Yet another presidential candidate with a God complex. Hat tip: Dean Esmay.

The estate of http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4788993/16773682.html">burglar, would-be rapist and would-be murderer Dustin Wehde is suing Wehde’s intended victim, Tracey Roberts, for wrongful death over what seems to be a clear-cut case of self-defense. The ACLU NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund has stepped up to the plate and given Ms. Roberts some much-needed assistance. More will likely be necessary, as an idiot judge recently refused to dismiss this frivolous case on demurrer.

If it wasn’t bad enough having to defend herself in court against the estate of the would-be rapist/murderer who attacked her two years ago, Ms. Roberts has lost their dog, as well, which was recently poisoned by some local sicko who may or may not be connected with this case. May this scumbag meet with a fate similar to Wehde’s, sooner rather than later.

Link via Uncle, who will soon be Uncle Dad.

Via Drudge comes news that Al Franken physically assaulted a protestor and slammed his body to the ground for heckling Howard Dean. Franken non-explained his criminal act thusly:

I’m neutral in this race but I’m for freedom of speech, which means people should be able to assemble and speak without being shouted down.

I guess that means freedom of speech for the scheduled speaker, but not for anyone else in attendance. O-kay. Without invoking his right to an attorney, Franken further non-explained that his crime was not an endorsement of Howard Dean per se:

I would have done it if he was a Dean supporter at a Kerry rally.

Good to know that he’s an equal-opportunity thug.

UPDATE: This account paints a very picture, with Franken serving as a bouncer in a rented auditorium. One of these two accounts must be wrong.

Free Mumia! End the death penalty now!

For the record, I do not believe this is a fair characterization of Patterico’s position on the death penalty. I do believe, however, that it is a fair characterization of where his logic ultimately leads. This paragraph sums his position pretty well:

And thus we come to our second point: if it is ever proven, with rock-solid evidence, that an innocent person has been put to death, that will be the beginning of the end of the death penalty in this country. Poll numbers already suggest that the public has concerns about innocents being wrongfully convicted. Common sense says that, if a concrete example of an executed innocent came to light and were widely publicized, the polls would swing wildly against the death penalty. It would take time, but such an example would (in my opinion) mark the beginning of the end of executions in this country.

I think he’s looking at the problem backwards. In my view, once we concede that the death penalty – or anything else – has to function 100% perfectly, 100% of the time, the game is over. No policy can withstand such an exacting standard.

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Anyone who’s outraged by Wilmette, IL Police Chief George Carpenter’s jihad against Hale DeMar (the innocent Wilmette homeowner who is being prosecuted for…. well, residing in Wilmette), should tell the Chicago Tribune what they think. You won’t convince anyone on their staff, of course, but you may get the letter printed. Anything that reminds Chicago residents of the bad publicity they’re getting has to be good for something. I just sent them a letter myself, which I’ve reproduced below.

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Check out Alphecca’s weekly check on media bias and guns. It also has a nice round-up on some of thigns other pro-gun bloggers have posted of late. And no, I’m not just saying that because he was kind enough to include me among them. Well, partly, maybe.

In the wake of his resignation, much hay has been made of the fact that David Kay says he does not believe Saddam Hussein had WMD at the time of the war. Until recently, however, relatively little attention has been given to the fact that Kay thinks this is because Saddam hid them in Syria, instead, not because he didn’t have them to begin with.

The article further notes that many of the foreigners involved in terrorist attacks against the U.S. and its allies (in most cases, innocent Iraqis) are believed to have entered the country through Syria. An unnamed Syrian official denied this charge,

These allegations have been raised many times in the past by Israeli officials, which proves that they are false.

I’m half-tempted to suggest that from now on, Israeli officials should publicly tell the world the opposite of what they really think, e.g.

The Mossad has determined that, contrary to popular opinon, Syria is a vibrant democracy. Its ruling Ba’ath Party poses no threat whatsoever to stability in the Middle East, any more than it did in that friendly, peaceful country we call Iraq. And they sure as hell don’t have any weapons of mass destruction, no sirree. More specifically, they really, really, really don’t have any of the ones their buddy Saddam Hussein never had in the first place.

Tempting though it is, this strategy would surely fail. What we’d end up with is something more like the following exchange from Life of Brian:

Brian: I’m not the Messiah! Will you please listen? I am not the Messiah, do you understand?! Honestly!
Girl: Only the true Messiah denies His divinity.
Brian: What?! Well, what sort of chance does that give me? All right! I am the Messiah!
Followers: He is! He is the Messiah!

1and1′s insane free three year program expired last week. For those who missed it, what can I say? You snost, you lost. However, at $5/month, their current 1&1 Home Package is not half bad. Neither is ICDSoft’s, which I use. ICDSoft charges the same amount per month, for slightly less storage space and no shell access, but their tech support is much better. Either way, it’s a bargain. This means that while the move to Movable Type is no longer free, it’s still cheap, and the software and move are free. Post a comment if you’re interested.

UPDATE: After taking a closer look, I see that SSH shell access is not included with the $5.00 package from 1and1, even though it is included with the $0.00 package that expired last week. Also, a commenter believes that the $5.00 version of the 1and1 account will not support the scripts needed to run MT. I’m not convinced that this is correct, but I haven’t tried it out yet, either.

Here’s an idea for his oppponents. Run a commercial highlighting his recent statement that Iraqis would be better off with Saddam Hussein still in power, followed by footage of his infamous “I Have a Scream” speech. Then end the commercial with his recent rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, complete with a review from Simon Cowell.

Mrs. Xrlq urges me not to quit my day job.

This puppy is available for immediate adoption. Free delivery anywhere in Southern California. Depending on your schedule, we could also arrange a delivery to the Northern California, Arizona or the Las Vegas area. This two month old pup is an extremely sweet staffy bull (?) mix. There’s only one problem, she’s blind. Blind dogs will learn their way around the house, back yard, etc., so they do make good pets, if not good guard dogs. That’s OK, bully breeds make lousy guard dogs anyway. Post a comment if you’re interested or know anyone who might be.

UPDATE: We’ve given her a name: Hope. Of course anyone who takes her can rename her if they like; however, our experience is that most people don’t. Our Molly was named Molly before we got her, and Daisy, whom we adopted out twice, kept her name both times. Hope seems particularly appropriate under the circumstances.

UPDATE: To Patterico and everyone else who thinks it’s OK to subject dogs to copies of the Los Angeles Times, I will concede that it probably is safe to use on blind dogs. So if you’ve been itching for the opportunity to use the Dog Trainer to actually train a dog, Hope is definitely the dog for you.

FINAL UPDATE (3/1/04): Hope has been adopted. Thanks to all who helped get the word out.