Ha.  I wonder if Ambra heard about this.

At a Seattle concert featuring rapper Snoop Dogg on Saturday night, a fan caught a beatdown after getting on the stage and grabbing Snoop's shoulder.  The fan, Richard Monroe, claimed they allowed fans to come on stage.  Once he came towards Snoop and touched his shoulder, the other rappers on stage grabbed him and they gave him the worst whupping of his life.

This is the result of the beatdown:

A decades-old mystery has been solved, as the man who constantly tipped Washington Post writers Bob Woodward and Carl Woodward about the break-in of the DNC headquarters at the Watergate Hotel that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon revealed himself.  W. Mark Felt, who was the FBI's Deputy Director - second in charge of the bureau - was the man who started it all.

All of a sudden, Deep Throat doesn't seem like the legendary hero everyone thought he would be.  The fact that the FBI's number two guy would run off to the press to force Nixon to resign rather than investigate the manner themselves seems more like a devious act rather than one of courage.

Why?  The FBI was having their own secret war against the Nixon Administration.  J. Edgar Hoover had died just a month before Watergate happened, and the Nixon Administration was trying to gain control of the bureau.  As Slate.com's Thomas Noah stated, the acting FBI director, L. Patrick Gray, had passed FBI Files on the Watergate case to Nixon White House Counsel John Dean.  Felt was also sore due to being passed up for the FBI Director spot.  All of these things compelled Felt to become Deep Throat.

The irony of the whole Deep Throat saga was that Felt himself was convicted for bypassing warrants while investigating the Weather Underground organization in 1980, and was eventually pardoned by Ronald Reagan.  Hence, Felt received a taste of poetic justice in that instance. 

UPDATE:  I've been doing some web surfing, and here's a good piece by Mark Russell from 2001 pointing to Felt.  Felt being Deep Throat isn't that big of a surprise since a number of people knew Felt had been a leaker to the press prior to Watergate.  Also, Thomas Mann had fingered Felt as Deep Throat in 1999.

- I took a long vacation over the weekend, and it was lovely.  Got to chill with some family members, and watch some sports.  And no, I didn't watch the Indy 500 or Coca Cola 600 (I don't watch many racing).

- Over the next few days I'm going to work on adding more feeds and the like.  If you want to subscribe to this blog, the xml feed is here.  I'll try to place a link on my sidebar.  For NewsGator and Bloglines subscribers, just click the respective icon on the sidebar in order to subscribe me.

- I plan to liveblog the NBA Finals, and if last week was any indication, that will happen soon.  San Antonio received a little bump by the Suns, but I don't see them defeating the Spurs three more games to win the series.  Miami and Detroit will take a little longer, but I think Miami will get it done.  Miami is simply too talented for Detroit to keep Miami contained and win low scoring games.

- Give me some time to get back in the mix.  I'll probably post a few entries tonight.

Michelle Malkin noticed a story that's only making a small bleep on the radar.  From the AP/USA Today:

The Democratic Party, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and two groups associated with the civil rights activist have agreed to pay a total of $200,000 in civil fines for campaign finance violations in the 2000 elections.

At issue in the Federal Election Commission case was about $450,000 in election spending by Jackson, the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and the Citizenship Education Fund using funds from the groups. The two non-profit groups were incorporated, making their money corporate and subject to restrictions under federal campaign finance laws.

According to the FEC, the money was used for a partisan get-out-the-vote effort and voter registration speaking tour that was coordinated with the Democratic National Committee and included appearances by Jackson and Democratic House and Senate candidates.

If this was the RNC and James Dobson, this would be all over the news.

But I can't blame the media for this.  After all, we hear about the Democrats being busted on campaign finance violations so much it really can't be considered news anymore.

Drudge reports on last night's episode of NBC's Law & Order about a judge killer that is identified as wearing a t-shirt with Tom DeLay on it.

