Investigators: 'Serial Stabber' Targeting Black Men

GENESEE COUNTY, Mich. -- Police are warning the public to be on the lookout for a serial stabber.
Driving the streets of Flint late at night and into the early morning hours, it's believed the man is looking to violently attack vulnerable men.So far, at least 15 men have been stabbed in Genesee County since mid-May, and five of them have died.Flint police Lt. T.P.

Johnson said the stabbings are the work of one man. "We think he is hunting," said Johnson.A vague description of the man was given by the surviving victims.

They said their attacker is a white male, with a heavy build, between 5 foot 11 and 6 foot 2 -- possibly with light colored hair.

Police believe he is only targeting adult African-American males who are smaller than him and walking the streets alone.

In at least two cases, the victims were people with special needs.It's believed he lures the men in by asking them for directions or help with his car.

"The victims are attempting to help this person, and in several cases he's just walked up and started stabbing," Johnson said.Most of the stabbings have occurred off major roadways where authorities said it is easier to constantly drive back and forth in a stalking fashion.

The latest victim was found in the 2100 block of South Saginaw Street on Monday. Police said Arnold Minor was stabbed multiple times with a sharp object before he died.

Police don't have an exact physical description of the subject to release yet, and they don't have a vehicle description that they want to give out at this time.Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Michigan State Police post in Flint Township.

Mexican cardinals endorse idea of debating legalization of drugs

Two Mexican cardinals have endorsed a proposal by President Felipe Calderon to open a debate on the merits of drug legalization in a country beset with violence attributed to narcotics-trafficking cartels. Cardinals Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico City and Juan Sandoval Iniguez of Guadalajara did not express support for drug legalization but called for the issue to be studied and for Mexico to learn from the experiences of other countries. Calderon made his proposal to debate legalizing drugs Aug. 3. He later clarified he did not favor legalization, but he was open to the debate. Mexico decriminalized the possession of small quantities of drugs in 2009 in an effort to focus enforcement activities on detaining drug dealers instead of drug users. Some political observers interpreted Calderon floating the legalization idea as a potential backup plan for dealing with an ever-growing wave of organized crime violence that has claimed 28,000 lives since he took office in December 2006...more

The family that owns the beer distributorship is Jewish

From the Times (also see this):

"The Hollander family is probably one of the most venerated families in the Hartford area in the Jewish community," Larson said. "There isn't a charity that they haven't contributed."

This adds to the "Amy Biehl" quality of the crime that I discussed yesterday. Those who are most compassionate and open toward blacks and most eager to help them are the ones who most often get killed by them.

Meanwhile, the central horror continues. Steve Sailer quotes the beginning of the transcript of Omar Thornton's 911 call:

Dispatcher: State Police.

Thornton: Yeah, this 911?

Dispatcher: Yeah, can I help you?

Thornton: This is Omar Thornton, the, uh, the shooter over in Manchester.

Dispatcher: Yes, where are you, sir?

Thornton: I'm in the building. Uh, you probably want to know the reason why I shot this place up. This place here is a racist place.

Dispatcher: Yup, I understand that

Thornton: They treat me bad over here, and they treat all the other black employees bad over here too, so I just take it into my own hands and I handled the problem--I wish I coulda got more of the people.

Did this lead to the classification of the mass murder as a hate crime? No. Sailer finds virtually no stories using the terms "hate crime" in the context of the Hartford mass murder. Instead we have the opposite:

A racial mass murderer says his victims were "racists." Therefore it is assumed to be true, and the main focus becomes whether his victims were really racists or not.

I don't know if I've ever seen anything so disgusting as the mainstream media's giving credence to the word of a racial mass murderer.

If a white man mass murdered blacks, saying he did it because blacks are evil, he would be considered a racist mass murderer. If a white man mass murdered Jews, saying he did it because Jews are evil, he would be considered an anti-Semitic mass murderer. But when a black man mass murders whites, saying he did it because whites are racist, i.e., evil, our society takes seriously the killer's word on the matter, and launches a discussion about the putative racism of the victims, and the victims' friends and family are required to demonstrate that their dead loved ones were not really racist.

