Tidbits:

FAA Memo: Feds Knew NYC Flyover Would Cause Panic

Threatened Federal Sanctions Against NYPD, Secret Service, FBI & Mayor’s Office If Secret Ever Got Out

Federal officials knew that sending two fighter jets and Air Force One to buzz ground zero and Lady Liberty might set off nightmarish fears of a 9/11 replay, but they still ordered the photo-op kept secret from the public.

In a memo obtained by CBS 2 HD the Federal Aviation Administration’s James Johnston said the agency was aware of “the possibility of public concern regarding DOD (Department of Defense) aircraft flying at low altitudes” in an around New York City. But they demanded total secrecy from the NYPD, the Secret Service, the FBI and even the mayor’s office and threatened federal sanctions if the secret got out.

Obama Gets a ‘D’ on State Secrets from Democratic Senator

President Obama is receiving a “D” for his handling of state secrets in a “rule of law” report card prepared by fellow Democrat Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin senator who heads a subcommittee on the Constitution.

“Restoring the rule of law is not a partisan issue,” Feingold told ABC News. “One hundred days into this administration, it’s appropriate to assess how well the president has done so far. I recognize that some of these issues will take time, but given how important these issues are to the country, Americans deserve a fair assessment of the administration’s progress.”

Limbaugh to Specter: Take McCain Family, Too

Rush Limbaugh thinks erstwhile Republican Arlen Specter should take some “other people who aren’t really Republicans” to the other side of the aisle, CNN reports. “Take McCain and his daughter with you,” a laughing Limbaugh said today. Though he said Specter’s party switch was “ultimately good” because it weeds out false Republicans, “it makes the Senate essentially as big a slam dunk for Obama and the Democrats as the House of Representatives already is.”

Terry McAuliffe holds double digit lead over Brian Moran & Creigh Deeds

A new poll gives Terry McAuliffe a double digit lead over Brian Moran and Creigh Deeds, his Democratic rivals for Governor.

But a majority of likely Democratic voters who responded to the News7 SurveyUSA poll say they may still change their mind.

But the bad news for all of the Democrats, Republican Bob McDonnell leads each of them in general election match-ups, though Deeds is closest with a difference of five percentage points.

Open Thread ~ Post your own tidbit or video in comments (you can now embed youtubes in comments. just paste the youtube link into your comment and wala!)

Taliban Gunmen Brutally Execute Couple for Alleged Adultery (video)

At the Telegraph.co.UK, Saeed Shah reports from Islamabad, Pakistan on Taliban gunmen filmed “executing a surprised couple whom they repeatedly shot for the alleged crime of adultery.” Shah’s report continues after the horrific video posted below:

Their deaths {the couple’s} were squalid, riddled with bullets in a field near their home by Taliban gunmen as the execution was captured on a mobile telephone.

In footage which is being watched with horror by Pakistanis, the couple try to flee when they realise what is about to happen. But a gunman casually shoots the man and then the woman in the back with a burst of gunfire, leaving them bleeding in the dirt.

Moments later, when others in the execution party shout out that they are still alive, he returns to coldly finish them with a few more rounds.

Their “crime” was an alleged affair in their remote mountain village controlled by militants in an area that was only recently under the government’s sway. It was the kind of barbarity that has become increasingly familiar across Pakistan as the Taliban tide has spread.

But this time, with black-turbaned gunmen almost at the gates of Islamabad, the rare footage has shown urban Pakistanis what could now await them.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, has warned that Islamic extremists could take over the nation.

Read more:

Jon Stewart’s Interview with Budget Director Peter Orszag: Laugh while You Cry

Peter Orszag, director of the Congressional Budget Office. Getty Images

Ryan Lizza’s piece in the New Yorker on Jon Stewart’s back and forth with Obama’s budget director Peter Orszag would be funny if it were not so tragic. Lizza reveals Stewart’s cunning as he proceeds to flummox Orszag in the numbers game despite his guest’s intimidating resume, superior height, and pinstriped suit.

Stewart was not satisfied. “Is it hard to talk to someone who doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about?” he said. “Because I’m watching you calculate, like, ‘Am I gonna go second grade on this guy? Do I have to go seventh grade on this guy? How do I do this?’ ” He asked Orszag why the government didn’t just bail out borrowers who have defaulted. “The problem is, if you just focused on the people who defaulted you create this huge incentive to default,” Orszag replied. Stewart looked at Orszag with an astonished grin. Before Stewart could finish pointing out that the government is creating an equally huge incentive by bailing out the financial firms Orszag realized that he had been backed into a corner: “Yeah, none of this is perfect!”

Stewart responded with high-pitched laughter, seeming to suggest that if Obama’s budget director doesn’t know the answer to these questions we are all doomed.

Cross posted at Katalusis.