Reason Morning Links: Recession Recedes, Eagles Pick Vick, Subsidized Guzzlers

- Germany and France officially pull out of the global recession.

- Michael Vick signs with the Philadelphia Eagles. (Animal activists boo.)

- U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AARP launch tv ad blitzes on health care. 

- A market solution for insuring people with pre-existing conditions. 

- Cash for Clunkers subsidizes gas guzzlers!

- Bill Clinton tells bloggers: "We have entered a new era of progressive politics which, if we do it right, can last 30 or 40 years."

- The Justice Department investigates allegations of excessive force by deputies in Orange County's troubled jail system.

Comments

[Warty]

Shut the fuck up, Bill Clinton.

[Fluffy]

I don't understand the Vick signing.

I could understand if a bad team with no real competent starting QB took a chance on Vick, but why sign him as a backup? You get all the headaches attendant on his signing, and he might not even ever play. Although since McNabb has had injuries in the past and is getting old, you have a QB controversy as soon as Vick is eligible.

So you have double downside. I don't get it.

[Michael Vick]

Fluffy, pssst, STFU ...

[Kyle Jordan]

I think that McNabb and Vick are headed for a...

...dogfight...

...over the QB spot.

Hehehehehehehehe

[FrBunny]

First the Kelly Clarkson / Self Magazine cover-up, and now the morning links have no by-line.

The web is unraveling, Reason, and we're on to you.

[dbcooper]

I know these are early days, but wasn't Germany the country most criticized by Krugman for daring to defy his ultra-Keynesian ways?

[Michael Vick]

"All groups have invested a combined $57 million in health care ads this year"

$57M would take care of a lot of sick puppies.

[Kyle Jordan]

Oh, and Animal Activists can suck my ass. I think I'm gonna kick a dog out of spite when I can.

[Spoonman]

And in other news, from last night it appears I don't know how to interpret Roman sayings.

[Kyle Jordan]

"Bill Clinton tells bloggers: "We have entered a new era of progressive politics which, if we do it right, can last 30 or 40 years."

Yep. Right up until the US completely crumbles. Sounds about right.

Fuck you Clinton. And anyone who thinks like you.

[Pro Libertate]

McNabb can throw. Vick can't. Not to people, anyway. Vick's like Trent Dilfer--when his team was good, he was able to make up for his inadequacies to prevent hurting the team too much. In Dilfer's case, it was not throwing interceptions. In Vick's case, it was running like a bat out of hell, which he is very good at. He has a great arm, but he's just not accurate enough.

Bill Clinton: "The era of big government is over!"

McNabb is horrifically underrated, though he is getting older. Vick is no replacement.

[CoyoteBlue]

"I want us to be mindful we may need to take less than a full loaf,"

Except the fridge is empty Bill. The "new era of progressive politics" will have to be funded with Obama's unicorn piss, since there is just no more money left.

[Xeones]

Bill Clinton tells bloggers: "We have entered a new era of progressive politics which, if we do it right, can last 30 or 40 years."

We're still living in the later stages of the previous era of progressive politics from, like, a century ago, Bill. Fascist.

I like that the leftists are abandoning the word "liberal," though, because it never was an accurate descriptor for them.

[T]

I like that the leftists are abandoning the word "liberal," though, because it never was an accurate descriptor for them.

The RNC, Fox News, and Rush did a great job of making liberal an epithet. The leftoids been pushing progressive as a replacement for a while. I guess you have to keep changing the name on a bankrupt ideology to keep people fooled.

[Jesus]

As a huge Eagles fan and a dog lover I am conflicted. But in fairness to Vick, he has paid his debt to society, seen the error of his ways and has made a genuine effort to make amends.

[RG]

"McNabb is horrifically underrated, though he is getting older. Vick is no replacement."

I think they plan on using him in the Wildcat formation. Now who can come up with the best dog-related name of the Eagles' version? The Shocked Dog?

[SugarFree]

"Progressive" implies a servant of progress. Progress is not a fixed quality; to serve it would require knowledge of an entelechy within society itself.

The assumption of entelechy in any process--society, the free-market, human values--is the equivalent madness in the left as the belief in a Golden Age we must struggle to re-attain is in the right.

[Amber Waves]

The pile driver?

[Rich]

Progressive politics done *right*? Oxymoron!

[P Brooks]

we have to have a bill.

No.

We don't.

[Bill Clinton]

The era of big government being over is over.

