But enough about rule-makers.  All the rule-breakers, in DC and beyond, are after the jump.

• As countless politicians have proven, adultery is not an excuse to give up your elected office.  John Ensign agrees, regardless of his parents' $96,000 payoff of his mistress - he plans to seek reelection when his term runs out in 2012.  Could he still be holding out for the White House?  Only time will tell.

• The judge hearing the Banita Jacks case was treated to an earful during the second day of listening to her eight-hour police interrogation.  During the recording, Jacks admitted that she believed her three daughters were possessed by demons but would rise from the dead when the demons left their bodies.  She also contends that all four of her daughters died in their sleep, as a result of the demons, a fact that is inconsistent with the evidence gathered at the crime scene.

• A House panel investigating the Red Line crash heard testimony yesterday, with the majority of witnesses asking for money to fix the flawed transit system.  John Catoe, Metro's General Manager detailed the precautions he has taken since the crash but admits he still does not know what to do about the malfunctioning circuit between Takoma and Fort Totten that presumably caused the collision.

• Violent crimes are being reported with more frequency, in what are thought to be safe areas of the city.  The Borderstan blog reports an armed assault and a robbery in the 1400 blocks of Corcoran and S Streets NW, respectively, in addition to the armed robbery and several burglaries that occurred in the first week of July.  Meanwhile, in Georgetown, a young woman was sexually assaulted in her home, less than two blocks from the main gates of the university.  Neighbors and students are concerned, not only for their safety, but because very few people have been informed about the attack.

So keep your eyes and ears open, City Desk readers.  Rules and laws are for following, not breaking.

If true (some conservative bloggers claim that the Frontiersman is a Palin-smearing sham, which I doubt, as the paper's digital archives go back quite a ways), Palin will have a hard time explaining her decision, even to her growing legion of fans. While she might have been uninvolved with the creation of the policy, she promoted Charlie Fannon to chief of police, and then (assuming she had at least some reservations with his decision) neglected to exercise her oversight authority when Fannon decided to charge for rape kits. The average citizen would likely agree that law enforcement agencies should spare no expense in investigating sexual assault cases, including finding out, via rape kit, whether or not a sexual assault actually happened. Demanding that a person pay for her own kit--which can cost anywhere from $400 to over $1,000--significantly reduces the odds that she'll get tested, which in turn reduces the odds that police will find the culprit and that prosecutors will be able to make the charges stick.

But the worst part about the decision to charge alleged victims is that it wouldn't have saved the city that much money:

According to [Wasilla Police Chief Charlie] Fannon, the new law will cost the Wasilla Police Department approximately $5,000 to $14,000 a year to collect evidence for sexual assault cases.

Cutting taxpayers' burdens and reducing the size and scope of government is--in most cases--a good idea. But forcing sexual assault victims to directly pay for some types of law enforcement services, and not others (unless Wasilla also directly charges residents to investigate burglaries, or violent crimes) is abusive and, in this case, clearly misogynistic. Furthermore, where the hell on earth is a multi-million dollar hockey rink a more important expenditure than protecting citizens?