Oh, and the judge was black.  Here's some of the transcript:

ADA RON CARVER (COURTNEY B. VANCE) : An african-american judge, an appellate court judge, no less.

MAN: Chief of DS is setting up a task force. People are talking about multiple assassination teams.

DET. ALEX EAMES (KATHRYN ERBE): Looks like the same shooters. CSU found the slug in a post, matched it to the one that killed Judge Barton. Maybe we should put out and apb for somebody in a Tom DeLay t-shirt.

This is despicable.  DeLay never called for the death or harm of any judge.  Law & Order's producers and writers are making an obvious political statement to imply DeLay wishes harm to judges, and it was more than just a coincidence that the judge killed in this episode was black.  So not only are they trying to picture DeLay supporters as knee-jerk reactionary extremists, but they're also racist.  What lowlifes.

If Republicans want to get a little bit of revenge, the time is ripe for it.

Yesterday John McCain introduced the Clean Sports Act, designed to enact tougher penalties onto professional athletes.  McCain didn't come up with the idea; Rep. Cliff Sterns did, and his bill just passed committee in the House yesterday.  Of course, the spotlight grabbing McCain had to sign it up as his own idea, just as he did with the Senate plan earlier this week.  You thought McCain would do the honorable thing and give credit where credit was due?  Ha.  Don't hold your breath.

Now if you want to piss McCain off, screw with his sports projects.  He already acts as if he is the President of U.S. Sports, as he's tried to act tough towards every sports organization as well as any legislator that interferes with his work.  We saw that last year, when he threatened to hold up telecommunications bills in the Senate due to the House refusing to place his Boxing bill, which would establish a federal boxing commission, on the floor for a vote at the end of the session.  Dennis Hastert didn't budge, and it still hasn't passed the House yet.  It passed the Senate two weeks ago. 

By killing both bills Republicans who were railroaded earlier this week could send a strong message to John McCain:  we aren't going to put up with your stunts anymore.  In fact, poetic justice would be for McCain's bills to be on the receiving end of a filibuster.  I'm sure he wouldn't like that, and maybe he'd think twice before he tries anymore backdoor deals that would cut the knees off of the Republican majority. 

But Republicans don't need McCain's antics to justify voting down these bills.  The idea to use similar standards athletes who are subject to tests maybe once or twice a year (U.S. and World Championships along with the Olympics) on professional athletes doesn't make sense.  MLB players have a 162 game season.  The NBA season has 82 games.  Football only has 16, but they place a lot of punishment on their bodies every week.  All of these players get injured from time-to-time, and they are given medication that could alter their testocerone levels.  The idea that you would be barred from playing sports for two years on the first offense, and banned completely on a second one is ridiculous.  A two-year suspension from any of the major sports would end most careers anyway.

Besides, the idea that the federal government could actually "clean up" anything is about as laughable as Barry White being able to sing soprano.  The American people have seen the cutthroat tactics the Senate employs this week.  McCain would have us believe that the government is the answer to the corruption of boxing, baseball, and all other sports.  They can't even handle the corruption in the Senate, much less in sports.

The true problem behind steroids wasn't the punishment anyway; it was the distribution and the attempt to hide the use.  Does anyone really believe BALCO was the only group that were creating drugs and inventions that were beating steroid tests?  The Vikings' Ontario Smith was caught with a Whizzinator, which consisted of clean dehydrated urine in order to fool the tests.  As long as it is possible, there will always be someone that will create something to beat the tests. 

The Commerce Secretary and the Drug Czar won't be overly concerned about it either.  After all, they have real work to do.  I would expect them to focus on the economy and major drug trafficking, respectively.  When it comes down to it, sports simply isn't as important as what was Bonds taking to hit 73 home runs.  Washington needs to set their priorities straight.

So here's hoping John McCain gets his heart broken on both of these bills.  It's time someone gave him a taste of his own medicine.
UPDATE:  Here is a lengthy but very good column by Charles Jay of BoxingInsider.net why he opposes McCain's boxing commission.  It is definitely on point.

and I don't care who I work for.

