On June 16, the Wayne County Star, an upstate NY newspaper, published a story on its website about a run-in between the employees of a local farmer and federal immigration authorities who were questioning their status. The report “drew an onslaught of vitriolic postings” from commenters. Many of the replies were anonymous and often racist or attacking farmers in the region for allegedly harboring undocumented workers. The newspaper has now discovered that at least three of the comments came from computers associated with the Department of Homeland Security:

One post pretended to be from a woman with a Mexican boyfriend; the other two posts insinuated the boat had come from Cuba, berated farmers, accused them of breaking the law and praised the Border Patrol for doing a good job. [...]

The post from the pretend girlfriend, sent by Imaapplehog2@yahoo.com, appeared in response to another post also from a fake email: dirtymex@applelover.com.: “watcha doing to mi wifey, no checky her papeles. she no legal, but she havey benifit card. oh wait, take her and I get me a applehog till I go to Mexico. Viva la Raza!!!” [...]

The response, which indicated it came from bcp3.cbp.dhs.gov, read, “That sounds like my boyfriend. Leave him alones and get your own. My boyfriend works sometimes but he is really good at getting FREE benefits from the Federal and State government.”

Another posting, reportedly linked to a separate DHS computer, read, “These farmers have a problem because the gravy train that they were riding for soooooo long is being brought to light.” According to the Wayne County Star, DHS and the U.S. Attorney Office in the Western District in Buffalo are investigating the postings.

On Fox News last night, Rush Limbaugh noted Aug. 1 marks his 21st anniversary of being on air. When host Greta Van Susteren asked him what his “secret” is to his “amazing” “longevity,” Limbaugh replied that it’s his “positive” and “inspiring” messages:

People don’t want to be beat up every day with, This caffeine product is going to kill you, or, The seas are rising and New York’s going to get flooded. They want to hear about greatness.

They want — people want to be inspired! People want to be motivated. They want their positive thoughts validated. They don’t want to hear every day how everything’s going to hell in a handbasket and there’s a shortage of handbaskets. They don’t want to hear this. That’s what gets ratings on television. I have shown you get ratings on radio being positive, respecting the audience, being inspiring and motivational at times, when it’s necessary.

Watch it:

Showing off some of his “positive” messages, Limbaugh last night said that Obama’s health care reform was “an ideological attempt to control freedom, limit it as much as possible.” Limbaugh also tried to fear-monger about how Obama is making the situation worse for the American public, saying, “They don’t have jobs. They don’t have rising incomes. They don’t have the seas being lowered. He actually promised that. We — none of — we don’t have anything positive happening.” (HT: News Hounds)

On Bloomberg’s Political Capital this weekend, host Al Hunt asked Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) what he thought of the “tone and substance” of President Obama’s press conference this week. Like he has said before, Grassley underscored his opposition to a public health insurance option.

In a call with progressive bloggers a day before the press conference, Obama said he continues to “believe that a robust public option would be the best way to go.” In the press conference itself, Obama said a public option is necessary “to keep the insurance companies honest” and his view that by taking “some of the profit motive out,” you can get a “better deal” for consumers.

But in his interview with Hunt, Grassley claimed that Obama has told him privately that he is willing to consider “reasonable alternatives” to a robust public option:

GRASSLEY: One of the most controversial things we are facing — and one that the House does and Senator Kennedy’s committee does — is bring a government health insurance program into existence. He still spoke highly about that. And that’s not going to get bipartisan support.

And it would have been good if he had said to the entire country what he said to me privately — that he would look to alternatives for that. And we have a very good alternative by going with cooperatives because we’ve known them for 150 years in America. And allowing them to sell health insurance for more competition.

HUNT: Do you think the President could support that?

GRASSLEY: All I can tell you is — but he didn’t say this that night and he should have said it — that he’s looking for reasonable alternatives. And I think we have a reasonable bipartisan alternative in co-ops.

Watch it:

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has previously indicated a willingness to support a co-op proposal. But as former Gov. Howard Dean has said, the co-ops would be “too small to compete with the big, private insurance companies.” As Dean notes, co-ops are a solution “for the Senate problem,” but not a fix for “the American problem” of getting affordable coverage for all. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has said that “this co-op idea doesn’t come close to satisfying anyone who wants a public plan.”

Carl McDonald and James Naklicki at Oppenheimer’s Equity Research department write, “As the co-ops are currently described, we think they would be a big positive for the managed care group, but it seems to us that they would be destined to fail from the moment of creation.” Co-ops would also take decades to set up, according to experts.

Earlier this month, Texas Tech announced that it had offered former Bush attorney general Alberto Gonzales a position to teach political science during the upcoming fall semester. Gonzales will be a visiting professor leading a course on “contemporary issues in the executive branch” and focusing on “recruiting and retaining first generation and under-represented students.”

Students and angry alumni quickly spoke out, starting Facebook groups and writing scathing editorials. Many of the Texas Tech faculty, however, remained silent.

Not any longer. Approximately 45 Texas Tech faculty members have signed onto a petition calling Gonzales’ hiring “objectionable.” They charge that Gonzales is nothing more than a “celebrity hire” who won’t be worth his $100,000 salary:

The faculty members also take aim at Chancellor Kent Hance, who said that one of the reasons he hired Gonzales was because he’s a “good friend“:

The petition then outlines Gonzales’ conduct in the White House that “demonstrated significant ethical failings,” including rejecting the Geneva Conventions and frequently misleading Congress and the American people. Philosophy professor Walter Schaller, the creator of the petition, said that he plans to deliver it to Hance once he gathers all the signatures. Hance has already dismissed the faculty’s efforts, saying “you don’t go around making decisions based on faculty positions.”

In an interview this week with the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Gonzales gave a preview into some of the topics he will be discussing in his political science class, including, not surprisingly, the “accomplishments” of the Bush Justice Department. “We did some very strong work on behalf of the American people during my tenure as attorney general and I’m very proud of that record,” he said. He added that his class would also examine “some of the problems the current administration is confronting.”