A Sweet Spot

Something to cheer us up in an otherwise gloomy week —

Alleging a plot to tamper with phones in Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office in the Hale Boggs Federal Building in downtown New Orleans, the FBI arrested four people Monday, including James O’Keefe, 25, a conservative filmmaker whose undercover videos at ACORN field offices severely damaged the advocacy group’s credibility.

Also arrested were Joseph Basel, Stan Dai and Robert Flanagan, all 24. Flanagan is the son of William Flanagan, who is the acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, the office confirmed. All four were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony.

Yeah, O’Keefe was the guy who played the pimp in the infamous ACORN sting videos. I’m getting read to go out and don’t have time to see what excuses the wingnuts are cooking up for O’Keefe et al. They should be good.

Update: Fox News is looking for “context.” Snort.

Today’s Agenda

Item One: Please visit Amygdala, and if you the means, please send Gary some support. It’s a fact that as a culture we’re still living in the Dark Ages as far as mental and mood disorders are concerned, and if you are hampered by such the world cuts you no slack. It’s why a lot of us end up, shall we say, financially challenged.

Item Two: WTF? For pro and con on the looming domestic spending freeze, see Matt Yglesias (trying to put the best face on it) and Brad DeLong (“Barack Herbert Hoover Obama?”) Robert Reich thinks it’s a huge mistake. Paul Krugman hasn’t weighed in yet, but I expect him to be shrill. [Update: Yep, pretty much.]

And may I say, I really wish I didn’t have so many ties to the community here, or I’d seriously consider relocating to another country before it’s too late. Maybe I can get everyone else to move with me.

Item Three: A couple of days ago I ran into a post written by a Buddhist on a conservative blog, and it was one of the more surreal things I’ve seen on the Web lately. I posted a comment on it in the forum on the Buddhism website, and if you feel inclined to discuss it, please go there. It’s funnier if you understand Buddhist doctrine, but even if you don’t I’m sure you can still see the weirdness.

The funniest part, to me, is that the author attributes her conversion to political conservatism to the teachings of the late Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche. The Rinpoche was many outrageous things, but conservative wasn’t one of them.