[MNG]

Kyle
Why the hate on animal activists? Some animal activists are insufferable douches, this is very true, but many of us/them are just people that volunteer at your local humane society/spca trying to make animals lives free from cruelty. Many of us eat hamburgers, we don't want pigs to vote, and we don't want to freeze civilization to save every rare snail.

We are against fuckers who electrocute dogs to death of course...

[PC]

"I could understand if a bad team with no real competent starting QB took a chance on Vick, but why sign him as a backup? You get all the headaches attendant on his signing, and he might not even ever play. Although since McNabb has had injuries in the past and is getting old, you have a QB controversy as soon as Vick is eligible."

There won't be a QB controversy with the birds, as long as Reid is there McNabb has nothing to worry about. If he sucks if up he might get benched for part of a game, but nothing past that. McNabb is almost part of management there.

It opens up the wildcat, there was discussion the whole time that he was out that Vick might change positions when he returns, like WR, like his brother tried to, or maybe even RB, and I am sure they will explore every opportunity at that. If he can come back with as much athleticism as he had before it is going to open up the playbook like never before. Him, Deshaun, Westbrook, and then if McCoy and Maclin end up meeting expectations this will be an offense like we have never seen before.

[Kyle Jordan]

"I think they plan on using him in the Wildcat formation. Now who can come up with the best dog-related name of the Eagles' version? The Shocked Dog?"

Doggystyle
Rabies Scare

Oh and I want to hear an announce talk about Vick throwing a Flea Flicker.

[MNG]

Vick is the kind of QB who will help a bad team, but will not be able to bring anything to a playoff caliber team. Put good pressure on him and he throws terrible, and that tuck and run shit cannot get you to the Super Bowl.

[PC]

"We are against fuckers who electrocute dogs to death of course..."

I guess, but it sure as hell shouldn't be a federal matter.

[MNG]

I do hate how practically all the announcers/commentators are parroting this "we welcome Vick back" line. The Players Association started that shit. Thanks fuckers (hey, that's a union so it should tell you how pissed I am over that push)

[Amber Waves]

"Progressive politics done *right*? Oxymoron!"

No, metaprogressive.

[Rich]

The Obama administration has declined so far to release detailed records of purchases being compiled by the Transportation Department.

audacity : hope :: consistency : transparency

[SugarFree]

and that tuck and run shit cannot get you to the Super Bowl

How the fuck can you even do that while wearing a cup?

[MNG]

Were there any state charges filed? Conviction? Punishment?

[T]

The assumption of entelechy in any process

Isn't it a bit early to be slinging words like "entelechy" around, SF?

[RG]

"Were there any state charges filed? Conviction? Punishment?"

Yep. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Vick#State_criminal_prosecution

[SugarFree]

A good vocabulary doesn't wait for your second cup of coffee. 😉

[MNG]

Hmm, now I'm curious. I wonder what the feds base federal authority for penalizing dog fighting (that's what it was, right, not animal cruelty, right?)? Interstate commerce? Anyone know?

[PC]

"MNG | August 14, 2009, 9:31am | #

Were there any state charges filed? Conviction? Punishment?"

Not sure, all I know is once I heard the feds were involved and once I heard all the pontificating in the press I just tuned it out. OJ and others have killed actual people and have gotten less.

[Spoonman]

T, on the plus side, I now know what "entelechy" means.

[MNG]

Thanks RG.

I think a 3 year suspended sentence was pretty weak for the heinous shit he did.

[MNG]

"OJ and others have killed actual people and have gotten less."

Well, c'mon, that's because he was found not guilty. Had he been found guilty he would, properly, have gotten a lot more.

[RG]

I think the Feds charged him under RICO provisions. Donte Stallworth and Leonard Little both got much less time for killing people.

[SugarFree]

MNG,

It was interstate dog fighting. They popped him with RICO for the gambling.

Vick is a piece of shit and should be fed to dogs. But it's not up to me.

[SugarFree]

It's like there's an echo in here...

[MNG]

Oh, the Stallworth case is egregious. I understand manslaughter has this lower mens rea, but we have a fucking dead person. There should be a minimum amount of years if even negligence can be shown...

SF
I see...Thanks.

[J sub D]

My Detroit governance morning link -

5 DPS workers charged in embezzlement probe

Calling it the first in a wave of upcoming charges, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy today announced five felony cases against Detroit Public Schools employees charged with embezzling school funds between 2003 and 2009. Worthy said her office was surprised by the overtness of the alleged corruption.

