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1.) One man’s teacher is another man’s idiot — Some Texas students are learning some interesting things about Islamist terrorism. TheDC’s Eric Owens reports:
“Texas public schools have come under fire again. This time, a teacher allegedly encouraged high school girls to dress up in full-length Islamic burqas and then instructed the entire class that Muslim terrorists are actually freedom fighters. The incident occurred in a world geography class at Lumberton High School in the small town of Lumberton, Texas. The general topic of the class that day was Islam. An unnamed student informed WND that the teacher said, ‘We are going to work to change your perception of Islam.'”
If this is what America’s youth are learning, we really are doomed as a country. As a general rule, in order to be considered a freedom fighter, you have to be fighting for freedom. Islamist terrorists are fighting to install freedom-less despotisms. If you liked the Taliban’s Afghanistan, you’ll love Al-Qaidastans. And no one in their right mind liked the Taliban’s Afghanistan — certainly no one who holds freedom as any sort of value.
2.) Hollywood in the heartland? — The 2014 Kentucky Senate race may be filled with Bluegrass sass. TheDC’s Alex Pappas reports:
“She has spoken out against having kids, saying it is ‘unconscionable to breed’ while there are so many starving children in the world. She has criticized the tradition of fathers ‘giving away’ their daughters at weddings, calling that practice ‘a common vestige of male dominion over a woman’s reproductive status.’ She has even compared Mountaintop Removal to the Rwandan genocide and has criticized Christianity as a religion that ‘legitimizes and seals male power.’ Yet the actress Ashley Judd is seriously contemplating a Senate run in Kentucky, a conservative-leaning state where such liberal comments would be mocked and viewed as, well, bizarre.”
Okay, TheDC Morning is calling it. Sure, it’s nearly four years until Election Day. But if this is the candidate who Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will face in Kentucky, the race is as good as over. Judd’s only hope would be to discover McConnell is a secret member of Al-Qaida, which strikes TheDC Morning as somewhat unlikely. Seriously, if Judd gets in, she is going to have to do so much flip flopping even John Kerry will take offense.
3.) Deal or No Deal? — According to John Boehner, it’s likely a “no deal.” TheDC’s Alex Pappas reports:
“Speaker of the House John Boehner expressed pessimism on Monday that a deal will be reached by the end of the week with Democrats to stop the across-the-board spending cuts both parties dislike, known as the sequester. ‘Hope springs eternal,’ Boehner said, when a reporter asked whether he expects that sequestration will go into effect on Friday.”
4.) Spending noise — Sen. Tom Coburn has come up with a bunch of jobs that the government could eliminate. TheDC’s Alex Pappas reports:
“It only amounts to savings of about $1.4 million, but Republican Sen. Tom Coburn has found 10 ‘low priority’ jobs the federal government is looking to fill that he wants eliminated. The Oklahoma lawmaker says he found these 10 job openings on USAJobs.gov, the federal government’s official jobs list. Coburn proposed getting rid of these jobs in order to protect the more important jobs the Obama administration claims will be impacted by the looming sequestration.”
This is all well and good, but it is really just noise. As the senator knows — perhaps more than most in the Senate — all the spending cuts in the world do not matter unless Medicare is addressed. That’s where our long-term fiscal challenge almost entirely lies.
5.) Tweet of Yesterday — Mike Baker: Sec of State John Kerry announces Iran must negotiate in good faith re their nuke program. Dammit, why didn’t we think of that before?
6.) Today in North Korean News — BREAKING: “Birthday Party Given for Contributors of Successful Nuclear Test”
SLIDESHOW: The vexing case of Drudge’s Chris Christie photos