Let a fool slap me, and someone would have to help him get off the floor once I'm done with him.  At the very least, I'll make him think twice before he slapped another person.

If you haven't heard, Burt Reynolds slapped a CBS producer at the premiere of his latest film, The Longest Yard.  The producer asked him to explain the film, to which Burt asked him did he watch the original film.  The producer said no, and Burt slapped him and trashed him right on camera, talking about his clothes, clowned him on not watching the original, etc all while this guy was still standing right there and done absolutely nothing but hold the microphone.

Here's the video (and I must say, WCBS has great webcasting features).  Despite the spin his publicist is putting on this, saying it was "a playful slap" (I've never known any kind of slap by a grown man to be considered playful) Reynolds was clearly out of line and should be sued.  I don't think he should be charged for assault, unless you're going to charge the producer for being a pathetic wimp.

Emotions ran pretty high after the undermining deal was announced by the 14 Senators yesterday, and rightfully so.  I'll admit I was one of them.  While Bill Frist and others tried to, in the words of Matthew Franck from NRO's Bench Notes, "put lipstick on a pig", the facts are plainly clear:  the Democrats will continue to filibuster nominees, none of the nominees the seven Democrats promised not to block are guaranteed to be confirmed, and this deal won't solve any of the problems the Senate faced in this scenario.

The senators that signed this deal are patting themselves on the back and are being hailed by the media as men who overcame poltics and partisan bickering to end this conflict.  Hell, Robert Byrd had the nerve to say "The Republic is kept."  As usual, he's full of garbage;  this deal was done only in the self-interests of the people who signed it, not to save the Republic or the Senate or to muzzle partisan bickering.

This wasn't a show of character; it was an act of cowardice.  The senators made this deal because they didn't want to be placed in the uncomfortable position of taking a stand.  Do you think Mark Pryor wanted to go back to Arkansas to defend his vote to filibuster conservative judicial nominees?  We already know Ben Nelson didn't.  John Warner had stated he didn't wanted to change the status quo in the Senate, and the Three Stooges (McCain, Snowe, and Chafee) have never met a leftist proposal they didn't like.  When the Democrats filibuster again (and you can believe they will), don't expect the seven Republican senators to take a stand - with the possible exception of Graham, who's going to have hell explaining this to South Carolina - to support ending it.

This is a LIVEBLOG of tonight's show.  I will comment every five minutes or so of the prefight, then I will comment round-by-round during the fight.

Let's get this started.

My picks are Peter and Alfonso.

The show starts in 10 minutes.

8:06 - a HUGE Crowd.  Eddie Murphy, Brook Burke, James Caan, etc.  Has to be about 10,000 at Caesar's.  Also a good video spot to start the show.  Stallone and Sugar Ray are in the ring with the commentator (Al something) to start the show.

8:14 - They just showed clips of Sugar Ray giving the fighters advice on how to go forth with their preparations for the fight; what to eat, how to get mentally prepared, etc.  Afterwards they showed the press conference, and there was a pretty big crowd for that.  All of them thanked everyone for coming out and acknowledged their families, and threw a little bit of smack talk at each other, but nothing too dramatic.

8:25 - After the commercial they focus on the consolation fight, Alfonso vs. Jesse.  They talk about Alfonso's heart and how he set the pace for the competition, and then showed his progress through the competition.  Afterwards, they show the Jesse's video, where they talk about his fights and his sense of humor.  They stress his power and tenacity in the ring.  Stallone says Jesse's fight tonight is about redemption. 

UGH...the consolation fight has already happened and has been prerecorded.  Dammit.  That means more than likely they've edited it.

8:31- The fight is on.  Sugar Ray is in the booth with Al.  Alfonso starts out working the jab, and Jesse responds with a pretty good right.  Jesse is tagging him with good shots.  Alfonso doesn't move much, and that works into Jesse's favor.  They finish the round toe-to-toe.  Jesse won the round in my favor.

