Some things that could merit a full diary (and probably should), but I'm not up for writing four posts:

Brattleboro residents protest police torture. That's what we're talking about here – torture. The activists who were tasered by police were engaging in a nonviolent protest, and were no threat to the police, others or themselves. They were passive. What – did painfully shocking them make them easier to carry away? Please. These officers used the tasers like cattle prods. The only difference between shocking them to get them to move and breaking their knuckles or burning them with a hot iron towards the same purpose is that the tasers did no permanent damage (which is a gold standard for some torture techniques). It's high time we all called this incident what it is – police torture.

Cathy at 802 notes the benchmark that's passed in the media world – the end of the New York Times's online subscriber pay wall. She adds the following from an appearence with WCAX's Marselis Parsons:

 (Parsons) was complaining to our audience about how people today want to get information “right now” and “for free.” As if that were a bad thing. When he was done talking, I said something along the lines of, “Well, yeah, I do want my information right now, and for free. And I'll get it, too, because that's how we're all going to have to evolve.”

If you haven't checked out the Vermont Democrats website in a while, get over there. They have absolutely turned it around from the most boring thing on the web, into one of Vermont's most interesting. It's become a daily read for me, (which I never thought would happen – even when I used to run it myself!). And it's not just the comprehensive, wide-ranging news service that collects media bits from around the state, it's the original content as well (“Jim=McJobs” heh. heheheheheheh.) 

MoveOn reminds us that Congressional screw-ups need not be permanent. Somewhere between horrified and enraged that this Congress just capitulated completely on wiretapping (where the HELL were Pelosi and Reid???)? Feeling conflicted, in that – on the one hand, our Vermont delegation is on the side of the angels on this, but on the other hand, it means we have nobody's office to egg? Well, MoveOn has started a campaign to make them un-do what they have wrought. Go sign up! And click after the fold for links on this shameful turn of events, by way of MoveOn…

So, CarpetBagger (citing Josh Marshall at TPM) has a report on Florida State Rep. Bob Allen, yet another of the Sunshine State’s legislators to get in trouble for inappropriate sexual activity. Last month he allegedly offered $20 and oral sex to an undercover police officer in a public bathroom in a park — and Allen was going to perform the oral sex as well as pay the guy.

Wow, the training these Florida Reps are getting from the Republican Party is really thorough!

The rest of the story, released yesterday (Aug. 6) is in the excuse Allen, who is white, offered — he said he was afraid of being assaulted by other black men in the park. Allen denies wrongdoing and will fight the charge of soliciting prostitution.

And then there’s the fact that Allen was a co-chair of Senator John McCain’s Florida presidential campaign, a position he resigned after his arrest, according to 365gay.com.

I’m sure there’s something really symbolic about that, but I’ll leave it to you to come up with the wording.

Also according to 365gay.com, Allen was the Police Union’s 2007 Lawmaker of the Year. And here’s the real kicker, somehow omitted by both CarpetBagger and TPM, supplied by 365gay.com:

In the last session of the Florida legislature [Allen] sponsored a failed bill that would have tightened the state’s prohibition on public sex. He also has been a supporter of amending the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage and has opposed a bill to curb bullying of gay students.

My interest in this is in how often repressed Republicans who are so active in maintaining discrimination against gays and lesbians manage to get themselves caught in inappropriate or illegal same-sex acts. Their hypocrisy is stunning in its flagrancy.

NanuqFC
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. — George Orwell

One of the hoariest truisms about Vermont politics these days is this: “Bill Doyle will always win.” Or sometimes: “The first chance anyone has to beat Bill Doyle will be the second election after he dies.”

It's true that Doyle has had impressive and remarkable longevity since 1969, and that Washington County Democrats have been frustrated at his seeming invincibility for years. He's also legendary for his hard work and his ubiquity, so his string of victories is hardly a surprise.

 And yet, does it have to be that way?

Sen. Doyle crashes cars on car sales lot

August 7, 2007
 

By Susan Allen Times Argus Staff

    Although seatmate Sen. Phil Scott is the professional race car driver in the Legislature, it was Sen. William Doyle who accidentally found himself in a Demolition Derby last week on the lot of Twin City Subaru in Montpelier.

Doyle said he visited the dealership on Thursday afternoon to test-drive some cars. On his final test drive, he had trouble with the brake and ended up speeding over bushes and then into three used cars on the lot, causing considerable damage. Doyle said an ambulance was called to the scene, but he waved off any medical attention.

 I like Bill, and I don't want to be ghoulish about what might happen, but it's hard to believe this news won't be of interest among potential candidates.