Like to laugh? Like to be informed? Then sign up for TheDC Morning email here.
1.) Bibi was off the heezy— Benjamin Netanyahu entered what is functionally enemy territory for his country Thursday and made an outstanding case for why the world (read the U.S.) should declare a clear red line that the world community (again, read the U.S.) would not allow the Iranian nuclear program to pass. TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein (ME!) reports:
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck a defiant tone in his speech to the United Nations Thursday and said that the only way to solve the Iranian nuclear program peacefully is for a clear red line to be established … ‘We must face the truth. Sanctions have not stopped Iran’s nuclear program either,’ he said, noting that despite President Barack Obama helping establish the toughest sanction regime on Iran, the Iranian nuclear program was continuing unabated. ‘At this late hour, there is only one way to peacefully prevent Iran from getting atomic bombs, and that’s by placing a clear red line on Iran’s nuclear weapons program,’ he said. ‘Red lines don’t lead to war — red lines prevent war,’ Netanyahu contended, pointing to NATO’s charter declaring that an attack on one country is an attack on all, as well as John F. Kennedy’s firm stance during the Cuban Missile Crisis.”
Implicit in Bibi’s remarks was that Israel was prepared to act if the U.S. shirked its duty to prevent an unacceptable danger like a nuclear-armed Iran to materialize and threaten the world. So President Obama, give peace a chance: Articulate a red line now.
2.) Tea party seeks to remain relevant, Obama or no Obama — If Mitt Romney wins in November, don’t expect the tea party to fade away. At least that is what a tea party leader tells TheDC’s Alex Pappas:
“If Mitt Romney becomes president, don’t expect the tea party movement to just fade away without Barack Obama in the White House. ‘I think that our role becomes even more important and more difficult at that point,’ Tea Party Patriots national coordinator Jenny Beth Martin told The Daily Caller in a Thursday afternoon interview at a Washington, D.C. coffee shop. Martin said the conservative grassroots will embrace the role of making sure Romney sticks to the fiscal principles he’s campaigned on: cutting government and reducing spending.”
But what happens if President Obama wins? Would that be a fatal blow to the tea party?
3.) And the truth will … turn people agains us — The Daily Caller News Foundation Robby Soave reports on a teachers’ union protest of a new film:
“In the wake of the Chicago teachers’ strike, a film about parents who fight a teachers’ union for control of a failing school is stirring controversy ahead of its release this Friday. ‘Won’t Back Down‘ is inspired by real events, and stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis as a parent and teacher who initiate a campaign under Pennsylvania’s parent trigger law to take over and reform their children’s union-run school. While advocates of school choice are already celebrating the film’s timely message, teachers’ unions protested the world premiere of the film last weekend in New York. They also released a YouTube video titled ‘Educating Maggie,’ aimed at the film’s star, Gyllenhaal.”
4.) The snack solution — Michelle Obama’s new school lunch initiative may have increased youth hunger across America, but a solution is in the works. It’s a little something the government calls “snacks.” TheDC’s Caroline May reports:
“In the wake of uproar over the new, healthier, Michelle Obama-backed school lunch menu, Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told ABC News that the department is working on creating a snack program to curb students hunger. The USDA implemented the new calorie restrictions and protein/carb-limited menu revamp of public school meals, under the ‘Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010,’ in August. The changes have caused a stir in schools across the country, with children and parents claiming students are not getting enough to sustain them through the day.”
5.) Poll of the Day: Americans view UK, Israel as best allies — Foreign Policy Initiative poll asks Americans “which one country would you name as America’s best ally in the world today?”: 54% said Britain, 15.9% said Israel, 8.7% said Canada, 2.3% said China, 1.9% said France, while 12.3% said they didn’t now. Fifteen other countries (as well as the continent of Europe) received between 0.9% and 0.1%.
6.) Tweet of Yesterday —Andy Levy: Haha stupid Netanyahu made a chart that’s easy to understand