Scanner : Pennsylvania

Racist Small Town Hoodlums Getting Away with Murder

Brian Fairbanks — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:10:00 GMT

Brandon Piekarsky entering court before his acquittal on third-degree murder charges. Piekarsky's level of involvement in the killing is unclear, as he wasn't believed to have helped in the beating.

On July 12th, in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, a group of white teenagers were walking home when they came across a young Hispanic man in the park with a teenage girl. One of them yelled out, "Isn't it a little late for you to be out? Get your Mexican boyfriend out of here."

The Mexican man, whose name was Luis Ramirez, became enraged and screamed back at them and began calling for backup. Eighteen-year-old Brian Scully then traded punches with Ramirez, with no one ever agreeing on how the fight actually got started. Derrick Donchak, then 19, jumped on top of the badly-beaten Ramirez and, with a piece of metal between his knuckles, began pummeling Ramirez's face. Miraculously, Ramirez was able to recover and the boys ran off, hurling more racial slurs back as they ran. This enraged Ramirez, who chased after them until a quick blow to the head from Colin Walsh, a 17-year-old component of the all-white group, wiped him out. While Ramirez was down, Scully (it is said by witnesses) kicked Ramirez in the head, causing him to foam at the mouth and convulse. He died as a result of that brutal blow.

At the boys' trial, no one seemed to dispute these facts (except which boy did what.) Nonetheless, the jury acquitted the accused of third degree murder and various other charges while convicting them of simple assault. The defendants and their families emerged from the courtroom triumphant, while legal observers say this was on obvious miscarriage of justice:

"There's been a complete failure of justice," said Gladys Limon, staff attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, who attended the trial and informed Ramirez's family of the verdict. "It's just outrageous and very difficult to understand how any juror could have had reasonable doubt."

She said the evidence "clearly established that Luis Ramirez was brutally beaten."

Prosecutors cast Ramirez as the victim of a gang of drunken white teens motivated by a dislike of their small coal town's burgeoning Hispanic population. But the jury evidently sided with defense attorneys, who called Ramirez the aggressor and characterized the brawl as a street fight that ended tragically. [New York Daily News]
As Avery Friedman argues persuasively in the video from CNN yesterday, this was a pretty clear-cut case of jury nullification: the weight of evidence against the accused was so powerful that it's clear the all-white jury -- like similar juries in the South during the Civil Rights struggle -- was not going to convict two young white men of murdering a Mexican. Even if, as Friedman says, "the only reason he is dead is because he was Mexican." [Crooks and Liars]

Now, some activists are putting pressure on the state's Democratic Governor, Ed Rendell, to speak out about the hate crime. They believe the worst is still to come from a town that is almost 100% Caucasian and only 1% Hispanic...

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While You Were Sleeping: Kim Kardashian's Sex Tape Is Inspiring to Young Girls?

Brian Fairbanks — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:59:00 GMT

Say what you want about its culture, but Wal-Mart workers in Miami may be the first in the nation to unionize.

The top 10 places to kiss.

Here's one we haven't heard before: police raided a topless bar that featured a fourteen-year-old stripper.

Arlen Spector's historic decision to switch to the Democratic Party yesterday not only gives the Donkeys 60 seats in the Senate, it also means they'll probably seize the seat next fall.

SJP and Matthew Broderick are having twins (through a surrogate.)

How can anyone give a flying fuck what Sean Hannity says after he relentlessly defended Kim Kardashian as a role model.

Dolph Lungren probably wishes he could've had Sly around to kick some major ass while this was going down.

And do you think this mother should have her children taken away? She is very overweight and was feeding them McDonald's (albeit UK McDonald's) at six months!

While You Were Sleeping: Drunk Breastfeeding

PA DA Threatening to Jail 11-Year-Olds For Sexting

Brian Fairbanks — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:15:00 GMT

District Attorney George Skumanick Jr. Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania is in deep doo-doo after bullying and threatening the parents of a bunch of girls between the ages of 10 and 16 about their sexting problems. He threatened to imprison an eleven year old for something that isn't even a crime (wait'll you hear this) and is being sued by the ACLU on behalf of three furious families.

