Here on the left coast, Frisco strongman Gavin Newsom, who knows more about marriage than the entire California Legislature and 60% of the electorate despite not being able/willing to keep his own together, is coming under fire from his fellow leftists for refusing to fly the flag at half mast to mourn the passing of fellow strongman Saddam Hussein’s regime. Both sides of the debate in Baghdad-By-The-Bay agree that the old regime of Baghdad-Not-By-The-Bay should have left in power, but apparently they disagree as to whether the Frisco Mayor should or should not take the Flag Code into his own hands:

But Newsom, a Democrat, rejected the request, saying the flag is to be flown at half-staff only when a prominent local figure dies or by order of the president or governor, mayor’s spokesman Peter Ragone said.

Nice to know that the mayor thinks at least some laws apply in Frisco.

Meanwhile, on the right coast, family members of Terri Schiavo deplored the removal of Terri’s feeding tube so she could starve to death as required by “law.” Of this unconscionable act of barbarism that was committed on his daughter today, Bob Schindler had this to say:

“It was odious, it was shocking, it was disgusting, and I think all Americans should be very alarmed about that.”

I agree. Completely. No, wait, I goofed. That wasn’t Bob Schindler talking, that was Michael Scumbag’s attorney, George Felos, talking about how odious, shocking and digusting it was of a few Congressment to attempt to prevent Terri Schiavo from being starved to death as required by what passes for law in Florida. My bad.

Michael Schiavo’s own comments were even more intemperate than those of his attorney, which I suppose is to be expected. Here’s what he had to say:

This is what Terri wanted. This is her wish. I know ‘cuz I was married to her for six whole years before I strangl… um, I mean, before she collapsed for no apparent reason. Just three days before that happ… I mean, terrible incident, she told me “Mikey, whatever you do, don’t let them leave me on a respirator for too long. And if I can breathe, smile, giggle, fart and react to outside stimuli but can’t talk or eat without low-tech medical assistance, be sure to have them starve me to death. I never told my parents or either of my siblings that, and you know how much I hate to write things down, so let’s just keep this our little secret, K?”

But now, the government has just trampled all over my personal life. What is this world coming to when a man can’t kill his wife in peace?

Not to be outdone, “Judge” Greer had this to say when giving Michael Schiavo permission to murder his wife, provided he agreed to do so in a slow and tortuous manner:

I have had no cogent reason why the (congressional) committee should intervene.” Greer told attorneys in a conference call Friday, adding that last-minute action by Congress does not invalidate years of court rulings. He further explained that while only “cogent” subpoenas were legally enforceable, the cogency requirement does not apply to rulings by circuit judges, nor to state Supreme Court decisions aimed at nullifying duly enacted laws they don’t like.

UPDATE: In a blog entry he aptly titles “The Inaccurate Blogosphere”, Josh Claybourn contributes a whopper of his own. After rightly taking to task a number of bloggers who got some basic facts wrong in the case, he wrongly takes a cue from Barking Moonbat Attorney and actually accuses me of “actually accusi[ing] Michael Schiavo of previously attempting to strangle Terri without any evidence whatsoever” in this very post. After being confronted with the silliness of his accusation, rather than admit to his goof and move on, he implausibly claimed it was “far from obvious” that the above quote was a parody rather than an actual quote by Michael Schiavo. Just in case any of my regular readers are as thick as Joel and Josh seem to be, allow me to clarify that no, Michael Schiavo has never, to the best of my knowledge, publicly admitted to physically attacking his wife. Nor, I might add, has he been known to publicly refer to himself as “Mikey,” use such colloquialisms as “K?” or discuss his wife’s ability to fart while allegedly in PVS. And while he may have come damned close to decrying the fact that “a man can’t kill his wife in peace,” he also hasn’t stated as much in such crass terms. Happy?

In addition to falsely accusing me of falsely accusing Michael Schiavo of attacking his wife - a factual question on which I have no firm opinion one way or the other - he also falsely accuses me of having done so “with no evidence whatsoever.” In fact, the evidence (h/t: Patterico) to support my non-accusation is there. It may be inconclusive - in fact, it is, which is part of the reason I never made the accusation Claybourn falsely accused me of making - but inconclusive is one thing, and nonexistent is another. So even if I had made the accusation Claybourn falsely accused me of making, the most he could have honestly said is that I had made that non-accusation based on questionable, flimsy or dubious evidence, not that I had made it (if in fact I had) “without any evidence whatsoever.”

“The Inaccurate Blogospere,” indeed. Blogger, heal thyself.