Don King is suing ESPN for $2.5 billion, claiming defamation of character.

The suit stems from a SportsCentury segment aired last year that called King "a snake oil salesman, a shameless huckster and worse," and claimed he had killed two people, instead of the one that he was convicted of.

Most of the material in the program had been printed or broadcast earlier about King, who has spent much of his career in court, but he said he had just had enough.

"I just felt that this was the straw that broke the camel's back and I can't take it anymore, and I'm going to fight back," King said at a news conference. "I seek justice."

The suit also says SportsCentury accused King of threatening to break the legs of heavyweight Larry Holmes and of cheating boxer Meldrick Taylor out of $1 million from a fight and then threatening to have Taylor killed.

King has represented fighters from Ali to Mike Tyson, and has been sued by several of them — including a $100 million lawsuit filed against him by Tyson. King paid $7.5 million to former middleweight champion Terry Norris in late 2003 to settle a suit. King sued former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis for libel.

King also has beaten federal charges, including tax evasion and fraud. He served nearly four years in prison for the 1967 beating death of a man who owed him money. In 1954, he killed a man who was robbing a numbers house he operated in Cleveland, but it was ruled self-defense.

It also shows what everyone already apparently knows: that King is a shyster and showman cut from the P.T. Barnum mold.

More recently, King has become a Republican and much to the chagrin of many Republicans of all stripes (but most especially getting the goat of black Republicans), King was part of a Republican outreach program that toured the nation last summer during the Presidential campaign.

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Michelle Malkin gives the rest of us a glimpse into her mailbag today.

I thought I got lots of hate mail (indeed I do), but she gets plenty more, and just as juicy as what I get, too.

UPDATE: I'm not the only one who noticed. LaShawn & Baldilocks are just plain indignant about it, while DarkStar asks, "What makes her so special?"

I can't argue that -- Like I said, some of my hate mail would make the walls blister as well. And I'm sure most of us have received our share.

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'Nuff said.

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Judge Michael Chertoff, the man who headed the Senate's Whitewater investigation has been tapped to head up the Department of Homeland Security.

Chertoff will replace the original choice of the White House, Bernard Kerik, who withdrew his name last month amid the emergence of his having employed an illegal alien as a nanny.

Chertoff has an extensive background in prosecuting terrorism-related cases, and in working with the FBI.

He was the head of the Justice Department's criminal division from 2001 to 2003 until made an appeals court judge in 2003. As the administration's top anti-terrorism prosecutor during that time, he dealt with how to handle illegal immigrations involved in possible terrorism cases, and was involved in prosecuting such high-profile cases as that of Zacarias Moussaoui.

Chertoff has also worked on combatting cybercrime and was a member of former Attorney General Janet Reno's Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys. He earned his law degree from Harvard University.

During more than 10 years as a federal prosecutor in Newark and Manhattan, Chertoff pursued political corruption, health care fraud, bank fraud and savings-and-loan fraud.

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In the same vein as LandoverBaptist.org and Betty "I'm A Better Christian Than You" Bowers, comes the apparently fictional Jesus Christ Superstore. The primary item up for "sale" are action figures for all the world's major religions.

The Christian section includes figures of "God Almighty," complete with Kingdom-Come Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle and wearing the "Hallowed cloak of invulnerability." There are also figures of "The Pope" (with Holy Cross Kali sticks, 'Meek and Mild' Walther PPK handgun and wearing his blood red Vatican Assault uniform) and Jesus Christ (includes Ninja-Messiah throwing nails and Death Killer-Cross pump action over-under shotgun).

Christians aren't the only ones these folks have gone after. Buddhists (Buddha, with Fighting Staff of Meditation, Magnum66 automatic Nirvana pistol, and Invincible Holy Orange Cape of Enlightenment; and Dalhi Lama, with 'Tibetan terror'AK-12 automatic machine pistol, Magnum66 automatic Nirvana pistol (complete with transcendental silencer), also fire and forget self-enlightening laser), Hindus (Krishna, with 'Jungly Colt' 45 pistol and laser sighted automatic 'Ganesh-garnish' S&W with silencer; and Shiva, In Four-Armed warrior incarnation with Untouchable-Toucher Uzi automatic), Jews (Chief Rabbi, with 'Kosher Kill' sniper automatic handgun and Jehova mklll silencer, also Staff of the Vengeful God), and even the vaunted 'religion of peace' (The Ayatollah, with Holy Struggle SZ-924 stun gun, 'Pokem' harpoon pistol and wearing Kohmeni Midnight Warrior yashmak; "Islamic Jihad," with Smith and Islamabad SLR rifle with 'Holy Vision' laser sight and plastic explosives included; and Allah, represented by an empty box and the caption "He who may not be shown") are shown.

