Sheriff Joe Arpaio Sued Over Civil Rights Violations

Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been sued by the federal government for civil rights violations, National Public Radio reports. The lawsuit was filed by the Justice Department.

They accuse Arpaio of "violating the civil rights of Latino drivers and inmates in the county jail." Among the allegations, Justice Department lawyers say the sheriff pulled over Latino drivers for no reason. They also claim he retaliated against judges and lawyers critical of him and gave no services to non-English-speaking inmates.

Flashback: Joe Arpaio Was Romney Arizona Campaign Chair In 2008

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio — whose views alienate both Hispanic and independent voters alike — is probably the last person the Romney campaign wants to be associated with. But in 2008 the Sheriff was a vocal Romney surrogate, serving a chair of his Arizona campaign and hosting a conference call for the Governor on immigration.

Arizona Ron Paul supporters boo Romney's son off stage

But as Josh Romney wrapped up, with an admonition to choose the preferred slate of Mitt Romney delegates, the crowd exploded with competing boos and cheers, cutting him short.

Some attendees said they heard Paul supporters chanting outside that Mitt Romney is "the white Obama."

State party chair Tom Morrissey begged for everyone to stay respectful.

"Maybe it's going to take getting behind somebody we weren't so excited about. ... What I want is to save this country, and we've gotta do it together. None of us gets everything we want," he said, adding, "Keep your eye on the prize: defeating Barack Obama."

Romney Silent on Gay Marriage in North Carolina Visit

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mitt Romney returned Friday to North Carolina, where voters this week overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, but he made no mention of the divisive social issue that has dominated the week's political news.

Romney, who opposes gay marriage but believes same-sex couples should be afforded some rights, including the ability to adopt children, continued his careful strategy of staying largely mute on the subject. After President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that he now supports gay marriage, the subject became a campaign issue on which the two candidates differ starkly.

I happened to come across this book about Mitt's father George Romney online. "The Romney Riddle" by Gerald O. Plas. I was looking for some context about the sort of household that Mitt grew up in to see if there would be something that pointed toward or away from the bullying behavior that Mitt the high school senior allegedly exhibited at his elite high school.

What I found was that Mitt's father George was an absolute political animal who would say anything to anyone as long as it advanced his own political career. I should be the first to point out that sons don't always embrace the politics of their father, but this is about more than just politics. It is about integrity, manipulating others, demonizing political opponents and doing anything at all to get your way. This is the man who served as the role model for young Mitt Romney.

It paints a very disturbing picture of a politician who can best be described as a dishonest bully hell-bent for political glory. here are some snips..

Romney launched a political career on shoals of evasion which he tried to represent as rocks of Gibraltar. He dodged questions on national policy or refused outright to comment on them. This disturbed his admirers, but they then became dismayed when he began to answer the questions. He seemed to change his opinion of Viet Nam from day to day or even hour from hour and then confessed he hadn't made up his own mind but had been brainwashed by the Johnson administration.

Faced with a decision to run for Governor in 1962, Romney called a news conference and announced he was going into seclusion on Friday night (February 9) to pray and to seek guidance beyond that of man. It was never revealed what advice he received during his seclusion, but he did announce himself as a candidate for governor on Saturday morning. This made good reading on the front pages of the country's newspapers, but another version of the story barely made print. Romney's son. Mitt, then 14, told reporters that his father had informed the family around the supper table on Friday night that he had made up his mind to run for Governor at 3:30 Friday morning.

One of the manifestations of Romney's religious zeal is an absolute sense of morality. Former Romney associate Charles A. Ferry describes this trait: "He has an oversimplified, horse opera sense of morality, which neatly divides the world into good guys and bad guys." "There's something in the man's makeup that gives him the knowledge that he is doing right and that those who oppose him are the apostles of the devil," says a Michigan Democrat who knows him well. Romney himself states that after making a decision, one must "believe that the decision you have made is a right one and put everything you've got into it" "Since he so readily identifies his purposes with those of God, he regards most opposition as unreasonable," says William Shannon.

"Let me be very specific on this point. I want legislation that will make it possible for any unit of either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party in Michigan to remove from office any so-called leader [i.e., state, county, district, precinct or otherwise] whose actions clearly labeled him unworthy, or unfit to hold his office." Note that the Romney injunction included office holders who had been legally elected by the citizens, Who was to decide whether a party officeholder was "unfit"? What standards were used to classify a party member as "unworthy"? Apparently Romney himself was going to decide, running the party as though it were his personal enterprise. The implications were frightening. His proposed laws would enable him to purge any Romney opposition..

Then, "forecasting" his own role in the 1964 presidential election the Governor added, "When Republicans holding responsible leadership positions put their self-interest first and conspire with the opposition against their party's position, then this weakens our Republican effort from within our own ranks, and as Emerson says, there is no weakness except from within." Romney called upon his Romneyite Republicans to purge the "Quisling betrayers and know-nothings, saying 'political suicide' is threatening the Republican Party unless it deals with its Quislings and wipes them out." Yet not two months later George said righteously, "I have never tried to purge anyone from. the Republican Party in Michigan."