Skumanick sat down with parents one day and showed them the lurid images and said that either the girls enter into a treatment program for their sexual problems or be forced to endure a trial to juvie hall, a trial, and possible jail time.

Another confiscated phone had photos of a 17-year-old girl that she described in an interview as "semi-nude pictures, underwear and stuff like that." The girl, who took the photos herself, was debating whether to send them to her boyfriend when a teacher took the phone.

Mr. Skumanick thought he had enough evidence to charge them as juveniles on pornography violations -- not just for sending the photos, but for appearing in them, too.

At a school assembly during the crisis, one boy was ejected and told "this isn't a debate" for questioning whether the DA was ruining people's lives by carrying on his investigation. Soon after, letters began appearing in mailboxes around Wyoming County, telling parents their children were being suspected of involvement with child porn and ordering the adults to appear at a courthouse meeting, where the phones were laid out and anyone could see the porn pics. An 11-year-old in a bathing suit was told she could be charged for "posing provocatively."

Another was told the years-old photo of her in a bra at an all-girls slumber party could get her in deep trouble-- and that she could be raped by an old man who might across the pic. One 17-year-old attended the meeting herself and cried out,"I think the worst punishment is knowing that all you old guys saw me naked. I just think you guys are all just perverts."

And not long after that, the ACLU filed suit, effectively blocking charges against the children Skumbag is so aggressively pursuing.

Via WSJ. [Please right-click to open this link in a new window.]

14-Year-Old Girl Arrested For Possession of Child Pornography

No More Dirty Dancing and Singing in Jamaica

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While You Were Sleeping: Is Lindsay Lohan's Career Over?

Someone Tell These Cheerleaders They Don't Need to Try So Hard

Colleen Kane — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:30:00 GMT

This latest newsmaking foible has numerous elements that commonly surface here on Scanner: the cheerleaders, the stripper pole, the drunken hijinks, the overage guy being inappropriate with the underage people, and that modern classic, getting in trouble when you post photos on Facebook.

And now, for how those puzzle pieces go together.

A cheerleading coach at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, PA, was given two photos featuring two cheerleaders from the squad, that were posted on Facebook. In one, a 16-year old was dancing on a stripper pole in uniform, with an alcoholic beverage in her hand (multi-tasker!), and the other showed a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old kissing 36-year old Steven Russo on the cheek. Russo is the father of a 17-year-old FHS student, who according to other students, has been throwing ragers ans supplying his son's classmates with alcoholic bevs.

At the rager in question, he encouraged the girls onto the pole in his basement. Now this creep is facing charges of endangerment to children, corruption of minors, and more.

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Teacher In Lesbian Sex Scandal Story Not Helping...

Brian Fairbanks — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:16:00 GMT

This is the face of terror. Or it could be the face of true love. (Either way, could the cops have made this mug shot any more like a documentary on the Hale-Bop cult?)

Angie Fetty is a thirty-four-year-old English teacher in Pennsylvania and now an accused sex offender. Unlike most of the alleged criminals profiled on this blog, Fetty is a female accused of sleeping with another female, in this case, a sixteen-year-old who may or may not testify against her lover.

But it's not the fact that this is a lesbian sex scandal that caught our attention... it's the bizarre saga at the root of the case.

Turns out Fetty wasn't very discreet with her encounters with the student. First of all, how does a sixteen-year-old girl get to stay over her teacher's house every night-- or at least several times per week, according to the report? Are the parents pulling all-nighters at work or something? In any case, these two thought they could hide their love away by kissing and parting at the bus stop, leaving the teacher to drive to school and the teenager to ride the bus, as if this would throw off the "scent" or something. Apparently, Fetty didn't know that her neighbors are, for the most part, not blind and, of course, the rumors ultimately made their way to the school.

