1.) Rick and Hillary sittin’ in a tree, way way back in ’93 — Rick Perry is promising to get rid of Obamacare ASAP. But was he always so opposed to government-run health care? TheDC’s Alexis Levinson and Caroline May report: “Texas Governor Rick Perry has been among the most vocal critics of President Obama’s health care reform initiative, and of Mitt Romney’s preceding health care program in Massachusetts. But in 1993, while serving as Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Perry praised the efforts of then-first lady Hillary Clinton to reform health care, a precursor to Obama’s health care reform efforts. In a letter to Clinton, who is now U.S. Secretary of State, Perry wrote: ‘I think your efforts in trying to reform the nation’s health care system are most commendable. I would like to request that the task force give particular consideration to the needs of the nation’s farmers, ranchers, and agriculture workers, and other members of rural communities,’ Perry continued, noting his administration’s focus on economic development for rural Texans. ‘Rural populations have a high proportion of uninsured people, rising health care costs, and often experience lack of services…’ Asked by TheDC about the 1993 letter, Perry’s presidential campaign defended it, saying the full scope of Clinton’s healthcare plan was not yet known when Perry signed it.” They even go so far as to call Hillarycare a “horrible monstrosity” in retrospect, and say that the only thing worse is Obamacare. It sounds like they’re trying to argue that when the facts change, Rick Perry changes his opinion. Silly Perry, that trick is for Dems!
2.) Romney wants some tea after all — Great news, teabaggers: Mitt Romney wants to party with you. TheDC’s Alex Pappas reports: “The GOP presidential candidate will join the Tea Party Express for an event in New Hampshire over Labor Day weekend, the first tea party rally he’s ever attended that has been hosted by a national organization, according to organizers. The news comes a day after The Daily Caller reported Monday that organizers with the country’s largest tea party groups said they don’t recall Romney ever participating or asking to participate in any of their events since the movement began… And in another sign that Romney is reaching out to tea party activists, his campaign said Tuesday that he will now appear at a candidate forum hosted by South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, despite having previously declined the invitation.” TheDC gets results! It remains to be seen whether the teabaggers will reward Romney for his magnanimity, but it stands in contrast with Jon Huntsman’s crafty strategy: actively alienating wide swaths of likely GOP voters to gain the approval of Ed Schultz.
3.) Does global warming cause mental illness, or vice versa? — Take it easy, global-warming faithful. Don’t let the sound of your own squeals drive you crazy. TheDC’s Matthew Boyle reports: “A report from Australia’s Climate Institute which links global warming with mental illness is already drawing eyerolls from a central academic in the global climate-change debate. In its report, the anti-carbon emissions organization argues that a spike in severe weather events in Australia coincides with increased rates of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress and substance abuse… Bjorn Lomborg, a Danish professor and environmental statistician, and a cautious believer in global warming — but also an advocate for sound and rational decisions about how to fix it — told The Daily Caller the study is ‘problematic.’ Cutting carbon emissions to slow a mental health epidemic down the road, Lomborg says, is an extreme reaction that makes it difficult to take global warming and climate change advocates seriously… Lomborg told TheDC that more heat waves with global warming will likely cause more mental health problems, and the Climate Institute might have something there. But fewer cold waves will result in fewer mental health problems. ‘You need to say both,’ he said. ‘You can’t just pick and choose in the record.'” That’s what he thinks! You can do whatever you want, and if anybody disagrees, you can just call them science-hating Nazi racists. Who taught this Lomborg guy how to do science, anyway? Hitler?
4.) Sick of Obama? There’s an app for that — If you’re one of the shrinking number of Americans who can still afford an iPhone and the apps for it, this one’s for you. TheDC’s Neil Munro reports: “An ‘Obama Clock’ app is jockeying for position with National Geographic’s World Atlas atop the iTunes app store’s reference best-seller list, partly because conservatives are eager to monitor President Barack Obama’s skidding approval numbers and shrinking calendar, says the app’s designer. Liberals don’t like the app because it shows Obama’s numbers trending down, said Jeremy Ross, even though his app just publishes publicly available data. The app can also be used to display the same stats on future GOP presidents. ‘Most of my friends are very left and strongly discouraged me from starting this app,’ he said. ‘My best friend hates this app.’ Ross added that his own mother, also politically liberal, isn’t happy about it.” Dissent is the highest form of patriotism, as long as you don’t dissent against them. And to add insult to injury, the 99-cent app — which displays Obama’s approval rating, the unemployment rate, the gasoline price index, the house price index, the national debt, and a live countdown clock until Obama needs to find a new job — is designed in the style of Shepard Fairey’s now-notorious “Hope” poster. It’s not fair when you use their own unthinking idol-worship against them. It’s just not fair. Tee hee!
5.) Hilary Duff fired from Bonnie & Clyde role for being pregnant, Hilary Duff — TheDC’s Laura Donovan writes: “TMZ reports that after she was dumped from a remake of ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ earlier this month, Hilary Duff scored a generous severance package because of the terms of her contract. Her take? $100,000. In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, the film’s production company cited scheduling difficulties as the reason for Duff’s termination. That statement conspicuously lacked any reference to Duff’s pregnancy, but obviously a baby bump might have spoiled the hard-edged appeal of fictional gangster Bonnie Parker. Kevin Zegers (Gossip Girl) was also cut recently from his role as Clyde, apparently due to scheduling conflicts, leaving the film’s two lead roles unfilled… The decision to find another lead may not have disappointed everyone awaiting the gangster flick remake. Faye Dunaway, the original Bonnie, reportedly lamented: ‘Couldn’t they at least cast a real actress?'” Oh, old people and their outdated ideas… So, who’ll be the next tween favorite to get cast in a completely unnecessary remake of a classic late-’60s film? Coming soon to a theater near you: Justin Bieber in The Wild Bunch.
6.) Today’s words of wisdom from Alec Baldwin’s Truther, er, Twitter feed — “Why do they call it Burning Man? Creeps me out a bit, I must say.” [Ed. note: Because “Amalgam Virgo” was taken.]
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