Governor Romney's statements on economics have carried him to all parts of the political spectrum: ultra left, far right and down the middle. Wading through the many vague, often conflicting economic views he has expressed through the years will leave one utterly confused. There is one pattern which emerges on detailed analysis, however: Romney's economics are always directly related to the views of those who are paying his salary at the time.

It was an interesting read. For someone who grew up in Metro Detroit, I never read much about George Romney. Now I know more than I want to know. It does answer some questions about Mitt's rudderless ambition.

I drove past this scene on Mt. Elliot in Detroit and had to stop a take a picture.. click..

Juggalos gonna like that..

About a mile away North on Mt. Elliot from this club..

Tagg Romney has twin boys through surrogate

'Happy 2 announce birth of twin boys David Mitt and William Ryder. Big thanks to our surrogate. Life is a miracle,' Tagg Romney tweeted late Friday.

He added in a Facebook post that he and his wife, Jen, used a 'gestational surrogate' to carry the babies — meaning that Jen and Tagg Romney are the genetic parents, but the embryos were implanted in and carried by another woman...

Neither in vitro fertilization — which is one step in a gestational surrogacy pregnancy — nor the surrogacy itself are uncommon nowadays. But to some parts of the anti-abortion movement, they remain controversial because 'excess' fertilized embryos can be destroyed. The Catholic Church opposes IVF.

I am happy for Tagg Romney and his wife. Congrats and best wishes.. But this brings up an interesting point.. Mitt made it clear that he supported Catholic opposition to the Federal requirement for their organizations to provide birth control benefits..

Mitt Romney Attacks Obama Birth Control Proposal Despite Being Silent On Similar Law As Governor

Romney attacked Obama's initial proposal, which would have required Catholic-affiliated employers to pay for a service that violates the church's teachings.

"This kind of assault on religion will end if I'm president of the United States," Romney said, calling it "a real blow ... to our friends in the Catholic faith."

SO then what would Mitt and Ann say about the fact that the same Catholic organizations that they support for their opposition to mandated birth control benefits would oppose having to pay for in vitro fertilzation just as vehemently.

Teacher who was fired after fertility treatments sues diocese

A teacher at a Catholic school in Indiana is suing the diocese where she worked after being fired because the in vitro fertilization treatments she received were considered against church teachings.

Emily Herx, a former English teacher at St. Vincent de Paul School in Fort Wayne, filed a federal lawsuit against the school and the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.

My guess is that the Romneys might point out that they paid for the in vitro fertilization services out of pocket and didn't rely on a health insurance policy so it would be a different situation for Tagg and his wife.

And that would be one more example of how the Romney's instinctively think that rich people deserve more out of life than poor people.. just because.

RIP Adam Yauch..

The Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch, best known the world over as the thoughtful, witty, in-your-face rapper MCA, died Friday. He was 47.

A Beastie Boys representative confirmed that Mr. Yauch died in his native New York City after a near-three-year battle with cancer.

Read more: [Link: www.sfgate.com...]

Pictures out the airplane window are usually pretty lame, but these are kinda cool.. I woke up, looked out the window and said Dang..check that * out.. so I had to snap a few pictures out the window. It was one of them moments when you stop and realize that you are turning into dad. Ha..

I could probably go one Google Earth and figure out exactly where these were taken but that would take effort..

35,000 ft above the Canadian Rockies..

Mitt Romney is using the case of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng to criticize the Obama Administration for turning a blind eye to Chinese human rights violations. WSJ: Chen Case Rises in U.S. Campaign

Mr. Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, made his strongest statement to date on the White House's dealings with Mr. Chen and the Chinese government, seeking to portray the Obama administration as willing to sacrifice Mr. Chen in order to preserve ties to Chinese leaders.

In a campaign stop in the battleground state of Virginia, Mr. Romney suggested the administration may have exposed Mr. Chen to more peril by persuading him to leave his sanctuary in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing so as not to complicate high-level negotiations with the Chinese on other matters.

"If the reports are true, this is a dark day for freedom, and it's a day of shame of the Obama administration,'' said Mr. Romney.

However there has been no word from Mitt Romney on the story that a Bain Capital fund in which he still has an interest in stands to make a nice profit selling high-tech surveillance equipment to the Chinese Government who aim to blanket the country with surveillance cameras. NYT: Firm Romney Founded is Tied to Chinese Surveillance

BEIJING — As the Chinese government forges ahead on a multibillion-dollar effort to blanket the country with surveillance cameras, one American company stands to profit: Bain Capital, the private equity firm founded by Mitt Romney.

In December, a Bain-run fund in which a Romney family blind trust has holdings purchased the video surveillance division of a Chinese company that claims to be the largest supplier to the government's Safe Cities program, a highly advanced monitoring system that allows the authorities to watch over university campuses, hospitals, mosques and movie theaters from centralized command posts

Dan Rather on George W. Bush report: 'We reported a true story—that's why I'm no longer with CBS News'

"I was at the White House for a briefing for reporters, and I asked him a couple of questions and he answered the questions," Rather said. "And then afterward he said to me, 'I hope you'll be happy retired in Austin.' That's my home. I had no intention of retiring in Austin. I have a passion for my work and I plunged myself back into doing work. But that's the only conversation I've had with him since."

Rather also defended the report that led to the end of his network news career.

"We reported a true story," he said. "That's why I'm no longer with CBS News."