"What did surprise us is how rampant, how overt and how conspicuous and downright bold-faced the corruption is allegedly," Worthy said. "I don't know why the cases weren't brought to us before."

[PC]

While electrocuting and hanging dogs is not my cup of tea, if I would have taken those same dogs to a kennel they would have put them down on the spot. So it is the manner in which they are executed that is the key. If you take pitbulls to most kennels they put them down right away.

[MNG]

I mean, the message in Florida is "drive however you want, there will be no fucking consequences if you kill someone."

[MNG]

I don't give a shit if the dogs were going to be delivered to a Chinese Take-out joint the next day, it doesn't make Vick's brutal killing of them any less cruel. He's a thug.

[Amber Waves]

"I think a 3 year suspended sentence was pretty weak for the heinous shit he did."

Who knew G-d was spelled MNG?

[T]

A good vocabulary doesn't wait for your second cup of coffee. 😉

The hell it doesn't. Anything more substantial than grunts and the occasional obscenity, I better have some coffee first.

[Amber Waves]

"He's a thug."

Racist.

[MNG]

Yeah right Amber, as a citizen in a democracy where laws and punishments reflect majority judgment, who am I to judge the propriety of the sentences my government hands out?

[J sub D]

Kyle
Why the hate on animal activists? Some animal activists are insufferable douches, this is very true, but many of us/them are just people that volunteer at your local humane society/spca trying to make animals lives free from cruelty. Many of us eat hamburgers, we don't want pigs to vote, and we don't want to freeze civilization to save every rare snail.

We are against fuckers who electrocute dogs to death of course...

Dammit! I agree with MNG again. Did the sun rise in the west this morning?

[Xeones]

I mean, the message in Florida is "drive however you want, there will be no fucking consequences if you kill someone."

Have you seen all the old people on the roads in Florida, MNG? It is fucking terrifying. All plowing through crowds on the sidewalk, left turn signals flashing in time with the crunching of bones... There aren't enough hours in a year for Florida to even try to effectively prosecute every case of vehicular shenanigans that resulted in death.

[Meta4]

CLERMONT - Clermont police have interviewed one suspect who is admitting to putting up the dozens of posters pasted around the city depicting President Obama as the Joker character from the Batman film The Dark Knight, city officials confirmed.

Assistant City Manager Darren Gray said city officials have an individual "admitting to putting up 500" of the posters.

Clermont Police Capt. Eric Jensen said the male individual has admitted to putting up some signs, but investigators suspect others were involved and their investigation is continuing.

"We have talked to an individual," Jensen said. "He only admitted to some of it...We're still tracking down leads and talking to folks. We have not arrested anybody."

At this point officials are not sure how much damage was caused by the signs or the dollar amount associated with the clean-up.

Dozens of the posters were pasted around the city earlier this week. A pair of the posters were pasted to a Clermont Post Office collection box. They prompted the postmaster to contact the Postal Inspector's office, which is looking at potential federal crimes for defacing federal property.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-obama-joker-suspect-081309,0,4959018.story

[The Gobbler]

"They prompted the postmaster to contact the Postal Inspector's office, which is looking at potential federal crimes for defacing federal property."

Jesus Mother Fucking Christ.

[P Brooks]

"What did surprise us is how rampant, how overt and how conspicuous and downright bold-faced the corruption is allegedly," Worthy said. "I don't know why the cases weren't brought to us before."

"SHOCKED, I tell you..."

[PC]

And while torturing animals is not a redeeming quality, much of the food we eat was made by a less violent way of torturing animals, boxing them in, not allowing them to move, pumping them full of hormones and then eventually killing them. Just because we don't choose to keep chickens and cows as pets, they get tortured on a massive, albeit less violent scale. At least with hunting and free range they can roam a bit, but saving a buck is what counts.

[PC]

And how many people on this site cheered Chicago's banning of foie gras a couple years ago?

[Mike Laursen]

At this point officials are not sure how much damage was caused by the signs or the dollar amount associated with the clean-up.

"Damage" be a pretty loaded word to substitute for "nuisance".

[robc]

Oh, the Stallworth case is egregious. I understand manslaughter has this lower mens rea, but we have a fucking dead person. There should be a minimum amount of years if even negligence can be shown...

