the back of the head and nose, and after medical attention it was decided that he was in good enough condition to travel in a police cruiser to the Sanford, Fla., police station for questioning.

His lawyer later insisted that Zimmerman's nose had been broken in his scuffle with 17-year-old Martin.

In the video an officer is seen pausing to look at the back of Zimmerman's head, but no abrasions or blood can be seen in the video and he did not check into the emergency room following the police questioning.

But the surveillance tape changes nothing, despite ABC's attempt to recapture the narrative momentum.

I'll update when video becomes available on YouTube.

PREVIOUSLY: "Racial-Relations Regression."

UPDATE: I'm sure this is just the beginning, but see Mediaite, "New Police Video Shows George Zimmerman Unscathed on Night of Trayvon Martin Shooting" (via Memeorandum).

Again, the video changes no facts in the case. All it does is fuel speculation. The paramedics on the scene checked Zimmerman and declared him good to go in the squad car. If all the facts check out in favor of Trayvon, Zimmerman should be prosecuted. Meanwhile, due process must be afforded, despite Democrat lynch mob efforts to the contrary.

Here's the clip:

Democrats Escalate Violent Rhetoric in Trayvon Martin Case

I'm rarely surprised by Democrat racial-grievance fear-mongering and recrimination, but you've gotta admit this lady has the routine down cold.

The Right Scoop has a report, "Rep. Frederica Wilson: Trayvon hunted down like a rabid dog, shot in the street and racially profiled."

And also at Big Government, "Dem Congresswoman: Arrest Zimmerman 'For His Own Safety'."

At a Congressional forum on the Hill yesterday at which killed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin’s parents were asked to testify, Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) took center stage. She claimed first that Martin had been victimized by racial profiling and a “botched police investigation.” But she went even further: George Zimmerman, the shooter in the case, she said, should be arrested “immediately for his own safety.”

This has become a rallying cry for other members of the left. Michael Eric Dyson, professor of sociology at Georgetown University, said on MSNBC several days ago that Zimmerman should be “for his own safety, let’s just go to the ultimate extreme, for your safety, Mr. Zimmerman, because people may want to execute vigilante justice against you, we want to protect you, we want to put you in jail, we want to put you under cover of the law. Nothing is reasonable here to suggest that Mr. Zimmerman should continue to go free.”

There are no legal grounds upon which somebody can be imprisoned for his or her own safety, unless they are actually a threat to harm themselves, which is not the case here. In fact, the Constitution expressly forbids such measures under the Fourth Amendment, which states that people have a right “to be secure in their persons … against unreasonable searches and seizures.” The only excuses for a criminal arrest in America are probable cause or an arrest warrant based upon probable cause. Arresting citizens “for their own safety” smacks of tyranny.

At the video, Congresswoman Wilson makes a speech on the House floor yesterday, repeating the "hunted down like a rabid dog" allegations.

See also Jawa Report, "Democratic Congresswoman Wants To Arrest George Zimmerman 'For His Own Safety'."

Democrat Congressman Bobby Rush Dons Treyvon Martin Hoodie During House Floor Debate

Well, I'd think this was a joke if I didn't see it with my own eyes.

At the Washington Examiner, "Dem pulled from House floor for Trayvon hoodie":

Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., lost his right to speak on the House floor after he violated rules by putting on a hoodie and sunglasses in honor of Trayvon Martin, the Florida teen shot last month.

"May God bless Trayvon Martin's soul, his family and -- [inaudible]" Rush said as he was removed from the House floor this morning for wearing a hoodie.

Rush was wearing a grey hoodie under his suit jacket. He took off his jacket, pulled the hood over his head and put on sunglasses while saying "racial profiling has to stop, Mr. Speaker. Just because someone wears a hoodie does not make them a hoodlum," he said.

"The member will suspend," said a visibly frustrated Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss., the speaker pro tempore administrating the morning session. "The member is no longer recognized. The chair will ask the sergeant-at-arms to enforce the rules on decorum."

What a f-king idiot.

Also at the Miami Herald, "Rep. Bobby Rush gets escorted from House floor for donning Trayvon-inspired hoodie." And The Hill, "Dem kicked off House floor for ‘hoodie’ in Trayvon Martin protest" (via Memeorandum).

Bill Maher on Trayvon Martin Case: 'The New Racism is Denying Racism'

Well, I guess when RAAAAACISM!!! is all you've got, you gotta work it for all it's worth.

And that ain't much in this case, from one of the left's most supreme misogynist a-holes.

PREVIOUSLY: "Racial-Relations Regression."

Racial-Relations Regression

From Victor Davis Hanson, at National Review (via Instapundit):

The Trayvon Martin tragedy, by the time the entire process is played out, will reflect poorly on lots of people and groups, who in mob-like fashion have weighed in before all the facts in the case are fully aired. We have reached the nadir when the civil-rights community decries the release of further pertinent information about Mr. Martin as gratuitously defaming the deceased — with the implicit understanding that incomplete and leaked information so far has been welcomed if it reflected poorly on the alleged perpetrator.

The narrative of the shooting unfortunately changes every 24 hours, which suggests the media saw a preliminary narrative it liked and then adorned it in a manner to ensure sensationalism and polarization. Now as the collective fit subsides, the vigilante becomes a neighborhood watch designee; the German-named, white racist shooter is found to be half-Hispanic with plenty of friends of all races; Trayvon Martin is not, as his widely-circulated photo suggests, a pre-teen with an unblemished school record, but a 6 foot, 2 inch 17-year old who was currently on school suspension, with some evidence of possible past drug possession and assorted disciplinary problems.

The anguished cry for help from a gunned-down victim may turn out to be the assailant’s own call, as he was pounded to the pavement. No one can quite figure out whether Mr. Zimmerman actually chased Mr. Martin; or if so, how he caught someone younger and in apparent better shape; or whether both or neither ever ran at all; or who said what or hit the other first. The supposedly racist police may well have collated eye-witness accounts, reviewed the injuries of Mr. Zimmerman, reexamined Florida law, and had cause not to charge the shooter.

The point in all of these changing narratives is that not only do we not have all the facts, but we are certain that the “facts” we currently have will be different within 24 hours, which is why it was wise to turn the matter over to state authorities for complete review of the original decisions....

So far all that is clear is that there is a growing anger among African-Americans about a failure to immediately arrest the shooter that in turn is provoking an even greater backlash against the antics of Al Sharpton, the creepy bounty offered by the New Black Panther Party, and others who inflame for their own careerist advantage, and no one — not the president, not the media, not the civil rights leadership, not the politicians — seems willing or able to call for a time-out until all the facts are reviewed and released. We have collectively regressed to the days of Rodney King and the L.A. riots and the O. J. Simpson trial — or to something far worse. Hope and change came and went.

BONUS: From Jim Treacher, at Daily Caller, "Open-and-shut Trayvon Martin case gets cluttered up with facts."

