thump and whip

February 17, 2010

Neurobioligist / shooter Bishop punches IHOP customers

Previously: “U of A-Huntsville shooter Amy Bishop has a long history of violence when faced with conflict”

In March, 2002, Bishop walked into an International House of Pancakes in Peabody with her family, asked for a booster seat for one of her children, and learned the last seat had gone to another mother.

Bishop, according to a police report, strode over to the other woman, demanded the seat and launched into a profanity-laced rant.

When the woman would not give the seat up, Bishop punched her in the head, all the while yelling “I am Dr. Amy Bishop.”

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February 15, 2010

U of A-Huntsville shooter Amy Bishop has a long history of violence when faced with conflict

The authorities really screwed this one up:

amy bishop. . Amy Bishop, a mother of four and a Harvard-educated neurobiologist who had been denied tenure, is accused of shooting six people at a faculty meeting Friday in a rare workplace shooting by a woman.

She was charged with one count of capital murder, Huntsville Police Sgt. Mark Roberts said. “There will be additional charges,” he said…

The tragedy took an even eerier turn Saturday when it was reported that Bishop had shot and killed her teenage brother, Seth Bishop, in 1986 in Braintree, Mass. And late Sunday, The Boston Globe reported that Bishop was a suspect in the attempted mail bombing of a Harvard Medical School professor, Paul Rosenberg, in 1993. No one was charged in the incident.


So, would you have charged her in the brother’s killing if you knew she tried to commandeer a car and flee?

Quincy man recalls Amy Bishop holdup
‘For the last 23 years, it was just a cool story I could tell.’
Monday, February 15, 2010 – Updated 41m ago

A former auto-body worker claims Amy Bishop put a gun to his chest and demanded a getaway car just minutes after she shot her brother to death 24 years ago in a controversial case that is now being reviewed…

[Tom] Pettigrew said he heard noise coming from where car keys are stored, so he went to investigate.

“I go over to the door and I can sense that she’s right near the door,” Pettigrew said. “I’m thinking it’s a BB gun. I open the door and she’s right there and we basically bumped into each other and I got a shotgun right in my chest!”

“And she’s like, ‘Hands up!’ and I’m like, ‘Yes ma’am’ ”

Bishop appeared agitated and nervous, Pettigrew said. The University of Alabama professor now accused of killing three colleagues Friday said she needed a car because, “I got into a fight with my husband and he’s going to kill me,” the worker recalled.

Pettigrew then watched as Bishop walked through the dealership looking at cars, all the while grasping the gun.


. . or charged the brother-killer with attempted murder when a professor of hers got pipe bombs in the mail?

Alleged Ala. killer was suspect in attempted bombing of Harvard professor

The professor who is accused of killing three colleagues at the University of Alabama on Friday was a suspect in the attempted mail bombing of a Harvard Medical School professor in 1993, a law enforcement official said today.

Amy Bishop and her husband, James Anderson, were questioned after a package containing two bombs was sent to the Newton home of Dr. Paul Rosenberg, a professor and doctor at Boston’s Children’s Hospital.

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January 9, 2010

Self-help guru James Arthur Ray got his steroids from an anti-aging website called “All Things Male”

As I blogged earlier, Ray is a pill and steroid junkie apparently obsessed with keeping up appearances for profit. Testosterone Cypionate, HCG, HGH, Arimidex, Finasteride, Anastrozole, Pregnenolone, Diovan, Genotropin, what a mess.

Turns out his ‘doctor’, his intimate friend who’d presumably be forced to detail the demi-god’s gripping battle with endemic shriveling gonads and male boobies only at the threat of death, is just an osteopath with a profitable website:

crisler site

And now, like me, you get to look at that symbol on the left of the “All Things Male” banner and burst out laughing. 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . (I haven’t named my nuts ‘Yin’ and ‘Yang’, but I imagine they, too, are comically unalike.)

