The Era Of Whatever You Can Get Away With

Police Admit Romney Campaign Illegally Hired them to Arrest US Citizens on Bogus Charges at Campaign Event

"I asked about his authority to remove me. “We’re working for the Romney campaign,” he said. I asked if he was on-duty; he said he was. My confusion deepened. So was he working for the town of Hudson today, or for the campaign? “Both.” (Later, I think I got it straight: the campaign hired the police for the day, sort of like a private security detail.)

At the police station, I was put in a cage and asked to remove my shoes, belt, and sweatshirt. An officer named Manni and another officer processed my paperwork. As they did so, they told me not to go back to “that area” when I was released. I indicated that I understood I wasn’t permitted to be on the company’s land or facilities, but surely I could go back to the street if I so chose – it’s public property, after all. Don’t go back to that area, they said. If you go back, you might cause a disturbance or a riot, and you could be arrested for disorderly conduct.

I tried to keep calm and ask even-keeled questions. Were they telling me I wasn’t even permitted in the street near the facility? And if so, on what grounds? (I wondered, Is the Romney campaign just permitted to cordon off a whole neighborhood?)

And then the following exchange took place. I began to ask, “If I express my First Amendment freedoms –

And Officer Manni interjected, “You’ll probably be arrested.”

It was clear to me that the two officers had no interest in discussing what the law actually said, or what my rights actually entailed. I was paperwork, and they wanted to get it over with. That didn’t sit well with me, so I kept asking questions. One of the officers then opened up the New Hampshire legal code and read me the definition of disorderly conduct. He read the words dully, as if they were just syllables, with no interest at all in what they meant."

Jeebus Loony Tebow’s game-winning touchdown illegal

"A review of the Denver Broncos' pre-snap formation on the game-winning touchdown pass from Tim Tebow to Demaryius Thomas suggests that the play could have been ruled illegal.

Only six Denver Broncos players were lined up on the line of scrimmage before the snap. NFL rules say that a team must have seven or more players on the line for a snap to be legal."

"Should Tebow's touchdown have counted? Absolutely. It isn't a penalty if you don't get caught."

Republicans accuse Gingrich of illegal robo-calls

"Jim Foley, chairman of the Derry GOP, on Friday filed a complaint against Gingrich with the state attorney general's office. Foley is not affiliated with any presidential campaign.

"I think it's a real lack of understanding, almost arrogance, in the Gingrich campaign staff about how things are done in New Hampshire. I can't stand idly by," Foley told The Associated Press."