UPDATED: Four Dead, Two Wounded in Seattle, Gunman Ian Stawicki in Dead from Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound to Head (KOMO)

SEATTLE QUADRUPLE MURDER-SUICIDE: Ian Stawicki, 40 of Ellensburg, shot five people, killing three and wounding two, at the Cafe Racer Espresso near the University District Wednesday. He then later killed a woman in downtown Seattle and is now in critical condition at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center after shooting himself in the head on a southwest Seattle street, Q13Fox.com. The Seattle Times is reporting Ian Lee Stawicki’s brother, Andrew Stawicki, 29, of Ellensburg, said was mentally ill. He told the newspaper, ”It’s no surprise to me this happened. We could see this coming. Nothing good is going to come with that much anger inside of you.”

One of the victims of Ian Stawicki’s shooting rampage has been identified as Gloria Leonias (also identified as Gloria Koch), a married mother of two. She worked at Electrical Reps West in Seattle, according to media reports. Koch was confronted in the parking lot of her workplace by Stawicki, after he fled the scene of the first shooting, police said. He shot her in the head and stole her Mercedes-Benz SUV, Q13Fox reports.

It is a sad turn of events that innocent people have lost their lives. So far this year, 20 people have been killed in Seattle. KOMO News reports that just last week Justin Ferrari, a software developer, was killed after being struck by a stray bullet. It is ironic that this story hasn’t made the Drudge Report. I wonder why? Stay tuned. More to follow.

UPDATE#1 (05/31/12):  Ian Stawicki died in the hospital. Also killed are:  Drew Keriakedes and Joseph Vito Albanse, members of the band God’s Favorite Beefcake, KOMO News reports.

Rush Limbaugh Slams Toni Morrison Medal of Freedom Award Over Clinton 'First Black President' Comment (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Rush Limbaugh slams Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Toni Morrison, calling her a Socialist and mocking her comments that former president Bill Clinton was the first black president, Wednes on his syndicated radio show.  It’s actually a little funny that she made those comments years ago, only to accept such an award from the first black president. Here are Rush Limbaugh’s words:

Here’s what Toni Morrison said: “White skin notwithstanding, this is our first black President. Blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children’s lifetime. After all, Clinton displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald’s-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas.”

That woman who said that, who wrote that, got the Presidential Medal of Freedom yesterday.  And she’s not even right.  She said blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children’s lifetimes.  Sorry, Obama came along and rendered her wrong.  Not going there, Snerdley.  You can say it all you want.  I’m not going there.  Snerdley wants me to zero in on the blacker than any actual black person, and he thinks the jury is still out on this.  No, no, no.  All I know is that all Bill Clinton had to do to qualify as the first black president is to display almost every trope of blackness.  Here is a civil rights leader and this is what being black is to her.  Single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald’s-and-junk-food-loving boy.  And you throw in from Arkansas.  And she wins the Presidential Medal of Freedom, along with Dolores Huerta. Source

The so-called love affair many blacks had with former president Bill Clinton ended during the 2008 presidential campaign when many perceived his “fairy-tale” remark about the Obama campaign as a denigration of then presidential-candidate Barack Obama. Toni Morrison’s comment that Bill Clinton was the face of the black experience in this country wasn’t completely wrong, particularly of those then and today who are growing up in a single-parent household and many born poor. There is nothing socialistic or racist about that.  Call Bill Clinton what ever you want, he knew what it was like to grow up poor. Lost on Rush Limbaugh is the fact that Toni Morrison has enriched many lives with her books and in her classes.

Polish PM Donald Tusk Demands Obama Apology for "Polish Death Camps" Comment (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

President Obama pulls a Marion Barry by insulting Poles with his reference to Nazi death camps as “Polish death camps.” President Obama was referring to the Nazi facility used to process Jews for extermination as a “Polish death camp.” The White House later said Obama “misspoke” and expressed “regret.” Now Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk is demanding an apology, saying Obama’s words hurt all Poles and he expected more from Washington D.C. than just “regret.”

Wow, that must have been a kick in the gut of  family of Jan Karski, a former Polish underground officer who was honored with a posthumous award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for providing early eyewitness accounts of Nazi Germany’s genocide of European Jews. This error was just awful. I guess that’s what happens when there’s no teleprompter in the room.

I will admit this gaffe was awful. Really awful and Obama should be asked about it at the next press conference or other event where journalists are present. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski tweeted: “The White House will apologize for this outrageous error. It’s a pity that this important ceremony was upstaged by ignorance and incompetence.”