This was Crisler’s letter, in Ray’s keeping in his accommodations in Sedona, that investigators found and photographed:

crisler px

Typos and all, it reads:

To Whom It May Concern:

Mr. James Arthur ray, DOB [XXXXX], is currently a patient under my care. As part of his treatment therapy, he has been prescribed the following medications:

Testosterone Cypionate
HCG
HGH
Arimidex
Finasteride

He also uses several OTC products, and must carry the syringes necessary for the administration for the above medications.

Qualified individuals with additional questions are free to call me.

Regards,

GIANT SIGNATURE

John Crisler, DO

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January 5, 2010

Self-help guru James Arthur Ray sold self-reliance to millions with an image created by multiple steroids and mountains of pills

The embattled self-help millionaire, under intense scrutiny for conducting a brutal sweat lodge at his ‘Spiritual Warrior’ retreat in Arizona that killed three and sickened dozens, wasn’t as self-reliant as he appeared to be.

Though projecting a physical image of youthful health and vigor, he apparently maintained that image through the use of injecting steroids and popping hundreds or thousands of pills.

Yavapai County investigators have revealed a veritable pharmacy of syringes, drugs and supplements in Ray’s possession at the time of the tragedy.

Police found pills inside Sedona sweat lodge leader’s suitcase
Posted: Jan 4, 2010 06:49 AM
Posted by: Dan Spindle

We have new information on the man who was in charge of a sweat lodge ceremony that led to the deaths of three people in Sedona. James Arthur Ray may have been using more than just “positive thinking” to maintain his youthful appearance..

james ray drugs

Police photos reveal a large number of dietary supplements, prescription drugs and anabolic steroids in Ray’s suitcase. Police also found human growth hormones. Doctors say the drugs can be very dangerous.

“It’s fairly well documented that testosterone alone can some how impair or alter your decision-making processes. He was injecting a testosterone form that lasts for a very long time in the body that could certainly contribute to steroid-induced behavior,” said Dr. David Kroll…


In a post detailing what investigators had found related to their investigation and to search warrants, prescottnews.com listed these drugs and supplements. I’ve provided links to a number of the most powerful drugs there, many of them steroid hormones, so that you can read for yourself what he was carrying around. Testosterone, HGH and hCG are a dead giveaway for chemical image enhancement–anti-aging effects, low fat and lean muscle. A number of the others are for long-term effects of steroid usage: testicular shrinkage and testosterone debt. Then you and your doctor can just claim you have natural testosterone and estrogen problems, and the cycle never ends.

In a letter from John Crisler, DO, PLLC he said he had prescribed the following medications to Ray:

* Testosterone Cypionate
* HCG
* HGH
* Arimidex
* Finasteride

Photos of other prescription bottles show the following:

* Anastrozole
* Pregnenolone (prescribed by Dr. Rothenberg)
* Propecia (Dr. Burger, Dr. Marc Dauer)
* Thyroid Armour
* Diovan
* Genotropin (Dr. Berger)
* Methylcobalamin
[B12]

james ray drugs2

And he also had over-the-counter medications and supplements, including but not limited to:

* Barlean’s Greens
* IsAGenix
* Fish Oil
* Corvalen (medical food, said to improve cardiac function and restore energy and chronic fatigue)
* ChlorOxygen
* Lean N’ Fit
* Ginko Biloba
* Athletic Dominance Power N = Speed
* Carb Watchers Lean Body
* Farmacy Pro Power
* Super Lysine
* TerrainZyme
* Vitamin C
* Protein Bars

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December 13, 2009

‘Heavyweight’ Missouri Republican Rod Jetton beats the crap out of his date, then kisses her and says “You should have said Green Balloons.”

Former Missouri Speaker of the House Rod Jetton, recently divorced, apparently met a woman from Sikeston, Missouri, and arranged to spend an evening with her. Among other things, he may have discussed over the phone the sort of sex he was into and the usage of something like a safe word during the date, the ‘word’ “Green Balloons.” Pre-date stuff.

Well, she ended up having a bad night. And even though she barely remembers what happened, she actually got him arrested. Even though she never once said “Green Balloons.”

Jetton went to the woman’s residence in Sikeston, Mo. with two bottles of wine, according to the report.