8:35 - Round two saw a more active Alfonso.  Jesse looked like he was taking a break in that one.  Alfonso won that round.

8:37 - Both of them come out banging, and Alfonso is getting the better of the exchanges.  Jesse probably hasn't fought someone that comes forward and never takes a step back, so he doesn't know what to do.  This fight looks like it's going in Alfonso's favor, but let's see how he enters those final rounds.  Alfonso won the round.

8:43 - They need to take Stallone off of the mic.  They should have considered hiring some professionals, because they're starting to remind me of Thunderboxx.  For those that don't know what I'm talking about, that isn't a good thing.

Bombs were thrown throughout this round.  Jesse was not only hurt, but also fatigued throughout the round.  He threw maybe one good shot, but Alfonso absorbed it and threw bombs at the end of the round.  Jesse's gonna need a knockout.

8:47 - This is only a five-round fight.  Alfonso is actually moving around bobbing and weaving, something that he wasn't doing at the beginning of the fight.  Jesse looked as if he didn't have anything left in the tank.  Alfonso keeps peppering him with blows, and Jesse can't answer.  But at the end of the round, Jesse tries to step it up a notch and ALMOST KNOCKS ALFONSO DOWN.  Fight's over though.  Decision in a few minutes, but I'm sure Alfonso will get it.

8:51 - Man where in the hell do they keep finding these women?  Alfonso's girl (she must be new because they didn't show her during the show) was HOT.  Anyway, Alfonso won by unaminous decision with one judge giving him four rounds to one, and the other two gave him three rounds to two.

They go back to live coverage with Alfonso joining Sly, Sugar, and Al and he talks about the fight.  He knew he could push the issue against Jesse, and became more confident as the fight went on.  Afterwards, they hype the Contender Championship fight and show Peter's video.

9:00 - After Peter's video they talked about his second shot, and how much his pride and heart helped him to get to the championship fight.  Afterwards they show some shots of Sergio in the locker room getting prepared.  Sergio's speed could dictate the fight.  They air Sergio's video, and they stress Sergio's ability and speed.  He's probably the most talented fighter in the competition, in my opinion. 

The Championship fight is next.  Although it's doubtful that either fighter gets knocked out, what will NBC do to make up for the time?  There's still an hour left.  Hmmm.

9:10 - They come back and show the families in the locker rooms giving the respective fighters encouragement.  Afterwards, the ring announcer comes out and starts it up, and they do a quasi-music video with some guy named "Hush".  I have no clue who he is.  Doesn't sound bad tho.  Latino rapper, but doesn't rap in Spanish.

Peter comes out first.  It's kind of funny, because after he comes out the door Roman guards follow him up the aisle.  And then Peter stops and gets into the same stance.  Hilarious.  Peter seems relaxed and confident.  Sergio comes out as well, with the Roman guards in tow.  He seems a little more serious, but as we know Sergio's a smart fighter and can keep his head.  The announcer mentions that Sergio is the only fighter never to hang up his gloves.  He's also undefeated.

In the Senate, Priscilla Owen nomination received cloture and will move forward.  According to Powerline, the vote was 81-18, with all of the far left advocates voting to filibuster.  The senators who voted yes were Biden, Boxer, Cantwell, Corzine, our own Mark Dayton, Dodd, Dorgan, Feingold, Kennedy, Kerry, Lautenberg, Levin, Lincoln, Murray, Reed, Sarbanes and Stabenow.

In the House, they are voting on using federal funds for stem-cell research as I post this.  This is a very tight vote, and more than likely it's passage will come down to a handful of votes.  I'm monitoring the numbers on CSpan, and right now the supporters lead in voting.

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UPDATE:  the stem-cell bill will pass the House.  It passed 238-191, with about 40 Republicans voting yes.  And since we know it's a virtual guarantee to pass in the Senate, the heat is on Bush to veto the first bill of his presidential term.