This is the second lesbian teacher sex case in the last few months-- that one also featured some weird sleepovers and incredibly oblivious parents. Here's what we said about that case:

It all started when Thompson [the teacher] proposed the 14-year-old girl go to lunch with her. It soon escalated into sleepovers and racy text messages... while Thompson continued to be married to her husband. (Didn't he think something was strange when his wife kept staying over some kid's house?!)
"...But the couple were found out when the parents discovered them having sex one evening. Their reaction was simply to request that their daughter keep her door open when she had visitors. Thompson’s husband also walked in on the pair when he came home from work earlier than expected one day. [Bild.de]"

Who knows? This might even become a trend...

More about the case here.

Related:

Hot Teacher Caught After Three-Year Affair With Female Student

Today in Teacher Sex: One Does It On The Floor, The Other Runs Off to Mexico with Her Boy

Today in Teacher Sex: Louisiana and New York Pervs Reach New Heights

14-Year-Old Girl Arrested for Sending a Text... and Not Even That Kind of Text...

Brian Fairbanks — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:14:00 GMT

How the hell do you go from sitting in class, not paying attention to the teacher and typing a text message on your Cricket, to getting arrested?

According to various local news reports out of Pennsylvania, you do it by being a total brat. The unnamed fourteen-year-old girl in question was asked to stop texting in class and refused (hey, at least have the decency to lie and say you'll cut it out.) She continued to text right in front of the teacher, who finally had to call in the School Resource Officer.

The officer took the girl to the office of the Dean of Students, who asked the girl where the cell phone was. She shrugged and denied having a cell phone. (Commence eye rolling now.) The Dean eventually had to call the girl's parents... but the girl repeatedly gave him the wrong number. (Dude, don't you have records for these kinds of things? What if there'd been an emergency?) Finally, the police were called in to search the girl's person-- the phone was found down her pants, by her butt.

After all this, we guess they had no choice but to arrest her for disorderly conduct and suspended her for several days. If only they had a more serious charge-- what, they couldn't fake a cop punch and charge her for that? (Kidding.) Before you leap to her defense, know that she kept returning to the school to meet with friends over the next two days, even though she wasn't allowed to be there-- this time she was slapped with a trespassing charge.

Couldn't she have just sent a nude photo of herself like the rest of the girls so there'd be more to this story?

Read more here. Image via.

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Doctor Sex is the New Teacher Sex

Emily Farris — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:07:00 GMT

In this economy, we care less about grades (because who can afford college, anyway?) and more about taking care of our basic needs, like food, clothing, shelter and prescription drugs. So it was only a matter of time before we'd start to hear of people exchanging their most valuable natural resource (sex) for a basic human need (drugs). It's been happening on the mean streets for years, but now a Pennsylvania doctor has been arrested for violating the drug act. And, of course, sexting.

Dr. Samuel Krakow might not have had too much trouble getting laid. Sure, his hairline was starting to recede, but he was a doctor, a doctor! But instead of good, old-fashioned dating, or even trolling craigslist for sex, Dr. Krakow—perhaps sensing his patients' economic strain—employed the barter system.

In exchange for prescription drugs (Oxycontin!) Krakow offered his man junk, in person and over the phone. Unfortunately, one of his "patients" turned out to be a police officer:

Authorities say, in January, police conducted an undercover investigation in which Krakow engaged in lewd and sexual communications with an undercover officer, and offered to deliver prescription drugs in exchange for sex.

Investigators say Krakow also sent the officer a photo of his penis over his cell phone.

In addition, police say, Dr. Krakow provided the undercover officer with a phone number for his former place of employment so that the undercover officer could confirm his status as a doctor who could provide any type of prescription pills.

Police set up an undercover operation on January 30th, in which they say Krakow agreed to meet and deliver Oxycontin pills in exchange for various sexual acts.

Once the drugs were delivered, the drug task force moved in and Krakow was arrested.

