Smithsonian To Remove Offensive Video

Bucking to pressure by conservatives, the Smithsonian will remove a four-minute video that contained offensive images.

Martin Sullivan, director of the museum, said the video by David Wojnarowicz shows images that “may be” offensive to some.

“I regret that some reports about the exhibit have created an impression that the video is intentionally sacrilegious,” the statement read. “In fact, the artists’s intention was to depict the suffering of an AIDS victim. It was not the museum’s intention to offend. We are removing the video today. The museum’s statement at the exhibition’s entrance, ‘This exhibition contains mature themes,’ will remain …

Mike Huckabee Wants Leaker Of Cables to WikiLeaks Executed

Someone is running for president! Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee says whoever leaked the information to WikiLeaks committed treason and should be executed, claiming American lives were put at risk.

“They’ve put relationships that will take decades to rebuild at risk, and they knew full well that they were handling sensitive documents, they were entrusted and anyone who had access to that level of information was not only a person who understood what their rules were, but they also signed under oath a commitment that they would not violate it. They did. And I believe they have committed treason …

Conservatives To Push For Constitutional Amendment That States Can Supersede Federal Laws

Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Jim Howell is promoting a constitutional amendment that would allow a state to override any federal law it doesn’t like. And Howell, appearing with Georgetown Law Professor Randy Barnett on Judge Andrew Napolitano’s Fox Business Network show, says he has incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on his side.

The pair say the plan is a response to the federal overreach created by “two ‘progressive’ constitutional amendments adopted in 1913″ — the 16th Amendment creating a federal income tax and the 17th Amendment allowing for the direct election of U.S. Senators, which were previously …

On Tuesday’s Radio Show…

• Compromise on Cuts? Alan weighs in on the debate over extending tax reductions for the rich.

• Former Gov. Jim McGreevey (D-NJ) joins Alan to discuss the Pentagon report on overturning Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

• Restaurateur Bobby Egan, author of Eating with the Enemy, tells Alan how he engaged in diplomacy with North Korea from his New Jersey “BBQ shack.”…

Conservatives Outraged By Smithsonian Art Exhibit (UPDATED)

Conservatives want an investigation and are threatening to pull funding because of an exhibit at the Smithsonian that features homoerotic art, an image of Ellen DeGeneres grabbing her breasts, and a video of Jesus on a crucifix covered in ants. Congressman Jack Kingston of Georgia wants to look at where the money is coming from.

“If they’ve got money to squander like this – of a crucifix being eaten by ants, of Ellen DeGeneres grabbing her breasts, men in chains, naked brothers kissing – then I think we should look at their budget.”

The video, “A Fire in My Belly,” is included …

Federal Judge Blocks Oklahoma Ban On Shariah Law

A federal judge says an Oklahoma constitutional amendment introduced by Republican State Representative Rex Duncan (pictured) meant to ban courts from considering Shariah law in its decisions is likely unconstitutional.

Muslims claim the state is discriminating against their religion, while supporters — many of them Christian conservatives — say the amendment is needed to thwart what they maintain is an effort by radical Muslims to impose Shariah law in the United States.

Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange of Federal District Court in Oklahoma City, however, said in her decision to grant a preliminary injunction on Monday that the measure did not …

Tea Party Leader Wants To Restrict Voting Rights To Property Owners

Tea Party Nation head Judson Phillips pines for the day when there was more restrictive voting, as he seemed to suggest on his radio show. (h/t Think Progress).

PHILLIPS: The Founding Fathers originally said, they put certain restrictions on who gets the right to vote. It wasn’t you were just a citizen and you got to vote. Some of the restrictions, you know, you obviously would not think about today. But one of those was you had to be a property owner. And that makes a lot of sense, because if you’re a property owner you actually have a …

Sen. Mark Pryor Wants To Keep “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”; Says Homosexuality A Sin

Democratic Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor dodged questions from Max Brantley at the Arkansas Times about repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” (and lame duck Senator Blanche Lincoln continued her support for the policy), but Pryor told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette he opposes repeal and thinks homosexuality is a sin. (h/t AMERICABlog)

As Brantley put it:

He’s been fully indoctrinated by the Religious Right’s false arguments — that military chaplains won’t be able to continue to preach morally justifiable discrimination; that gays are just lying in wait to assault straight soldiers if only given the cover of open service. Pryor, at …

Joe Scarborough On Palin: Her Biography Makes Obama’s Look Like Winston Churchill’s

Former Republican congressman and current television host Joe Scarborough has a scathing article at Politico raking Sarah Palin over the coals. Republican leaders, he says, have to “man up” and say publicly what they say in private about what a disaster the former “half-term governor” would be for the party if she ran for president. Other highlights:

WikiLeaks Founder Says Next Doc Dump Will Expose Major Financial Institution

WiliLeaks founder Julian Assange is promising another document release, and this time he says it will reveal secrets of a major financial institution.

In an interview with Forbes published on Monday, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said the site would release tens of thousands of documents in early 2011 that he claimed would be comparable to the Enron trial.

“It will give a true and representative insight into how banks behave at the executive level in a way that will stimulate investigations and reforms, I presume,” he promised.

Assange confirmed to Forbes that the upcoming leaks were about a U.S.-based financial …

WikiLeaks Reveals China Favors Reunited Korea, Lead By Seoul; Calls N. Korea A “Spoiled Child”

Leaked dispatches via WikiLeaks reveal that Beijing is frustrated with North Korea and is distancing itself from that regime.

China is sharply critical of US pressure tactics towards North Korea and wants a resumption of the six-party nuclear disarmament talks. But the Guardian can reveal Beijing’s frustration with Pyongyang has grown since its missile and nuclear tests last year, worries about the economic impact of regional instability, and fears that the death of the dictator, Kim Jong-il, could spark a succession struggle.

China’s moves to distance itself from Kim are revealed in the latest tranche of leaked US embassy cables …