This war on drugs has been out of control for a long, long time. Part of the problem is that cops assume if they picked you up, you must be guilty of something, and frequently decide to mete out their own version of "justice"—either directly, by beating the crap out of a suspect, or indirectly, by "forgetting" them. If this story doesn't convince you something is very wrong in our country, nothing will. Via Raw Story:

Daniel Chong, a 24-year old student at UC San Diego, was taken into custody during a drug raid and abandoned in a holding cell for five days without food or water, according to NBC San Diego.

“They never came back, ignored all my cries and I still don’t know what happened,” he said. “I’m not sure how they could forget me.”

On April 21, Drug Enforcement Agents raided an apartment where Chong and his friends were smoking marijuana. Nine people were arrested and the agents reportedly seized ecstasy pills, marijuana, prescription medication, psychedelic mushrooms and weapons, according to CBS 8 News. Seven of those arrested were taken to jail and one was released.

Chong, however, was left handcuffed in a 5 ft. by 10 ft. holding cell.

Chong said he screamed and kicked the door, but to no avail. Eventually, he began hallucinating and drank his own urine in hopes of staying hydrated. After days without any human contact, he tried to kill himself by breaking his glasses with his teeth, and using the glass to cut himself.

Surprisingly, Chong allegedly found a bag of methamphetamine in the holding cell, which he used to stay awake.

After five days, a DEA worker heard noises coming from the holding cell and discovered him. Chong was taken to the hospital, where he spent three days in the intensive care unit.

From this Tuesday evening's The Young Turks, Cenk Uygur discusses why we're finally seeing many Americans angry enough to be taking to the streets, with details on some recent reports about the growing income disparity in the United States.

Here's more on the stats Cenk was highlighting in the clip above from Think Progress -- As The Richest Americans Get Richer, The Rest Are Drowning In Debt:

That inequality has crushed the middle class and has perilous consequences for the American economy. It is also contributing to another problem: rising debt inequality. As income inequality has risen, the bottom 95 percent of Americans have fallen deeper into debt over the last three decades, according to a new report from the International Monetary Fund. The top five percent, meanwhile, have seen their personal debt reduced, CNN Money reports:

In 1983, the bottom 95% had 62 cents of debt for every dollar they earned, according to research by two International Monetary Fund economists. But by 2007, the ratio had soared to $1.48 of debt for every $1 in earnings.

The bottom 95% had incomes of roughly $160,000 or less in 2007, including capital gains.

And then there’s the top 5%. Their debt-to-income level actually fell during the same period, from 76 cents of debt for every dollar earned in 1983, to just 64 cents in 2007.

The contributors to rising income and debt inequality are clear — for the richest Americans, incomes are rising rapidly while tax rates have fallen to historic lows. The rest, however, are increasingly burdened by student loan debt as the cost of college soars, mortgage debt as the prices on their homes have plummeted, and credit card debt as they’ve tried to keep their head above water despite stagnant wages and rising unemployment.

And from The Economic Policy Institute Blog -- It’s executives and the finance sector that did it!:

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You have to wonder when people will begin to notice that Sean Hannity's incessant attempts to paint Barack Obama as a flaming radical by associating him with various supposed extremists is actually a classic case of projection.

After all, there's no one in the mainstream media who has quite the array of running associations with far-right nutcases that Sean Hannity has—going back to the days when he palled around with white supremacist Hal Turner, and continuing through his ongoing sponsorship of wackos like Birther extraordinaire Jerome Corsi. Most notably, Hannity continues to promote and support another WorldNetDaily nutcase, Jesse Lee Peterson.

Last night, however, even a Fox Democrat like Kirsten Powers found it too hard to contain herself when seated next to Peterson. As Ellen at NewsHounds points out, Powers completely derailed Hannity's planned Obama-bashing segment by turning to Peterson and demanding he explain himself for his recent declaration that most women are "little whores".

