Retronaut: President Abraham Lincoln unknowingly carried a secret message in his pocket watch.
Conservatives Need to Take Obama Seriously
John Podhoretz: “Barack Obama is a serious man. Yes, he likes to golf, and yes, he ran a campaign with cutesy Facebook pictures and seemingly inane Flash slideshows like ‘Life of Julia.’ No, he does not seem interested in the mechanics of legislation, nor does he seem adept at negotiation. But the weird condescension his opponents display toward him is ludicrously wrongheaded. They seem eager to believe he is a lightweight, and he is not. Obama is very possibly a world-historical political figure, and until those who oppose him come to grips with this fact, they will get him wrong every time.”
Clinton Has Donors and Rivals Frozen in Place
New York Times: “Hillary Clinton left the State Department nearly two months ago, but she still needs a staff to keep up with the considerable business of being Hillary Clinton. A half-dozen people now work for the former secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate in a tiny corporate space on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, in what is called her ‘transition office.'”
“Transition to what, Mrs. Clinton and her aides have not yet said. But the question hovers over her every move and has frozen in place the very early — but for some potential candidates, very important — presidential maneuvering on the Democratic side.”
Waiting for Another Bubble to Burst
David Stockman: “Over the last 13 years, the stock market has twice crashed and touched off a recession: American households lost $5 trillion in the 2000 dot-com bust and more than $7 trillion in the 2007 housing crash. Sooner or later — within a few years, I predict — this latest Wall Street bubble, inflated by an egregious flood of phony money from the Federal Reserve rather than real economic gains, will explode, too.”
An Insider’s History of the Senate
This looks interesting: The American Senate: An Insider’s History by Neil MacNeil and Richard A. Baker.
Screaming Judge Is Ousted
A West Virginia judge caught on video screaming furiously at litigants has been removed from the bench for the duration of his term, National Law Journal reports.
Fraud Committed to Get Obama on Indiana Ballot in 2008
An Indiana woman plead guilty to forgery and fraud in a successful attempt to get Barack Obama on the presidential primary ballot in 2008, WISH-TV reports.
“At the center of this story is Butch Morgan, a longtime Democratic Party leader who lost his post as St. Joseph County chair when the scandal broke. Morgan is accused of telling three people to forge names on a ballot petition including Bev Shelton who pleaded guilty to forgery and fraud. She has agreed to testify against the others.”
Deal Close on Immigration Reform
“Labor and business groups have agreed on the details of a new guest-worker program, likely removing a major hurdle to an immigration deal in the Senate,” Roll Call reports.
“The framework for a guest-worker program has long vexed an immigration overhaul, as labor feared a flood of low-wage workers undercutting American workers, while the Chamber of Commerce has led the push for a steady supply of workers.”
Politico: “The agreement marks a major breakthrough and significantly improves
the odds of passing a larger immigration bill because it brings two
powerful Washington interests on board on an issue that contributed to
the defeat of past reform efforts.”
North Carolina Lawmakers Seek to Make Divorce Difficult
Republican lawmakers in North Carolina want to make it harder to get a divorce, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.
The proposed law “would extend to two years the current one-year waiting period in order for a divorce to be finalized. During that time, the couple would have to complete courses on improving their communications skills and conflict resolution. If the couple has children, they would have to take at least a four-hour class on the impact of divorce on children.”
Michigan GOP Official Refuses to Resign Over Anti-Gay Post
Republican national committeeman Dave Agema “was not backing down or apologizing” as he faced calls for his resignation over an antigay posting on his Facebook page, the Detroit Free Press reports.
Agema said gay people were sexually promiscuous, rife with sexually transmitted diseases and responsible for “half the murders in large cities.”
The Coming Obama Crash
Out this summer: The Coming Obama Crash by Art Laffer and Stephen Moore.
Quote of the Day
“They’re being forced to provide insurance coverage that violates their religious beliefs. They’re being forced to provide insurance coverage for a form of abortion. To me, it’s a religious-freedom issue.”
— Attorney General Mike DeWine (R), quoted by the Columbus Dispatch, arguing for a religious exemption in providing contraception coverage as part of health insurance benefits.
GOP May Be Its Own Worst Enemy in Senate Races
“A GOP-friendly electoral map, along with a spate of retirements among red-state Democratic senators, has once again favorably positioned Republicans to take control of the Senate in 2014,” the Washington Post reports.
“But Republican operatives are working feverishly to ensure that the bitter split between the party establishment and insurgent tea party conservatives does not lead to a squandered opportunity and GOP disappointment for the third consecutive cycle of elections.”
Which Justice Wanted to Take on Gay Marriage?
New York Times: “Why did the Supreme Court agree in December to hear a major same-sex marriage case and then seem to think it had made a terrible mistake on Tuesday when it came time for arguments?”
“The answer lies in the gap between two numbers. It takes four votes to hear a case and five to decide one.”
“If nothing else, this week’s arguments provided a telling glimpse into the process through which the court selects its docket, one that is usually shrouded in exceptional secrecy. The arguments also cleared up most of the mystery of whose idea it had been to hear the case, a challenge to Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage.”
Wonk Wire: When did same-sex marriage bans become unconstitutional?
Christie Running Away in Re-Election Race
A new Harper Polling survey in New Jersey finds Gov. Chris Christie (R) crushing challenger Barbara Buono (D) in the race for governor, 58% to 28%.
Could Google Sway an Election?
Psychologist Robert Epstein has testing the impact of a fictitious search engine “that manipulated search rankings, giving an edge to a favored political candidate by pushing up flattering links and pushing down unflattering ones,” the Washington Post reports.
“There is no reason to believe that Google would manipulate politically sensitive search results… Yet Epstein’s core finding — that a dominant search engine could alter perceptions of candidates in close elections — has substantial support. Given the wealth of information available about Internet users, a search engine could even tailor results for certain groups, based on location, age, income level, past search history, Web browsing history or other factors.”
Unlikely 2016 GOP Nominee Will Back Gay Marriage
Obama campaign manager Jim Messina tells Businessweek that he doesn’t believe that the 2016 GOP presidential nominee will support same-sex marriage.
Said Messina: “Given who their primary electorate is and given the fact that the ABC/Washington Post poll showed that 60 percent of older Republican primary voters still oppose it. I think you will see people talk less about it. But I don’t think they’re showing any signs of moderating.”
“Messina’s analysis runs counter to what many Republican strategists in
Washington are telling reporters–that the GOP will have to evolve on the
issue, as Democrats have done. But this may be wishful thinking on the
part of elite Republicans. The Republican consultant class has always
been more comfortable with gay rights than the party’s base.”
Victims’ Rights Pamphlet Offers Number to Sex Line
Law enforcement officials in Florida “say a phone number written on a pamphlet given to domestic
violence and sexual assault victims actually went to a sex hotline
instead,” WKMG-TV reports.