[ABC Action News: Doctor accused of drugs-for-sex scheme]

Related:

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Sloppy Seconds: Psychology Teachers Getting In On The Student Sex Craze

[Image]

Boy Suspended From School For Having Sex... Guess What Happened to His Partner?

Brian Fairbanks — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:44:00 GMT

Sexism strikes both sexes in American culture. Note the example shown above...

...and this story, which features a thirteen-year-old boy who learned that it's often considered solely the male person's fault if a man and a woman are caught doing something "sexually inappropriate" out in the real world.

First of all, we have to point out that we now have thirteen-year-olds having sex in school stairwells. Who got any action, let alone after hours, before they were in high school? What's next? Preschoolers having swingers parties during nap time?

Walter Ransome, who becomes one of the first-ever thirteen-year-old boys to be named in the news media for having sex, was busted by a teacher for having sex with a young lady in his Philly-area stairwell. His mother, of course, was livid-- but more upset over her son's punishment compared to his paramour's:

Walter got kicked out of school for the incident. The girl stayed in school. Now, Goss is demanding to know why.
"I'm not going against the school board whatsoever. Punish these children the way they are supposed to be punished, but don't just punish one and not the other when they both were involved. That's not fair," she said. [Philadelphia Daily News]

Damn straight-- why would the boy, who is black, get a ten-day suspension from junior high school while his classmate (ethnicity unknown) returns to her studies as if nothing ever happened?

Has anyone else out there noticed a double standard when it comes to punishing a young male ~~sex fiend~~ busted for doing something sexual with a female of similar age?

Related:

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9-Year-Old Boy Teaches You How To Pick Up Girls

Ukraine's Hot Goth Prime Minister and Other Breaking Goth News

Colleen Kane — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:09:00 GMT

In Ukraine, they have gothic prime minister. What a country!

Stateside, a Pennsylvania woman was selling what she called "gothic kittens" on eBay until the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals stepped in earlier this week.

What made the poor kittahys so "goth," and video after the jump.

The three kittens seized by the SPCA were pierced in their ears and on their backs.

We think the descriptor "emo" might have gotten the seller more hits on eBay, but we're glad the jig is now up for that sicko.

In other goth news, did you know that God Hates Goths?

Top 10 Ways to Avoid Becoming The Crazy Cat Lady

Marry, F*ck or Kill: Slutoween Edition

Sloppy Seconds: The Sheep Beauty Pageant

Brian Fairbanks — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:37:00 GMT

Everyone in this British man's Spanish town was arrested on corruption charges, so now he's the mayor. A bad Jim Carrey movie is already in the works, we're sure.

This is either the grossest or funniest thing in ages, we can't decide.

The latest nonsense rumor about Led Zeppelin...

Chris Cornell addressed rumors he'd tour with Led Zeppelin: "I have not been approached to fill in for Robert Plant on the upcoming Zeppelin tour, but that isn't to say I won't be."

There's nothing else to do there, so Saudi Arabia held a sheep beauty pageant.

Is Kathleen Edwards filing for divorce?

Why would anyone give Joe the Plumber a book deal? This guy will be a footnote on November 5th, no matter who wins.

Nikki Taylor got knocked up. In other news, Nikki Taylor is still considered newsworthy.

Sarah Palin needs to stay away from sports fans, for the last time. Especially Pennsylvanian sports fans.

Our favorite sign of the week.

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Election Nightmare Video Scarier Than Saw V, For Sure

Brian Fairbanks — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:46:00 GMT

John McCain spoke in front of a large rally in Pottsville, Pennsylvania on Monday and was met by a few dozen demonstraters, and, as often happens at these things, the discourse quicky turned vitriolic...

In this video, a man can clearly be heard shouting "Bomb Obama" on multiple occasions and then saying he knows people who will shoot the Senator from Illinois if he becomes President. We always caught wind of a guy who claims to be a Democrat (somehow we doubt that) saying he could never vote for a black man.