Im not sure Stallworth didnt get screwed. Yeah, he was driving drunk and a guy died, so Im not going to worry about it too much, but is there any reason to assume a connection?

From what I remember, the dead guy was jaywalking in the middle of the night. A sober Stallworth may have had the reflexes to miss him, but then again, maybe not.

[Pro Libertate]

MNG,

It's not a Florida thing. However, I was wondering about what level of drunkenness gets you into the "depraved heart" category for murder. I'm not a criminal attorney, but there's a moral difference between knowingly operating a dangerous instrumentality in callous disregard to the consequences, versus driving a little negligently and killing someone.

I haven't followed this case at all, but I'll bet the reasoning was that the death wasn't principally due to his drunkenness. In other words, the victim somehow negligently contributed to the event in such a way that even a sober person might've hit him.

[Pro Libertate]

If you can't deface federal property, what can you deface?

[R C Dean]

Hmm, now I'm curious. I wonder what the feds base federal authority for penalizing dog fighting (that's what it was, right, not animal cruelty, right?)? Interstate commerce? Anyone know?

I believe that would be the Its Bad, Mmmkay? clause, MNG.

I share your dismay that nobody seems to be opposing the NFL's decision to let Vick back into the league. Where the NFL got the idea that it needs criminals to be viable is beyond me. You could throw out all the players who want to live the Thug Life, and their revenue wouldn't drop a cent.

[R C Dean]

At this point officials are not sure how much damage was caused by the signs or the dollar amount associated with the clean-up.

I think the guy putting up the posters would have an excellent First Amendment defense, based on selective prosecution. Given the number of postings that the cops don't pursue, picking him out for putting up an overtly politically poster looks like a free speech violation to me.

[Pro Libertate]

R C Dean,

I was thinking there might be a viewpoint discrimination case here, too. Depends on how tight they are with other postings.

As for the NFL, if it really cared about having a clean image, it would refuse to employ and would make it a termination event for any team or league employee to be convicted of a felony. There could be some wiggle room around that (certain felonies aren't more than gussied up misdemeanors, after all) and maybe some forgiveness for lower order felonies after a decade or so, but that's about it.

[MNG]

"You could throw out all the players who want to live the Thug Life, and their revenue wouldn't drop a cent."

Amen to that, RC, amen.

PC
I hear you, but at least the treatment of animals-to-be-food is not motivated by the wanton cruelty that Vick's behavior was.

Pro
I don't think I want Stallworth to get murder, manslaughter seems right. I just think that in a case of manslaughter the penalty should be stiffer than 24 days. People are dead because of that guy's negligence. I will say I don't think the mere fact someone is over the bac limit should constitute negligence, but is that what happened there?

[MNG]

My dad tells me that "back in the day" coaches like Tom Landry would never have accepted the out of line players we see today. He would have cut them or benched them no matter how talented they were. Wasn't there in Landry's heyday, so i don't know...

[Tulpa]

RC, would that argument still apply if he had put the posters on private property?

If not, why not?

[Tulpa]

For the record, the guy deserves to be prosecuted for vandalism. You guys have any idea how much it costs to remove 500 pasted-on posters? It's not like they were just stapled to a utility pole, as most of these things tend to be.

I doubt that degree of "political vandalism" happens very often, so your selective enforcement defense is going to go nowhere, even assuming it had any merit to begin with.

[EJM]

? Germany and France officially pull out of the global recession.

On related notes...

"Spain's economy shrinks 1 pct in Q2"

"Hong Kong pulls out of recession"

[Ricky]

For a minute there I was worried Tulpa wasn't going to side with the police, but his love of authority blindly decided for him.

Anyway, back to lurking.

[PC]

"I hear you, but at least the treatment of animals-to-be-food is not motivated by the wanton cruelty that Vick's behavior was."

No, just for profit. Does that make hitmen more acceptable? It's just business, nothing personal.

[strike through]

Xeones | August 14, 2009, 9:46am | #
Have you seen all the old people on the roads in Florida, MNG? It is fucking terrifying. All plowing through crowds on the sidewalk

Nah, most of the time they just press the wrong pedal and end up in a canal.

[robc]

I don't think the mere fact someone is over the bac limit should constitute negligence, but is that what happened there?

Its unclear because he pled guilty, but it is quite possible. I think if he had wanted to fight it, he might have been able to make a case that his drunkenness didnt change the situation at all.

The family of the dead guy asked the judge for a lenient sentence.

