The Southern California homes of dozens of white supremacists were raided Tuesday as part of a probe into a string of potentially deadly booby trap attacks targeting police officers, authorities said.

Federal and local officers converged on 35 homes and took 16 people into custody in Riverside County for a variety of crimes, including weapons, narcotics and parole violations, Hemet police Capt. Dave Brown said.

Read the rest here.

I’ve worried for some time that even after almost four years in the majority, Congressional Democrats still don’t hold a candle in corruption terms to the Republicans when they were in the majority. Indeed, they’re barely even competing with the Republicans today when they’re in the minority. Happily, New York state Democrats have been able to go a long way toward making up the balance.

Last quarter, Sen. John Ensign raised $50. I’m not abbreviating $50,000. He raised $50. In two contributions from one guy.

Jon Stewart to Fox News: I only hate on you “because you’re truly a terrible, cynical, disingenuous news organization.” Watch.

Whether it’s Muslim spy interns, presidential birth certificates, explaining away slavery or exposing the Census for the Kenyan plot it really is, when it comes to The Crazy ™ these are the folks who serve it up. Meet the House Crazy Caucus, the House Republicans whose names you may not know … but should.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such anemic fund-raising from a sitting senator. In the first quarter of 2010, Sen. John Ensign’s campaign tallied two $25 contributions from a single donor. The embattled Republican is up for re-election in 2012.

President Obama has begun informal one-on-one talks with some of his potential Supreme Court nominees. That and the day’s other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.

The IRS is investigating that credit card unfortunateness with Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio.

This all looks pretty preliminary. But what’s fascinating about this to me is that even if this ended up being profoundly damaging to Rubio, it’s really not clear to me that Crist can stay in the GOP primary. He was already disliked by the right of his party. But he’s now gone so far in tipping his hand about an independent run, I’m not sure there’s any going back.

I’m not quite sure what to make of this. A couple weeks ago our Eric Kleefeld came up with video showing Nevada Senate candidate Sue Lowden suggesting that “bartering” for medical care would be a good way to rein in spiraling health care costs.

I mocked her with the headline: “I bid three chickens for that MRI!” But I sort of figured she’d rethink that plan after her advisors sat her down for a moment and explained the concept of a cash economy or maybe if she found out what ‘barter’ meant. But it turns out that she was serious. Not just serious. She was actually thinking about payment in chickens too.

Yesterday she told a local news program: “I’m telling you that this works. You know, before we all started having health care, in the olden days, our grandparents, they would bring a chicken to the doctor.”

I’m always troubled by these moments when my sarcasm and snark is outpaced by the ugly reality. See the video here.

PS. If you want to hear something really funny. This woman’s probably going to be the freshman senator from Nevada next January. Think she’ll be for repeal? I wager five chickens!

Apparently tired of being a national pinata for birthers and Tea Partiers attacking President Obama the Embassy of Kenya has decided to host their own “Tea Party” up on Capitol Hill — “a proper Kenyan Tea Party on Capitol Hill (one without a political agenda)” — to celebrate their new status as the world’s top exporter of tea.

Kenya’s Deputy Prime Minister, Uhuru Kenyatta, will be hosting the event.