I would have put these up earlier in the day, one after the other, but I really wanted to leave the post about Ryan Frazier above the fold for a bit. Now you get a triple shot of my favorite straight-edge writer*.

So, About Randi Rhodes
I read commentary at Kos, at Sadly, No, and at a few other smaller sites yesterday and the rush to blame conservatives for the Rhodes’ incident was almost giddy. The self-righteous preening about conservatives’ calling them on their bigotry after the real story--real non-story--came out was even funnier. I tried to have a polite conversation on one site--and ended it--when I was accused of arguing in bad faith because I hadn’t come with the proper apologetic attitude for my beliefs. Literally.

Truth is that there are times that I am wrong and I will accept that. I will admit to it, and I am willing to learn. What I won’t do is come to every conversation with the self-appointed enlightened few, hat in hand, apologizing for every difference of opinion.

Er, sorry. Back to the Rhodes show from yesterday, Shawn captures the mood nicely.

Despite the contentions of Rhodes’ own lawyer and Air America Radio—not likely members in good standing of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy—Rhodes’ fans refused to let the hate crime narrative give up the ghost. “We are likely to be more accurate on this board than the entire domestic news industry,” one aficionado declared at Rhodes’ official site. Another seconded that dismissal: “Unfortunately the AAR statement was so vague it only worsened the situation.”

Vague? The reports of a presumed hate crime are unfounded seems to be the sentence-length antonym of vague. And even leaving aside whether a person whose profile lists his location as “The 13th Floor of the Tower of Terror” and auto-signs every post with the refrain, “Republicans will never be happy until they have completely destroyed the earth and ended all life as we know it” is going to be more accurate than the entire domestic news industry, is he going to be more accurate than Rhodes’ lawyer and uber-liberal employer?

Yeah, there was a lot of that posturing yesterday. I haven’t ventured that far to the left today, so I don’t know if it has died down or not.

Quiet Revolutions
Shawn went on a trip to see fringe left and right wing secession groups meet to carve out their bits of the United States in sort of a looney mimicry of the Yalta Conference. But while those folks were busily planning for something that will never happen--in fact, their suggestions, hopes, and plans will likely be ignored to death--Shawn met a man who cheerfully found a way to rebel against stupid government rules and intervention.

I used to drive a regular cab and wanted to keep doing it, but the hoops they make you jump through to get certified are crazy and way out of my budget,” he said. The more he tried to play by the rules, though, he said, the more the city regulators seemed to enjoy shutting him out. The board that grants licenses in Chattanooga is partially run by local cab company owners—would-be competitors, in other words. It’s a process that, if not actually corrupt, at least gives the impression corruption is a distinct possibility, as even local press and politicians have begun to note.

It’s a light story, but a very good one--a little inspiration for anyone who believes that part of the job of the citizen is to keep government’s power in check.

Update: And note how following my links can bring you to happy new information.

Well, Yeah...
Lastly, I thought everyone knew that The Bends was the artistic peak for professional mopesters, Radiohead.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: Shawn deserves to be on your blogroll or in your RSS reader. If you want to comment on any of his stories, visit his site.

• For the record, Shawn may or may not be straight-edge. I’ve never quite been able to figure it out.