62 Percent Say ObamaCare Individual Mandate Unconstitutional in Latest Reason-Rupe Poll

At Reason, "Obamacare, Mandates and Regulatory Confusion: Reason-Rupe Poll Results with Emily Ekins."

And go straight to the survey here.

Also, "87 Percent of Americans Agree With Conservative Supreme Court Justices on Broccoli Mandate."

Al Sharpton's Conflict of Interest in Treyvon Martin Story

At the Long Beach Press-Telegram, "Sharpton controversy: News network host an activist in Trayvon Martin story":

NEW YORK - Al Sharpton's activism on the Trayvon Martin case has given him a unique role - some would say unique conflict - on MSNBC. The news network host is in the middle of a story he's been featuring every evening on the air.

Half of Sharpton's "PoliticsNation" program on MSNBC Monday was about the Feb. 26 shooting of Martin, an unarmed black teenager in Sanford, Fla., leading with an interview with Martin's parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin. Sharpton's only reference to his own involvement in the case was a remark that "we did the press conference" earlier in the day.

The veteran civil rights activist has spoken at rallies in support of Martin. Monday before the Sanford city commission, Sharpton testified that Martin's parents had endured "insults and lies" over reports that their son attacked George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain who shot him.

Sharpton's dual role would have been unthinkable on television 20 years ago and still wouldn't be allowed at many news organizations. While opinionated cable news hosts have become commonplace over the past decade, Sharpton goes beyond talking.

"It certainly represents a change in our traditional view of the boundaries between journalism and activism," said Kelly McBride, ethics group leader at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank. "Al Sharpton is clearly an activist."

Well, it's okay --- Sharpton's a nationally-recognized civil rights leader (and a Democrat). If this was someone from Fox News reporting on and participating at the tea parties, we'd never hear the end of it from progressives --- especially the folks at Media Matters, for example: "REPORT: "Fair and balanced" Fox News aggressively promotes "tea party" protests."

French Police Investigate Video of Toulouse Attacks

At the Wall Street Journal (via Google):

PARIS — French police are investigating whether the suspected killer of seven people in and around Toulouse was able to mail a video of his attacks to television news channel al-Jazeera before barricading himself into his apartment, or whether the package was sent by someone else.

The Qatari-based channel said it received a video on Monday at its Paris office showing the killings of three soldiers in two separate attacks, and the shooting death at point-blank range of three children and a teacher at a private Jewish school in the southern French city.

Mohamed Merah, the suspected killer who was himself shot dead by police on Thursday after a 33-hour siege of his Toulouse apartment, used a camera strapped to his chest to record footage of the attacks, prosecutors have said.

"There is full footage of the three attacks, mixed with religious chants and Quranic verses as well as footage from the Middle East showing Palestinian children," said al-Jazeera's Paris bureau chief, Zied Tarrouche, who has viewed the film. "The video is very disturbing, horrible," Mr. Tarrouche said. He said the footage had been edited and was "broadcast ready."

Al-Jazeera said it handed the parcel's contents to the police and kept a copy of the video, which it decided not to air.

"Given the video does not add any information that is not already in the public domain, [al-Jazeera's] news channels will not be broadcasting any of its contents," said Osama Saeed, a spokesman for the group.

See also, New York Times, "Al Jazeera Decides Against Showing Video Made by Gunman in Toulouse," and Telegraph UK, "Al-Jazeera decides not to air video of Toulouse attacks."

ObamaCare Train Wreck: Hard Questions From Justices Over Insurance Mandate

An awful day at the Supreme Court for the administration.

See the New York Times, "Justices Split in Questions on Insurance Requirement." (Via Memeorandum.)

And check Althouse, "10 highlights of today's Obamacare oral argument."

Plus, at the Los Angeles Times, "10 moments from the Supreme Court debate on healthcare."

And you gotta love this, from JournoLister and ObamaCare shill Ezra Klein at the Washington Post, "Wonkbook: Do today's oral arguments matter?"

Yes, Wonder Boy, they matter. Even progressive legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin was blown away, and that ought to tell you something. And that's to say nothing of PuffHo, "Huffington Post's Sad Headline."

Soledad O'Brien Will 'Search For the Truth' in Treyvon Martin Case

CNN's Soledad O'Brien will host a "Beyond Trayvon" town hall on Friday, and she pledges to "search for the truth" in the Treyvon Martin case, and she asks, "can there be justice?" and " can justice be fair?"

See: "Beyond Trayvon: Race and Justice in America."

Hmm... "Fair justice?"

I wonder if Soledad will mention that George Zimmerman's a registered Democrat? Probably not. That's likely an inconvenient truth for the left's race-hatred narrative.

RELATED: Vetting Soledad, at Michelle's, "What’s the matter with Soledad O’Brien?"

ADDED: Linked at Big Journalism, "SOLEDAD O'BRIEN TO "DIG DEEP" FOR TRUTH IN TRAYVON MARTIN CASE," and Lonely Conservative, "Soledad O’Brien to Get to the Bottom of Trayvon Martin Case."

"Train Kept A-Rollin'"

From yesterday's drive-time, at The Sound L.A.:

And Sheri Donovan blogged yesterday as well:

Sheri's iPod Pick - Monday, March 26th

Steven Tyler is celebrating another year of life today. I saw him and Aerosmith every time they came to my hometown when I was a teenager... my first concert, in fact, for 7 bucks! And still one of my favorite bands... great memories, although some are as blurry as the video I've posted... click More to watch the boys performing "S.O.S. (Too Bad)" in 1977... and Happy Birthday, Steven!

And here's the set:

9:35 - Paint It Black by Rolling Stones

9:39 - Those Shoes by Eagles

9:44 - I'm Just A Singer (in A Rock And Roll..) by Moody Blues

9:55 - Changes by David Bowie

9:58 - Jamie's Cryin' by Van Halen

10:01 - Under The Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers

10:07 - Bloody Well Right by Supertramp

10:12 - Sundown by Gordon Lightfoot

10:16 - Train Kept A-rollin' by Aerosmith

More later...

More Flexibility

On missile defense.

After the election, after he's reelected, Obama tells Medvedev.

At New York Times, "Microphone Picks Up Obama's Private Exchange With Medvedev."

A live microphone caught a private moment of candor by President Obama on Monday as he told President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia, during a discussion of the contentious issue of missile defense, that “after my election I have more flexibility.”

And see Astute Bloggers, "ROMNEY ATTACKS OBAMA'S SECRET PROMISE OF APPEASEMENT TO PUTIN AND RUSSIA."

Obama Hoodies: Barack 2012 Capitalizing on Trayvon Martin's Death?

At Twitchy, "Is Team Obama capitalizing on Trayvon Martin’s death?"