“(The woman) said she did not see him pour the wine because she did not follow him into the kitchen, but he returned to the living room and handed her a glass of wine. (The woman) remembers watching a football game and said once she finished the glass of wine, she began ‘fading’ in and out and remembered losing consciousness several times during the evening,” wrote Detective Bethany McDermott in her report.

McDermott reports that Jetton and the woman agreed on a safe word of “green balloons” to use as a stop word during intercourse.

“(The woman) recalls Jetton hitting her on the face very hard. She then remembers waking up, lying on the floor and Jetton was choking her. (The woman) said she did not know what happened with her memory because she had been drunk but had never had the blank spots in her memory,” McDermott reported.

“(The woman) said Jetton stayed the night with her and when he woke up he gave her a kiss and said, ‘You should have said green balloons.’ Jetton left the woman’s residence and had not returned,” McDermott added.

You gotta be kidding me. All you have to do is say “Green Balloons!” How hard could it be? “Green Balloons”, a perfectly good safe word. Coupla words. Well, phrase.

Actually, a ’safe word’ should probably be a word. Maybe “Green.” Not a great choice, but at least it’s a word. “Balloons” too, also a word. Come to think of it, given the funky stuff that’s going on, the second and third syllables might be a tough call. With maybe your head hands upcrammed into a spiky contraption, can you even form syllables? “Gweee Bwooos.” Throw some of Rod’s Rohypnol in for good measure, and can you do better than vowels? “Aieeeeee Aaoooooooo…”

Y’know, maybe this guy knew exactly what he was doing, maybe he’s just a nasty piece of work. Me not knowing here, really, just thinking out loud, but if you’re going to get rough, blanching pain would probably be the thing. You’ve got to push your body pretty hard to get there, so the ‘word’ should probably be a short and simple one so there’s no mistake, never a risk that the damage could end up permanent. Right?

And the signal probably should dodge your ‘personal tastes’, so to speak. It matters just what your game is. If you’re into ball-gagging, the best safe word is every bit as good as a seance. If your lover, say, likes to cuff you to the headboard, he’s not going see you flip him the bird, even in stereo. Perhaps if your partner is the strangling kind, forget composing a Haiku to complain.

“Winter bark gun grey
Circl’d tin shiverrraackk…..”

And remember: some guys only like to smack you right in the mouth. I feel these people are un-date-able, but I’m not that hip any more. In the middle of an evening with someone like that, and your lips now nothing more than lopsided Dunkin’ Donuts, don’t count on freezing the action by whistling the Meow Mix song: “Hooh Hooh Hooh Hooh, Hooh Hooh Hooh Hooh…”

Come to think of it, after some Republican dirtbag you barely know tells you he wants to charmingly beat the sensible defense out of you, just forget the whole thing. And always think again when anybody tries to assign you a special ’safe word’. Like “Sisiyphus Bleats Breep”. Or “Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!”. Better pause when you hear something like this: “It’s simple, all you have to say is ‘Coonskin Synechdoche.’” Or, “Honey, I find ‘FUCK! YES! KILL!’ works.” Yeah, but only when some off-duty cops next door hear it.

saturday night with rodUnless, of course you’re REALLY into a Sikeston bruising, hey, not judging. Then you might just want to rig up some closed circuit thingie to capture all the highlights your gray matter will be too ‘Missouried’ to recall.

Like, perhaps, when the sensuous choke-play, having gotten a little too intense for you, caused you to cry out “COCKTEASE CARDINAL RICHelllloooooerrk….” Or when the tender head-slaps left you a little raw, and you tried to yell “MAIDEN MILFING MASTODONS!”, only to get edited by an overhand right, *splagow*. In the real fight game, they’d say you were ‘telegraphing’, rookie. Too bad, now there’s nothing you can say, or see or think, for a while.

Meanwhile, knowing Rod, he’s come back with his word–“SHUTHEFUCKUPBITCH!”. And now he’s crushing your windpipe like a python and trying to bounce your head off the mattress like an angry kid with one of those comical inflatable hammers. You think “Jesus Christ, my head–it’s actually squeaking. I shouldn’t have bought the Tempur-Pedic.” Aw, but the fellas in the mattress store said it would be good for you, oops. All of the circumstances have got Romantic Rod in a very negative positive-feedback loop. Sikeston Sharon, meet Death. Death, yes, Sharon, hello, goodbye.