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If there ever was an example of following your passion, it has to be Lizz Winstead. In an industry that regularly relegates women to novelty acts, she has carved out a long and considerable career as a comedian. And she's done so without censoring her wit or her political ideology, even though managers told her that would be the death knell to her career.

Born the youngest in a conservative Catholic family in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Lizz bristled at the conventions and restrictions of her upbringing. She didn't know what she wanted to do, but she knew that it didn't involve getting married, having kids and moving to the suburbs. A natural performer, Lizz discovered her calling in college, when a friend suggested that she perform at an Open Mic night at a local comedy club. But her stand up found a real voice after the first Gulf War and her outrage at the political propaganda swirling around was only topped by her exasperation at the media. That led to the creation of The Daily Show, where they tweaked both politicians and the journalists who covered them by imitating them. Lizz was the Head Writer for The Daily Show, without any television experience. But even without a resume behind it, she changed the media landscape. And then she did it again, by co-founding Air America and the show Unfiltered with the wonderful Chuck D and a little radio newbie named Rachel Maddow.

All this and more are chronicled in her first book, Lizz Free or Die. Lizz has written essays covering her childhood, relationship with her church, her siblings, her parents, her dogs, friends, lovers, and bosses and the process of finding her way and her voice. It is funny, raw and always indomitably Lizz.

Lizz Free or Die will be released on May 10, but you can pre-order her book at indiebound now.

And best of all, Lizz Winstead is here to talk to us about her experiences and her book. Please join me in welcoming Lizz to C&L, and let's talk Lizz Free or Die.

Scott Brown has a growing Obama problem that threatens to derail his campaign. It’s a problem of his own making, but he is caught between a rock and a hard place.

As he tries to make the case to Massachusetts voters of how bipartisan he is, touting his pride in working with President Obama, he is at the same time promising to his corporate special interest and anti-Obama donors, as well as right-wing Republican base groups, that he will be their champion, especially in an Obama second term. As a result, Brown is in the position of constantly having to run both hot and cold on Obama. He will simultaneously do anything to hug the President publicly even while dissing him more quietly to his Republican supporters.

This week, Brown put out a radio ad talking about his work with the President. He talks about how proud he was to work with Obama and how important cooperation is. “We need to work together now,” Brown says. Last month he flew to D.C. twice in one week to be at signing ceremonies at Obama's side, after begging and prodding to be invited. Brown also staked out his seat on the aisle at the State of the Union hours in advance to make sure he could be seen on TV with Obama.

Obama is very popular in Massachusetts, and Brown couldn’t be any clearer about how much of a drag he thinks his very close personal friend Mitt Romney is on the ticket. It’s pretty difficult in a Presidential Election year to run with the opposite party’s candidate while running away from your own party’s standard bearer—especially when that standard bearer happens to be your longtime friend and political mentor. In fact, Brown is facing a terrible dilemma: spending so much time trying to associate with Obama, while continuing to trash him in fundraising appeals, creates a very big problem for him. Add to that the fact that Obama and Warren are actually close allies, and Brown is in a bind.

We were reminded of this again when Warren released a new television ad with Obama as well—in this case, Obama touting Elizabeth Warren's consumer advocacy and work setting up the CFPB from the White House. Obama is a big supporter of Warren’s, and his enthusiasm for her campaign is going to keep creating problems for Brown.

Brown should be careful what he wishes for. He might think Obama’s role in the race is a good thing, but adding credibility to the President is a dangerous game to play when the President is dead set against your re-election—and when you have to keep attacking Obama when raising money and talking to your right-wing friends.

In a March deposition for a lawsuit filed by Juan Carlos Vera, a fired ACORN worker, James O'Keefe revealed that Andrew Breitbart encouraged him to make more ACORN videos, and arranged to pay him $65,000 for blogging about the video. (He sure attracts sugar daddies, huh?) As a result, Vera's attorneys plan to file suit against Breitbart's estate:

SAN DIEGO -- Explosive new information obtained by 10News reveals for the first time the payout for an undercover video that helped bring down the group ACORN.

