You did "such a wonderful job" with 1, 2, 3, and 6, George, it's probably for the better that you're not involved in 7, 8, and 9.

I can see that, but there's one problem -- he underestimated the power of hate in this country and the long-term strategy of the GOP to blame everyone but rich people for everything that's gone wrong in the last 35 years. Now the Republican base thinks he's speaking Truth to Power, and they have made him their messiah. Look at the expressions on their faces at his rallies. I would not be a bit surprised if he gets the GOP nomination and then some maniac from his side decides to shoot Bernie or Hillary to help him get in. If the man had an ounce of decency, he'd quit right now before the insanity grows to the point of destruction. But he hasn't; his ego is too big.

I hope he gets it, though I'm sure it's just the opening salvo in negotiations, and he'll wind up settling for a lot less. But the Islamophobia of Irving's mayor and the flat out illegal actions and attitudes of the school and cops when dealing with this precocious kid will not even begin to change until it starts costing them a lot of money. It's the same with abusive cops -- the cities they work for will not rein them in until they are hit hard by hundreds of millions in settlements for the cops' misbehavior (I used to think tens of millions, but too many cities have shown not even that is enough). Justice doesn't matter. Rights don't matter. Decency and respect don't matter. All that matters to people like those who targeted this kid is their pocketbook. If you hit that hard enough, they will change if only to protect it.

C8, you reveal nothing but your ignorance and intolerance with posts like this. Alaskans wanted the name to be Denali; Obama just made it official. What, you don't think a state run by Republicans should be allowed to determine what happens on lands within its borders? Guess that means you're against states rights. Interesting. Usually jerks like you are all for them and against anything non-WASP and anti-rich-guy.

What about Shepard Fairey's iconic poster for Obama in 2008? That used a photograph taken by a reporter for the AP. They demanded compensation and it went to court and he lost. They wound up settling the case, but the reality is, even though he completely changed the nature and medium of the photograph it was considered copyright infringement not transformative or even fair use. This case seems to come to the opposite conclusion -- anyone claiming to be an artist can take any photograph I took and posted on Facebook or my blog and reprint it with one or two tiny changes and sell it, and he owns the copyright whereas I don't.

The rest of the "I did nothing wrong" trope is -- "And if I did, it was all the victim's fault." Just ask Prof Hal Abelson, who proves that while he knows the words needed for responsibility, intelligence, and common sense (even in Yiddish), he has zero comprehension of their meaning. Just like doctors investigating doctors and cops investigating cops and lawyers investigating lawyers, one should not be surprised when a university sets up a panel to investigate itself, that the investigation turns up nothing in the way of wrong-doing, and it will use that "nothing" to explain away its culpability. Legally speaking, he is probably correct. It was an ambitious, out-of-control DoJ p.o.s. who deliberately drove Aaron Swartz to his death. But MIT did nothing to even try and stop it and may even have exacerbated the situation by just plain standing by as this case unfolded in its Kafka-esque way. So morally speaking, their hands are just as red with his blood. What's the Yiddish word for that, Professor Abelson?

Actually, his bill was paid for with credit cards stolen by the cyber criminals.

I didn't vote FOR Obama in 2008; I voted against the hideous McCain and Palin duo. I knew he wasn't a progressive, but the alternative was too painful. By 2012, I was so sick of his backstabbing ways with liberals and kissing-ass ways with the GOP, I voted for Dr. Jill Stein on the Green ticket. He's behaved more like a Reagan Republican than a true Democrat, and his unwillingness to keep his promises as regards Guantanamo, Social Security and Medicare, and his near contempt for those of us who actually care about people instead of Wall Street and corporations, are reason enough to distrust everyone in his administration.