Parish president wants names*

The interim president of Jefferson Parish in New Orleans has sued to force the Times-Picayune to turn over the names of 11 people who posted comment anonymously on the paper's website. The comments seem pretty tame, but interim president Steve Theriot says they were were "made with malice, and a blatant, intentional disregard for the truth, and with the intent that such statements damage plaintiffs."

The full story is here.

*UPDATE: Turns out Theriot isn't trying to intimidate anyone - he just wants to help! From the T-P:

Jefferson Parish interim President Steve Theriot told the Parish Council today that the lawsuit he filed against anonymous users of www.NOLA.com is aimed at addressing the concerns they raise -- not to block criticism of the government.

"This is in no way to shut up anyone regarding their concerns about the operation of the government," Theriot said.

Overshadowing Giuliani

John Edwards is a smart man. By choosing today to leave the Democratic primary, he steals the news cycle away from Rudy Giuliani (who's also dropping out today) and, by extension, from the triumphant McCain campaign and the rest of the Republican field.

And he will make his announcement in New Orleans to remind anyone who forgot the reason they should think twice about voting for another Republican president.

Now comes the hard part for John. Does he endorse Hillary Clinton and all but clinch her victory on Feb. 5? Or take the leap to endorse Barack Obama, the man South Carolina Democrats chose to be the next president? Perhaps he'll wait until after Super Tuesday to decide.

The news is a godsend to the Obama campaign, which badly needed a dynamic shift in the field to shake up "decided" voters and which might well benefit from white males who find Hillary uncool.

All is in flux, as God wants it to be.