News Roundup for 3/4/10

Typical Madeupistan resident

-Headline of the day-
"Indiana faces wave of 'sovereign citizens' who declare independence."

You know how to be a real patriotic American? Tell everyone that you quit being an American because America sucks.

That's apparently the conclusion reached by some Hoosiers as Indiana faces a "wave" of people (I guess a "wave" is a handful now) who are declaring themselves "sovereign citizens" and seceding from the union. According to the report, "By doing so, residents contend that they no longer have to pay taxes, claiming their homes as embassies and using identification cards that show them as diplomats..." Diplomats for whom, you may be wondering? Who even knows? I doubt even these nutjobs have thought it through that far.

A local TV station spoke to one resident lunatic, who showed them a homemade ID from Madeupistan or wherever. The card "gives me diplomatic immunity," Donald Moore said. "The way I understand it, the federal government is incorporated, and all the states are incorporated. This takes me out of the corporation."

Not surprisingly, Moore understands it wrong. "Just because you allege something or concoct yourself a document doesn't mean you're getting off the hook," Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita told the station. "You're going to get in worse trouble."

Can you imagine one of these frootloops waving around their phony ID in court, shrieking, "I know my rights!"?

See, it's funny Don, because you so obviously don't. (Raw Story)


-Cartoon time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, you know what the healthcare reform debate is like? It's like this!


Click for animation

Remember kids, parachutes are socialism! (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"Calif. State Senator Roy Ashburn was Arrested for Allegedly Driving Drunk; It Gets So Much Worse."

I'd write a little something about this here, but Kevin Hayes, writing for CBS's Crimesider blog, does such a great job of escalating the story that I don't want to spoil the twist ending. OK, so you know where it's going -- it's not exactly Hitchcockian suspense.

But it's still funny, so go read it. (CBS News)