Originally by way of Ace 'O Spades

the lawyer for an ex-professor accused of leaving dog feces at a congresswoman's office said her client's actions qualify as protected speech under the First Amendment.

Take one guess the political parties of the professor and the politician, wait for it…

Kathleen Ensz faces a misdemeanor charge of "use of a noxious substance." She is accused of taking dog feces from her backyard, wrapping it in a political mailer from Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, and leaving it at the Republican's office, according to court documents.

Ensz, a Democrat, was angered by repeatedly receiving mailings from Musgrave, the documents said.

Now guess what the ex professor taught…

Ensz, 63, a retired French professor from the University of Northern Colorado…

The AP is reporting that the US has the Mahdi Army under siege in Sadr City.  More here. 

Drudge has a link to Nancy Pelosi telling Diane Sawyer that the Democrats will not block funds to troops in Iraq at the ABC website.  The interview will be shown tomorrow am on Good Morning America sometime between 7 and 9.

Mayor Nickel’s pipe dream for Seattle is nearly buried. Now thanks to the childish stubbornness of the Mayor and the Seattle City Council the funds to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct may be allocated to other things. From the Seattle Times:

Nickels on Wednesday unveiled a new, smaller viaduct proposal that he said would shave $1.2 billion from the $4.6 billion estimated cost of the previously proposed six-lane tunnel.

After a meeting between Nickels, Gov. Christine Gregoire, House Speaker Frank Chopp and other officials, the governor released a statement saying the proposal doesn’t meet her timeline for a Seattle vote on viaduct replacement options. She has said the vote must occur before the Legislature adjourns April 22, but the city proposed an April 24 vote.

The statement also said the assumptions contained in Nickels’ new tunnel plan hadn’t been verified the state Department of Transportation.

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