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1.) Gabriel Gomez: He won’t need to pee when he’s in D.C. — Retired Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez may have an new slogan for his Massachusetts Senate campaign. TheDC’s Alexis Levinson reports:
“Gabriel Gomez, the Republican nominee for Senate in Massachusetts, called out fellow Republican Sen. Rand Paul at a debate Tuesday night, saying that in a battle of the bladders, he would put the Kentucky Senator to shame. In March, Paul staged an old-style filibuster to protest the Obama administration’s policy on drones. For 12 hours and 52 minutes, Paul stood on the Senate floor, not leaving for food or water, until finally, in the wee hours of the morning, he left to heed nature’s call. … Gomez scoffed at Paul’s 12 hours and 52 minutes. ‘I’ve gone much longer than that with my time in the SEAL team,’ the former Navy SEAL said.”
This is the type of bladder America needs in Washington.
2.) Birds of the feather don’t always flock together — Or perhaps they aren’t really birds of a feather. TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein reports on troubles in “Wacko Bird” land:
“’Wacko Bird’ legislators led by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz don’t agree on everything, but you would think that the National Security Agency’s expansive surveillance program would be one issue where these crusaders for freedom would stand united. But that does not appear to be the case. While Paul has vociferously denounced the recent NSA revelations detailing the agency’s controversial anti-terrorism surveillance program and declared he will investigate to see if he can challenge the constitutionality of some of the measures at the Supreme Court, Cruz has taken a much more nuanced position. Cruz’s concerns about the programs seem to be based less on principle and more on trusting the Obama administration to administer the intrusive spying programs judiciously.”
It strikes TheDC Morning that Cruz is trying to get on both sides of the issue. Could he be a politician after all?
3.) Hunt Stunt — Here’s a gift for the hunter in your life who has no hunting talent. Kate Grise reports for TheDC:
“Now everyone can shoot like a trained marksman. For a price. A Texas-based applied technology firm has launched new smartgun technology that gives novice shooters the chance to participate in ‘extreme distance hunting.’ TrackingPoint’s new precision guided firearm technology, XactSystem, allows the shooter to lock onto a target before allowing the gun to fire upon the intended target, much like a fighter jet’s ‘lock-and-launch’ technology.”
Also, you can beat an Olympic sprinter by buying this device called a car and you can win the National Spelling Bee by competing with a dictionary.
4.) From think tank to “think tank?” — TheDC’s Matt Lewis opines that the Heritage Foundation is becoming more of an activist group than a think tank:
“After a controversial immigration report led to the resignation of its co-author, the organization decided not to retreat, but to reload. And as the DC Examiner’s Conn Carroll reports, ‘The Heritage Foundation launched an unprecedented [$100,000] online advertising campaign against the legislation.’ … The conservative movement, it seems, does not lack for activist groups. What it needs now more than ever are ideas and respected intellectuals. But for whatever reason, at this moment in history, Heritage seems committed to dropping any pretense of being a ‘think tank,’ in favor of being an activist outfit. It might be a curious marketing decision, but as [Washington Post conservative blogger Jen] Rubin demonstrated, it was also entirely predictable.”
5.) Tweet of Yesterday — daveweigel: “I welcome this public debate” is code for “Damn it, you caught me.”
6.) Today in North Korean News — BREAKING: “Pyongyang Essential Foodstuff Factory Updated”
VIDEO: In 2006, Biden said, “Don’t count me in” on trusting NSA phone call surveillance