James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, who played the role of pimp and prostitute in the video, were both deposed in a civil suit. O'Keefe wore a suit, while Giles donned a dark blouse, in contrast to the images that are familiar to many.

Back in 2009, they were the ones applying the pressure. After posing as pimp and prostitute, the two filmed undercover footage at an office in National City that appeared to show ACORN worker Juan Carlos Vera giving tips on bringing teen prostitutes across the border.

After the footage was posted by conservative activist Andrew Breitbart, Vera was fired. A state probe eventually confirmed Vera was simply playing along with the pimp conversation and had called police.

Eventually, amid a string of other videos, ACORN lost its federal funding and dissolved.

Vera filed suit, claiming O'Keefe had violated state privacy laws, and in a March deposition, there were some revealing statements from O'Keefe.

"He [Breitbart] said he would like to find a way for me to get paid to publish the videos," testified O'Keefe.
O'Keefe gave details about the payout. He testified that before the San Diego undercover taping, Breitbart first saw undercover ACORN videos from the East Coast and wanted to see more.

"Now we have evidence for the first time, Breitbart agreed in advance to participate in the violation of California law," said Gene Iredale, Vera's attorney.

O'Keefe said he was eventually paid $65,000 by Breitbart to blog about the video.

Vera's attorneys now plan to file suit against the estate of Breitbart, who recently died of heart failure.

Another key issue was why O'Keefe made only minimal attempts to follow up with Vera to confirm what was said in the footage.

"I did want to follow up," testified O'Keefe. "I just didn't end up following up."

As Scott Rose over at Pam Spaulding's site noted -- “Beat-Your-Gay-Kids” N.C. Pastor Sean Harris can’t even keep his excuses straight:

As word spread — and shocked outage grew — that North Carolina Pastor Sean Harris has been instructing parents to beat their children if the children seem homosexual and/or non-gender conforming, Harris and his Berean Baptist Church in Fayetteville, North Carolina are too stupid to get their damage control straight.

Harris the baby beater told the Fayetteville Observer that he was “joking” when he told parishioners to break their gay son’s limp wrists.

But the Berean Baptist Church’s Business Manager Carinda Kerr told this reporter that when Pastor Harris instructed parishioners to beat their gay and/or gay-seeming children, it was “hyperbole.” Kerr explained: “Jesus said, 'if the right eye offends you, pluck it out.'”

Isn’t that helpful? The gay-bashing preacher claims he was joking, while his church’s business manager says he was acting in the spirit of Jesus!

Good as You originally posted the audio of Harris's remarks and the transcript which you can read below the fold:

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Mitt Romney's former Bain Capital partner and current high-stakes donor Edward Conard wants all of us 99 percenters to know we've got it all wrong. If we really understood the economy, we'd be grateful that wealth is concentrated with the wealthiest .01 percent of the 1 percent, and we'd work really hard to double their wealth because it would be good for all of us.

Not only does he believe this, he's written a book about it, due to come out next month. I've already written to see if I can get a review copy of it, because I just cannot pass up such an exercise in self-adulation. In the meantime, Conard sat down for an interview with New York Times reporter Adam Davidson. His brazen responses to Davidson's questions reveal the extraordinary thought process of the investor class, who have become so incredibly removed from reality that they actually believe this stuff.

Take, for example, his assertion that doubling the wealth of the wealthy is really good for the rest of us. His argument goes like this:

Conard picked up a soda can and pointed to the way the can’s side bent inward at the top. “I worked with the company that makes the machine that tapers that can,” he told me. That little taper allows manufacturers to make the same size can with a tiny bit less aluminum. “It saves a fraction of a penny on every can,” he said. “There are a lot of soda cans in the world. That means the economy can produce more cans with the same amount of resources. It makes every American who buys a soda can a little bit richer because their paycheck buys more.”