Statement from Prime Minister Donald Tusk:

“I am convinced that our American friends can today allow themselves a stronger reaction than a simple expression of regret from the White House spokesman — a reaction more inclined to eliminate once and for all these kinds of errors.”

Niles Gardiner (Glenn Beck chum) had this to say in his U.K. Telegraph column:

President Obama has a long track record of insulting the Poles. In 2010 he chose to play golf on the day of the funeral of the Polish President Lech Kaczynski, the Polish First Lady, and 94 senior officials who perished in the Smolensk air disaster. Eight months earlier he humiliated Warsaw by pulling out of the agreement over Third Site missile defence installations in Poland and the Czech Republic.

You will recall Marion Barry referred to Poles as “polacks” during his apology to the Korean and Filippino community for racially-insensitive comments he made. Wow, and people think VP Joe Biden is the only gaffe-machine in this administration….

Obama Campaign Assaults Mitt Romney's Record as Governor, But What About Obama's Record on Economy?(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Obama reelection campaign is taking a swing at Mitt Romney in a new way by focusing on his mediocre record as governor of the state of Massachusetts, ABC News reports:

The new effort focuses on Romney’s record as governor “and the campaign promises Democrats say he left unfulfilled. Team Obama will point to Romney’s rhetoric on job creation, size of government, education, deficits and taxes during the 2002 gubernatorial campaign and draw parallels with his presidential stump speeches of 2012. The goal is to illustrate that Romney has made the same promises before with unimpressive results.”

[...]

He also opposes tax increases of any kind in his bid for the White House, writing in a USA Today op-ed earlier this year, “As president, I will firmly oppose tax increases.”

But as Factcheck.org notes, the “Massachusetts Department of Administration and Finance says that fee increases during Romney’s tenure added up to $260 million per year, with another $174 million raised from closing some corporate tax ‘loopholes.’ The independent Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation puts the revenue total of fee hikes and tax loophole-closings at between $740 and $750 million a year.”

Romney’s claim that he stood by a no-new-taxes pledge as governor was judged by the libertarian Cato institute to be “mostly a myth.”

Similarly, Romney pledged as a candidate ten years ago to reduce the size of government; on the campaign trail he says he achieved that.  ”We didn’t just slow the rate of our government, we actually cut it,” he told CBN earlier this month. It’s true that Romney cut 603 jobs from of agencies under his direct control, as the Boston Globe noted in 2007 — but overall the size of government grew.

Um, be that as it may, mediocre governor and all, that could backfire on Obama, since many will say he has been horrible on the economy, though he inherited some of the mess. He owns it now and doesn’t have much to show for it. I would venture to say, if the unemployment level is still hovering above nine percent come September, then Obama should be very worried about losing the election.

Greg Sargent: “Obama needs to persuade voters to do more than simply accept Romney as an alternative to the economic status quo who’s worth taking a flyer on. He needs to get them to look past general impressions of Romney’s competence and to realize that Romney is offering an actual set of policies and ideas about the economy that have been tried before. His ‘Mr. Fix It’ aura — which is rooted in the pitch that he can translate private sector know-how to the public sector — is belied by his actual record as a public official.”

I am all for hitting Mitt Romney on the issues and the “record” which he claims is second to none, but it can also backfire, thanks to the lackluster economy. Believe me, I am not thrilled with either Obama or Romney and it’s hard for me to say at this juncture that I am squarely behind either of the two men. We are faced with two mediocre choices.

NEWSFLASH:  Justice served after former Liberian President Charles Taylor is sentenced to 50 years in jail for aiding war crimes in Sierra Leone by a UN-backed court in The Hague.

The Romney campaign releases his birth certificate. So, now we have definitive proof that Mitt Romney was born in America but his father was born in Mexico. Um, isn’t there a terrible double standard on Obama’s father being born in Kenya and all the mess that he isn’t a natural born American? How could I forget. Obama is biracial and Mitt Romney is white, so the black guy is always in the wrong.

It is also ironic that the campaign released the birth certificate to Reuters (but Romney won’t releases his tax records) just hours before his fundraiser with carnival barker Donald Trump. Um, is this the long form birth certificate and where’s the proof that this is valid?

