A surging Mitt Romney unleashed a blistering attack on President Obama yesterday as the Republican presidential hopeful prepared to barnstorm Iowa, saying the Democrat is in over his head, has poisoned politics and will go down as nothing more than a footnote in history.
“I’m sure he wants to go down in history as a great character. I think history will see him as a footnote,” Romney said of the nation’s first black president. “I don’t think that there’s anything yet in his presidency that suggests a level of greatness which has been associated with our most extraordinary presidents. ... He’s not been up to the job. ... I think he’s over his head.”
How can the murder of a referee in Arkansas bring joy in Pasadena?
How can something that moves at the speed of a funeral procession make hearts race?
How can a parade float with a clock going backward make you feel so good about the future?
This is how:
On the night of April 16, 2010, Arkansas State student Michael (Rudy) Gilmore, just home from working his two jobs, one at Walmart and one refereeing intramurals, was shot in the head in his apartment. Who murdered him is still a mystery.
Who'd want to kill Rudy?
"If you needed a dime, Rudy would give you the whole quarter," says his mother, Jerlene.
Rudy's 17-year-old sister, Kaneisha, was poleaxed with grief. Everybody loved Rudy, but none more than she. Rudy had promised to be her escort for homecoming court this football season.
But Rudy wasn't there anymore. He was all over America. He had checked the donor box on his driver's license, so his lungs went here, his kidneys there, and his pancreas somewhere else. His heart stayed close, though. It went to a man named Sammy Robinson, 44, in nearby Hughes, Ark., who'd been waiting for eight months.
"Rudy saved my life," Sammy says. "I told his mom, 'I know you lost a son. But I want you to know you've gained another.'"
A woman described as “as one of Philadelphia’s most influential, politically savvy, and pro-active public officials” is about to prove the description true.
Marion B. Tasco, who has been described as being “politically savvy,” will retire from her sixth term as councilwoman, collect $478,057, and then be sworn in on Monday to serve her seventh term, Catherine Lucy and Chris Brennan of the Philadelphia Daily News.
How does she get away with this?
Tasco, along with many of her fellow Council members, is enrolled in Philadelphia’s Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP). DROP allows city workers to collect salary and build up pension money during the last four years of their employment, writes Aaron Kase of Philadelphia Weekly.
Naturally, when DROP was originally introduced, it was touted as being “revenue neutral.” It’s been anything but that. SInce its introduction, Philadelphia’s DROP program has cost the city $258 million in extra pension costs over a decade, according to a 2010 Boston College study.
Mr. Olbermann also was noticeably absent from two special reports that Current produced after Republican debates in mid-December. Those, too, were anchored by Mr. Uygur.
These absences suggest that there may be new tension between Mr. Olbermann and the managers at Current, who are trying to create a progressive-oriented cable news channel.
In the television industry, Mr. Olbermann is well known for fights with his bosses; stories abound about his refusal to speak to managers and executives. At Current, this behavior has continued, according to four people with knowledge of the situation, one of whom described Mr. Olbermann as “disgruntled.”
The people spoke on condition of anonymity because speaking publicly could jeopardize their jobs. Current’s president, David Bohrman, did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday, on what is traditionally a holiday week. A spokeswoman for Current said that Mr. Bohrman was traveling and was unavailable for comment.
On Thursday afternoon Mr. Olbermann suggested that Current’s published plans might not be accurate. When a reporter asked him via email why he was not participating in the Iowa caucus coverage, he answered, “That’s not my understanding. We’ve already prepared a ‘Best Of Countdown’ for Monday, and are planning a live Countdown on Tuesday.”
That’s the plan that Mr. Olbermann told his viewers about on Dec. 22, his last live program of the year. “We’ll be bringing you Best of ‘Countdown’ each night from tomorrow through Monday, Jan. 2, and then back — live, live, live — on Tuesday, Jan. 3,” he said. He added, “Congratulations on getting through another year of this crap. Good night and good luck.”
But Current is actually planning to pre-empt “Countdown” on Jan. 2 for a two-hour caucus preview hosted by Mr. Uygur, according to its TV schedule.
On Jan. 3, the channel is planning to have three hours of live prime time coverage of the caucus without Mr. Olbermann.
President Barack Obama gets mediocre marks for his handling of the economy and Mitt Romney easily outpolls his Republican rivals in an Associated Press survey of economists.
The economy – and who bears responsibility for it – is likely to be a decisive issue when voters to go the polls next November.
The economy is still struggling to recover from the Great Recession of 2007-2009. The housing market remains weak and a debt crisis in Europe threatens growth in 2012. The unemployment rate is at a recession-level 8.6 percent, up from 7.8 percent when Obama took office in January 2009. That month, the recession was already more than a year old.
Half of the 36 economists who responded to the Dec. 14-20 AP survey rated Obama's economic policies "fair." And 13 called them "poor." Just five of the economists gave the president "good" marks. None rated him as "excellent."
This week saw an increase of 15,000 new claims over last week's number. The four-week average is still under 400,000 (good news), and let's hope this uptick is an outlier, and not the beginning of a new trend.
As the football season (and the hoopla around Tim Tebow) winds down, will Jimmer-Mania take hold in the NBA?
