

Our reporting duo gives us the round down of just what happened at today's pro-diversity 'Uni-Tea' Tea Party rally in Philadelphia.
Jillian Rayfield and I spent the afternoon at Uni-Tea, which organizers billed in part as the tea party reaching out to minorities and inviting them to join the cause. Judging by the low turnout and almost completely white crowd, that goal was not achieved. (Though the tea party leaders behind Uni-Tea say it was, and plan to hold more Uni-Tea events in the future). We'll have a full accounting of the sights and sounds of the afternoon soon.
The most anticipated speaker of the 13-speech program today was Andrew Breitbart, who took the stage near the end of the day. Verbose as always, he gave a rousing speech about the liberal elite and media conspiracy to paint the tea party as racist. There was one topic he wouldn't touch however: Shirley Sherrod. Read our take here.
That 'Uni-Tea Rally' in Philadelphia intended to highlight diversity in the tea party movement? The early reports from our team in the field describe a small, not-very-diverse crowd of 100 or so.
Read our preview of the day's events here. And check back later for updates.
As we reported earlier this month, Tea Partiers are congregating in Philadelphia tomorrow for a 'Uni-Tea Rally' aimed at spotlighting the diversity -- racial and otherwise -- of the Tea Party movement. And TPM's Evan McMorris-Santoro and Jillian Rayfield are going to be there filing live reports (with video) through the day.
Update: Check out our preview of the day's festivities here.
Here's something I've been wondering about.
When I first heard the news that Charlie Rangel was likely to face a "trial" in the House on the 13 violations he's accused of, I remember being sort of surprised. That's not only because I think I didn't realize things had progressed quite that far but because I didn't know that the Ethics Committee held 'trials'. Tonight we learned that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) is going to face a 'trial' as well.
Now, there are a lot of things about Congress I'm no expert on, to put it mildly. But I'd always thought these disciplinary hearings were called 'hearings', not 'trials', which is obviously a more charged word and doesn't seem to really describe what's involved.
I'm not sure quite what to make of this. But on top of Charlie Rangel's now all but certain trial/hearing before the Ethics Committee in September, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) is also being charged with misusing her office and has decided to contest the charges in another trial.
We've now updated our original story from this afternoon on the Portland DA's decision not to prosecute Al Gore. We've added the prosectors' memo, which was obtained by the local media, which makes the prosecutor's decision to drop the case considerably more critical of accuser, Molly Hagerty, than I'd first understood.
Is this the first time for this?
This morning Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) was doing a live radio hit on KFBK back in the district while driving to the Capitol. But he had to cut the interview short when a Virginia police officer pulled him over for speeding. According to the AP listeners could hear the police officer, on air, telling Lundgren to hang up the phone.
Lundgren later explained he'd been driving "probably just slightly over the speed limit."
You may be getting down on the Senate because they couldn't manage to hold a vote Thursday on that jobs bill that Republicans are filibustering. But they did manage to double the penalty for marijuana brownies.
In case you were wondering.
The Portland Oregon DA's office has closed the Al Gore (alleged sex assault) case because "a sustainable criminal case does not exist."
Earlier we reported that Rep. Gene Green (D-TX), who leads the investigative subcommittee of the Ethics Committee, said the body had recommended a 'reprimand' for Charlie Rangel. Now he says he 'misspoke'.
Nope. No idea.
Did you hear that the Zetas drug gang stormed across the US-Mexico border last weekend and seized two ranches near Laredo?
Actually it didn't happen. But is that really a reason not to keep talking about it?
The House Ethics Committee is recommending a formal 'reprimand' of Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY).
In case you missed it yesterday, long-time conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly is telling supporters that President Obama is trying to find more single moms to put on welfare since once "you kick your husband out, you've got to have big brother government to be your provider."
Dems, eager for an issue, are calling on Republicans who've taken Schlafly's money, to renounce her.
My thought: What kind of vitamins is Schlafly taking? And can I have some.
Republicans are in an uproar over federal Judge Susan Bolton's decision to strike down major portions of Arizona's controversial immigration law. But you may have noticed that there hasn't been a lot of criticism of Bolton herself or cries of 'judicial activism', as you normally hear in cases like this.
That's because Bolton has always enjoyed Republican support. And Jon Kyl, Arizona's junior senator, recommended her for her current job in the late 1990s.
You know that yesterday the House Ethics Committee charged Charlie Rangel with 13 ethics violations and now he's scheduled to stand trial in the House.
So just what is he charged with? Our Rachel Slajda brings you the details.
... to bring you this brief interruption of fluff: Pics of the Hudson River Valley venue for Chelsea Clinton's wedding this weekend.
We now return to regular programming.
The ADL -- which, let's remember, is the Anti-Defamation League -- comes out against the so-called Ground Zero Mosque.
The argument, which you can see in the link above, is painful and tortured. We believe in freedom of religion. They have every right to build there. But just this one time, let's make an exception.
Sad.

