ThoughtCrimes.org

For much of his long career in Washington, John McCain has been throwing darts at the special spending system known as earmarking, through which powerful members of Congress can deliver federal cash for pet projects back home with little or no public scrutiny. He's even gone so far as to publish "pork lists" detailing these financial favors.

Three times in recent years, McCain's catalogs of "objectionable" spending have included earmarks for this small Alaska town, requested by its mayor at the time -- Sarah Palin.

...records show that Palin -- first as mayor of Wasilla and recently as governor of Alaska -- was far from shy about pursuing tens of millions in earmarks for her town, her region and her state.

This year, Palin, who has been governor for nearly 22 months, defended earmarking as a vital part of the legislative system. "The federal budget, in its various manifestations, is incredibly important to us, and congressional earmarks are one aspect of this relationship," she wrote in a newspaper column.

I feel compelled to respond to your gross mischaracterization (March 2, “Earful of Earmarks”) of my position on congressional earmarks.

I am not among those who have said “earmarks are nothing more than pork projects being shoveled home by an overeager congressional delegation.” I recognize that Congress, which exercises the power of the purse, has the constitutional responsibility to put its mark on the federal budget, including adding funds that the president has not proposed.

John McCain tapped little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate on Friday in a startling selection on the eve of the Republican National Convention.

Two senior campaign officials disclosed McCain's decision a few hours before the Republican presidential nominee-to-be and his newly-minted running mate appeared at a rally in swing-state Ohio.

Palin, like McCain, is a conservative with a maverick streak who has shown a willingness to clash with others in her own party. A self-styled hockey mom and political reformer, she has been governor of her state less than two years.

Police in Denver arrested an ABC News producer today as he and a camera crew were attempting to take pictures on a public sidewalk of Democratic Senators and VIP donors leaving a private meeting at the Brown Palace Hotel.

By Tuesday, officials had decided the three men didn't have the capacity to act on their racist impulses, no matter how heavily armed they were. But the whole episode was a strange, and alarming, reminder of why Obama has had Secret Service protection since the spring of 2007 -- there are a lot of people out there who hate the idea of a black president, and are crazy enough to say they'll do something about it. The arrests raised the frightening specter of yet another of America's charismatic young leaders being gunned down by a lunatic. Obama aides declined to comment, citing a strict policy of not discussing security.

The arrests seemed more threatening when they first became public. Serious brass was pulled in; Attorney General Michael Mukasey was briefed. But Tuesday, after an investigation involving three different federal agencies, Colorado's U.S. attorney, Troy Eid, announced that authorities had decided Adolf, Johnson and Gartrell were basically not as dangerous as they looked. The feds didn't plan to charge any of the three men with threatening a presidential candidate, a federal felony that comes with a possible five-year prison term. Instead, Eid charged Adolf (who is variously referred to as Adolph and Adolf in federal documents) and Johnson with violating federal bans on felons owning weapons, and Gartrell with drug possession. (Admittedly, the fact that the three thought Obama was staying in the exurban hotel in which they had rented a room made it seem like they hadn't planned very carefully.)

Long before the mortgage crisis began rocking Main Street and Wall Street, a top FBI official made a chilling, if little-noticed, prediction: The booming mortgage business, fueled by low interest rates and soaring home values, was starting to attract shady operators and billions in losses were possible.

"It has the potential to be an epidemic," Chris Swecker, the FBI official in charge of criminal investigations, told reporters in September 2004. But, he added reassuringly, the FBI was on the case. "We think we can prevent a problem that could have as much impact as the S&L crisis," he said.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own.

"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told Politico in Las Cruces, N.M. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."

The correct answer is at least four, located in Arizona, California and Virginia, according to his staff. Newsweek estimated this summer that the couple owns at least seven properties.

Chinese authorities have ordered two elderly women to spend one year in a labor camp after they applied to hold a protest during the Beijing Olympics against being forced from their homes, a relative said Wednesday.

The women were still at home three days after being officially notified but were under the observation of neighborhood watch group, said Li Xuehui, the son of one of the women.

Li said no cause was given for the order to imprison his 79-year-old mother, Wu Dianyuan, and her neighbor Wang Xiuying, 77.

"Wang Xiuying is almost blind and crippled. What sort of reeducation through labor can she serve?" Li said in a telephone interview. "But they can also be taken away at any time."

The order followed the pair's repeated attempts to apply for permission to hold a protest at one of three areas designated by the government as available for demonstrations during the games, which end Sunday.

Some 77 applications were lodged to hold protests but none went ahead[.]

It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman's memory of war from the comfort of mom's basement, but most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others.