Finding his “political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans,” Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched parties today. In the process, he thumbed his nose at an anticipated conservative GOP challenge next year by saying, “I am unwilling to have my 29-year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate.” With Specter, Democrats now have 59 seats. If Al Franken can get clear of the legal challenges to his win in Minnesota, he would be the 60th. Specter’s move must be bitter for his old colleague Bob Dole; Specter lived in Wichita from 1930 until the family moved in 1942 to Russell, where his family did business with Dole’s family.
A paradox of the torture scandal is “that it is not about things we didn’t know but about things we did know and did nothing about,” wrote Mark Danner, author of “Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib and the War on Terror,” in a Washington Post commentary. “Beginning more than a half-dozen years ago, Bush administration officials broke the law and did repugnant things to detainees under their control. But if you think that the remedy is simple and clear — that all officials who broke the law should be tried and punished — then ask yourself what exactly the political elite of the country has been doing for the last five years. Or what it has not been doing. And why.” Danner noted that “although we have known the general narrative of torture since the summer of 2004, most politicians have been loath to do anything about it,” because they feared being painted as soft on terrorism.
President Obama has had to deal with a slew of challenges during his first 100 days, but so far the public is giving him high ratings. Overall, 69 percent of the public approves of his job performance, according to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll. Obama also got strong marks for his handling of the economy (58 percent), international affairs (67 percent) and Iraq (71 percent). The public also trusts Obama far more than Republicans on the economy (61 to 24 percent). Obama’s lowest ratings were for the automaker bailout (41 percent favorable), immigration (48 percent) and the budget deficit (51 percent).
A Fox News poll had Obama at 62 percent approval, and Gallup had Obama with a 63 percent average approval rating for his first three months in office.
The following satirical headlines come from borowitzreport.com:
CHENEY STARTS PRO-TORTURE FACEBOOK PAGE; Creates Social Network for Waterboarding Fans
OBAMA OPENS CHEVY DEALERSHIP ON WHITE HOUSE LAWN; Slashes Prices on Malibus, Cobalts
TALENTED UGLY PERSON BAFFLES WORLD; Networks Lift Restrictions on Unsightly
JIM CRAMER DECLARES DEPRESSION OVER, MILLIONS PANIC; ‘Run for Your Lives’ Heard on Wall Street
MADOFF TO HELP U.S. SELL BAD ASSETS; Legendary Swindler Pressed Into Service
It can be difficult sometimes to get 100 people to help with a service project. So it was especially impressive that about 3,000 citizens volunteered Saturday to clean up parks, paint homes for the needy and give back to this community in other ways. The Love Wichita event was organized by 27 churches and spearheaded by Eastminster Presbyterian Church, which began the annual event last year. Hats off to everyone who participated, and here’s hoping for an even larger turnout next year.