Each figure has a caption above it, from "Cosmic Warrior and lover of many women" above the Krishna figure to "His is the kingdom, the power and the glory" above the God Almighty figure. Some of them might be considered to be out of line ("the father, the son, and the bad motherf..." over the Jesus Christ figure), but I'm guessing that this is the "next" religious satire site to try to offend everybody. After all, their overall slogan is "Putting the fun back into fundamentalism and laughter into sectarian slaughter."

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The Rathergate report is out, and CBS News has dumped four employees (including infamous 60 Minutes producer Mary Mapes) in it's wake.

Four CBS News employees, including three executives, have been ousted for their role in preparing and reporting a disputed story about President Bush's National Guard service.

The action was prompted by the report of an independent panel that concluded that CBS News failed to follow basic journalistic principles in the preparation and reporting of the piece. The panel also said CBS News had compounded that failure with "rigid and blind" defense of the 60 Minutes Wednesday report.

Asked to resign were Senior Vice President Betsy West, who supervised CBS News primetime programs; 60 Minutes Wednesday Executive Producer Josh Howard; and HowardÂ’s deputy, Senior Broadcast Producer Betsy West. The producer of the piece, Mary Mapes, was terminated.

The full "independent report" is online for your perusal in PDF format.

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Reaction to the Armstrong Williams-Department of Education scandal was swift and furious over the weekend, as I wasn't the only one to make a lot of noise on the issue (LaShawn Barber, Michelle Malkin, Rob Bernard, DC Thornton, Amy Ridenour, Sisu, Nate Livingston, Expertise, Booker Rising, Eduwonk, Wizbang, The American Prospect's Tapped column, Powerline & others too numerous to mention).

In the wake of Friday's revelations, Tribune Media Services, who syndicated his column to newspapers nationally, abruptly dropped his column, and most likely, his television show, The Right Side with Armstrong Williams (syndicated on Sinclair stations and aired nationally on cable/satellite networks TVOne and The Liberty Channel) will be cancelled as well. No word on his radio show, which airs on a handful of stations across the nation.

Williams was apologetic in this morning's column, appearing on TownHall.com.

I understand that I exercised bad judgment in running paid advertising for an issue that I frequently write about in my column. People need to know that my column is uncorrupted by any outside influences. I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for my bad judgment, and to better explain the circumstances.

The fact is, I run a small business. I am CEO and manage the syndication and advertising for my television show. In between juggling my commentaries and media appearances, I stepped over the line. This has never happened before. In fact, my company has never worked on a government contract. Nor have we ever received compensation for an issue that I subsequently reported on. This will never happen again. I now realize that I have to create inseparable boundaries between my role as a small businessman and my role as an independent commentator.

I accept full responsibility for my lack of good judgment. I am paying the price. Tribune Media has cancelled my column. And I have learned a valuable lesson. I just want to assure you that this will never happen again, and to ask for your forgiveness.

But at the same time, when ethical lines are crossed, I will call people on them. Period.

Many on the conservative side of the coin have railed on about people like Bill Moyers receiving tax monies to promote a political agenda in the past, yet those same voices are silent now.

The bottom line is that wrong is wrong.

I appreciate Williams' apology this morning, and his stock certainly rises a bit as a result. He has owned up to his mistake and is willing to move forward. I, too, am willing to move forward, and while I can certainly forgive his shortcoming in this case, I cannot ignore it.

I stand by my statement of Friday, when I indicated that his word would be suspect in the future.

While his apology appears genuine, only his actions as time moves forward will tell me if he truly has learned his lesson and is worth listening to again.

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Armstrong Williams has admitted getting paid to the tune of $240,000 by the Bush Administration to promote the Administration's No Child Left Behind legislation in his syndicated column, on his radio and television shows and to "encourage" other blacks in the media to do the same.

The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts," and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that aired during the show in 2004.

