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1.) Don’t you dare protest Michelle Obama — Michelle Obama for the win. TheDC’s Caroline May reports:
“First Lady Michelle Obama was met with a heckler Tuesday evening at a Democratic National Committee event in Washington, D.C. A gay rights activist standing near the front of the audience began shouting for an executive order on gay rights, according to the White House pool report. ‘One of the things I don’t do well is this,’ Obama responded to approval from the audience. The pool reported that Obama left the lectern toward the protestor saying that they could ‘listen to me or you can take the mic, but I’m leaving. You all decide. You have one choice.'”
Whether you love her or less-than-love her, you have to give her kudos for not tolerating left-wing hysterics.
2.) Portman for president? — Rob Portman is going to New Hampshire (cue the media freak out). TheDC’s Alexis Levinson reports:
“Sen. Rob Portman is stoking speculation about a possible presidential bid with a trip to New Hampshire next week, on the heels of two other potential presidential hopefuls who have made the trip to the Granite State. The Ohio Republican, who was on the shortlist to be Mitt Romney’s running mate in the 2012 presidential election, will headline a New Hampshire Republican Party ‘business luncheon’ on June 14, according to the invitation. Ryan Williams, New Hampshire Republican Party consultant, brushed off the idea that this trip presaged a possible presidential run. Portman, Williams told The Daily Caller, is heading to the state for an event at his alma mater, Dartmouth College. It is his 35th reunion this year. Williams said the Senator reached out to Ayotte ‘to let her know he would be in the state that weekend’ and ‘asked if there was anything he could do to help her or other Republicans in New Hampshire.'”
Sometime a business lunch is just a business lunch. But when you’re a plausible presidential contender and your business lunch takes you to New Hampshire, Washington’s pundit class is going to start whispering things.
3.) Black’s back — Conrad Black is out of prison. We can safely report that the slammer didn’t quite humble him. TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein reports:
“Conrad Black’s back — and he doesn’t love America so much anymore. Black, the former CEO of Hollinger International who controlled such publications as the Chicago Sun-Times, the Jerusalem Post and the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph, was convicted in the U.S. in 2007 of fraud and obstruction of justice. Though he appealed his case all the way to the Supreme Court (which threw out two of his four convictions), Black spent three years in prison before being released in 2012. The 68-year-old one-time champion of America doesn’t see the country — and its justice system — as so outstanding any longer. ‘[M]y affection for the country has been seriously eroded and I consider the justice system to be a teeming anthill of corruption, and hypocrisy, a disgrace made more abominable by the complacency of most Americans about it,’ Black, who maintains his innocence and lives in Canada, told The Daily Caller in an email.”
Black is a historian and his views on politics and culture are quite interesting and worth listening to. But his portrayal of the American justice system may be a bit over-the-top. See the article to read about Black’s new book.
4.) Sleeping problems — It seems like the military has a sleep apnea epidemic. TheDC’s Caroline May reports:
“The number of veterans and military retirees receiving disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs for sleep apnea has skyrocketed in recent years, leading one attorney to call on Congress to investigate. In 2012, the number of veterans and retirees drawing payments for sleep apnea was 114,103, almost double the number the VA reported in 2009 (57,679). The number of veterans added to the rolls from 2001 to 2012 increased by a factor of 25. 983 veterans began to draw disability compensation for sleep apnea in 2001, and in 2012, 24,791 were added to the rolls to treat the condition, according to a report by Tom Philpott in the military publication Stars and Stripes.”
5.) Tweet of Yesterday — Andrew Exum: Not “fighting and winning our nation’s wars?” MT @HayesBrown Odierno: I told my soldiers preventing sexual assault our “No. 1 priority.”
6.) Today in North Korean News — BREAKING: “Figure of Int’l Body Interviewed”
AUDIO: Adam Carolla rants on personal responsibility being labeled as “right-wing”