Politics

TheDC Morning: The ACLU has a surprise for Harry Reid

Jamie Weinstein Senior Writer
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1.) The ACLU has a surprise for Harry Reid Even the liberal-leaning organization doesn’t support his gun bill. TheDC’s Vince Coglianese reports:

“As Senate Democrats struggle to build support for new gun control legislation, the American Civil Liberties Union now says it’s among those who have ‘serious concerns’ about the bill. Those concerns have the capacity to prove a major setback to Sen. Harry Reid’s current gun bill, which includes language from earlier bills introduced by Sens. Chuck Schumer and Barbara Boxer. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller, a top lobbyist for the ACLU announced that the group thinks Reid’s current gun bill could threaten both privacy rights and civil liberties. …  ‘However, we also believe those checks have to be conducted in a way that protects privacy and civil liberties. So, in that regard, we think the current legislation, the current proposal on universal background checks raises two significant concerns,’ he went on.”

When you’re Harry Reid and you’ve lost the ACLU, it’s time to just kill your bill.

2.) Congress cares — Though apparently not for the “sick and chronically ill.” TheDC’s Alexis Levinson reports:

“At a Wednesday hearing by the House Subcommittee on Health, there were more witnesses in attendance than there were members of Congress. Both the House and the Senate are in their second week of recess, and just two members of Congress — Subcommittee Chair Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania and Vice Chair Michael Burgess of Texas — attended the hearing, entitled ‘Protecting America’s Sick and Chronically Ill.’ The two Republicans were vastly outnumbered by the five witnesses who spoke and answered questions at the hearing.

3.) Franklin’s America — According to a new book,  FDR’s view of America wasn’t particularly inclusive. TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein reports:

“Historian Rafael Medoff says Franklin Delano Roosevelt failed to take relatively simple measures that would have saved significant numbers of Jews during the Holocaust because his vision for America only encompassed having a small number of Jews. ‘In his private, unguarded moments, FDR repeatedly made unfriendly remarks about Jews, especially his belief that Jews were overrepresented in many professions and exercised too much influence and control on society,’ Medoff told The Daily Caller in an email about his new book, ‘FDR and the Holocaust: A Breach of Faith.’ ‘This prejudice helped shape his overall vision of what America should look like — and it was a vision with room for only a small number of Jews who, he said, should be ‘spread out thin.’ This helps explain why his administration went out of its way discourage and disqualify would-be immigrants, instead of just quietly allowing the immigration quotas to be filled to their legal limit.'”

See the full interview.

4.) Another Kennedy ambassador? — The last one wasn’t so hot and the new one doesn’t appear to be so qualified. TheDC’s Tim Cavanaugh reports:

“Although Caroline Kennedy has not been officially nominated as the United States ambassador to Japan, a report of the probable pick has provoked wide discussion – not all of it positive – about whether the last living member of Camelot’s first family is up to the job. ‘I’m sure she’s a lovely person and a good lawyer and author and, of course, she comes from a prominent American family and was wise enough to choose the right father,’ Economic Strategy Institute president Clyde Prestowitz wrote Tuesday in Foreign Policy magazine. ‘But she knows little of Japan, speaks no Japanese, and is not particularly experienced in world affairs and diplomacy.'”

Kennedy’s credentials should really be a great help with the current tensions in the region. Really glad we’re taking East Asia so seriously. #sarcasm

5.) Tweet of Yesterday — Noah Pollak: Today we need Dennis Rodman more than ever

6.) Today in North Korean News — BREAKING: “Kim Jong Un’s Work Published in Puru”

VIDEO: Guy lets his girl get hit in the face by a home run ball 

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Jamie Weinstein