Ugh, don’t watch. Actually don’t die. Forget Rod Jetton and his erotic brand of naked rage Republicanism. And there, those are safe words for some of you who still think romance is about getting chocolates, and late night phone calls, and clouted.

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November 24, 2009

Kentucky investigators conclude Bill Sparkman killed himself, made it look like murder so son could collect insurance

Hanged Census Worker Staged Suicide in Apparent Insurance Scam

The part-time census worker found naked, bound and hanging from a tree had staged his suicide to make it appear like murder, authorities said today.

When the body of Bill Sparkman, 51, was found near a rural Kentucky cemetery in September, he was gagged, had duct tape over his eyes and neck, his hands and feet were bound with tape, and he had “fed” scrawled on his chest.

Authorities initially investigated whether Sparkman had been a victim of anti-government sentiment, but today they said in a statement that he died during an “intentional, self-inflicted act that was staged to appear as a homicide.”

Two life insurance plans had also been taken out by Sparkman, a single father, right before the time of his death, but payment for suicide was precluded, said police…

I got it wrong. I called it ‘murder’, though I didn’t guess that I knew by whom. I couldn’t imagine how he could have died in the manner he did, with his feet found on the ground and his hands in front of him, without a second person being there. The guy who found the body thought the same thing: “The scene left Weaver without a doubt how Sparkman died. ‘He was murdered,’ he said. ‘There’s no doubt.’”

I’ve never heard of a person managing to kill themselves in a manner like that, very strange. Almost an act of sheer will. The only thing I’ve heard that’d be remotely like it is auto-erotic asphyxiation, and, with that, the victim’s bodies and brains are pre-occupied with another goal. Hopefully I’ll do some better analysis next time, I continue to live and learn.

Sparkman was apparently a troubled man who was battling cancer, and he may have just gotten too depressed. Though I doubt he could have known just how big a story his ‘killing’ would become, it still was a lurid and shocking public suicide that intended to implicate others. As a result, quite a few people ended up looking sideways at Kentucky for a couple weeks, and that wasn’t fair. Sparkman made a huge mistake ending his life that way, accusing the people of Kentucky of murder, and now that’s what we’ll remember him for. And our obliging his scam.

Btw, I can live with my Sparkman ‘murder’ gaffe over, say, Roger Hedgecock’s, who guessed he was killed by ‘open borders‘ and Mexican druggies, or Dan Riehl’s, who guessed he was killed because he was a child molester. Knowing Dan, he’ll say that he got it right.

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October 18, 2009

Greedy, callous self-help guru James Arthur Ray conducts “Spiritual Warrior” sweat lodge, kills three

What makes people think that they can be Indians? Just because you know what a sweat lodge is, what makes you think you know how to run one? Desperate people looking for answers give up a pile of money and then end up in the hospital, or the morgue.

When you tell people that you have great wisdom, you tell them you know exactly what you’re doing, you tell them you know what’s wrong with them and can fix them, you tell them they need to challenge themselves and break out of their former personalities, make them fast and cram them into a plastic-coated sweat lodge, people will get hurt. Time for Ray to go to jail.

Sweat Lodge Death Investigation Turns to Self-Help Guru James Arthur Ray

PRESCOTT, Ariz. (CBS/AP) Police have now turned their attention to television self-help guru James Arthur Ray in their investigation of an Arizona sweat lodge ceremony that left two dead and 19 hospitalized.

Kirby Brown

Kirby Brown

Yavapai County Sheriff Steve Waugh said Saturday that his detectives were focusing on the self-help expert and his staff as they try to determine if criminal negligence played a role in the tragic deaths at the Angel Valley Retreat Center in Sedona, Ariz., on Oct. 9…

Waugh said Ray refused to speak with authorities and has since left the state…

Ray claims to help people achieve both spiritual and financial wealth. “The real key to creating the life of your dreams is achieving true Harmonic Wealth®,” he says on his Web site, trademark included.