With the polls tightening, although Obama expanding his lead in several red and swing states, we are certainly going to see more of this fear, hatemongering, racism, and general unpleasantness in the next five days. (Memo to McCain supporters: if your only reasons for not supporting Obama are guys he served on a school board with or the fact that you heard he was "born in Kenya," maybe you should do some fact checking before talking to people with cameras.)

By the way, see also this HuffPo piece: McCain Funded Work Of Palestinian His Campaign Hopes To Tie To Obama

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Sex Writer On "Obscene" Website Sentenced To Home Detention

Brian Fairbanks — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:38:00 GMT

A woman whose website, Red Rose Stories, was shuttered three years ago by the Feds, pleaded guilty yesterday to obscenity charges and received a long term of probation plus six months of home confinement.

Wait, fiftysomething years after Howl and Naked Lunch, they're still busting people for "obscenity," particularly on the internet? We had to find out just what the site could have presented that could get its owner in so much trouble...

Karen Fletcher is the owner of Red Rose Stories. She's a 56-year-old Pennsylvania woman who happens to live in the district covered by crusading US attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, a staple of the Alberto Gonzales/George W. Bush Justice Department and her website contained

stories that allegedly involved bestiality, water sports, scat, bondage and domination, S&M, slavery, threesomes, orgies and sex with children.

Note that not one of Fletcher's pages featured photos of any kind, nor did the site explicitly encourage real-life encounters with children. After her arrest, Fletcher quipped that, to her, it seemed "the only legal sex stories are those that involve a man and a woman consenting to missionary position sex in a dark room.”

Buchanan "has gone on a rampage trying to stamp out expression that doesn't meet her standards of morality," Marc John Randazza, a law professor at the Barry University School of Law in Orlando, wrote on his blog.
Randazza, who teaches about free speech rights and other legal issues, acknowledges that the content of Red Rose Stories was shocking, but he suggested the U.S. Constitution protects fictional stories. "If you believe in the Constitution, and you believe in what this country means, you can NOT believe that any American should ever face prison for writing fiction -- no matter what the subject matter of that fiction might be," he wrote in a blog post.

What do you think? Was Fletcher a fool for writing about child sex and enjoying it?

Via Anarchist Librarians and PC World.

This Week In Gayness: Post-Coming Out

Brian Fairbanks — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:27:00 GMT

The Tampa Tribune kinda called John McCain out on that phony "states rights" cover story.

Following a mere procedural vote in each chamber of government and the signature of Governor Patrick, Massachusetts will soon allow out-of-state gays to be married there.

Is Katy Perry a friend... or foe... of the gays?

It's funny, "I kissed a girl" is pro experimentation.

Yet, "You're so gay" is offensive. I get it, it is supposed to be funny and aimed probably at a homophobic boyfriend, but it's still using "gay" as a derogatory term without thought to it's more general impact. I think it's more careless, than intentionally hurtful.

Join the discussion here, a discussion in which at least most parties agree she is a talentless hack.

We're already boycotting the Paris Hilton on principle alone, so why not snub the Manchester Hyatt?

Boycotts are older than the nation itself, but during the past decade, they've become the weapon of choice for conservative Christians engaged in the nation's raging culture wars.

They've used the boycott to try to inflict economic damage against corporate giants that they believe are becoming too cozy with the gay and lesbian community, including Ford, Disney and McDonald's.
Now gay rights groups and their union allies are trying to turn the tables by targeting the Manchester Grand Hyatt and the Grand Del Mar because the hotels' owner, Doug Manchester, gave $125,000 to Proposition 8, a November ballot measure that would ban same-sex marriage in California.

A new report reveal the Justice Department, under Bush lackey Alberto Gonzales, discriminated against gays and especially Democrats.

A Pennyslvania judge struck down a new hate crimes bill.

Headline of the week: Principal Comes Out To His Students And His Bosses Are Fine With It

About.com features a story about overcoming the post-coming-out blues.

