Author: Andrew Sullivan

He's a nineteen-year-old up against one of the most powerful and easily the most famous celebrity in Alaska. No wonder he wants a little sunlight:

Johnston fought to allow the custody matter to unfold in public, saying in a sworn statement that doing so would help put everyone on best behavior. He noted that Van Flein also represents Sarah Palin.

"I know that public scrutiny will simplify this matter and act as a check against anyone's need to be overly vindictive, aggressive or malicious, not that Bristol would ever be that way, nor that I would. But her mother is powerful, politically ambitious and has a reputation for being extremely vindictive," Johnston said in his affidavit. "So, I think a public case might go a long way in reducing Sarah Palin's instinct to attack."

Johnston said he didn't want to hurt or embarrass his son — or Bristol. He thinks Sarah Palin, not Bristol, is acting with "sheer malice," Butler wrote in a court filing.

"He feels Sarah Palin, through her lawyer, under the guise of Bristol Palin's name, would run roughshod over his very bones," Butler wrote.

Bristol Palin responded in a sworn statement that Johnston's assertions and fears about vindictiveness and meddling are off base.

"None of this is true; my mother is not involved in this case," except as a grandmother, she said in her statement.

A reader writes:

I think you need to reevaluate your perspective on Napolitano. I'm certainly no fan of policies of the institutions she heads, for all the reasons and more that Goldberg posted about, but for the very same reasons I find the call for her resignation to be misplaced.

The core problem with calling this a "failure" is that the system that "failed" wasn't setup to detect this attack. Sure, the intent is there, but no one (well, almost no one) ever wants an attack to succeed, so that's not saying much. But none of the procedures in place were designed to stop this attack.

Therefore none of them failed.

The complaints about the warning from the father are similarly off-base. 

I don't know how many warnings DHS handles a say, but I'd guess it is easily in the hundreds. No doubt, the vast majority are vague, and the target likely harmless. The father, as far as I can tell, had no specific information, just rumors and possibilities. No doubt, DHS does not have the resources to follow such leads. Nor should they, least we fall into a police state. No security system is perfect. Trying to make such a system will only lead to completely horrendous procedures.

DHS has an impossible job. If the head of DHS has to step down everytime a terrorist gets through the current security measures that job will only become even harder.

He was detained again yesterday by the thugs who run Iran. Here’s a refresher on who he is. Here’s a clip from the Daily Show last June, when Yazdi was previously dragged into jail:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Ebrahim Yazdi’s Arrest
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Pray for him and all those patriots now facing unimaginable fear in the jails of this thugocracy.

Yes, the Dish's reach is wide:

I'm a regular reader of your blog; a Nigerian who lives in Canada, and I am currently spending the Christmas holiday in Nigeria for the first time in years.

The reaction here to the Christmas day would-be bomber of NWA Umar Abdul Mutallab has been one of mixed anger and embarrassment. There's no doubt that its an isolated incident. Never before has Nigeria been remotely linked with "terrorism" or "suicide bombing". My dad did not even believe that the boy was indeed Nigerian, pointing out his generic-sounding Arabic name, until more details and photographs began to surface.

Nigeria is known for various things, ranging from Nobel-laureates to 419 Internet scams, oil-exportation to occasional violent crime, but suicide-bombing has never been imaginable. The news stations here show people demanding that he be "done away with" or "given what he deserves". A senator even released a statement saying that he be disciplined according to the US Justice system.

Although Nigeria is generally a diverse, secular country; people here are very religious. The South is full of Christians who do like to party; while the more conservative North is full of Muslims, who are generally moderate, but for some regions where the more extreme muslims reside, and Sharia is practised.

The interesting thing about Mutallab is that, like most Nigerians, he shouldnt have any beef with America. Both countries get along fine, and just a couple of weeks ago, American artists like 50 Cent, Keri Hilson, and Ciara were in Nigeria for a couple of concerts. The common denominator between this very unlikely UK-educated wannabe-terrorist and the stereotypical terrorist we have become used to is plain and simple: religious fundamentalism. It is very dangerous, and as long as it exists, it will spur any nut (Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Arab, Black, White, British, Nigerian, or Chinese) to do crazy things.

A reader writes:

I agree with your other attorney reader that there isn’t much terribly odd in the list of pleadings, particularly given the background population (i.e., the former Governor of Alaska). I wanted to clarify that I expect the motion for a “protective order” in this context was not from Levi, but from publication of the pleadings.

I am not admitted in Alaska, and without researching the rules used there, I cannot cite them, but given the other documents filed concurrently with the motion, that is my belief. Had Van Flein sought to “protect” if you will from Levi, the motion would most likely have been for a “restraining order.” The term of art “protective order” generally denotes the protection of information, contained in documents, and that use is consistent with the motion for proceeding under pseudonyms. It can be confusing to the lay public as restraining orders are often colloquially referred to as “protective orders,” and the term is indeed used that way legally in some jurisdictions. However, traditionally the term refers to protection of documents, and I am reasonably certain that is its use in the case known in Alaskan courts as 3PA-09-02261CI Palin, Bristol vs. Johnston, Levi.

With respect to this, a reader asks:

"Is that a bomb in your pants or are you just happy to see 30 virgins?"

It's classic Palin – seeking first of all to get sole custody of Tripp Johnston-Palin for Bristol from his father, and doing it in secret. Johnston lawyer Rex Butler had the right response to that:

"Simply put, this matter is public in nature, the courts are not refuges for the scions of the elite to obtain private dispensation of their legal matters because the public at large has an interest in the proceedings."

We sure do. And this is the kind of pressure being put on Levi, as he tells the world he has something "huge" on the former governor and beauty queen:

"I do not feel protected against Sarah Palin in a closed proceeding," Johnston said in an affidavit accompanying Butler's filings. "I hope that if it is open she will stay out of it. … I think a public case might go a long way in reducing Sarah Palin's instinct to attack and allow the real parties in this litigation, Bristol and I, to work things out a lot more peacefully than we could if there is any more meddling from Sarah Palin."

Johnston's affidavit did not disclose exactly what "meddling," if any, the former governor has engaged in during the custody case's brief lifetime; however, he theorized that the closed proceedings might be intended to conceal some "fairly aggressive" tactics.

I'm not sure why Palin wants a knock-down drag-out fight with the father of her grandson, but she acts so often out of spite, anger and with no solid grasp of the full consequences you never know what she might do next. It sure reveals her invitation to Thanksgiving on Oprah as a total lie.

This footage from Sunday shows the dramatic standoff that led to the gruesome killing of this protestor. Discretion advised:

(Hat tip: Mackey)

EA:

Saham News reports that Mehdi Karoubi, attending an Ashura mourning ceremony with his family, was attacked by plainclothes militia as he left the mosque. Karoubi’s car was attacked and vandalised, breaking the front windscreen, before onlookers intervened.