This shows how the central belief of modern America, and the keystone of the modern liberal order, remains what it has always been: the belief in white guilt. The ultimate though unspoken premise of modern America is that whites deserve to be killed by blacks. What else can explain the fact that it is the white victims of the black mass murderer whose moral character is being questioned, not that of the black mass murderer?

Posted by Lawrence Auster

Whoopi Goldberg Makes No Apologies for Treatment of Michaele Salahi

Following an appearance on The View this week, Whoopi Goldberg approached reality TV star Michaele Salahi backstage and cursed her off.

This fact is not in dispute. Both sides acknowledge the confrontation. But there are a couple differences:

1. Salahi's lawyer says her client was completely mistreated on the talk show, outlining her complaints and explaining what happened in a statement you can read HERE.
2. Goldberg, conversely, pretty much says Salahi deserved everything that came to her.

On yesterday's episode, Whoopi started the show by discussing the events and not backing down from her role in them:
"I went up to her and told her that she knew I didn't hit her, and yeah, you know, how I said it: choice words. I make no apology for my choice words... I mean they were so choice you could've cut 'em with a knife and eaten them."

Goldberg says she was set off when Salahi's husband pulled out his Blackberry and stared snapping photos of his wife's heated discussion with the comedian.

Michaele, meanwhile, went on The Today Show yesterday and described how Whoopi "berated" her. Again, this isn't something Goldberg denies. She almost seems to take pride in it.

Watch Whoopi's take on the feud below and then choose a side:

Unstoppable Trailer: Denzel Washington and Chris Pine Try to Catch a Train

by Christopher Rosen

Literally. As in, there’s a runaway train loaded with hazardous materials on the loose — says co-star Rosario Dawson: “We’re not just talking about a train; we’re talking about a missile, the size of the Chrysler Building!” — and only Denzel and Capt. Fine can stop it.

Think of Unstoppable as a terrorist movie without an actual terrorist. The runaway freight train — which could cause severe damage within a radius of up to 45 miles (!) were it to crash — is unmanned. Thus it is unaffected by emotions. Neither bucking horses nor fire trucks nor a separate train loaded with school children on a field trip can stop this train — it’s… unstoppable. Ahem. At least it is until Washington and Fine — as a grizzled engineer and his cocky student — put aside their differences and try to save the day. As Fine puts it, “We’re gonna run this bitch down.” (Why does the train have to be a woman?)

Tony Scott directed Unstoppable, and it seems right up his particular alley: Explosions ensue between tons of seizure-inducing quick cuts showcasing trains. It’s like Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 without any of John Travolta’s hammy overacting. So that’s good. Fun fact: The film is supposedly based on true events, which is fair since trains exist and they can crash.

VERDICT: Buy an off-peak ticket.

PMA Group Founder Indicted For Fraud, FEC Hits PAC With Hefty Fine and More in Capital Eye Opener: August 6

By Summer Lollie
Your daily dose of news and tidbits from the world of money in politics:

PMA GROUP FOUNDER INDICTED: Congressional aide-turned-lobbyist Paul Magliocchetti was once one of Washington’s most powerful lobbyists and founder of the PMA Group, a defense lobbying firm. On Thursday, Magliocchetti, a former staffer to the late Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, stood accused by federal prosecutors of massive campaign finance fraud. PMA’s success in securing funding for often-obscure defense contractors spawned the criminal probe and a recently completed House ethics inquiry. Magliocchetti was charged with three counts of making false statements and eight counts of illegal campaign contributions, allegedly reimbursing employees, family members and friends who made contributions. He is accused of funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to Congressmen to enhance his firm's stature and future business prospects. The PMA group went out of business in 2009, after federal agents raided the office. Some of OpenSecrets Blog's previous reporting on this hot topic can be found here, here, here and here.

PMA's clients gained more than $200 million in federal earmarks from a roster of lawmakers, who received hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from the lobbyist, his family and associates. In fiscal year 2008 alone, seven Appropriations Committee members raked in more than $350,000 in PMA-related contributions, and PMA’s clients received more than $110 million in earmarks, according to a Washington Post analysis.