Previously:

This Week In Gayness: My Boyfriend Won't Put Out

This Week In Gayness: Lesbians Pick The Sexiest Woman Over 50

This Week in Gayness: McDonald's Makes Jesus Cry?

This Week in Gayness: Virginia Accidentally Marries Gay Men

Women Host Sex Party With Six Teenage Boys

Brian Fairbanks — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:33:00 GMT

We didn't get to Friday's big orgy story, mainly because we were totally weirded out by it and needed some time to let it all sink in.

Back in April, two women in Bucks County, PA hosted a sleepover involving a half-dozen local 14- and 15-year-old boys, an incident which only just came to light in the past few days. The arrest of the dangerous duo on a variety of the usual charges (unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors, etc.) leaves us with several dangling questions...

Angela Honeycutt, 38, and Lynne Long, 45, both of Bucks County, Pa., are accused of a series of allegedly sexual incidents April 14 as the teens, ages 14 to 16, attended a sleepover at Long's Lower Makefield home.

Honeycutt, a mother of two young children, is accused of having sex with a 14-year-old and performed sex acts with a 15-year-old, CBS3.com reported. [Fox News]

1) Why were the boys there in the first place? You need six boys to babysit your kids or something? Seems to us that Long is less innocent than she seems in the molestations carried out by Honeycutt. (Honeycutt is accused of having sex with one boy, going down on another, letting yet another finger her, and of flashing all the boys at once, among other crimes. Honeycutt, by the way, did not live with Long and is an unexplained presence in the house that night.)

2) How did this stay quiet for so long? While we, no matter how traumatized by these events, could never tell our parents of our involvement in it, apparently one of these teenage boys has a more open relationship with his folks. The question isn't about telling them-- rather, how was it kept quiet for so long? High school is full of bragging, rumor, and just general nastiness-- you would think someone of authority would've found out within two months. Maybe kids are getting better at keeping their ranks tight-- or, as we fear the most, they were so disturbed by what happened that they couldn't tell a soul. Until they did...

3) What the hell was Angela Honeycutt doing there? (And no, "Angela Honeycutt" is not the name of any porn star we could find.) It was Lynne Long's house, after all, and Long had nothing to do with what happened beyond watching and telling the kids to keep mum. Was this some sick setup/conspiracy engineered by the women together to host a wild orgy?

We may never know... and so we move on...

Gov. Declares Emergency: Man Stuck To A Port-A-Potty

Brian Fairbanks — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:01:00 GMT

A thirty-one-year-old man, who luckily has not been named in AP reports and has therefore escaped eternal shame, had to be pried from a Port-A-Potty this week by an entire Pennsylvania rescue crew.

Of course, there's more:

Police say the man had been drinking and had taken off his clothes. Somehow, he immersed himself in the holding tank.
Deputy fire commissioner Chris Miller told WPMT-TV, "I've been on the job in one form or fashion for 21 years, and this is the first port-a-potty rescue I've ever had."

We're not sure, but rumor has it that he was at a Hannah Montana show, where the sight of a Miley Cyrus backless photo sent him into a fit of sexual mania. Okay, we made that up, but we're really not sure why this guy was gluing himself to Port-A-Potty while drunk and naked. In an unrelated story, the woman glued to her Kansas toilet seat for two years proposed marriage via carrier pigeon.

Talk about adding insult to injury. After freeing the poor boozer, they charged him with public drunkenness and violating the health code (for the nudie part, of course.)

Via the AP.

Previously: Woman Takes Two Year Dump, Does Not Get Dumped.

Hillary and Barack: Now What The Hell Do We Do?

Brian Fairbanks — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:00:00 GMT

You went from being up by 25% to winning by a Felliniesque 8.5% and you're telling us you can still win this?

Well, we in the media will play your game, then, since without the Democratic contest going all the way to August, we are totally devoid of ideas for news stories...

