Quick question: when the Feds took down the "mafia' through wire taps and listening devices did your first amendment feelers prick up so strongly as they do about Islamic terrorists? It seems to me most of what has been done pales in comparison to what was done to people based solely upon the fact that there were rumors they were mobbed up, oh, and they had Italian names.

None of you seemed bothered when that occurred, and they were all American citizens, so I'm just confused.

and by the way, your explanation will probably be that labeling them "mafia" was "accurate and sticky", but that only supports whatever Bush has authorized.

What makes you think that my name doesn't end in a vowel?

And, yes, if indeed the feds used warrantless wiretaps against the mob, that would bother me (assuming that one could say that the Mafia has been taken down).

Robber Barons?

There's a reason they call them classics.

Hank, the big distinction here, one which I am confident has not escaped you, notwithstanding your righteous indignation, is that those wiretaps were placed by leave of court. I don't think that anyone here would object to the feds using authorized wiretaps obtained under due process of law. It's the suspension of this process that I, along with many others, find objectionable.

fighting joe
 

Who's incensed? I just have to set my sights low with you.

I love you, man.

Because you're not NotBobby?

The Marlboro Marine
 

You may remember seeing a picture of this kid from the Battle of Fallujah.

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2007-11/33718133.jpg

The photojournalist who took it works for the LA Times. For a long-form story of what happened to both the Marine and the photojournalist, go here.

Gattigap

The Marlboro Marine
 

It's touching, but the end is more about the photographer's own feelings than it is about the Marine.

Confessions of a California Dem
 

Four times, starting in 1992, I have stood in a voting booth* and conjured up the image of a certain President of the Board of Supervisors for the City and County of San Francisco announce in a halting voice that Supervisor Milk and Mayor Moscone were dead of gunshot wounds and that Dan White was the suspect. I have done so in order to suppress the tiny bit of vomit that reflexively rises every time I am called upon by the perpetual joint stupidity of the Democratic and Republican parties in California that results in me having no alternative than to vote for Dianne Feinstein, and thinking of her having her last unselfish and genuine human emotion is the only thing that can get me through that experience.

Thought you'd like to know.

*This is a lie. I voted absentee in 1992 and 1994 and could therefore have vomited with impunity on both those occasions.

fighting joe
 

I like it - it's handy. As soon as someone drops it you know to turn the conversation over to sports before you have to hear a recap of whatever it was Rush Limbaugh was talking about that morning.

It's like when Hank drops "Paki" and you know to stick to talking about steakhouses instead of recommending the Indian place. These little markers are what make civilized social intercourse possible.

The Marlboro Marine
 

Fair point. FWIW, here's Part 2 of 2.

Confessions of a California Dem
 

My landlord once ran against Feinstein. Talk about the lesser of two evils.

fighting joe
 

It's hard to find good "dogging" in the country club parking lot.

Confessions of a California Dem
 

This was incoherent. You need to lay off the Twinkies.