[Pro Libertate]

Tulpa,

Depends on the facts. If they've been ignoring other posters, then the guy has a pretty good case.

[Tulpa]

I don't think the selective enforcement defense is going to hold water, simply because this offense is so egregious that you're going to have a hard time coming up with examples where something similar was not prosecuted. If there are examples where the town let people off who stapled posters to utility poles, that's not going to help, as it takes very little work to remove such posters compared to those that are pasted on.

But it's at least heartening to see that your argument presumes that it's possible the police are in the right here, contrary to the "omg fascism!" chorus that appeared to be developing in the thread.

[Tulpa]

Ricky, sometimes the police are in the right. A pro-police reflex (which I don't have, and reasonable people here know I don't have) is no worse than an anti-police reflex that crops up here so often.

[P Brooks]

this offense is so egregious

Time to get a new dictionary.

[J sub D]

I predict that Philadelphia opponents will get more penalties for late hits and unnecessary roughness whenever Vick is on the field.

IOW, some defensive players who love dogs are gonna be head hunting for that asshole.

On the cruelty to animals in modern livestock and slaughtering practices - It must suck to be a cow or a chicken. Trying to get meat to the consumer as cheaply as possible is not quite the same thing as having animals tear each other up for your own amusement.

Everybody can grok that, right?

[T]

Everybody can grok that, right?

Everybody here, hopefully. I wouldn't generalize much past that.

[J sub D]

For the record, the guy deserves to be prosecuted for vandalism. You guys have any idea how much it costs to remove 500 pasted-on posters? It's not like they were just stapled to a utility pole, as most of these things tend to be.

I doubt that degree of "political vandalism" happens very often, so your selective enforcement defense is going to go nowhere, even assuming it had any merit to begin with.

Tulpa,

Depends on the facts. If they've been ignoring other posters, then the guy has a pretty good case.

Agreed and agreed. In Detroit they wouldn't be able to justify the resource expenditure in this case. Illegal posters are glued everywhere. Like graffiti, it's so far down the enforcement priority list it's de facto decriminalized. It would be political persecution here.

Dunno 'bout Clermont.

[PC]

J sub D | August 14, 2009, 11:20am | #

No I don't think they are the same, obviously there are different factors that go into sentencing, no two crimes are really the same in that sense. But both torture then kill animals, granted since Vick "had evil in his heart" his penalty would be stiffer, but the absense of that should not excuse the KFC or other food manufacturers.

I just think that society places some special status toward dogs based on emotional circumstances and that is not how law should be applied. It's a lot easier to excuse torture when its "out of sight, out of mind". But to get to the point I don't think either should be illegal, the dogs were Vick's property and while I find it morally abhorrent, I don't think morally abhorrent should equate to illegal. I think animal rights laws encroach on property rights. I think cockfighting laws are ridiculous as well.

[MNG]

PC
What about bestiality laws?

I mean, while animals like dogs certainly strike me as property, it just seems evident that they are not the same kind of property as a couch. I can't see why we can't treat them as what they seem to be, less than human more than inanimate property. Laws against cruelty seem to walk that line well to me.

[SugarFree]

MNG,

What about bestiality laws? I mean, while animals like dogs certainly strike me as property, it just seems evident that they are not the same kind of property as a couch.

This is just a stalking horse in your anti-couch-humping crusade, and I, nor should anyone else, fall for it.

[Tulpa]

I predict that Philadelphia opponents will get more penalties for late hits and unnecessary roughness whenever Vick is on the field.

Too bad the Eagles don't play the Browns until 2012. It would have been entertaining to see him greeted by the Dog Pound in the end zone.

[MNG]

Someone might find gambling or reading porn to be morally abhorrent, like you and I find animal cruelty to be morally abhorrent. I would not support making the former illegal, but would the latter. Why? Easy. Something alive is being hurt in the latter case. Throwing dice causes no direct pain to anything that can feel pain, neither does reading porn. Electrocuting a dog for shits and giggles certainly does. I think the law can step in there. The property argument doesn't wash for me because living property is different than unliving property. If someone wants to be cruel to his couch, then fine by me. But being cruel to his animal is causing pain to something that can feel it. It's a different story entirely, and being different warrants different treatment.

[Fido Santorum (L-PA)]

What about bestiality laws?

What if the dog wants it? Bestiality laws deprive dogs of the sexual freedom that is inherent in their canine dignity.

