This is impressive: “At least 1,300 school kids and several hundred adults (many of them single parents who had to get off work) gathered at Freedom Plaza to rally for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program in Washington Wednesday.” And take a look at the photos of D.C. parents and kids, joining forces with conservatives, to save the D.C. voucher program. It seems that the president has relented and will allow the current participants to continue. But why end an effective program that poor, inner city families like? Something is seriously wrong with a White House, Education Secretary, and Congress that are willing to throw these people overboard to remain chummy with the teachers’ union.
Another not-very-flattering peek at the temperament of another potential Obama Supreme Court pick.
The mayor of San Francisco is lecturing Congress about the mistake of a one-size-fits-all national healthcare policy run out of Washington. Really. But in Washington there is a battle royale over whether to include a “public option” in the plan.
No, this is not a joke: “This morning in Riyadh, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he spoke to Saudi Assistant Minister of the Interior Muhammed bin Nayaf about sending the roughly 100 Yemeni detainees currently in the detainee center at Guantanamo Bay to Saudi Arabia to the Saudi government’s rehabilitation program for jihadis.” Yes, a rehab program in the heartland of Wahhabism. Has it worked? Not very well. Is it any wonder the former commander of the USS Cole is irate?
Apparently more Americans agree with conservatives than with Jon Stewart on this one: “A new national poll indicates that most Americans don’t want to see an investigation of Bush administration officials who authorized harsh interrogation techniques on suspected terrorists, even though most people think such procedures were forms of torture.Six in ten people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday believe that some of the procedures, such as water boarding, were a form of torture, with 36 percent disagreeing. But half the public approves of the Bush administration’s decision to use of those techniques during the questioning of suspected terrorists, with 50 percent in approval and 46 percent opposed.” I think the Obama administration did not have a clue where public opinion was before they announced the CIA memo release, but now they sure do.
Did Harry Reid mislead Arlen Specter on seniority or did Specter misunderstand? Well, if Specter had gotten it wrong there was plenty of time for Reid to correct him before the Senate took its vote. Specter is sticking to his story.
Jan Crawford Greenburg reports that the Justice Department missed the statute of limitations on referring to the kangaroo court . . . er . . . state bar a disciplinary case against John Yoo. (h/t Andy McCarthy) Perhaps it was malpractice or perhaps someone decided to let it slide. But really, what possible basis is there for taking away the law licenses of lawyers who provide good faith legal advice? Read the whole thing to appreciate what an obvious witch hunt this has become.
Jim Geraghty thinks “WE FEAR CHRISTIE” should be the new Jon Corzine slogan since Corzine was caught trying to bolster Christie’s Republican opponent. Gosh, makes you miss the good old days when New Jersey politicians could keep their dirty tricks a secret.
