1.) Gaddafi: homeless or domeless? — Where’s Moammar? There seem to be as many theories as there are spellings of his name. Whatever the case, he’s finally outta there. The Associated Press reports: “Tanks opened fire at rebels trying to storm Moammar Gadhafi’s main compound in Tripoli on Monday, although the whereabouts of the longtime Libyan leader remained unknown a day after a lightning advance by opposition fighters who poured into [the] Tripoli capital with surprising ease. The international community meanwhile called on the longtime leader to step down as euphoric residents celebrated in the Green Square, the symbolic heart of the Gadhafi regime. Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Rahman, who was in Tripoli, cautioned that pockets of resistance remained Gadhafi loyalists and that as long as Gadhafi remains on the run the ‘danger is still there…’ ‘It’s over, frizz-head,’ chanted hundreds of jubilant men and women massed in Green Square late Sunday, using a mocking nickname of the curly-haired Gadhafi.” Whatever you think about U.S. involvement in this whole thing, and however likely it is that one tyrant will just be replaced with another, it’s good to see this miserable [CENSORED] finally taken down after all these decades. And hey, it’ll give Obama a bump in the polls for a few days, until everybody realizes the economy is still screwed.
2.) The wheels on the bus go nowhere fast — Speaking of the economy, with the election coming up in just 14 excruciating months, you’d think things would be looking good for the people who lease those sweet, sweet campaign buses. Not so much, according to TheDC’s Alex Pappas: “President Obama took off on a road trip across the Midwest last week in a brand new government-owned bus to talk with ordinary people about getting the economy going again. But Johnny Williams, an Alabama businessman who makes a living by leasing these kinds of buses to political figures, said the Obama tour was just a painful reminder of how the government is doing things that could hurt his business. That’s because this is the first presidential election where the incumbent president and the eventual Republican nominee will have the option of using a Secret Service-owned bus for campaign tours instead of leasing one from someone like Williams. Earlier this year, the Secret Service, citing security concerns, purchased two buses of their own for this purpose. ‘The government went into competition with me,’ Williams lamented to The Daily Caller. ‘Something is not right, or fair about this.’ Williams, whose company John L. Productions has leased buses to presidential campaigns since 1988, fears he could now lose business over it. ‘This eliminates the need for my services,’ he said, ‘thus killing off another small business owner.'” Well, he probably had more money than he needed anyway. He can always go on food stamps, because that stimulates the economy and stuff.
3.) If you’re reading this, Maxine Waters probably doesn’t like you — Sometimes it seems like maybe the Democrats aren’t really serious about the New Civility. Like perhaps they’ve forgotten all about the New Tone. TheDC’s Jeff Poor reports: “On Saturday in Inglewood, Calif., Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters had some harsh words for the tea party. ‘I’m not afraid of anybody,’ the California congresswoman told constituents in footage that appeared on ABC affiliate KABC in Los Angeles, not backing down from comments made about President Obama earlier in the week. ‘This is a tough game. You can’t be intimidated. You can’t be frightened. And as far as I’m concerned — the tea party can go straight to hell.” Several retorts of an anatomically strenuous nature come to mind, but TheDC Morning is Rated PG. Waters is appealing to her base — and that’s the only way she’s appealing — after alienating them last week by daring to criticize The Greatest President in History. And it’s not as if lashing out like this is going to get her voted out. The only downside to blurting out something so stupidly belligerent is that it makes the Democrats look like astonishing hypocrites. Well, what else is new? BTW, the House Ethics Committee investigation into Waters is ongoing. She hasn’t told them to go to hell yet, but we can only hope.
4.) Milk, milk, lemonade; turn the corner, Capitol Police raid — What happens when you stage a protest against the cops shutting down lemonade stands all over the place? You guessed it! TheDC’s C.J. Ciaramella reports: “They set out to sell ice-cold lemonade, but now three Washington, D.C. protesters might need some legal aid. Capitol Police arrested three people Saturday afternoon for selling lemonade on the West Lawn of the Capitol Building. They were participating in ‘Lemonade Freedom Day’ — a national demonstration against a spate of recent lemonade stand shutdowns by police and health inspectors. According to the D.C. group’s Facebook event page, three lemonistas — Meg Mclain, K.n. Dill and Will Duffield — were taken into custody by Capitol Police. A spokesperson for the Capitol Police said they were each charged with failure to obey a police officer, unlawful conduct and vending without a permit… Forbes counted at least nine recent examples of children’s lemonade stands being shut down for not having permits.” The arrest was probably justified since it was on Capitol grounds, but at least they’re bringing attention to this ridiculous meddling by law enforcement. You know, the people who are supposed to be stopping actual crimes. The ATF can sell guns to drug dealers, but a little kid can’t sell lemonade on her own front lawn? What’s next, busting sandlot baseball games? Crashing school bake sales? Maybe they can rough up some Girl Scouts for pushing addictive substances. Those Thin Mints are like crack, aren’t they?
5.) Iron Lady: lead balloon — If you were expecting the upcoming biopic about Margaret Thatcher to be a sober, fair-minded look at her life, it’s cool that you get Internet service there on Bizarro World. TheDC’s Alec Jacobs reports: “Friends of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher are reportedly disgusted with the portrayal of the conservative icon in the upcoming biopic, ‘The Iron Lady,’ starring Meryl Streep. The Daily Mail reports friends of Thatcher were invited to a private screening, and were appalled by the portrayal, calling it ‘insulting’ and ‘insufferable.’ One said, ‘I didn’t come here to see a film about granny going mad.’ Apparently, Thatcher’s character in the film hallucinates constantly, imagining her deceased husband is still alive. The audience at the screening was most upset that the film takes such liberties with her health. Thatcher has suffered a series of strokes and has been unable to make public appearances, even skipping the unveiling of a Ronald Reagan statue in London… The film also contains inaccuracies about Thatcher’s marriage, showing an at-first-affectionate relationship with her husband, Sir Denis, devolving into one of resentment.” Hey, if Thatcher didn’t want Hollywood lying about her, she shouldn’t have taken so many political stances they didn’t like. Well, Britain is definitely better off since she left office. Right, London?
6.) Today’s words of wisdom from Alec Baldwin’s Twitter feed — “I shall get a dog. And I shall name it….. Governor Rick Perry.” Which will just confuse the pooch, Alec, when you have to change its name in 2013.
VIDEO: Maxine Waters tells teabaggers to go to Congress, er, Hell
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