The self-styled success guru says people are ready for his wisdom if “You simply (and deeply) want to make more money and become more successful” and “want to double, triple, even multiply by ten the size of your business.”…

Ray and his staff constructed the temporary sweat lodge with a wood frame and covered it with layers of tarps and blankets, Waugh said. The sweat lodge — a structure commonly used by American Indian tribes to cleanse the body and prepare for hunts, ceremonies and other events — was 53 inches high at the center and about 30 inches high around the outer edges.

Between 55 and 65 people were crowded into the 415-square-foot space during a two-hour period that included various spiritual exercises led by Ray, Waugh said. Every 15 minutes, a flap was raised to allow more volcanic rocks the size of cantaloupes to be brought inside…

Joseph Bruchac, author of “The Native American Sweat Lodge: History and Legends,” called the number of participants in the lodge “appalling.”

“If you put people in a restrictive, airtight structure, you are going to use up all oxygen,” he said by phone Saturday from his home in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. “And if you’re doing a sweat, you’re going to use it up that much faster.”

American Indian sweat lodges typically hold about 12 people and are covered with blankets made of natural materials, such as cotton or wool, and the air flow isn’t restricted, he said.

“I don’t see how the person running that lodge could have been aware of the health and well-being of that many people,” he said.

The participants had fasted for 36 hours as part of a personal and spiritual quest in the wilderness, then ate a breakfast buffet Thursday morning. After various seminars, they entered the sweat lodge lightly dressed at 3 p.m.

Two hours later, a woman dialed 911 to say that two people, whom Waugh identified as 38-year old New Yorker Kirby Brown and 40-year-old James Shore of Milwaukee, did not have a pulse and weren’t breathing.


Liz Neuman: Third Person Dies In Arizona Sweat Lodge Case

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August 26, 2009

What killed Michael Jackson? Take your pick: Sycophancy, Dr. Conrad Murray, propofol, lorazepam and midazolam and Valium…

It wasn’t a heart attack, that much we know. It was drugs, or stupidity, or the unending demands of a superstar or the weaknesses of people who knew better. All of those things:

Coroner Attributes Michael Jackson’s Death to Sedative
Physician Gave Propofol to Singer As a Sleep Aid

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 24 — Michael Jackson died in his rented mansion June 25 from a deadly dose of the powerful anesthetic drug propofol, according to an affidavit unsealed Monday…

Murray said he feared that Jackson was forming an addiction to the drug, which the singer allegedly referred to as “milk,” and that he was trying to wean him off of it. So he lowered Jackson’s propofol dosage to 25 milligrams, mixing it with two other sedatives, lorazepam and midazolam, according to the report. On June 23, two days before the singer’s death, he reportedly gave Jackson lorazepam and midazolam, withholding the propofol.

Searching Murrays house

Searching Murray's house

On the day Jackson died, Murray tried to induce sleep at 1:30 a.m. with Valium; at 2 a.m. with lorazepam; and at 3 a.m. with midazolam, according to the affidavit. After Murray failed to put Jackson to sleep with additional doses over the next few hours, Jackson then demanded propofol. At 10:40 a.m., the report notes, Murray administered 25 milligrams of the drug and continued to monitor Jackson for 10 minutes, until Murray left for the restroom. Murray told investigators that he returned after no more than two minutes and noticed Jackson had stopped breathing.


Between all the drugs (Ativan is lorazepam, and Versed is midazolam), the dangerous use of propofol and the shocking amount of time Dr. Murray spent on the phone while Jackson was either dying or dead, the doctor’s goose is cooked:

Coroner’s preliminary finding: Jackson overdosed on propofol

…Murray recounted to detectives in an hour-by-hour account detailed by detective Orlando Martinez of the Los Angeles Police Department:

– At about 1:30 a.m., Murray gave Jackson 10 mg of Valium.

– At about 2 a.m., he injected Jackson with 2 mg of the anti-anxiety drug Ativan.

– At about 3 a.m., Murray then administered 2 mg of the sedative Versed.

– At about 5 a.m., he administered another 2 mg of Ativan.