The contract, detailed in documents obtained by USA Today through a Freedom of Information Act request, also shows that the Education Department, through the Ketchum public relations firm, arranged with Williams to use contacts with America's Black Forum, a group of black broadcast journalists, "to encourage the producers to periodically address" NCLB. He persuaded radio and TV personality Steve Harvey to invite Paige onto his show twice. Harvey's manager, Rushion McDonald, confirmed the appearances.

Williams said he does not recall disclosing the contract to audiences on the air but told colleagues about it when urging them to promote NCLB.

Williams' contract was part of a $1 million deal with Ketchum that produced "video news releases" designed to look like news reports. The Bush administration used similar releases last year to promote its Medicare prescription drug plan, prompting a scolding from the Government Accountability Office, which called them an illegal use of taxpayers' dollars.

We constantly come under scrutiny by others from both sides of the aisle, from some conservatives who are wary of our presence, and by many liberals who insist that we are "on the take" or "reaching for scraps from 'Massa's' table." We constantly have to prove that we are not some sort of 'spook sitting by the door' when Armstrong comes along and not only accepts taxpayer money, but doesn't see anything truly wrong with it!

Williams said Thursday he understands that critics could find the arrangement unethical, but "I wanted to do it because it's something I believe in."

My God! You mean to tell me that if you believe in something, no matter how illegal or wrong it may be, it's OK, because you believe in it!?

If Williams believed in NCLB so much, then he didn't need to be paid to tell folks about it in what was supposed to be a forum of his own opinion.

This calls into question any and all pundits that appear on behalf of the Bush Administration on television, radio and in print across the board. When those on the left call commentators on Fox News into question for being "paid operatives" what sort of defense is there? After all, Armstrong Williams claimed to be his own man, yet was a paid operative of the Bush White House.

Well, I can tell you with complete certainty that the folks that I know and associate with on the right aren't paid by the Administration. On the contrary. If I were, I wouldn't be scraping to get by like everyone else.

Armstrong's entire message becomes suspect as far as I'm concerned, though. And as far as I'm concerned, he becomes "damaged goods" in terms of any sort of conservative black message.

Just damn.

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Major League Baseball's Angels now have a new name: "The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim."

The team, most recently known as the Anaheim Angels, continues to play their games in Anaheim's Angel Stadium. But the name change was supposed to reflect the team's representation of the entire Los Angeles area.

The inclusion of Los Angeles reflects the original expansion name awarded by Major League Baseball in December 1960 and again returns the Angels as Major League Baseball's American League representative in the Greater Los Angeles territory that Major League Baseball expects the team to serve.

The Los Angeles region, which is comprised of Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties, is the second largest media market in the country. This name change will strengthen the Angels' long-term economic health by enhancing the marketability through this metropolitan area and beyond.

Not surprisingly, the city has taken the team to court.

An Orange County (CA) Superior Court judge is expected to rule on a temporary restraining order later today.

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The cover of the new Vanity Fair is another of their excellent foldout pictures, this time of the cast members of all six Star Wars movies, taken by legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz.

The photo includes SW creator George Lucas posing with actors and characters from all the films, photographed by Leibovitz. Included are Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker), Jake Lloyd (young Anakin), Natalie Portman (Padmé Amidala), Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Christopher Lee (Count Dooku), Ian McDiarmid (Supreme Chancellor Palpatine), Pernilla August (Shmi Skywalker), Liam Neeson (Qui-Gon Jinn), Jimmy Smits (Senator Bail Organa), Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia Organa) and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian).

The whole photo is so big that I can't post it here, but the photo is available for your perusal.

My inner geek is happy.

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The Electoral College votes are set to be certified before Congress tomorrow, but don't count on that to happen.

US Congress-critter John Conyers (Moonbat-MI) is seeking to challenge the results of the vote in the state of Ohio, and he's getting plenty of folks to line up behind him, according to MSNBC's Keith Olberman.

it appeared all but certain in early evening Wednesday that House Democrats had secured the support of up to half a dozen Senators to formally challenge the Electoral College slate from Ohio, when the votes are opened before a joint session of Congress tomorrow. Congressional sources tell this reporter that the house half of the written objection — which has the declared support of more than a dozen Representatives — is expected to be signed by Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio. Republican leadership expects the Senate signatory to be Barbara Boxer of California, but this has not yet been formalized. The Majority is also worried about the possible absence of many of its members in both houses, and the prospect that a quorum might not be achieved, leading the process into uncharted, albeit not very threatening, constitutional grounds. There is a mathematical, if not practical, chance that the ratification of the Electoral College vote could be delayed past tomorrow. As it is, a written challenge would require the joint session to suspend for several hours, during which the Senate and the House would meet separately and debate the merits of the objection.

