TheDC Morning

TheDC Morning: The de-nunification of America

Jamie Weinstein Senior Writer
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1.) The de-nunification of America — Being a nun isn’t so fun in the Age of Obama. TheDC’s David Martosko reports:

“A religious order of nuns is concerned about its future presence in the United States because of the impact of Obamacare on its charitable operations. The Little Sisters of the Poor told The Daily Caller that it may not qualify for a long-term exemption from Obamacare’s healthcare mandate. The law requires the order to provide government-approved health insurance to its 300 sisters who tend to the elderly in 30 U.S. cities. The exception is needed, said Sister Constance Carolyn Veit, because Catholic teaching opposes contraception and medical treatements that cause sterility or can cause abortions. President Obama’s health care overhaul law requires employers to include those services in qualifying health care plans they provide for their employees. Failure to comply will bring hefty fines — even for religious orders whose members have taken vows of poverty.”

2.)Hagel hacking — Several senators expressed concerns about the potential nomination of former Republican Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense, including rising Senate star Kelly Ayotte. TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein reports:

“New Hampshire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte says she is ‘concerned’ with the positions of potential defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel on Israel and Iran, and that she intends to question him ‘vigorously’ if he is nominated by the president. ‘I appreciate Senator Hagel’s record of public service,’ Ayotte told The Daily Caller in an emailed statement Tuesday. ‘While he has not yet been nominated, I am concerned about his prior positions with regard to Israel and Iran,’ she said. ‘If he is nominated to serve as Secretary of Defense, I intend to vigorously question him on those prior positions.'”

But to Hagel’s defense came Obama’s top Jewish surrogate during his presidential campaigns, Robert Wexler.

3.) Blame for thee, not for me — A new report on the Benghazi terrorist attack says senior officials screwed up, but no one in particular. TheDC’s Neil Munro reports:

“The State Department’s report on the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi describes a series of strategy and management failures, but doesn’t assign responsibility to any individual Americans — not even to the secretary of state or the president of the United States. ‘Systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department resulted in a Special Mission security posture that was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place,’ says the report, which was written by the ‘Accountability Review Board for Benghazi.’ ‘However, the Board did not find reasonable cause to determine that any individual U.S. government employee breached his or her duty,’ state the report’s authors, all picked by the administration.”

As the saying goes, if everyone’s responsible, no one’s responsible.

4.) Willy hunting   In the most important op-ed ever written for The Daily Caller, Scoops Delacroix explains the pleasures of whaling:

“Why, then, do environmental groups and others oppose whaling? It’s simple: racism. Whaling has historically played a central role in many Native American societies. Tribes like the Makah have whaled for centuries and want to continue to do so today. But the anti-whaling bigots will have none of it. … Whales think they’re so great. They think they can roam the world’s oceans unmolested. And for the most part, they’re right: Since 1986, whaling has been banned by the International Whaling Convention, which was created in 1946 to oversee the sport. It’s time for the madness to end. It’s time to legalize whaling.”

5.) Tweet of Yesterday — Noah Pollak: So, in Hagel’s corner, we have: Stephen Walt, Peter Beinart, Justin Raimondo, Andrew Sullivan, and Iranian state TV.

6.) Today in North Korean News — BREAKING: “Image of Smiling Leader Kim Jong Il Kept in Koreans’ Heart”

VIDEO: Harry Reid says Boehner’s $1 million plan “can’t pass the Senate,” “doesn’t do anything.” 

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Jamie Weinstein