Obama seeks to change crack sentences

By GottaLaff

Crack-ing the whip, finally:

The Obama administration joined a federal judge Wednesday in urging Congress to end a racial disparity by equalizing prison sentences for dealing and using crack versus powdered cocaine.

"Jails are loaded with people who look like me," U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, an African-American, told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing.

Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer said the administration believes Congress' goal "should be to completely eliminate the disparity" between the two forms of cocaine. "A growing number of citizens view it as fundamentally unfair," Breuer testified. [...]

Durbin said more than 81 percent of those convicted for crack offenses in 2007 were African-American, although only about 25 percent of crack cocaine users are African Americans.

Another campaign promise kept:

President Barack Obama had called for such a change while campaigning for the White House. [...]

The Obama administration is also seeking to increase drug treatment, as well as rehabilitation programs for felons after they're released from prison.

From the Dep't. of the Predictable: Lawyer backs off alleged Biden tape

By GottaLaff

Here's the latest about the (original post) latest manufactured scandal:

Washington lawyer Thomas Dunlap says he no longer represents the owner of a tape that purports to show Vice President Joe Biden's daughter snorting cocaine. [...]

Dunlap, a managing partner at Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver, had been trying to sell the tape to British and U.S. news organizations for $250,000-$2 million, the Daily News reported. [...]

Dunlap reportedly broke ties with his client Sunday due to the intense coverage the story has generated, the newspaper said.

In other words, he wasn't willing to risk his career in pursuit of a bogus claim intended to do nothing more than smear the White House.

Update: Inconsistencies Arise Regarding Alleged Ashley Biden Cocaine Tape

By GottaLaff

Commenter Babzter e-mailed me this article. It's in response to my post last night about the allegations of drug use by Ashley Biden. Thank you, Babzter!:

Update 4: Why I think this is a fake: at Daily Dose

Update 3: This is getting weird. Now, the National Enquirer claims the exclusive, but they directly quote Radar's account, and provide no account of having watched the tape themselves.

Update 2: The NY Post's account of what's on the tape differs significantly from Radar's, as do several other important details of the story. The Post describes the woman on the tape, less definitively, as "appear(ing) to resemble the 27-year-old Biden," and say that the woman in the tape uses a red straw, not a rolled-up dollar bill. The Post report also notes the woman shouting profanities, which Radar does not.

According to Radar, the tape was made without the woman's knowledge, but the Post says that she knew she was being taped. Also, the Post reports the asking price at $400k, down from $2 million, and that they didn't purchase the tape.

The most damning fact in the Post report, however, is this:

The shooter claims that he previously tape-recorded Biden at a party in August but was unsuccessful in his attempts to sell that video, they said.

Let's see, inconsistencies, a weaker resemblance, and the NY Post wouldn't buy it? Plus, the guy tried to shop a different tape during the election and couldn't get a bite? I smell fake.

Update: I knew it! Radar has updated its story, identifying the NY newspaper in the running for the tape as the NY Post, publishers of quality smears like the Michelle Obama lobster lie. [...]

Even though there's no proof the person on the tape is Ashley Biden (remember another notable political hoax featuring an Ashley?),this will undoubtedly become a huge story over the course of the week. People everywhere will be asking, "Who is Ashley Biden?"

The author of this piece is saying much of what you and I said last night.

Whatever the true content of the tape, I hope the guy who shot it gets his quarter mil, and buys some warm sushi with it. More to come.

I'll update as more information is made available.

Radar Online: "Vice President Biden’s Daughter Caught Up In Cocaine Scandal"

By GottaLaff

I don't like posting this. It feels creepy. But I posted it, because I'd rather you read it here on a sympathetic site, before she's slimed all over the media. Let's hope this is nothing more than a lame attempt at smearing the Bidens:

An explosive video being shopped to media outlets has plunged the White House and Vice President Joe Biden into a cocaine scandal, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively.

The video shows a woman, who is represented by the seller and his attorneys to be Biden’s daughter Ashley, snorting several lines of cocaine.

The tape has been viewed by a RadarOnline.com freelance reporter who confirms the woman looks identical to Ashley Biden. [...]

[S]everal news organizations have seen the footage.

In addition to RadarOnline.com, representatives for the New York Post, a large British newspaper and the National Enquirer have all viewed the tape. [...]

The tape was shot this year.

On the tape a man cuts up five lines of what is said to be cocaine. The woman who the seller says is Ashley then jokes with the man that the lines aren’t big enough.

The man hands her a rolled-up dollar bill and she proceeds to walk a few steps to a table where the cocaine is cut. She pulls her hair back, bends down and snorts a line.

Four lines of white powdery substance are clearly visible on the table, which is in front of a computer.

After she snorts the first line, the woman said to be Ashley lifts her head and wipes her nose. She then snorts a second and third line before the tape cuts off.

The tape was made without her knowledge. It is being shopped for $250,000.

The events on the tape are represented as taking place at a party in Wilmington, Delaware and the woman said to be Ashley is with a boyfriend.

The cocaine is done amid a party scene with loud music playing and several people talking at the same time.

The tape is approximately two minutes in length. [...]

RadarOnline.com is attempting to reach Ashley Biden for comment.

If true:

--Ashley is not an elected official, yet she will be judged and condemned as if she is, undoubtedly.

--The footage has been shown to the very outlets that will exploit it ad nauseam.

--Think about how the Rushpublics reacted when news came out about the various antics of Jenna and Not Jenna. Of course, they clucked, post-9/11 was no time to dish dirt on the Bush twins.

--Nobody squawked when they found out Bush snorted his way into the presidency.

--Michele Bachmann will demand that Ashley be hunted down.

--I'll be very sad, and will wish her and her family the best.