"Some of us are truly born bad."

Lucid words in the pages of the Gray Lady.

Tragedy in Real Time

A striking account of NBC's handling of materials from the Virginia Tech murderer.

Yale Students Arrested for Burning US Flag

So says Reuters. Two of the three were foreign students, and they burned a flag that was flying on private property. (Should the headline have given some indication of this? Maybe, maybe not.)

If You Lie with the Logs...

...you'll rise with the feces. Yes, I came up with that myself.

Convictions in Biloxi Bribery Scandal

A prominent lawyer and two state judges are going up the river. I'd like to know a bit more about the bribery, though. (Via Overlawyered.)

Gonzales Retreats on Attorney Firings

Not a pretty scene. On top of that, if Paul Krugman is to be believed (a fair question!), Gonzales' Department of Justice has been more than four times as likely to investigate or indict Democratic politicians or candidates than Republican ones. What's going on there?

Mr. Pot, Mr. Kettle. Mr. Kettle, Mr. Pot.

Apparently, Newt Gingrich had an extramarital affair - even as he led the impeachment of Clinton.

I don't think this should have disqualified him from playing a role; after all, Clinton was being impeached for perjury, not infidelity. But it's definitely something that should have been made public at the time. And if that would have kept him from leading the charge, so be it.

Actually, I'm reminded about how liberals viewed the crime of perjury when it was Bill Clinton in the dock. They were outraged that such piddling charges would be brought against him - especially when the main thrust of the investigation (Whitewater) turned up nothing. Sounds rather familiar, actually: Libby was prosecuted for perjury on an immaterial matter arising from an investigation (the Wilson/Plame non-story) that, likewise, turned up nothing. Do you see a difference in tone on the part of liberal commentators? I do.

In fairness, there's a disconnect on the conservative side as well. Conservatives who were indignant about Clinton's perjury (make no mistake, that's what it was) should also be indignant about Libby's perjury (that's what that was, too). Yes, Clinton was the president - but if the office matters, then shouldn't it matter that Libby was the right-hand man to the vice president?

I thought the effort to remove Clinton from office was wrong, for all the reasons I thought the prosecution of Libby was wrong. Mind you, I did at the time support Clinton's impeachment, not conviction; but pretty soon after the fact I changed my mind and decided that mere censure would have been better.

So, liberals: is it hypocritical to wax lyrical on the perfidious Libby, but to dismiss Clinton's lies as unimportant distractions? I think so. And only one of the two men is in jail for it.

The Washington Post on the Libby Prosecution

Not a flattering picture. There will be two consequences from Fitzgerald's crusade. The first is that reporters will no longer be as sure as they were of the contours of their professional privileges. The second is that, barring elimination by Congress, the institution of special prosecutor will continue down its current, cavalier, abusive path. They will continue to build elaborate webs of legal tripwire around the feet of politicians and senior officials - which is bound to catch up someone at some point.

Shocking News

Um, this happened two blocks from the University of Michigan Law School....