Her father, John Corpus of Green Bay, stood to ask Obama about health care during the president's town hall-style meeting at Southwest High School on Thursday. He told Obama that his daughter was missing school to attend the event and that he hoped she didn't get in trouble.

"Do you need me to write a note?" Obama asked. The crowd laughed, but the president was serious.

On a piece of paper, he wrote: "To Kennedy's teacher: Please excuse Kennedy's absence. She's with me. Barack Obama." He stepped off the stage to hand-deliver the note — to Kennedy's surprise.

Brilliant! Funny, common sense, appealing, OMG HE HELPED A KID CUT SCHOOL! HE'S ANTI-EDUCATION! Oh wait, sorry, that was what I think I'll hear from Rush...

The Associated Press: Obama writes girl a note for missing school

A three-judge panel today required Republican Norm Coleman to pay Democrat Al Franken $94,783 to cover court costs in the seven-week U.S. Senate trial.

This is finally coming to an end, and oh does this hurt...

Court: Coleman must pay Franken $95,000 in court costs

An aide to a McCandless state senator known for her tough stance on sex crimes was arrested late Thursday on accusations he propositioned a 15-year-old over the Internet.

In a series of instant messages and online chats, Alan David Berlin, 40, of Carlisle, discussed dressing up in animal costumes and engaging in various sex acts with the boy, the state attorney general's office said yesterday.

That would be "aide to State Senate Republican Whip Jane Orie." Can I get a HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Orie aide accused of soliciting teen for 'furry' sex

That Ted Olson said this yesterday:

It is our position in this case that Proposition 8, as upheld by the California Supreme Court, denies federal constitutional rights under the equal protection and due process clauses of the constitution," Olson said. "The constitution protects individuals' basic rights that cannot be taken away by a vote. If the people of California had voted to ban interracial marriage, it would have been the responsibility of the courts to say that they cannot do that under the constitution. We believe that denying individuals in this category the right to lasting, loving relationships through marriage is a denial to them, on an impermissible basis, of the rights that the rest of us enjoy...I also personally believe that it is wrong for us to continue to deny rights to individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation."

That's former Bush Solicitor General Ted Olson. I can honestly say, I'm dumbfounded.

Joan Garry: Prop 8. Now what? The US Supreme Court?

"I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter. And I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence."

You just can't make this shit up. Michelle? The last round of this was under Ford. I may be wrong, but I seem to remember Ford as a Republican from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Oh, I'm not wrong? Crazy+Stupid=Michelle Bachmann

Bachmann: 'Interesting coincidence' that Dems in power during swine flu outbreak

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter will switch his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat and announced today that he will run in 2010 as a Democrat, according to a statement he released this morning.

This is an absolute earthquake. Keep an eye on Snowe.

UPDATE Snowe calls Specter switch devestating.

The Fix - Specter To Switch Parties

What is new is that Harman is said to have been picked up on a court-approved NSA tap directed at alleged Israel covert action operations in Washington.

And that, contrary to reports that the Harman investigation was dropped for “lack of evidence,” it was Alberto R. Gonzales, President Bush’s top counsel and then attorney general, who intervened to stop the Harman probe.

Wow, that would be a "Holy Shit!" moment. Mostly because it's a) a go to jail moment, and b) Fredo stopped an investigation of the other party for political reasons. Funny, everyone gets shit on their face from this one.

CQ Politics | Sources: Wiretap Recorded Rep. Harman Promising to Intervene for AIPAC

Really. Really? Are you serious??? Let me make sure I have this right, the same shitstains who went to Philadelphia, Mississippi, and said "State's rights" because they couldn't say nigger anymore, the same sons of bitches who made the Willie Horton ad, the same bastards who haven't said jack shit about the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians we blew up under W but now have their mouthpiece Rush bitching about the "innocent" Somali pirates who got killed for holding a gun to a ship captain's head are trying to sell crap like THIS???

There are more of these scripts here. And wow, have these guys left the reality train.

Republican PSA?

But he said he is worried that he is being steered too far by the Congress: "Some of the men and women I work with in Congress are socialists."

Asked to clarify his comments after the breakfast speech at the Trussville Civic Center, Bachus said 17 members of the U.S. House are socialists.

Senator McCarthy, your legacy continues...

Bachus tells city and county officials he's worried about socialists in Congress - Breaking News from The Birmingham News - al.com

"We are firmly convinced the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective," the Supreme Court wrote in its decision. "The Legislature has excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification."

This is huge, bigger than Tinker, probably as big as Griswold v. Connecticut. It's a state ruling, but having read Bobby Hanson's original ruling, is very easy to apply at a federal level. The ruling deals with equal protection under state rules, but the decision also went into detail on applicable federal rules because of rulings that apply to states (like Griswold).

Things just got VERY interesting. Federal unconstitutionality overrules state constitutions, period. Hanson's breakdown presents a clear argument that barring gay marriage is unconstitutional under the US Constitution which means those state constitutional amendments barring gay marriage could easily be voided. Expect this one to go up the ladder quickly because of this. Someone in a state that has such an amendment will challenge the state rule in federal court, using the Iowa decision, depending on how things go with the California Supreme Court and Prop 8, I would expect it challenged there in the 9th Circuit, but there are other possibilities, Wisconsin and Florida are other likely locations for challenges.

Finally, there is no, none, zero chance of a federal ban amendment getting though anything resembling the current system. Doing so would require a 2/3 vote of both houses, followed by ratification of 2/3 of the states. Right now it can't even make cloture in the Senate, is even farther from super-majority status, and then would need approval in 2/3 of the states? There is no part of that process it would currently pass, or would have at any time in the last 20 years.

Iowa high court legalizes gay marriage in state