FEC HANDS PAC HEFTY FINE: The Federal Election Committee closed a three-year investigation after handing the American Resort Development Association a $300,000 fine for violating campaign laws prohibiting corporate contributions and donations from foreign nationals, CQ-Roll Call reports. In a statement released by the FEC, the agency accused the political action committee's treasurer, Sandra Yartin DePoy, of "misstating financial activity" and "improperly soliciting contributions.” In addition to the $300,000 penalty, the PAC agreed transfer $560,000 to its member homeowners associations. This is the largest penalty the FEC has handed out since 2007.

THE CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS IN THE NEWS:  Sean Miller of The Hill used the Center’s campaign expenditures data in his story about Stephen Fincher’s win the GOP primary for Tennessee’s 8th Congressional District. Greg Gordon and Shashank Bengali of McClatchy Newspapers used the Center’s lobbying data in their report about PMA Group founder Paul Magliocchetti’s trial. David Morgan and Maria Aspan of Reuters used CRP data concerning the securities and investments industry in their report about PAC donations to Wall Street. USA Today used a report by OpenSecrets Blog reporter Andrew Kreighbaum in an article about the House Tea Party caucus. Tim Sahd of the National Journal used the Center’s data in his report about the costs of Tennessee congressional races. Heather Taylor-Miesle used the Center’s data in her report about the coal industry and the climate change debate.

WINSTON CHURCHILL, DWIGHT EISENHOWER UFO COVER-UP

By Garrett Hawley

WASHINGTON D.C. – Two great past leaders may have been part of a great cover-up!
If the “X-Files” ever wanted to make a return, they would certainly have a conspiracy worthy of a movie. According to a letter sent to the British government, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower covered up a UFO sighting during World War II in an effort to prevent mass chaos.

Leading a world power during wartime certainly means that there’s going to be a need to maintain classified information. Despite anyone’s best efforts, not every secret remains a secret and the English Bulldog and Ike kept a mammoth one for decades.

The Daily Telegraph explains that Churchill is reported to “have made the orders during a secret war meeting with U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower, the then commander of the Allied Forces, at an undisclosed location in America during the latter part of the conflict.” He ordered that the information remain a secret for a period of 50 years.

United Kingdom’s National Archives released thousands of documents related to the sighting of unidentified flying objects on Wednesday.

A letter sent in 1999 by an unnamed person from Leicester, England, relayed a story he was told by his mother, which came from his grandfather, who claimed to have witnessed the alleged cover-up.

“It is claimed that my grandfather, [REDACTED} was present during a debate between Winston Churchill and Mr. Eisenhower during World War II involving making a decision about an unexpected incident,” the letter states, dated Sept 20, 1999.

The cover-up revolves around an incident off the English coast and the a Royal Air Force bomber crew, which was returning from a “photographic mission” in either Germany or France.

“The aircraft was intercepted by an object of unknown origin,” the letter explains, “which matched course and speed with the aircraft for a time and then underwent an extremely rapid acceleration away.”

According to the letter, the grandfather who witnessed the conversation heard Churchill state: “This event should be immediately classified since it would create mass panic amongst the general population and destroy one’s belief in the Church.”

The Kroog Versus Rep. Paul Ryan

Posted by Zandar

I've said on a number of occasions that the GOP's "budget man" Paul Ryan is full of crap, and today Paul Krugman takes aim.

Mr. Ryan has become the Republican Party’s poster child for new ideas thanks to his “Roadmap for America’s Future,” a plan for a major overhaul of federal spending and taxes. News media coverage has been overwhelmingly favorable; on Monday, The Washington Post put a glowing profile of Mr. Ryan on its front page, portraying him as the G.O.P.’s fiscal conscience. He’s often described with phrases like “intellectually audacious.”

But it’s the audacity of dopes. Mr. Ryan isn’t offering fresh food for thought; he’s serving up leftovers from the 1990s, drenched in flimflam sauce.

Mr. Ryan’s plan calls for steep cuts in both spending and taxes. He’d have you believe that the combined effect would be much lower budget deficits, and, according to that Washington Post report, he speaks about deficits “in apocalyptic terms.” And The Post also tells us that his plan would, indeed, sharply reduce the flow of red ink: “The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan would cut the budget deficit in half by 2020.”