And at JammieWearingFool, "Wild Coincidence: Obama Website Now Pimping Obama 2012 Hoodies."

BONUS: At iOWNTHEWORLD, "If Obama Had a Son ..."

Supreme Court Won't Delay on ObamaCare Ruling

The background on yesterday's oral arguments at the Supreme Court, at the Los Angeles Times, "Supreme Court appears eager to rule on healthcare law." And, "Supreme Court appears unlikely to put off healthcare ruling":

Reporting from Washington — The Supreme Court justices, beginning an epic debate over the Obama administration's healthcare law, gave no sign Monday they are inclined to put off a constitutional ruling on the legislation's mandate that all Americans have health insurance by 2014.

Instead, the justices in their comments and questions said they did not see a 19th century tax law as a legal barrier to ruling this year on challenges to the healthcare measure.

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, those who do not have basic health insurance in 2014 must pay a penalty on their tax return to be filed in April 2015. Under the 19th century law, however, a taxpayer must pay his tax first and sue for a refund later.

But Justice Stephen G. Breyer, joining others, said he was not convinced that law stood in the way of action by the high court. Congress did not label the penalty a tax in the Affordable Care Act, he said. "It's up to Congress, and they did not use the word 'tax'," he said.

Justice Antonin Scalia said he was inclined to agree, but for a different reason. The courts can usually rule directly on legal challenges unless a law makes clear that judges should hold off. "It is hard to think this clear," Scalia said to laughter in the court.

During the 90 minutes of argument, none of the justices spoke strongly in favor of delaying a decision on the healthcare law.

On Tuesday, the high court is scheduled to turn its attention to the crucial question: Does Congress have the power under the Constitution to require all Americans to have health insurance?

That will be later today, and I'll update.

Meanwhile, Althouse has been blogging it like crazy. See, "'The Supreme Court Justices "seemed to be all on the same page looking for a way to go ahead and decide the case even though they had different views on what theory to use'." And more at her tag: "ObamaCare."

Communists Astroturf Treyvon Martin Protest in Los Angeles

The photo below from Pilar Marrero on Twitter.

But check the picture at the Los Angeles Times, "Trayvon Martin case: Protesters gather at Pershing Square."

Sheesh. These commies are pathetic.

The folks at the tea party grassroots have nothing to worry about.

ANSWER's page is here: "Million Hoodie March LA."

George Zimmerman Speaks Out

Well, the New York Times is catching up on the story.

See, "Shooter of Florida Teen Describes Assault":

SANFORD, Fla. — In an account given to Sanford police that was passed on to the state attorney’s office, George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, said that Trayvon had punched him and then repeatedly slammed his head into the sidewalk in the moments leading up to the shooting.

The details were the most thorough yet to be revealed from Mr. Zimmerman’s point of view, and emerged on Monday as thousands were arriving in town to march and attend a meeting about the shooting and the investigation that followed. In the 911 calls that have been released, Mr. Zimmerman is heard deciding, against a dispatcher’s advice, to follow Trayvon, whom he deemed “up to no good.”

In Mr. Zimmerman’s sequence of events to the police, he returned to his S.U.V. after he was unable to find him, Trayvon then approached Mr. Zimmerman from behind and they exchanged words. Then. Mr. Zimmerman said, Trayvon hit him hard enough that he fell to the ground — which, if true, would explain what Mr. Zimmerman’s lawyer, Craig Sonner, has said was a broken nose—and began slamming his head into the sidewalk.

The account first appeared in The Orlando Sentinel on Monday but was later confirmed by the Sanford Police Department as “consistent with the information provided to the state attorney’s office by the Police Department.”

At a news conference on Monday, the Martin family, their lawyer and supporters said the police were attempting to demonize Trayvon by leaking Mr. Zimmerman’s account to the media.

The most relevant fact in Trayvon’s death, they said, is that Mr. Zimmerman chose to pursue Trayvon, who was walking home unarmed, despite the advice of the police dispatcher to stay put in his car.

“They have killed my son,” Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon’s mother, said tearfully at the news conference. “And now they are trying to kill his reputation.”

Right.

Trying to "demonize" him.

Actually, "Trayvon Martin 'Decked' George Zimmerman."

BONUS: At Blazing Cat Fur, "Obama's Imaginary Son Is Beginning to Look a Lot Like Al Sharpton."

Rick Santorum Goes Off on New York Times Reporter Jeff Zeleny

Well, this is something else, at The Other McCain, "Why Was NY Times Reporter Jeff Zeleny Doing Romney Campaign’s Bidding?"

The End of Innocence? Trayvon Martin Had Multiple School Suspensions

Here's more "#NarrativeFail."

 At the Miami Herald, "Multiple suspensions paint complicated portrait of Trayvon Martin":

SANFORD -- Miami Gardens teenager Trayvon Martin was suspended from school in October in an incident in which he was found in possession of women’s jewelry and a screwdriver that a schools security staffer described as a “burglary tool,” The Miami Herald has learned.

Trayvon, who claimed that an unnamed friend had given him the jewelry, was not disciplined because of the discovery, but was instead suspended for graffiti, according to a Miami-Dade Schools Police report obtained by The Miami Herald.

A lawyer for the dead teen’s family acknowledged Trayvon had been suspended for graffiti, but said the family knew nothing about the jewelry and the screwdriver, calling the information in the report an attempt to “demonize” the youth.

According to the report, on Oct. 21 staffers monitoring a security camera at Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School spotted Trayvon and two other students writing “W.T.F.,” an acronym for “What the f---,” on a hallway locker, according to schools police. The security employee, who knew Trayvon, confronted the teen and looked through his bag for the graffiti marker.

Trayvon’s backpack contained 12 pieces of jewelry, in addition to a watch and a large flathead screwdriver, according to the report, which described the screwdriver as a burglary tool...

That suspension was followed four months later by another one, in February, in which Trayvon was caught with an empty plastic bag with traces of marijuana in it, the boy’s family’s attorney has confirmed. A schools police report obtained by The Miami Herald specifies two items: a bag with marijuana residue and a “marijuana pipe.”

The suspension was the third for the teen. On Monday, the family also acknowledged Trayvon had earlier been suspended for tardiness and truancy.

Like I said, mofos better keep working on that #JusticeForTrayvon meme.

And see Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "Fight claims, pot put Fla. teen's side on defense."

Well, yeah.

See The Mad Jewess, "Who was Trayvon Martin, a Drug Dealer @NO_LIMIT_NIGGA Twitter Handle? New Picture The MSM Hid," and Pat Dollard, "Meet The Real Trayvon Martin: Evidence Emerges He Was A Drug Dealer and Gang Banger..."

PREVIOUSLY: "'Anythang 4 My Niggaz' — Yo, Check Out This Gangsta Video From Florida Rapper Selling 'Pussy Ass Cracker' T-Shirts."

PHOTO CREDIT: Flickr. 