A look at the headlines this morning, which span the spectrum from the tabloid-batshit-crazy-desperate-to-keep-it-going to the scientific types who did their homework and find themselves shouted down.

To Clinton, big rebound proves "Yes, She Can" - USA Today

Hillary Raises $2.5 Million And Counting - MyDD

Clinton wins primary, keeping bid alive - International Herald Tribune

Elizabeth Edwards to campaign with Hillary in North Carolina - Fark, via Daily Kos

Students suspended for skipping school to meet Obama. - Yahoo!

Obama Camp: Clinton "just lost her last, best chance" - CNN

Obama shifting foucs from Clinton to McCain - New York Times

Times regretting Hillary endorsement - Gawker, via NYT

"Virtually impossible" for Clinton to win more delegates - Huffington Post

The real winner? John McCain - Time

We'd like to ask the Clinton supporters or anyone, really, if Pennyslvania means Clinton could still win this. What do you think?

Photo: New York Magazine

Is Obama Losing His Cool?

Brian Fairbanks — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:24:00 GMT

We never thought we'd say this, but The New Republic nails it on the head about Obama's controversial and dumb-as-rocks San Francisco speech.

As a reminder, here's what his raised such a fuss:

And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

What do you think of New Republic blogger Johnathan Chait's response:

But on their face they're not wrong, they simply make no sense at all. I can see how anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment is a way to explain your frustrations. But guns?
Obviously, people have not turned to religion or guns as a response to economic frustration.
I think he was trying, in extremely jumbled shorthand, to make a point about a politics that revolves around cultural division. Now, the incoherent wording of his remarks is an opportunity for his opponents to fill in their own meaning.

Whatever Obama's point was supposed to be, it was lost to most of the masses. And more importantly, to the state of Pennsylvania. One new poll shows a slight dip for the Illinois Senator in next Tuesday's matchup, while another shows it still locked at Hillary by 6. (However, some observers speculate his TV-ad saturation is what's causing the backlash in the state.)

Unless one candidate delivers a knockout blow next week, look for Hillary to carry on doing an excellent job of finding weak spots in her opponent's candidacy. In this case, she found out what we've known all along: Obama should stick to his script.

Read the rest of the New Republic blog entry here.

Heidi Montag Endorses McCain; Alarmed GOPers Head For the Hills

Brian Fairbanks — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:45:00 GMT

After she endorsed, Spencer Pratt reportedly said, "Nobody cares who Heidi Montag is going to vote for." But could she actually swing the youth vote away from Obama? After all, the Obama-McCain election is going to come down to a handful of votes.

Okay, we're kidding. She ain't gonna do shit. And besides, we have more important things to discuss...

Obama has narrowed Clinton's 26 point lead in Pennsylvania to a mere five points in just three weeks. Some polls have shown Obama with a stastical lead, which we find very difficult to believe since we expect Clinton to win PA no matter what. (And yet other polls shows him still about 10-12 points behind, which is at least progress for the Illinois Senator.) Meanwhile, Slate has set up a Deathwatch on the Clinton campaign, which gives her a statistical 9-percent chance of winning. Ouch.

However, the news isn't all apocalypse for Hill. According to Political Wire, the Senator Who Moved to New York fares better against Grandpa Moses in three major swing states:

Florida: Clinton 44, McCain 42; McCain 46, Obama 37
Ohio: Clinton 48, McCain 39; Obama 43, McCain 42
Pennsylvania: Clinton 48, McCain 40; Obama 43, McCain 39

In other news, retiring Republican Senator Chuck Hagel is dangling an endorsement over Obama's head, for which Obama will probably consider him for the Vice Presidency. While we think this would be a great way for the Democrats to neutralize McCain, the chances of Hagel running against a friend from his own party are extremely slim.

Image via Gawker. Why do her boobs look so much bigger in the above picture?

Live From New York, It's... Hillary Clinton!