But the budget office has done no such thing. At Mr. Ryan’s request, it produced an estimate of the budget effects of his proposed spending cuts — period. It didn’t address the revenue losses from his tax cuts.
The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center has, however, stepped into the breach. Its numbers indicate that the Ryan plan would reduce revenue by almost $4 trillion over the next decade. If you add these revenue losses to the numbers The Post cites, you get a much larger deficit in 2020, roughly $1.3 trillion.

And that’s about the same as the budget office’s estimate of the 2020 deficit under the Obama administration’s plans. That is, Mr. Ryan may speak about the deficit in apocalyptic terms, but even if you believe that his proposed spending cuts are feasible — which you shouldn’t — the Roadmap wouldn’t reduce the deficit. All it would do is cut benefits for the middle class while slashing taxes on the rich.

And I do mean slash. The Tax Policy Center finds that the Ryan plan would cut taxes on the richest 1 percent of the population in half, giving them 117 percent of the plan’s total tax cuts. That’s not a misprint. Even as it slashed taxes at the top, the plan would raise taxes for 95 percent of the population.

Finally, let’s talk about those spending cuts. In its first decade, most of the alleged savings in the Ryan plan come from assuming zero dollar growth in domestic discretionary spending, which includes everything from energy policy to education to the court system. This would amount to a 25 percent cut once you adjust for inflation and population growth. How would such a severe cut be achieved? What specific programs would be slashed? Mr. Ryan doesn’t say. 

Yeah that's right, cut taxes in half for the wealthiest Americans and make the rest of us pay for it in higher taxes and a massive spending cut across the board in all government services...and all that would actually make the deficit worse than under Obama's proposed plan because of the sheer size of the tax cuts for the most wealthy Americans.

That's what you have to look forward to under the Republicans:  Redistribution of wealth to the richest 1% of Americans.  Supply-side foolishness at its worst.  The party that created the worst bubble economy in history and plunged us into a near-depression wants to roll us back to the 1920's again, at levels of excess for the rich that make the Gilded Age look like poverty.

That's your GOP economic plan, folks.  They think you're stupid enough to believe them when they raid the treasury for trillions.

Krugman: This New Republican "Roadmap For America's Future" Budget Plan Is A Fraud

Republicans have seized on a new budget plan put forth by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as the answer to our debt and deficit crisis.

We obviously don't have to tell you what the plan calls for: Massive tax cuts for the rich and massive cuts in government spending.

But what has most irritated liberal Paul Krugman about the plan is that, even though Republicans are billing it as the answer to our our deficit "apocalypse," it won't cut the deficit at all.
And how has Rep. Ryan gotten everyone so excited about the deficit-cutting prowess of a plan that won't cut the deficit at all?

He only asked the Congressional Budget Office to run the numbers on his proposed spending cuts, not on the combined impact of his spending cuts AND his revenue cuts (via the massive tax cuts to the rich). And the media apparently fell for this.

When you look at the spending and revenue cuts together, the deficit doesn't change much under the "Roadmap For America's Future." Rich people just get to keep more of their incomes and they don't have to experience the mortification of watching their confiscated salaries being used to pay for food, education, healthcare, and so forth for the poor. (And, yes, for appalling government waste and pork projects that should be slashed immediately.)

Here's Krugman:

The [Washington Post] tells us that [Ryan's] plan would, indeed, sharply reduce the flow of red ink: “The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan would cut the budget deficit in half by 2020.”

But the budget office has done no such thing. At Mr. Ryan’s request, it produced an estimate of the budget effects of his proposed spending cuts — period. It didn’t address the revenue losses from his tax cuts.

The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center has, however, stepped into the breach. Its numbers indicate that the Ryan plan would reduce revenue by almost $4 trillion over the next decade. If you add these revenue losses to the numbers The Post cites, you get a much larger deficit in 2020, roughly $1.3 trillion.

And that’s about the same as the budget office’s estimate of the 2020 deficit under the Obama administration’s plans.

Read the whole thing >

By Henry Blodget

Pentagon Demands Wikileaks 'Returns' Leaked Documents; Does It Not Know How Digital Documents Work?

rom the let-me-'splain-technology-to-you dept

Well, this is just bizarre. The Department of Defense is apparently demanding that Wikileaks "return" the US gov't documents it has:

"We want whatever they have returned to us and we want whatever copies they have expunged," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters today at a news briefing.