'Anythang 4 My Niggaz' — Yo, Check Out This Gangsta Video From Florida Rapper Selling 'Pussy Ass Cracker' T-Shirts

Hardcore rapper Plies is the dude selling those "Pussy Ass Cracker" t-shirts now going live amid the Trayvon Martin civil rights shakedown story. See London's Daily Mail, "P**** A** CRACKER: Shocking Trayvon t-shirt bearing rapper's crude lyrics go on sale"

And here's the dude re-tweeting DJ Smalls' blog post with the clip: "VIDEO: Plies (@plies) - "Anythang 4 My Niggaz."

#NarrativeFail.

Racial Justice Update: Trayvon Martin 'Decked' George Zimmerman, 'Slammed His Head Into Sidewalk Several Times'

Well, Glenn's got this tagged "#NarrativeFail."

And you can say that again.

See the Orlando Sentinel, "Police: Zimmerman says Trayvon decked him with one blow then began hammering his head":

With a single punch, Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who eventually shot and killed the unarmed 17-year-old, then Trayvon climbed on top of George Zimmerman and slammed his head into the sidewalk, leaving him bloody and battered, law-enforcement authorities told the Orlando Sentinel.

That is the account Zimmerman gave police, and much of it has been corroborated by witnesses, authorities say. There have been no reports that a witness saw the initial punch Zimmerman told police about.

Zimmerman has not spoken publicly about what happened Feb. 26. But that night, and in later meetings, he described and re-enacted for police what he says took place.

In his version of events, Zimmerman had turned around and was walking back to his SUV when Trayvon approached him from behind, the two exchanged words and then Trayvon punched him in the nose, sending him to the ground, and began beating him.

Zimmerman told police he shot the teenager in self-defense.

Civil-rights leaders and more than a million other people have demanded Zimmerman's arrest, calling Trayvon a victim of racial profiling and suggesting Zimmerman is a vigilante.

Well, let's hope these mofos work on that #JusticeForTrayvon meme.

Also Gateway Pundit, "Nice. New “Pu$$y A$$ Cracker” T-Shirts Hit the Florida Streets."

And at Five Feet of Fury, "Those hair extensions, fake nails and menthol cigarettes aren’t gonna pay for themselves."

California Voters Back November Ballot Measure to Raise Taxes on 'Wealthy'

Well, actually, the poll finds two-thirds support for raising taxes on "high earners," but for the progressives and unions who browbeat Governor Brown, it's actually a classic soak-the-rich scheme.

See the Los Angeles Times, "Strong majority backs Jerry Brown's tax-hike initiative":

California voters strongly support Gov. Jerry Brown's new proposal to increase the sales tax and raise levies on upper incomes to help raise money for schools and balance the state's budget, according to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll.

Sixty-four percent of those surveyed said they supported the governor's measure, which he hopes to place on the November ballot. It would hike the state sales tax by a quarter-cent per dollar for the next four years and create a graduated surcharge on incomes of more than $250,000 that would last seven years. A third of respondents opposed the measure.

Brown's new plan, rewritten recently amid pressure from liberal activist and union groups that had a competing proposal, relies on a larger share of revenue from upper-income earners than his original measure. Correspondingly, it leans less upon sales taxes, which are paid by all California consumers. The poll shows that taxing high earners is overwhelmingly popular.

"These poll results illustrate that Brown was very smart to put together this initiative the way he did," said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC.

Shirley Karns, 74, an independent voter from the Northern California town of Lakeport who backs the governor's new plan, said the wealthy should pay more.

"Those who have an unbelievable amount more than those who do not should contribute more," she said. "And on the sales tax, the more you buy, the more you pay. It's pretty tough on low-income people who have to pay an extra nickel here and there, but we've got to get the money from somewhere."

Brown reached a deal with a coalition led by the California Federation of Teachers to tweak his tax measure. In exchange, the group dropped its rival proposal — also aimed at the November ballot — which would have increased levies exclusively on incomes of more than $1 million.

See what I mean? The Governor's earlier proposal would have taxed folks making more than $1 million a year, which is more in the "wealthy" neighborhood than $250 thousand annually. My wife and I cleared $150 thousand on our taxes for 2011, and I'll tell you, money's been tight. But the left's constant class warfare agenda has successfully defined down who's "wealthy," according to a Gallup poll out late last year: "Americans Set "Rich" Threshold at $150,000 in Annual Income."

Meanwhile, public employees continue to live like Bourbon royalty. See CBS Sacramento, "California Public Employees Highest Paid of Any State."

I'll have more later. Recall that executives at the California State University continue to pull down huge salaries and bonuses, while classes are being cut at CSU, and elsewhere layoffs are being threatened around the state. See: "Cal State University Executive Pay Scandal."

I'll be more sympathetic to tax hikes when I see public officials using public funds with greater care and judiciousness.

The Fight for Freedom

From the Heritage Foundation:

Three Reasons to End ObamaCare

Via Theo Spark:

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Seeks Shift by Hamas for Co-Existence With Israel

I'll believe it when I see it.

At New York Times, "Islamist Victors in Egypt Seeking Shift by Hamas":

CAIRO — As it prepares to take power in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood is overhauling its relations with the two main Palestinian factions in an effort to put new pressure on Israel for an independent Palestinian state.

Officials of the Brotherhood, Egypt’s dominant Islamist movement, are pressing its militant Palestinian offshoot, Hamas, which controls Gaza, to make new compromises with Fatah, the Western-backed Palestinian leadership that has committed to peace with Israel and runs the West Bank.

The intervention in the Palestinian issue is the clearest indication yet that as it moves into a position of authority, the Brotherhood, the largest vote getter in Egypt’s parliamentary elections, intends to both moderate its positions on foreign policy and reconfigure Egypt’s.

Brotherhood officials say that they are pulling back from their previous embrace of Hamas and its commitment to armed struggle against Israel in order to open new channels of communications with Fatah, which the Brotherhood had previously denounced for collaborating with Israel and accused of selling out the Palestinian cause. Brotherhood leaders argue that if they persuade the Palestinians to work together with a newly assertive Egypt, they will have far more success forcing Israel to bargain in earnest over the terms of statehood.

“Now we have to deal with the Palestinian parties as an umbrella for both of them, and we have to stand at an equal distance from each,” said Reda Fahmy, a Brotherhood leader who oversees its Palestinian relations and is now chairman of the Arab affairs committee in Egypt’s upper house of Parliament. “Any movement of the size of the Muslim Brotherhood, when it is in the opposition it is one thing and then when it comes to power it is something completely different.”

The shift in the Brotherhood’s stance toward neutrality between Hamas and Fatah — acknowledged by officials of both groups — may relieve United States policy makers, who have long worried about the Brotherhood’s relationship with the more militant Hamas. The United States considers the Palestinian group to be a terrorist organization. But the shift in Egypt’s policies may unnerve Israel, because it is a move away from former President Hosni Mubarak’s exclusive support for the Western-backed Fatah movement and its commitment to the peace process. Israeli officials have said they will not negotiate with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas.