It might be hard to get excited about milligrams of aluminum, but Conard says that we live longer, healthier and richer lives because of countless microimprovements like that one. The people looking for them, Conard likes to point out, are not only computer programmers, engineers and scientists. They are also wealthy investors like him, who are willing to risk their own money to finance improvements that may or may not work. There is a huge mechanism constantly trying to seek out and support these new ideas — entrepreneurs, multinationals and, crucially for Conard, investment firms and hedge funds and everyone down to individual bond traders.

And yet. I see an economy with trillions on the sidelines and wonder what a few more trillion dollars will do for the economy. What can be done with 4 trillion dollars squirreled away that can't be done with 2 trillion, after all? He doesn't seem to have much of an answer for that, but he's certainly willing to look down his nose at art history majors.

A central problem with the U.S. economy, he told me, is finding a way to get more people to look for solutions despite these terrible odds of success. Conard’s solution is simple. Society benefits if the successful risk takers get a lot of money. For proof, he looks to the market. At a nearby table we saw three young people with plaid shirts and floppy hair. For all we know, they may have been plotting the next generation’s Twitter, but Conard felt sure they were merely lounging on the sidelines. “What are they doing, sitting here, having a coffee at 2:30?” he asked. “I’m sure those guys are college-educated.” Conard, who occasionally flashed a mean streak during our talks, started calling the group “art-history majors,” his derisive term for pretty much anyone who was lucky enough to be born with the talent and opportunity to join the risk-taking, innovation-hunting mechanism but who chose instead a less competitive life. In Conard’s mind, this includes, surprisingly, people like lawyers, who opt for stable professions that don’t maximize their wealth-creating potential. He said the only way to persuade these “art-history majors” to join the fiercely competitive economic mechanism is to tempt them with extraordinary payoffs.

There's much, much more, but this last paragraph more or less turned me off to anything more he may have had to say. This writer is someone who writes, who reads, and who doesn't need to be fabulously wealthy to figure out solutions to her own little problems, like how to keep the pug from chewing the legs on the table or even how to pay for her daughter's college education. Conard, like so many wealthy people, assumes everyone on the planet wants to be wealthy and those who don't are really just a drag on the rest of society. Or, as Digby says, his message is really "f*ck you, you little art history parasite."

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We've been saying for a long time that ardent neo-Nazis like J.T. Ready of Arizona are ticking time bombs, walking violent atrocities waiting to happen. Yesterday, he proved the point in a horrifying way:

A border militia leader on Wednesday shot and killed four people at a Gilbert home, including a toddler, before committing suicide, sources said.

Sources identified the shooter as Jason "J.T." Ready, a reputed neo-Nazi who made headlines when he launched a militia movement to patrol the Arizona desert to hunt for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.

Authorities have not identified the other victims, but reached by phone Wednesday afternoon, Hugo Mederos said the victims were his ex-wife, Lisa; their daughter, Amber; Amber's boyfriend, whose name The Republic is withholding until his next of kin could be notified, and Amber's 18-month-old baby, Lilly.

Mederos, who lives in Tampa, said Ready lived at the home with his girlfriend, Lisa.

Ready was a former Marine who headed the U.S. Border Guard, a militia-style group that routinely performed armed patrols in the southern Arizona desert. Early this year, Ready had formed an exploratory committee for a run as Pinal County sheriff.

In recent years, Ready has been grabbing headlines by organzing vigilante border patrols. Ready's onetime political ally, Russell Pearce, was just chased out of public office by Mesa's voters.

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alicublog - conservatism, featuring some of the best minds of the 19th century;

Balloon Juice - false equivalency + GOP daddy worship + punch a hippie = another horribly-written David Brooks column!

Informed Comment - 'strategic rent' payments to Afghanistan are a waste of money;

Instaputz - Chris Christie will never happen;

Pam's House Blend - if you're anti-gay there's a very good chance you're a racist.

blogenfreude blogs at stinque.com and most assuredly is not keeping up with the Kardashians.