"We demand that they do the right thing," he said. "If doing the right thing is not good enough for them, then we will figure out what alternatives we have to compel them to do the right thing."

First of all, it's kind of laughable to think about "returning" digital documents. That's... um... not how technology works. You would think that the Defense Department with all their high tech doodads and missiles and stuff would understand that. Second, Wikileaks is not a US organization, so it's not clear what jurisdiction actually applies here. Really, this is all just posturing. The Pentagon knows that Wikileaks isn't going to "return" or "expunge" any documents. The reason for making this statement is basically a way to fire a "warning shot" at Wikileaks, which is sort of fitting for an old military mindset.

But, of course, it's about as far from the right response as you can possibly think of these days. In making such a declaration, it not only does more to legitimize and promote Wikileaks, but to alert plenty of others that the Pentagon is actually scared of Wikileaks. Demanding the documents be returned obviously won't lead to that result, but it will actually give Wikileaks much more prominence, and anyone thinking of leaking secret gov't documents will immediately think of Wikileaks first.

Wyclef Jean Announces Official Bid for Haitian Presidency

The rumors are true: Wyclef Jean is officially running for the Haitian presidency. The 40-year-old singer-turned-politician announced his bid earlier this week, after talk surfaced of his involvement in the upcoming elections.


The former Fugees member has been a staunch supporter of his native Haiti, acting as the spokesman for the country and aid organizer following the earthquake that destroyed residents’ homes and spirits on January 12. After numbers showed more than 200,000 people were killed and left homeless, Wyclef knew he had to get more involved.

“The suffering of the people of Haiti, the youth of Haiti—which is the majority of the population—can’t take another five years of the corruption that’s been going on for the past 200 years. This is why I’m running,” Jean tells PEOPLE magazine.

Some may take the “Gone Till November” hitmaker’s running as a joke, but he assures that he’s a qualified candidate for the position, having lived in Haiti for five years as well as owned property there. Even his Yéle Haiti organization, which he founded in 2005, was created with the hopes of changing the island’s negative landscape.

“Automatically, when people first see me they’re going to say, ‘Isn’t that the guy from the Fugees?’” says Jean. “But I’m hoping that next they’ll say, ‘OK. He knows what he’s talking about.’”
–Georgette Cline

July Employment Report: 12K Jobs ex-Census, 9.5% Unemployment Rate

by CalculatedRisk on 8/06/2010 08:30:00 AM

From the BLS:

Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 131,000 in July, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Federal government employment fell, as 143,000 temporary workers hired for the decennial census completed their work. Private-sector payroll employment edged up by 71,000.

Census 2010 hiring decreased 143,000 in July. Non-farm payroll employment increased 12,000 in July ex-Census. Also June was revised down sharply to 267,000 221,000 jobs lost (revised from 125,000 jobs lost).

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the unemployment rate and the year over year change in employment vs. recessions.

Nonfarm payrolls decreased by 131 thousand in July. The economy has lost 52 thousand jobs over the last year, and 7.7 million jobs since the recession started in December 2007.

Ex-Census hiring, the economy added 12,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate was steady at 9.5 percent.

The second graph shows the job losses from the start of the employment recession, in percentage terms (as opposed to the number of jobs lost).

The dotted line is ex-Census hiring. The two lines will rejoin later this year when the Census hiring is unwound.

For the current employment recession, employment peaked in December 2007, and this recession is by far the worst recession since WWII in percentage terms, and 2nd worst in terms of the unemployment rate (only early '80s recession with a peak of 10.8 percent was worse).

This is a very weak report, especially considering the downward revision to June. The participation rate declined again, and that is why the unemployment rate was steady - and that is bad news. I'll have much more soon ...

THE FORGOTTEN HOLOCAUST REMEMBERED

Anniversary of Hiroshima Bombing

The United States dropped the first atomic bomb used in warfare on Hiroshima, Japan. An estimated 140,000 died from the immediate effects of this bomb and tens of thousands more died in subsequent years from burns and other injuries, and radiation-related illnesses. Pres. Harry Truman ordered the use of the weapon in hopes of avoiding an invasion of Japan to end the war, and the presumed casualties likely to be suffered by invading American troops.The weapon, “Little Boy,” was delivered by a B-29 Superfortress nicknamed the Enola Gay, based on the island of Tinian, and piloted by Col. Paul W. Tibbets.