But Mr. Fahmy said the Brotherhood believed that Palestinian unity could break the deadlock in talks with Israel. “A Palestinian negotiator will go the table and know that all the Palestinian people are supporting his project,” Mr. Fahmy said.  “This will be a huge change and very important to both sides.” Jailed at times by the Mubarak government for his role in the Brotherhood, Mr. Fahmy spoke this month from an ornate hall of Parliament.

I'm skeptical, frankly.

According to Gallup, more Egyptians favor the 1979 peace treaty with Israel than oppose, although the numbers are down by more than 10 percent from before the revolution. See: "Egyptians Sour on U.S., Eye Closer Ties to Turkey, Iran: Perceptions of Peace Treaty with Israel steady."

But see Barry Rubin, "Egypt is a Volcano, The West Snoozes, But Israel Won't Play the Role of Pompeii":

Reality: Those who are, or will soon be, governing Egypt view themselves as being at war with Israel for all practical purposes.  It matters relatively little that there is still a peace treaty. In Cairo, there are no thoughts of peace.

This is the second biggest disaster of the “Arab Spring.” The same applies to the Egyptian government’s attitude to the United States. That is the biggest disaster.

It is a disaster that U.S. policymakers and journalists have not even begun to recognize, much less counter.

Well, there you go.

Continue reading at the link.

Marijuana Growers Cultivating More Potent Pot, Smooth and Aromatic, the Kind Expected by Ever-More Discriminating Buyers

You know, you'd think the editors at the Los Angeles Times like to bogart some fat ones, or something.

See, "'Master growers' cultivating a higher grade of marijuana":

Behind the bolted steel doors of an old brick warehouse, Big Wes meets a nutrient company scientist to see if he can increase his crop yield. Rows of hydroponic marijuana plants soak up solution flowing through plastic troughs and light blazing from high-pressure sodium lamps.

Big Wes has spent more than half his life calibrating his system of growing high-grade marijuana to its utmost efficiency. At 50 years old, he harvests a crop of dozens of plants every week from five rented warehouses scattered along the rutted streets and alleys around the docks of Oakland.

His problem is that OG Kush, the ultra-popular strain he specializes in, produces notoriously low yields of bud per plant. For this reason the scientist has come with a nutrient solution made from deep-sea algae, which he promises will boost the output. Big Wes — who asked that his real name or certain identifying traits not be revealed because his career could land him in federal prison — is going to test it against his usual concoction, and try 15 different combinations of the two.

Big Wes is new breed of cultivator, a "master grower" who produces marijuana that is potent and mold-free, tastes smooth and has a pleasing aroma — the kind of product now expected by ever-more discriminating consumers who frequent medical cannabis dispensaries.

He and others like him have revolutionized weed in recent years, growing sophisticated new varietals with scientific precision and assembly-line efficiency. Their expanding role in the burgeoning industry is shifting cultivation from clandestine rural plots to highly controlled indoor grows in urban centers.

"It's kind of becoming the big leagues now," said Kyle Kushman, a writer for High Times magazine and a grower who teaches organic and "veganic" cultivation classes. "Just like any other industry, as it gets older, the talent gets better."

No mention of who are those patrons visiting the "dispensaries." I'll bet they look more like Wiz Khalifa than some old run-down hospital patients.

This whole "medical marijuana" thing is a f-king scam. Let's just be out with it: The legalization movement is for recreational drug users, and the culture is moving towards legalization. Seriously. The Times' story is on the front page, with a full-color photograph of blooming, booming high-grade buds. So quit with the bulls-t about medical users, blah, blah. Regular folks just want to get stoned, so proponents should stop lying about it.

PREVIOUSLY: "Pot Backers' Ballot Effort in Disarray in California."

BONUS: California voters defeated Prop. 19 in 2010, and polls showed just under half of all voters opposing the measure. But nationwide, there's been a trend toward increasing acceptance of legalization. See Gallup from last October: "Record-High 50% of Americans Favor Legalizing Marijuana Use."

More later...

Trayvon Martin Case Threatens Race War in America

Well, I can't recall this much racial recrimination since the O.J. Simpson trial.

See Jason at The Western Experience, "The Trayvon Martin Narrative Changes Suddenly: Witnesses Say Martin Beat Up Zimmerman Before Being Shot."

And William Jacobson, "Spike Lee didn’t “Do the right thing”" (via Memeorandum). (And see my post from yesterday, "Progressives Tweet George Zimmerman's Address, Issue Death Threats.")

But progressives have their meme, and they're sticking with it. See The New Yorker, "Emmett Till in Sanford":

The killing of Trayvon Martin nearly went down the memory hole. He had just turned seventeen when he was shot dead late last month in Sanford, Florida. His killer, a neighborhood-watch volunteer named George Zimmerman, was not even arrested. Zimmerman told the police that he had fired his nine-millimetre handgun in self-defense. The police actually knew better. They knew that Trayvon Martin had been unarmed. They knew that Zimmerman, who is twenty-eight, outweighed Martin by more than a hundred pounds. They knew, because Zimmerman had called them when he spotted a “black male” in a gated townhouse community, that Martin had been on foot while Zimmerman tracked him in his S.U.V., and that Zimmerman had ignored the police dispatcher’s request that he stop following Martin. And yet self-defense is a potent claim under a 2005 Florida law known as “Stand Your Ground.” “If we arrest, we open ourselves to a lawsuit,” said Sergeant Dave Morgenstern, of the Sanford Police Department, presumably unaware of how pitiful (and pitiless) that sounded. Zimmerman wasn’t even tested for drugs or alcohol. Those tests were conducted on Trayvon Martin’s body, after he was sent to the medical examiner as a John Doe.

Keep reading.

And at Los Angeles Times, "Florida killing raises questions about 'stand your ground' laws."

More tomorrow, if I'm not too tired. This was a big weekend with my family as it is, but this story is literally dominating everything else in the news.

Ted Kennedy Haunts Mitt Romney’s Career

Twitchy has the headline I was looking for, "NYT: Mitt Romney haunted by flabby, inebriated ghost of Ted Kennedy."

And here's the article, "Kennedy Helped Shape Romney’s Career, and Still Haunts It":

BOSTON — When Gov. Mitt Romney signed legislation in April 2006 requiring most Massachusetts residents to have health coverage, Senator Edward M. Kennedy stood by his side, beaming like a proud father. They were onstage at historic Faneuil Hall in Boston, a setting that had a special resonance for the two.

Twelve years earlier, they shared that stage as opponents in a bitter Senate race. Back then, Mr. Romney accused Mr. Kennedy of waging “untrue, unfair and sleazy” personal attacks. Now, the Republican governor was introducing the liberal Democratic senator as “my collaborator and friend.”