[Isaac Bartram]

MNG

30 days in jail, plus 1,000 hours of community service, 2 years of house arrest, and 8 years probation are not exactly a slap on the wrist.

Incarceration is rearely a satisfactory way to deal with offenders who pose no ongoing threat or risk to the community.

And from the people I know who have experienced them house arrest and probation are no joke. One slip-up can really get you fucked up in the system.

Of course people with more money and more brains tend to get through them better.

[MNG]

Issac
It doesn't sound like fun, don't get me wrong, but on the other side a person is dead and he pled to causing it. I can't really argue any further than to say that doesn't balance out for me.

[PC]

Ok, you got me on the beastiality part. Good comeback there. But then doesn't killing animals for food qualify under your standard? Something alive is still being hurt.

[Isaac Bartram]

...a person is dead and he pled to causing it.

...[emphasis mine]

It's likely that had he gone to trial he would have had more jail time. A plea is usually taken as an admission of culpability and an expression of remorese. These are normally considered mitigating conditions, I believe.

I'm not sure this is out of line with the national norm for cases involving negligence rather than depravity.

It's not like Florida is known for being "soft on crime" after all.

[SugarFree]

PC,

Pain is not a necessary condition for slaughter. Livestock can be raised and slaughtered in a non-painful manner (not non-harmful, of course, no death is harm-free.) Those that are concerned that animals feel pain can pay a premium for humane meat.

[RG]

"Those that are concerned that animals feel pain can pay a premium for humane meat."

Agreed, but I believe PCs concern was the unequal application of law. What is done to certain livestock can be interpreted as torture, albeit w/o evil intent.

For animal lovers who also believe in property rights, this is a tough circle to square.

[PC]

SugarFree | August 14, 2009, 12:03pm | #

I was just debating MNG's standard. For me rendering an animal immobile for their lifetime is cruel enough and it could even be argued that it is worse than the death's that Vick's animals suffered, because it was a matter of minutes, whereas the other animals are tortured for their entire lifetime until they are executed. It is not like we would not have food without that, it's just it would cost us a little more. So cruelty to animals not acceptable in Vick's case, but it is acceptable for food producers because it saves a few dollars a pound.

[PC]

RG | August 14, 2009, 12:08pm | #

Yes, and as I said earlier I think the unequal application exists because it is dogs in this case, thus the emotional application of the law, which is never a good way to apply law. Also I believe there is a bit of racism in Vick's case, due to Vick's "thuggish" persona. Huckabee's kid tortured and killed a dog and didn't face anything like this.

[SugarFree]

Ah, I see. Well, that really just boils down to sentimentality. I don't have a problem with pet cruelty being illegal (I put it down there with getting rid of stoplights), but I admit I am being inconsistent. It's an inconsistency I can live with.

And woe to the doomed fucker I ever catch torturing an animal in my presence.

[PC]

And frankly if there was anything that Vick should have been prosecuted for, it was the Ron Mexico allegations. Knowingly spreading herpes to unknowing individuals still strikes me as a greater offense.

[TrickyVic]

"""RC, would that argument still apply if he had put the posters on private property?"""

It's citizen owned property. There is no such thing a private these days. 😉

[R C Dean]

For animal lovers who also believe in property rights, this is a tough circle to square.

Not really.

A few common-sense distinctions, such as gratuitous or intentional cruelty, cruelty for purposes of amusement, and the idea that a dog (or a cow) is not a couch, and we're home free.

[Rimfax]

I like the Clinton quote, but the original version from Karl Rove in 2001 was pretty entertaining, too.

[R C Dean]

RC, would that argument still apply if he had put the posters on private property?

I think so. The First Amendment argument is that the police are targeting him for the content of his posters. Its not where the posters were put up that matters, but how the cops respond. If the cops can show they go after everyone who puts up posters like they did the Obama Joker guy, then so be it.

But you know they can't. This is all about the content being offensive to The Right People.

[Rich]

At this point officials are not sure how much damage was caused by the signs or the dollar amount associated with the clean-up.

Been away for a while. Are we *still* talking about the Recovery and Reinvestment Act?

[MJ]

"I don't understand the Vick signing." - Fluffy

It make some sense if you understand that McNabb and Vick are friends, and McNabb convinced his boss to help his buddy out. That is not to say that things won't go down as you describe or some other disaster. But, hey, McNabb thought he could get along with Terrell Owens too.