Back in March, I said that BYU hoops star Jimmer Fredette wouldn't be a good NBA player. "In five years," I wrote, "he's got a really good chance to be your Provo area Isuzu dealer."
I was so sure that I said if Fredette started even one game his rookie season, I'd give five grand to his favorite charity.
Well, Fredette's a rookie now with the Sacramento Kings and he finally started a game.
His first game.
He scored 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting, with four assists. And now it looks like he has a chance to become the Tim Tebow of the NBA.
Wanna buy an Isuzu?
Tuesday I handed him a check for $5,000 made out to the Fredette Family Foundation, which helps families in New York, Utah and Sacramento.
In the check's memo line, I wrote: Crow.
"That's one thing that's different about you," says Steve Young, a BYU grad and longtime Jimmermaniac. "Most people have an opinion and stick with it for four or five years until they're proven wrong. You're wrong after the first game."
At least Fredette wasn't all I-told-you-so about it. He could've been.
"I wasn't really sure myself," concedes Fredette, who led the nation in scoring last season. "It depended on what team took me. I thought, 'What if I get stuck behind a great guard for 82 games?'"
Don't even try, kid. I was wrong as poodle sweaters.
I said he wouldn't be able to get off his shot off in the NBA. So far, in two preseason games, he's averaged 16.5 points. He's been pyrotechnic from the wider NBA 3-point arc (67 percent). His handle is tighter than a coffee pot's. His rebounding and defense still have more holes than a Danielle Steele novel, but, all in all, he's been jaw-droppingly good.
I get that it's part of the job that sportswriters and TV talking heads have to tell us why a certain player will turn out to be no good. It's especially easy to pick on guys like Tebow and Jimmer that wear their religion on their sleeve.
But somewhere along the way, they forget these guys are competitors. They forget that for their entire lives, they have had one goal, to get to the Bigs. They forget that while TV Guy is sleeping, they are awake and working. They forget that guys like Jimmer and Tebow have been told all along their journey that "you're too small", or "you can't play at this level", and use that doubt to fuel their success.
I'm not claiming that Tebow will be the next Joe Montana, or that Jimmer will be the next Jordan.
I am saying that when push comes to shove, I'd rather have a guy in my huddle that is consuming by winning, is the first one to practice and the last to leave, and makes those around him better.
This is the guy I want to work with:
It shouldn't come as a surprise when the Tebows and Jimmers of the world do well, when you understand what drives them.
Let the Republican Presidential candidate race continue to evolve before our eyes. That mess will all be ironed out soon enough. The big story continues to be the Senate races. With Ben Nelson (D-NE) announcing his retirement yesterday, the Senate is even more up for grabs than it was a week ago:
This makes it easier, if not quite inevitable, that Republicans will regain their Senate majority from 2006. Harry Reid's Senate is now 53-47, counting two independents who caucus with him. So far, eight senators, six of them Dems, have decided to retire instead of facing this already seething American electorate.
Fully 23 of the 33 Senate seats up in 2012 are held by Democrats, which is a lot of seats to defend.
The GOP would have to nominate a large number of Elmer Fudds to blow this one. Holding their own and grabbing four seats gives Republicans a majority in that body, which means the country could have a federal budget for the first time in nearly three years.
With Nebraska and North Dakota's open seat virtually in the bag, they'd only need two gains, say, Ohio, Missouri, Virginia or Montana, where GOP Rep. Denny Rehberg looks strong in his challenge.
And having a totally Republican Congress would be great news for Obama because he could then blame all of his second-term failures on them, instead of just having the House as he does now.
If the Republican presidential ticket was victorious in creating more Obama golf time, the GOP commander-in-chief would have friendly congressional majorities to restore national defense and undo Obamacare, as promised.
I've said it before, but it bears repeating over and over-don't worry about the White House, the real victory happens when we take the Senate, and increase the margin in the House. Regardless of whom is in the White House, that person will have to play ball with Republican majorities in both houses, forcing the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania to move to the Right.
So stop the hand-wringing over who the Republican nominee will be, and consider sending a few bucks to the Senate races that we can impact, and ultimately win.
A proposal that would require adult film actors to use condoms has qualified for the June ballot after proponents gathered enough signatures to put the issue before Los Angeles voters.
Proponents gathered more than 70,000 signatures, exceeding the 41,000 required to place the issue on the ballot, according to AIDS Heathcare Foundation spokesman Ged Kenslea. The signatures were certified last week by the LA City Clerk.
The Adult Film Workplace Condom Initiative would condition adult film permits on the production company's agreement to use condoms on the film set. Under the proposal, fees may be charged to "provide for inspectors to ensure compliance with conditions on film permits."
"We have other conditions on film permits," said Michael Weinstein, of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a backer of the proposal. "If you're going to blow things up, you have to have the fire department involved."
Good thing that California has the budget all squared away, has no issues with the educational system, has perfect streets and highways, has no issues with illegal immigration-related costs, and has zero unemployment so that they can meet the pressing challenges faced when porn actors don't wear rubbers on the set.
We aren't laughing with you, California. We are laughing at you.
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