Mr. Romney’s complicated relationship with Mr. Kennedy, from campaign foe to health care partner, helped shape both his political career and his image. Today, as a Republican candidate for president, he is courting conservative voters, a constituency that does not look kindly upon Mr. Kennedy or the Romney approach to health care, which will come under scrutiny again this week when the Supreme Court takes up challenges to a similar measure championed by President Obama.

But try as he might to distance himself, Mr. Romney cannot escape Mr. Kennedy’s influence. On the campaign trail, he uses the senator, who died in 2009, as a foil, denouncing Mr. Kennedy’s “liberal welfare state” policies and boasting of how Mr. Kennedy “had to take out a mortgage on his house to make sure he could defeat me.”

He has said losing to Mr. Kennedy was “the best thing” that could have happened to him, “because it put me back in the private sector.”

Mr. Romney’s attempt in 1994 to “out-Kennedy Kennedy,” as people here say, led him to take stands on issues like abortion and gay rights that he has since backed away from, giving rise to accusations that he is a flip-flopper. Mr. Kennedy’s tough campaign advertisements, which portrayed Mr. Romney as a cold-hearted financier, rattled him, and his bruising loss in the race “viscerally pained” him, one friend said.

But he emerged tougher, convinced that it is better to punch first than to counterpunch later — lessons his campaign is putting to use today.

At Reason, Peter Suderman commented earlier on the video of Romney's bill-signing in 2004, "Watch GOP Frontrunner Mitt Romney Praise Liberal Lion Ted Kennedy For His Role In Passing RomneyCare":

Despite copious evidence to back up the connection, GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney has yet to admit the link between the Massachusetts health care overhaul he signed into law as governor and the federal overhaul President Obama passed last year. You can understand why he's declined: Given that Romney is running as an establishment conservative for the Republican nomination, the friendly connection to the rival party's leader and his most prominent policy achievement would be, well, kind of awkward.

But when the Massachusetts law first took effect, Romney did praise a different prominent liberal collaborator as one of the law's "parents" whose work was "absolutely essential" to passage: former Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, a longtime universal coverage advocate whose proposed 1975 health care overhaul was ditched after the Congressional Budget Office estimated that it would cost three times what Kennedy's staff had claimed.

Well, I like Romney --- and I have no confusion that he'd be light years better than Barack Obama as president --- but let's be honest: He's not conservative, or at least, his conversion to conservatism has been exceptionally recent. See Warner Todd Huston, "Dear Conservatives: Romney Isn’t One of Us But We Still Hold The Power If…":

Romney is not conservative. Anyone that says he’s conservative is only trying to convince themselves and is willfully ignoring not only Romney’s entire executive record when he was governor of Massachusetts, but ignoring all the tell-tale signs that his current conservative-tinged campaign rhetoric is just a show to get the nomination. Romney doesn’t mean a word of what he says. But we still hold the power to force him to stay on a more or less conservative path if he wins the White House.

Continue reading.

Los Angeles Times Poll: Mitt Romney With Double-Digit Lead in California

This is hardly surprising, but California's the biggest state, and the election could well go down to the wire.

See, "California Republicans get behind Mitt Romney":

Republican voters in California have swung behind Mitt Romney, with the national presidential front-runner crushing his rivals by double digits and substantially expanding his support in the state, a new poll has found.

Romney won 42% of registered Republican voters, with his closest rival, Rick Santorum, trailing by 19 points, according to the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul were a distant third and fourth.

Romney's support has risen by 15 points since a November USC/Times poll, when Herman Cain was his closest competitor. (The former businessman has since dropped out.)

Yet there remains a palpable lack of enthusiasm for the Republican field. Half of GOP voters said they wished other candidates were running for president.

Barbara Foley, a 73-year-old Republican, said she would prefer former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio or Rep. Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin. She decided to vote for Romney by process of elimination — she says Santorum is too socially conservative, Gingrich is smart but a "loose cannon," and Paul — "well, I just think he's nuttier than a fruitcake."

"I vote the lesser of two evils, unfortunately," said the Alpine retiree, who deeply disapproves of President Obama, notably his healthcare law, and fears the nation has grown increasingly socialist under his watch. "Mitt Romney is the lesser of the evils."

Continue reading.

That "lesser of two evils" sounds pretty disappointing, actually. But Republican enthusiasm will kick back up around the time of the GOP convention, and Mitt Romney can fire up the base with a shrewd pick for the V.P. slot. (And the emphasis there is on shrewd, not reckless --- see, "Raising the Bar for Vetting a No. 2.")

Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers Debunks Democrat Scare Tactics on Women's Health

Rep. McMorris-Rodgers exposes leftist lies on the so-called "Republican war on women":

She was also on "Hardball" this week, with video at the link.

And see the Weekly Standard, "By 21-Point Margin, Americans Oppose Birth Control Mandate," and at New York Times, "President Obama’s Approval Rating Drops."

And from Robert Robb, at the Arizona Republic, "'War on women' a Dem exaggeration":

The effort by Democrats to make the case that Republicans are waging a "war on women" has been interesting to watch. As often is the case in politics, the accusation reveals more about the accuser than the accused.

At the national level, that's been the spin to try to wrest control of the flap over the Obama administration not providing an exemption for religious-affiliated institutions -- principally Catholic schools, hospitals and charities -- from its mandate that all health- insurance plans include free contraceptives.

RTWT.

BONUS: At New York Times, "On the Right, Santorum Has Women’s Vote."

Dick Cheney Recovers After Heart Transplant Surgery

I'm glad he's okay.

See the New York Times, "For Cheney, 71, New Heart Ends 20-Month Wait."

In appearances since he left office in 2009, Mr. Cheney has appeared gaunt and increasingly frail. Last August, he published an autobiography, “In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir,” written with his daughter Liz Cheney, in which he reported that a team of doctors assessed his heart condition before George W. Bush chose him as his vice-presidential running mate in 2000. He also described writing a letter of resignation shortly after taking office and giving it to his counsel, David S. Addington, to be delivered to President Bush if he were incapacitated.

In a government career with few parallels, Mr. Cheney, who was vice president for all eight years of Mr. Bush’s presidency, has been chief of staff to President Gerald R. Ford, represented Wyoming in Congress and served as defense secretary under the first President George Bush.

He is widely considered to have been among the most powerful vice presidents in American history, working behind the scenes on policies as varied as energy and counterterrorism and advocating an aggressive assertion of presidential power.

He was a lightning rod for critics of the Bush administration, and his influence as vice president during Mr. Bush’s second term was considerably diminished. But he remains revered on the political right and in the Republican Party and has been one of the Obama administration’s toughest critics, speaking out regularly despite his fragile health.

