Dan Cooper, de Gaulle hitman and hijacker

This French cartoon, penned by Belgian Albert Weinberg, holds the key to political assassinations in the 1960s, de Gaulle's exit from NATO, a mysterious 1971 hijacking and the ascendancy of Texas oilmen at the expense of Franco-German companies.

Court rules for Franken in contested election

ST. PAUL, Minn.--After months of delay and bluster from former Senator Coleman, the Minnesota Supreme Court moments ago ruled in favor of Al Franken. Governor Pawlenty has said previously that he would seat Mr. Franken if the state's highest court rules in his favor. Franken will be the mythical 60th vote and help Democrats in tight situations as Senators Kennedy and Byrd are rarely in chambers due to medical conditions. While this decision is great, it is unfortunate that Mr. Coleman dragged his feet instead of graciously conceding in the days after he knew that Franken had the votes to win.

Pakistan's allies draw Indian military to China border

NEW DELHI--Military sources tell The Schadenfreude Post that Western nations are cooperating with China to relieve pressure on Pakistan's border by drawing Indian forces to its disputed border with China; thus easing pressure on the Zardari government to focus its attention on defeating Taliban forces in the lawless Western provinces. News reports are reporting that an Indian Air Force plan is missing at the China front. Sources say that the United States and China, two long-time Pakistan allies, are attempting to support the Pakistan military by relieving pressure on the Indian border. The strategy appears to be working.

West, Gulf States are winners in Lebanon

BEIRUT--The victory of Harari's March 14th Alliance over Hezbollah-backed candidates in Lebanon's June 7th election is a major victory for the West and moderate Sunni Gulf States. From a strategic view, the methods used by the United States and Saudi Arabia to neutralize Hezbollah's grassroots support offer proof that diplomatic activity, accompanied by financial, military and intelligence support, are valuable tools to neutralize bad actors without using the heavy hand (e.g., Iraq) which creates blow back on America's long term interests. We got it right in Lebanon and the democratically elected government is slowly rebuilding the damaged nation and replacing chaotic militias and NGOs with governmental institutions. Hopefully, we will learn from this victory.

Bill Maher skewers Republican nail-biters

PASADENA, U.S.A.--Political pundit and provocateur Bill Maher offers a cogent, if snarky, analysis of why Republicans are acting so peculiar with regard to President Obama--they are out of touch with reality.

The conservative base is absolutely apoplectic because, because ... well, nobody knows. They're mad as hell, and they're not going to take it anymore. Even though they're not quite sure what "it" is. But they know they're fed up with "it," and that "it" has got to stop.

The truth is that the right flank of social issue Republicans are not so much concerned with what Obama HAS done, they are apoplectic about what he MIGHT do. They worry about tax increases when he just lowered the taxes for at least 95 percent of them. They worry that he will take away their guns when he has repeatedly declined to re-up the Assault Gun ban.

The GOP base is convinced that Obama is going to raise their taxes, which he just lowered. But, you say, "Bill, that's just the fringe of the Republican Party." No, it's not. The governor of Texas, Rick Perry, is not afraid to say publicly that thinking out loud about Texas seceding from the Union is appropriate considering that ... Obama wants to raise taxes 3% on 5% of the people? I'm not sure exactly what Perry's independent nation would look like, but I'm pretty sure it would be free of taxes and Planned Parenthood. And I would have to totally rethink my position on a border fence.

I might have to agree with Mr. Maher's ambivalence about the fence.

Loser Norm Coleman should go quietly into the night

Politico is reporting that the still contested 2008 election of Al Franken to the U.S. Senate may drag on to the fall, as knucklehead Norm Coleman refuses to accept the will of people and, instead, chooses to use procedural manoeuvring to prevent the Senate from operating at full capacity.

When Republicans used fake riots (by Republican staffers flown in from Washington) to lay siege to vote centers in 2000, manipulation of ballot boxes and suspicious maneuvering from the Republican Secretary of State, the Republican mantra was that Vice President Gore should concede for the good of the country. Robert Kennedy Jr. documented how the 2004 election was stolen as well. We know how that race ended and we also know the consequences that decision had on our democratic institutions and Constitution.

We now have another contested election and Texas Senator John Cornyn is threatening "WW III" if Democrats seat Franken before Coleman has a chance to play out the procedural tactics to their conclusion.

Now is the time for former Norm Coleman to concede the election and go gracefully into retirement. Comity and patriotism should dictate no less. The memory of Senator Paul Wellstone's sweat and blood remains quietly in the background. His honor deserves no less than the speedy resolution of this farce.

Speaker Pelosi knew about Harman wiretap

WASHINGTON--House Speaker Nancy Pelosi admitted today that she was briefed years ago about a wiretap of a suspected Israeli spy; one who allegedly pressured Congresswoman Jane Harman to help stave off an FBI prosecution of two American Israel PAC lobbyists for espionage. In the NSA-intercepted call, the spy allegedly offered to get Harman the sought-after post of Intelligence Committee chairmanship in return for helping the AIPAC lobbyists.

Ultimately, Pelosi denied Harman the Chairmanship, presumably because of personal animosity. Today's revelations, however, seem to indicate that the chairmanship denial may have been partially a result of the NSA intercept.

Congresswoman Harman denies the accusations and has requested that Attorney General Holder release any transcripts of the purported phone conversation. She also denies contacting any relevant public officials in support of the two AIPAC lobbyists. The New York Times is reporting that former Attorney General Gonzalez allegedly quashed an FBI investigation of Harman's intercepted call. ABC is reporting today that the case against Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman may be dismissed in the near future.

What is forgotten in the immediate scrutiny of the situation is that Rosen and Weissman were originally arrested after meeting with Pentagon analyst Lawrence Franklin, who was closely associated for neo-conservative diehards working as civilians in the Pentagon. Was Franklin a conduit of secret information from Vice President Cheney to contravene the Joint Chiefs and Executive Department by passing secret intelligence on Iran to support Israel's proposed attack on the Persian nation's nuclear facilities? If the case is dropped, we may never know the truth.