On August 6, 1995 up to 50,000 people attended a memorial service commemorating Hiroshima Peace Day on the 50th anniversary of the first atomic bombing.

The Day the Sun Rose Twice

As if that wasn’t enough…..
On August 9, 1945

The second atomic bomb, “Fatman,” was dropped on the arms-manufacturing and key port city of Nagasaki. The plan to drop a second bomb was to test a different design rather than one of military necessity. The Hiroshima weapon was a gun type, the Nagasaki weapon an implosion type, and the War Department wanted to know which was the more effective design.

Responsibility for the timing of the second bombing had been delegated by Pres. Harry Truman before the Hiroshima attack to Col. Paul W. Tibbets, the commander of the 509th Composite Group on Tinian, one of the Northern Mariana Islands in the western Pacific. Scheduled for August 11 against Kokura, the raid was moved forward to avoid a five-day period of bad weather forecast to begin on August 10. English translation of leaflet air-dropped over Japan after the first bomb [excerpt]: “We are in possession of the most destructive explosive ever devised by man. A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2000 of our giant B-29s can carry on a single mission. This awful fact is one for you to ponder and we solemnly assure you it is grimly accurate.”

Of the 195,00 population of the city (many of its children had been evacuated due to bombing in the days just prior), 39,000 died and 25,000 were injured, and 40% of all residences were damaged or destroyed.

“What on earth has happened?” said my mother, holding her baby tightly in her arms. “Is it the end of the world?”Sachiko Yamaguchi (nine years old at the time of the bombing).

hear an eyewitness account of this terrible event

Photographic exhibit of the aftermath

 

Jonah Raskin is a professor at Sonoma State University and the author of The Mythology of Imperialism and Field Days.

The Implications of Elena Kagan, Nascent Supreme Court Justice

"Obama Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan was confirmed by the Senate this afternoon."

Today’s yes votes included Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the lone Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee to support Kagan when the panel recommended the nomination to the full Senate on a 13-6 vote.

What are the ramifications of Kagan's confirmation?

 3   She believes that the government can abitrarily ban books and movies:

Elena Kagan argued on behalf of Citizens United essentially stating it would not be a violation of the First Amendment to have movies or even books banned. Of course, she only meant certain movies/books for specific times, but even so, I believe the point remains... all tyrants find a pretext for their tyranny. That tyranny may even begin with a humble, caring act, but one day we awake to find we have lost all freedom. When it comes to our rights, the freedom of speech is not one I am willing to mess around with. I could never support a Supreme Court nominee like Elena Kagan.

 2   She does not believe in The Bill of Rights -- and, in particular, the Second Amendment:

Kagan has spent her professional career implementing anti-gun initiatives as a clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall, as counsel for the Clinton Administration and as President Obama’s Solicitor General. Furthermore, Kagan’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee confirms a hostility to the idea that the 2nd Amendment is an individual right of all Americans incorporated against state action restricting that right. The fact of the matter is that Elena Kagan will vote to uphold every local, state and federal restriction of the right of Americans to 'keep and bear Arms...'

...When Kagan served the Clinton Administration, she showed a strong hostility to gun rights. The L.A. Times reported on may 11th of this year that Kagan “drafted an executive order restricting the importation of certain semiautomatic assault rifles.” Kagan’s political activism in implementing a gun control agenda was a political act, yet this nominee has yet to explain her constitutional justification for that executive order.

 1   She believes the federal government has unlimited power over the individual:

On Tuesday evening, Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) posed a hypothetical question to Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan: If Congress passed a law that said Americans "have to eat three vegetables and three fruits, every day ... does that violate the Commerce Clause?"

"Sounds like a dumb law," Kagan replied.

"Yeah, I got one that's real similar to it that I think is equally dumb," Coburn shot back, referring to Obamacare's mandate requiring individuals to buy health insurance. "I'm not going to mention which one it is."

Kagan wouldn't say whether or not she believes the Commerce Clause allows the federal government to pass a law requiring Americans to eat fruits and vegetables.

By Doug Ross