And see Lonely Conservative, "Dick Cheney Recovering from Heart Transplant, Liberals React as Expected – Updated with More Lefty Hate." And Memeorandum.

French Killer Mohamed Merah's Path to Jihadist Rampage

At the Wall Street Journal, "A French Killer's Path to Jihadist Rampage":

PARIS — The death of Mohamed Merah, the suspected French killer who met his end Thursday in a barrage of special-forces gunfire, left officials piecing together how he became the alleged homegrown terrorist behind the most violent attacks on French soil in almost two decades.

On Thursday, a more-complete picture emerged of Mr. Merah, who police say conducted seven point-blank killings in and around Toulouse over the previous 11 days.

Over recent years, according to the emerging accounts, the French citizen of Algerian descent appeared to be looking for a place to belong—seeking twice, without success, to join the French armed services.

He had also, according to his own account, sought to belong to al Qaeda. On Wednesday, as he was pinned inside a Toulouse apartment by special forces, he told a police negotiator he had trained with al Qaeda in Afghanistan and in the Pakistani militant stronghold of Waziristan. Western intelligence agencies couldn't confirm his claims.

Controversy emerged Thursday over whether French authorities should have been watching Mr. Merah more closely. The U.S. put him on its no-fly list as a suspected terrorist, U.S. officials say, because in 2010 he had been in custody in Afghanistan and then sent back to France. France put him on a watch list of suspected Islamist militants, but stopped short of including him on a narrower surveillance list.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé on Thursday said authorities should investigate whether there was a failure by French intelligence gatherers. "I can't tell you what kind of failure, but we need to shed some light on that," he told French radio.

Continue reading.

Also, "French Shooting Suspect Was on U.S. No-Fly List."

New Black Panther Party Offers $10,000 Bounty for George Zimmerman, Dead or Alive

At Right Truth, "Wanted: Dead or Alive."

And Chicago Tribune, "Trayvon Martin case: New Black Panthers offer $10,000 bounty for capture of George Zimmerman."

And it was a Day of Rage yesterday at Memeorandum.

PREVIOUSLY: "Progressives Tweet George Zimmerman's Address, Issue Death Threats — 'Ima get a group of niggas to KILL George Zimmerman'."

Atheists Rally at the National Mall in Washington D.C.

At Washington Post, "Atheists rally on National Mall in show of political force."

And Reason Magazine declaims any organizational affiliations:

Reason.tv headed down to the National Mall for the Reason Rally (no affiliation!) in Washington, DC. The March 24 event was billed as the "largest gathering of the secular movement in world history" and drew a several thousand-strong crowd of damp, enthusiastic unbelievers (and a few protesting believers) to the National Mall.

Liberty and ObamaCare

More on the health care arguments coming up on Monday at the Supreme Court, from the Wall Street Journal, "The Affordable Care Act claims federal power is unlimited. Now the High Court must decide":

Few legal cases in the modern era are as consequential, or as defining, as the challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that the Supreme Court hears beginning Monday. The powers that the Obama Administration is claiming change the structure of the American government as it has existed for 225 years. Thus has the health-care law provoked an unprecedented and unnecessary constitutional showdown that endangers individual liberty.

It is a remarkable moment. The High Court has scheduled the longest oral arguments in nearly a half-century: five and a half hours, spread over three days. Yet Democrats, the liberal legal establishment and the press corps spent most of 2010 and 2011 deriding the government of limited and enumerated powers of Article I as a quaint artifact of the 18th century. Now even President Obama and his staff seem to grasp their constitutional gamble.

Consider a White House strategy memo that leaked this month, revealing that senior Administration officials are coordinating with liberal advocacy groups to pressure the Court. "Frame the Supreme Court oral arguments in terms of real people and real benefits that would be lost if the law were overturned," the memo notes, rather than "the individual responsibility piece of the law and the legal precedence [sic]." Those nonpolitical details are merely what "lawyers will be talking about."

The White House is even organizing demonstrations during the proceedings, including a "'prayerful witness' encircling the Supreme Court." The executive branch is supposed to speak to the Court through the Solicitor General, not agitprop and crowds in the streets.

The Supreme Court will not be ruling about matters of partisan conviction, or the President's re-election campaign, or even about health care at all. The lawsuit filed by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business is about the outer boundaries of federal power and the architecture of the U.S. political system.

More at the link.

And at Reason, "$2 Trillion For a Decade of Expanded Health Coverage Under ObamaCare?"

Jihad in Toulouse

From the Wall Street Journal (via Google):

Mohamed Merah died Thursday morning in a hail of bullets as he leapt from the window of his Toulouse flat, firing on the way down. During the preceding 33-hour standoff, the 23-year-old Frenchman said he wanted to die "gun in hand." Nobody should feel sorry that the authorities obliged him.

Merah began his murder spree 12 days ago when he gunned down French paratrooper Sgt. Imad Ibn Ziaten in Toulouse. Four days later he killed two more uniformed paratroopers, Cpl. Abel Chennouf and Pte. Mohamed Legouad, in nearby Montauban. On Monday Merah attacked Toulouse's Ozar Hatorah Jewish school, killing Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, his two young sons Gabriel and Arieh, and seven-year-old Myriam Monsonego. What made the killings all the more grotesque was that Merah filmed them, a reminder that terrorism is, in some sense, also a form of pornography.

The reaction of the French has been commendable. Revulsion at the murder of Jewish children gives the lie to the notion that France is fundamentally anti-Semitic. Muslim leaders have lined up to condemn the killings. Security authorities have been criticized for not acting more effectively—Merah was already on a terrorist watch-list—but every free society will always be at an initial disadvantage against individual killers. "We have shown our sang-froid, our cool and our ability to overcome this kind of terrorist threat," President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday. "We must be implacable in defending our values."

Well said. Less useful was initial speculation that the killer must have been a white supremacist since he seemed to target Jews and North Africans equally—a line of thinking that seems to have been inspired by the notion that Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik represented a larger underground movement...

Check that top link to continue reading.

And from Mark Steyn, at National Review, "Lather, Rinse, and Repeat." (Yeah, it's about Islam, despite the MFM accounts.)

And at Pamela's, "Toulouse Jihad: The Devout 'White Emir' Who May Have Inspired Jew-Killing Jihadist Mohamed Merah."

Rick Santorum Wins Louisiana Primary

At CNN, "Santorum takes Louisiana" (via Memeorandum).

And at New York Times, "Santorum Gets a Boost in Winning Louisiana":

Rick Santorum easily won the Louisiana Republican primary Saturday night, capturing a deeply conservative state with a hefty portion of the kind of evangelical Christian voters who have helped him claim victories in 10 other states.

The win gave Mr. Santorum a much-needed psychological boost but it will be unlikely to change the dynamics of the race. Only 20 delegates were up for grabs on Saturday, with 26 more to be allocated later. Even if Mr. Santorum were to claim most of them, he would still have only half the delegates that Mitt Romney, his chief rival, already has.