– At about 7:30 a.m., Murray gave Jackson yet another 2 mg of Versed while monitoring him with a device that measured the oxygen saturation of his blood.

– At about 10:40 a.m., “after repeated demands/requests from Jackson,” Murray administered 25 mg of propofol, the document said.

“Jackson finally went to sleep and Murray stated that he remained monitoring him. After approximately 10 minutes, Murray stated he left Jackson’s side to go to the restroom and relieve himself. Murray stated he was out of the room for about two minutes maximum. Upon his return, Murray noticed that Jackson was no longer breathing,” the affidavit said.

Efforts at CPR proved fruitless, according to Murray.

Shortly after Murray said he found Jackson not breathing, Murray was on the phone with three separate callers starting at 11:18 a.m. and ending at 12:05 p.m., according to the court documents which cite the doctor’s phone records.


Michael Jackson’s doctor ’set to be charged with manslaughter’

…Dr Murray has admitted administering the powerful sedative propofol to the singer on the day he died to help him sleep.

But he claims the amount, 25 milligrams, was small and should not have been fatal.

To secure a conviction for involuntary manslaughter prosecutors will have to prove that Dr Murray acted recklessly and created a high risk of death.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1bjDWRJx9I]

He will also be asked why he didn’t tell paramedics or doctors at the UCLA hospital, where Jackson was rushed after collapsing, that he had administered propofol.

Leading US attorney Roy Black said the intensity of the two month police investigation made it inevitable that Dr Murray would be charged. He said: “I have no doubt he’s going to be indicted. Just the amount of work tells us that.”

The homicide ruling by the coroner’s office was based on forensic tests that found propofol combined with at least two other sedatives, lorazepam and midazolam, to kill Jackson.

Lee Cantrell, director of the San Diego division of the California Poison Control System, said 25 milligrams of propofol was “not a whopping amount” but in a cocktail of other sedatives may have “pushed him over the edge”.

He said: “This is horrible polypharmacy. No one will treat an insomniac like this.”

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July 21, 2009

Strange: Henry Louis Gates jr. arrested for apparently nothing

Anybody who’s spent some hours watching PBS is familiar with Gates. Don’t really know what happened, but I find it bizarre that he’s been arrested at all. It’s certainly troubling that the guy was put in custody for apparently failing the ‘attitude test.’

Harvard professor Gates arrested at Cambridge home

Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation’s pre-eminent African-American scholars, was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home by Cambridge police investigating a possible break-in. The incident raised concerns among some Harvard faculty that Gates was a victim of racial profiling.

Police arrived at Gates’s Ware Street home near Harvard Square at 12:44 p.m. to question him. Gates, director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard, had trouble unlocking his door after it became jammed.

He was booked for disorderly conduct after “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior,” according to a police report. Gates accused the investigating officer of being a racist and told him he had “no idea who he was messing with,” the report said.

Gates told the officer that he was being targeted because “I’m a black man in America.”

Friends of Gates said he was already in his home when police arrived. He showed his driver’s license and Harvard identification card, but was handcuffed and taken into police custody for several hours last Thursday, they said.

The police report said Gates was arrested after he yelled at the investigating officer repeatedly inside the residence then followed the officer outside, where Gates continued to upbraid him. “It was at that time that I informed Professor Gates that he was under arrest,” the officer wrote in the report.

Gates, 58, declined to comment today when reached by phone.


UPDATE: Charges were dropped. Here’s Gates’ lawyer’s statement:

”Professor Gates was driven to his home by a driver for a local car company. Professor Gates attempted to enter his front door, but the door was damaged. Professor Gates then entered his rear door with his key, turned off his alarm, and again attempted to open the front door. With the help of his driver they were able to force the front door open, and then the driver carried Professor Gates’ luggage into his home.