The birth certificate of Repbulican presidential hopefull Mitt Romney is pictured in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters May 29, 2012. (Reuters / HANDOUT)

Mitt Romney and his team didn’t release this just because it’s the right thing to do. They released it to continue to appeal to the birther movement and the fringe in the Republican Party who believe Obama was born in Kenya. Despite all his lies, I would have given Mitt Romney a second look as a viable presidential contender, but getting down in the muck is unbecoming. So, is Mitt Romney really a birther or just another political hypocrite?

Former Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) Leaves Democratic Party, Mulling Future Congressional Bid for Republican Party (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Former Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) confirmed on his blog that he’s left the Democratic party that he’s mulling a future bid for Congress as a Republican.

Artur Davis: “If I were to leave the sidelines, it would be as a member of the Republican Party that is fighting the drift in this country in a way that comes closest to my way of thinking: wearing a Democratic label no longer matches what I know about my country and its possibilities.”

Watch out, the Democrats and their supporters are going to call him all kinds of names, including “Judas” and “sell-out.” Personally, I believe he has leaned conservative for a long time and this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. I have voted for many Republican candidates. I don’t consider myself a Democrat or Republican, but my views tend to be more on the conservative side on many issues. Still, some will make the argument that Artur Davis pulled an Arlen Specter and ran to the other side when he was voted out of office. Don’t know what his motivations are, but I’m not surprised.

Miami Causeway Cannibal Rudy Eugene Victim Identified as Ronald Poppo (Miami Herald)

RUDY EUGENE VICTIM IDENTIFIED AS RONALD POPPO:  The victim in the Miami causeway cannibal attack by Rudy Eugene has been identified as 65-year-old Ronald Poppo. Poppo remains in critical condition at Ryder Trauma Center with horrific facial injuries, the Miami Herald reports. How the two men’s paths crossed is still a mystery.  All I can say is that Rudy Eugene’s ex-wife Jenny Ductant dodged a bullet.

Note:  We have seen the gruesome photos of what is left of Ronald Poppo’s face and have decided not to join the fray and run them. 

Cory Booker just pulled a Shirley Sherrod and threw his communications director, Anne Torres, under a bus, following his “nauseating” slam against Obama reelection tactics on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” according to PolitickerNJ.

You will recall Cory Booker said, he found the attack ads about Mitt Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital as “nauseating” and that he felt the same way about the attacks from the right about President Obama’s former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Of course, Booker pulled a Michael Steele and apologized for his remarks and reaffirmed his support of Obama. I would have preferred that Cory Booker stood on principle and stuck to his comments about the nauseating turn both campaigns have taken.

“Effective today, I am resigning from my position as Communications Director,” Torres said in a statement. “It has been a pleasure to serve in this Administration for six years, and as a Newarker, there is no greater reward than to work for the city that you love. I’ve had the opportunity to work with an amazing team, and wish the Mayor the best.” Source: PolitickerNJ

Now Anne Torres is being thrown under a bus for his words. According to PolitickerNJ, “Sources say [Torres’] resignation comes amid internal administration strife in the aftermath of Booker’s appearance on Meet the Press.” My respect for Cory Booker just went down 10 notches and he’s nothing more than a typical and hypocritical politician.

Here’s Anne Torres’ tweet about resignation:

I can’t even describe my time here, it’s been amazing. I’ve worked with the best people, and truly a time I will never forget.

— Anne Torres (@AnneMTorres) May 29, 2012

The rumors are ridiculous..it’s not about MTP..come on folks.

— Anne Torres (@AnneMTorres) May 29, 2012

Um, really? Then what’s this about? Did Anne Torres just decide to resign on a whim?

The American teen (identified as Larry Perry by some media outlets) in whose room Irish exchange student Nicola Furlong was reportedly found unconscious, could face the death penalty for her murder. The teen is suspected of strangling Furlong by cervical compression and sexually assaulting her last Thursday at a high-end hotel in Tokyo after a Nicki Minaj concert.

“Larry Perry” and his friend, hip-hop dancer, James Blackston are currently being held on charges of sexual assault against her friend pal, Sarah Maher, 21. To be exact, both men were charged with “quasi forcible indecency” on Nicola Furlong’s friend – Sarah Maher. The Independent reports Tokyo police say they suspect Ms Furlong and her friend were plied with alcohol or drugs before being raped. The men may be re-arrested on more serious charges once they receive a full autopsy and toxicology reports, the newspaper said.

The Herald reports Nicola Furlong’s body will be returned to her home in Curracleo, CO Wexford, Ireland on Thursday.