Mr. Romney’s win last week in Illinois, as well as his subsequent endorsement by Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, dimmed Mr. Santorum’s political prospects, although his victory in Louisiana showed how he could still complicate Mr. Romney’s efforts to capture the 1,144 delegates needed for the nomination.

In a fund-raising letter sent out Saturday night, Mr. Santorum said the results in Louisiana had sent “shock waves” through the political world.

“Tonight with our strong victory in Louisiana, our campaign has now won 11 states, tying a record and proving we can win in the West, South and Midwest,” the letter said. “Not since Ronald Reagan in 1976 has a conservative candidate won as many states as we have.”

More from Robert Stacy McCain, who's on the ground in Louisiana, "LOUISIANA PRIMARY RESULTS HQ: Santorum Wins by Wide Margin."

And at Washington Post, "Romney roundly defeated in Louisiana":

At the same time, this is likely one of the last times Romney will face such a difficult electorate.

Louisiana is the last state from the Deep South that will vote, bringing an end to what has been Romney’s most difficult region of the country.

Next month’s contests will take place almost totally in the Northeast — a region where Romney is thus far undefeated.

In addition, a few of those states award their delegates on a winner-take-all basis — something only two states have done so far — allowing Romney to expand his delegate lead more quickly than he has to this point.

I think from here on out we'll likely see Mitt Romney roll up the delegates on the way to the GOP nomination. It's been an extremely impressive run for Santorum, but polls in upcoming states indicate an uphill slog. See, for example, Los Angeles Times, "California Republicans get behind Romney."

More on that poll later...

Saturday Night Kelly Brook Rule 5

Dana Pico brings us more of the hot women in the military: "Rule 5 Blogging: Cover Girl Cosmetics Edition."

But I'll share some more Kelly Brook, who keeps getting loads of media coverage at London's Daily Mail.

See: "Don't know where to look! Kelly Brook goes for maximum exposure in see-through top and hot pink trousers."

PREVIOUSLY: "Thursday Night Kelly Brook Rule 5."

Plus, check the archives for some earlier Kelly Brook Rule 5.

More later.

Progressives Tweet George Zimmerman's Address, Issue Death Threats — 'Ima get a group of niggas to KILL George Zimmerman'

At Twitchy, "Spike Lee retweets George Zimmerman’s address."

And the now-deleted tweet from @Simply_Reiona:

"Ima get a group of niggas to KILL George Zimmerman ( the fat ass racist ass white man who killed Trayvon Martin ) ! He deserves to DIE !!!!— Couldnt Care Less (@Simply_Reiona) March 24, 2012"

She now whines about taking flak:

Right.

Why are they on his side? Well, most folks aren't down with black lynch mobs.

RELATED: From Doctor Zero at Human Events, "George Zimmerman: Wanted Dead or Alive," and at Weasel Zippers, "New Black Panther Party Circulating “Wanted Dead or Alive” Poster For George Zimmerman…"

ADDED: Linked at Instapundit. Thanks!

Witness Says Trayvon Martin Attacked George Zimmerman

Well, first I think folks should just keep checking the left's narrative a bit, no?

So here's Sandy Banks at the Los Angeles Times, "Anger over teen's shooting transcends race":

[George] Zimmerman hasn't been arrested, claiming self-defense under Florida's Stand Your Ground law. Now protests are spreading across the country, turning Trayvon's death into a national symbol of racial prejudice and violent bias.

But this is not just about the color of skin, but the color of authority.

It's about a neighborhood bully allowed to carry a gun, encouraged by a reckless law to wield it and absolved by local police, who had barely begun to investigate before declaring the killer "squeaky clean."

Does race play into it? Certainly. I have no doubt Trayvon would be behind bars if he'd been the shooter in that scenario.

But what is moving America now owes its resonance to a bag of Skittles, a can of iced tea and a hoodie pulled low against the cold.

And the heartbreaking photo we can't seem to avoid, of a bright-eyed kid in a Hollister shirt smiling broadly into the camera, who was shot to death walking to his dad's home by someone who felt he didn't belong.

Heartbreaking!!

Everyone wants to talk about that "Hollister" photo, right? But the hoodie is out of bounds, remember?

Fucking progressive hypocrites.

And here's this at Fox News Tampa Bay, "Witness: Martin attacked Zimmerman."

More at Weasel Zippers, "Race Pimp Jesse Jackson On Trayvon Martin Case: “Blacks Are Under Attack” … Obama’s Victory Has “Triggered Tremendous Backlash”…"

There's more at LAT and Memeorandum.

This is one of those cases where your natural sense of decency is to have due process afforded and justice prevail, but the left has cooked the narrative and now we've got this bogus national outcry over a fictitious "race war" against blacks. No wonder American politics is so polarized. That's the only way the Obama-Dems can gain any traction.

ADDED: At Raw Story, "Trayvon Martin case ‘not as conclusive as people think’, says legal expert."

MORE: From London's Daily Mail, "Now witness claims TRAYVON attacked Zimmerman: Anonymous onlooker told police neighbourhood watch captain was provoked... as friends insist teen was not violent and protests mount."

And at Riehl World View, "As Media Reports Conflict, Why Was Trayvon Martin Photo Altered?" (Via Memeorandum.)

STILL MORE: From the Orlando Sentinel, "George Zimmerman's father: My son is not racist, did not confront Trayvon Martin":

Police have released little information about what happened that night and no details about how Trayvon and Zimmerman came to be face to face.

No one disputes that Zimmerman called police from his SUV, then left it and encountered Trayvon on foot as the teenager returned from a 7-Eleven candy run.

Before an officer arrived, Trayvon and Zimmerman got into a fight, according to police, and witnesses heard one or both calling for help, and Zimmerman shot Trayvon once with a 9 mm handgun.

Zimmerman told police he acted in self-defense. Police found blood on his face and the back of his head as well as grass on the back of his shirt.

That jibes with what Cheryl Brown's teenage son witnessed while walking his dog that night. Thirteen-year-old Austin stepped out his front door and heard people fighting, he told the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday.

"I heard screaming and crying for help," he said. "I heard, 'Help me.' "

It was dark, and the boy did not see how the fight started, in fact, he only saw one person, a man in a red shirt — Zimmerman — who was on the ground.

The boy said he is not sure who called for help. After a moment, his dog escaped, and he turned to catch it and a few seconds later heard a gunshot, he said.

"When I heard the shot, the screaming stopped," he said.

He then rushed inside and told his sister to call police.

And check the roundup at Instapundit, "NEW WITNESS IN THE TRAYVON MARTIN CASE..."

Plus, linked at Blazing Cat Fur: "Race Baiters Narrative Has Serious Flaw: Witness Says Trayvon Martin Attacked George Zimmerman." Thanks!