This is what you call a last minute "Hail Mary" to try to overturn the Presidential Election.

Of course, when you stop and ask them about states where the margin of victory was much closer than Ohio -- New Hampshire, Michigan, Wisconsin, even Pennsylvania, as examples -- they have nothing to say.

Why? Because Ohio is where they have concentrated their efforts; Ohio has enough electoral votes to overturn the election if they can pull this off.

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For nearly 24 hours now, rumors have run rampant across the internet that Al Qaeda terrorist Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi (who leads a cell that has claimed responsibility for this morning's assassination of the Baghdad provincial governor), who was publicly tapped by Osama Bin Laden to be the "go-to" guy in Iraq, has been captured by American forces in Iraq.

The story has come from several foreign and less than reliable sources, but has neither been proven, disproven or even mentioned by the traditional mainstream media sources.

As of this morning, Drudge is on the case, and presumably, we'll get a more definitive answer soon.

Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, whom the US occupation authorities declared to be the "target number one" in Iraq, has been arrested in the city of Baakuba, the Emirate newspaper al-Bayane reported on Tuesday referring to Kurdish sources. Al-Zarqawi, leader of the terrorist group Al-Tawhid Wa'al-Jihad, was recently appointed the director of the Al-Qaeda organisation in Iraq.

The newspaper's correspondent in Baghdad points out that a report on the seizure of the terrorist, on whom the US put a bounty of 10 million dollars, was also reported by Iraqi Kurdistan radio, which at one time had been the first to announce the arrest of Saddam Hussein.

There have been no official reports about the arrest of the terrorist.

Stay tuned. Figure on something shaking loose within the next 24-36 hours.

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Michelle Malkin (who saw a piece on LibertyBlog) seems to be overreacting a little bit to a Chick-Fil-A ad that aired over the weekend during the Peach Bowl telecast.

The ad (which itself is several years old, mind you) has a cow standing down first one, then a line of tanks. LibertyBlog points out a correlation between the ad and the infamous tank standoff at Beijing's Tianenamen Square years ago.

Call me clueless, but I've never seen the correlation 'til it was pointed out today.

I'm certain that Chick-Fil-A management, from founder Truett Cathy on down would have very quickly yanked said ad if the correlation were pointed out to them.

Cathy and the entire hierarchy of CFA are staunch conservatives, and devout Christians (as profiled in the November/December 2004 issue of Christian magazine New Man and elsewhere), and would have definitely not stood for something that would have evoked such negative connotations.

As I mentioned, the ad has run here in the Southeast (and here in their home market of Atlanta) for several years (and I'd presume nationally as well), with no repercussions. And quiet as it's kept, I actually thought that ad had been retired from CFA's regular tv ad run due to it's age. I'm honestly surprised it ran this week.

In any event, I'm sure they didn't mean any sort of harm, and that if contacted directly, would happily apologize for any offense.

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Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to be elected to Congress has died.

Chisholm went to the Hill when Richard Nixon was elected, and stayed until two years into the Reagan Administration. She was a tireless advocate for women and minorities, and though a liberal, a tough yet fair woman fo whose like -- from either side of the aisle -- we need to see more of.

Chisholm, who was raised in a predominantly black New York City neighborhood and was elected to the U.S. House in 1968, was a riveting speaker who often criticized Congress as being too clubby and unresponsive.

"My greatest political asset, which professional politicians fear, is my mouth, out of which come all kinds of things one shouldn't always discuss for reasons of political expediency," she told voters.

She ran for the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 1972. When rival candidate and ideological opposite George Wallace was shot, she visited him in the hospital — an act that appalled her followers.

"He said, `What are your people going to say?' I said: `I know what they're going to say. But I wouldn't want what happened to you to happen to anyone.' He cried and cried," she recalled.

And when she needed support to extend the minimum wage to domestic workers two years later, it was Wallace who got her the votes from Southern members of Congress.

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