Professor Gates immediately called the Harvard Real Estate office to report the damage to his door and requested that it be repaired immediately. As he was talking to the Harvard Real Estate office on his portable phone in his house, he observed a uniformed officer on his front porch. When Professor Gates opened the door, the officer immediately asked him to step outside. Professor Gates remained inside his home and asked the officer why he was there. The officer indicated that he was responding to a 911 call about a breaking and entering in progress at this address. Professor Gates informed the officer that he lived there and was a faculty member at Harvard University. The officer then asked Professor Gates whether he could prove that he lived there and taught at Harvard. Professor Gates said that he could, and turned to walk into his kitchen, where he had left his wallet. The officer followed him. Professor Gates handed both his Harvard University identification and his valid Massachusetts driver’s license to the officer. Both include Professor Gates’ photograph, and the license includes his address.

Professor Gates then asked the police officer if he would give him his name and his badge number. He made this request several times. The officer did not produce any identification nor did he respond to Professor Gates’ request for this information. After an additional request by Professor Gates for the officer’s name and badge number, the officer then turned and left the kitchen of Professor Gates’ home without ever acknowledging who he was or if there were charges against Professor Gates. As Professor Gates followed the officer to his own front door, he was astonished to see several police officers gathered on his front porch. Professor Gates asked the officer’s colleagues for his name and badge number. As Professor Gates stepped onto his front porch, the officer who had been inside and who had examined his identification, said to him, “Thank you for accommodating my earlier request,” and then placed Professor Gates under arrest. He was handcuffed on his own front porch.

Professor Gates was taken to the Cambridge Police Station where he remained for approximately 4 hours before being released that evening. Professor Gates’ counsel has been cooperating with the Middlesex District Attorneys Office, and the City of Cambridge, and is hopeful that this matter will be resolved promptly. Professor Gates will not be making any other statements concerning this matter at this time.”

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May 17, 2009

Chairman Steele Says Pelosi 'stepped in it big time', and Then Dives Right In

Is the weekend over? Shoot, just couldn’t avoid this one.

By trying to throw Pelosi into the fire, did he just screw up again? Michael Steele would support an investigation into the Bush administration’s torturing of people? That doesn’t sound right, that can’t be what the Republicans really want.

Everywhere you go on the web, there are piles of talk about how either party could get burned by misplaying the Pelosi flare up (here, here, here, here). So he does the one thing he’s not supposed to do–nonchalant the suggestion of an all-outer on torture. Isn’t that exactly what Pelosi wants?

You’re supposed to say that if the Democrats are going to be so partisan blah blah un-patriotic blah foolish investigation, the first subpoena blah blah lying Nancy Pelosi. See? Not so hard.

RNC Chairman Steele backs investigation
into Bush-era torture

During a Sunday broadcast, RNC Chairman Michael Steele, in the midst of attacking Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for accusing the Central Intelligence Agency of lying, offered his support for an investigation of the Bush administration’s torture program.

Speaking on MSNBC’s Meet the Press, Steele asserted that Pelosi had “stepped in it big time” when she said the CIA had misled Congress in its briefings on torture techniques approved by the Bush administration.

“I think you have heard a lot of Republicans call for that,” he said. “If this is a door that the Democrats and their leaderships, they have the House and Senate and the presidency, and if they want to expose all this, then let’s put it all on the table and take a closer look at it.”

Pelosi said the CIA briefed her just once on tactics such as waterboarding, in September 2002, and then only told her that then-president George W. Bush’s advisers had concluded it was legal, but that it was not in use, and that lawmakers would be told if interrogators went ahead with the extreme methods.


UPDATE (no surprise): A spokesperson for RNC chief Michael Steele appears to be walking back Steele’s suggestion yesterday that he could support a truth commission on torture, claiming that he only wants to ensure that such a probe, if it took place, would also look at Dems…

Asked whether he backs such a commission, RNC spokesperson Gail Gitcho told me that Steele’s position was in line with other Republicans. They aren’t calling for a commission, but say that if such a probe is launched, it should also include a look at what Dems knew. Gitcho emailed me this:

“The Chairman’s point is that the Democrats are in control of the House and Senate and they have repeatedly called for an investigation of the Bush administration about the use of enhanced interrogation techniques. If they do have an investigation, Republicans believe they should also investigate what Pelosi and other Democrats knew about the interrogations and when they knew it.”

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