Brian Fairbanks — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 05:01:00 GMT

Hillary Clinton is #1 today, at least on YouTube. With the early Nicholson-sponsored video and now this, her surprise (yet still somehow expected) appearance on Saturday Night Live, the Senator from New York is stealing the spotlight from Barack Obama just as he was beginning to pull away.

Hillary disappeared from the campaign trail over the weekend, leaving some reporters confused and without any material for today's attack pieces on her. She ended up with mostly positive reviews, although it seems unlikely that even this will offset losing a day of campaigning in Texas. Here are some comments from the Washington Post's blog:

It was a brilliant idea given the circumstances - it showed grace under pressure. It could nudge young undecided voters towards Clinton.

An excellent consolation prize for her eventually losing the nomination.

The SNL skit was degrading. Obama was made to look like an idiot, and an ugly one at that. The way they emphasized the racial aspect by exaggerating his features to me was a very uncomfortable race-baiting tactic. I absolutely was revolted by the whole thing.

I don't think it will nudge any young undecideds in one direction or another. Mostly because nobody watches SNL anymore.

Senator Clinton is definitely on the comeback trail. I think she'll win in Ohio and win or come close enough in Texas to give her strength to move on to Pennsylvania. Dems should not disenfranchise Pennsylvania along with Florida and Michigan!!!

What say you? Everyone jump into the comments section...

[Photo: KATU TV]

Hot Teacher Busted For Hosting Sex & Drugs Party

Brian Fairbanks — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:11:00 GMT

Hot Teacher Abbiejane Swogger of Harrison, PA, is the thirty-four-year-old ex-stripper who was busted after cops raided her student-filled hotel room. They found condoms, crack cocaine (woah, Pennsylvania is right up there with Jersey, yo!), Mary Jane reefers, beer cans, and God knows what else.

But it's her explanation for why she was up late in a hotel room with teenage boys that is the real standout.

Ms. Swogger says she rented a hotel room to socialize and drink beer with adult acquaintances, but teenage friends of her son showed up and refused to leave. She maintained yesterday that she knew nothing about drugs in the room and did not give the teens any beer.

They refused to leave-- why does that explanation ring so hilariously false? "No, we're here to bone you, but if we can't bone you, we're going to leave condom wrappers behind and not tell you where and then call the cops... before we escape."

Indulge us in two more great lines from the article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Ms. Swogger also said she did not have sex with any of the young people present. They may have had sex with one another, she said, but did so "discreetly."

Ms. Swogger-- probably not her stripper name, methinks-- who is a poorly paid teacher's aide in the area's school district, reminds us of our high school music teacher, who held drug and alcohol fueled parties at his house once in a while and who we once walked in on watching gay porn with most of our friends. Whoops!

[Photo: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

[For more: Fox News and the Post-Gazette]

Prediction: Tonight Will Seal Obama's Victory

Brian Fairbanks — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:30:00 GMT

The media is already starting to talk Obama vs. McCain, which basically means they've turned their backs on any possibility of a come-from-behind victory by Hillary Clinton on March 4th.

Tonight's debate in Austin, TX, which is closed to the public, is where Barack Obama will lock up the nomination... or fall apart under some withering, Clinton-style attacks. So Hillary hopes. As long as Obama escapes unscathed, he should be unstoppable in the upcoming contests.

Note that while Clinton can still win the nomination, it is basically impossible, given the delegate count and the way the numbers should play out. Clinton would have to win Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania by ginormous margins to remain viable; however, she has almost zero chance of winning any of them that way. She'll be lucky to come out on top in Texas, where the score is believed tied. Texas is a caucus state and Obama has won almost all of those contests. Ohio should be prime Clinton turf, but no one will be surprised by an Obama win. And while she may win Penn., she's not going to be able to catch up on that victory alone.

Should Obama win 2 or 3 of these prizes by large margins, look for Billary to throw in the towel in the interest of preserving the Democratic Party. As it is, McCain is already stealing the spotlight without even trying...

[Photo by Matthew C Wright, thanks to Andrew for the link.]