TheDC Morning: Benedict (Bill) Clinton?

Jamie Weinstein Senior Writer
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1.) Benedict (Bill) Clinton? — Former President Bill Clinton may not have been the most loyal supporter of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, reports TheDC’s Matt Lewis:

Howard Kurtz has penned an interesting column about John McCain’s role (or lack thereof) in the Romney campaign. The premise, itself, is interesting, but I found a few of the quotes buried within the story to be equally of interest. For example, Kurtz writes, ‘McCain told me that he and Clinton chatted about policy in occasional phone calls during his 2008 campaign, even as the former president was backing Obama.'”

Maybe he was acting as a statesman. Maybe not. This election cycle, of course, Clinton undermined President Obama’s chief campaign message on national television when he denied that Romney was the rapacious businessman the Obama campaign was trying to paint him as. You almost get the sense that the last Democratic president doesn’t much care for the current one.

2.) Scalia says no to cannons, unsure about rocket launchers — Talking to Fox News’ Chris Wallace, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said that the Second Amendment does not permit Americans to own any type of weapon and that exactly what it limits could be decided by the court in the future. TheDC’s Jeff Poor reports:

“When Wallace asked whether the Second Amendment permitted even weapons that could fire hundreds of rounds in a minute, Scalia paused. ‘We’ll see,’ Scalia responded. ‘Obviously, the amendment does not apply to arms that cannot be hand-carried. It’s ‘to keep and bear,’ so it doesn’t apply to cannons. But I suppose there are hand-held rocket launchers that can bring down airplanes, that will have to be decided.'”

Ahh. But what if you are very strong and can carry a cannon?

3.) Burning the midnight candle may give you cancer — In “you learn something everyday” news, apparently working the late shift could be seriously hazardous to your health. Michael Bastasch reports for The Daily Caller News Foundation:

“Who knew that working the night shift could cause cancer? ‘Shift work involving light at night’  is among of the nominations for next year’s Report on Carcinogens released biennially by the National Toxicology Program. This means that working the night shift could be listed as a cancer-causing activity if it is ultimately included in the next report. Besides working night shifts under light, other substances nominated for the next RoC include unleaded uranium, diesel exhaust particles and the human immunodeficiency virus, better known as HIV.”

4.) President Indecisive? — President Obama may not have been as decisive in making his decision to raid Osama bin Laden’s compound as we have been led to believe — at least no initially. TheDC’s David Martosko reports:

“At the urging of Valerie Jarrett, President Barack Obama canceled the operation to kill Osama bin Laden on three separate occasions before finally approving the May 2, 2011 Navy SEAL mission, according to an explosive new book scheduled for release August 21. The Daily Caller has seen a portion of the chapter in which the stunning revelation appears. In ‘Leading From Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him,‘ Richard Miniter writes that Obama cancelled the ‘kill’ mission in January 2011, again in February, and a third time in March. Obama’s close adviser Valerie Jarrett persuaded him to hold off each time, according to the book.”

5.) Poll of the Day: Romney up big in Missouri Post Dispatch/Mason Dixon poll of Missouri: Mitt Romney 51%, Barack Obama 42%. A recent WeAskAmerica poll similarly shows Romney up 9% in Missouri. John McCain bested Obama in Missouri by just a little more than 0.1% — fewer than 4,000 votes — in 2008.

6.) Tweet of Yesterday — GregGutfeld: Remember when Mitt questioned Brit enthusiasm for the Games. Guess all those empty seats proved him wrong!

VIDEO: Former VP Dick Cheney says it was a “mistake” for John McCain to pick Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008

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