TheDC Morning

TheDC Morning: Meet the person who listens to Joe Biden

Jamie Weinstein Senior Writer
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1.) BREAKING: At least one person listens to Joe Biden — Unfortunately for Joe, it’s not President Obama. TheDC’s Caroline May reports:

“Vice President Joe Biden’s self-defense advice — warding off potential intruders with two shotgun blasts outside the house — has had an impact on at least one man. Jeffery Barton, a 52-year-old Vancouver, Wash. resident, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges stemming from his decision to chase alleged car intruders away with a shotgun blast in the air. He cited Biden’s advice as his inspiration, according to a local news report. ‘I did what Joe Biden told me to do,’ Barton told KOIN. ‘I went outside and fired my shotgun in the air.'”

2.) Jimmy Carter: The gift that keeps on giving — The worst living president has some thoughts that he has not yet packaged into an unreadable book. TheDC’s Katie McHugh reports:

“Former president Jimmy Carter condemned the effect U.S. intelligence programs had on U.S. moral authority in the wake of NSA revelations brought to light by leaker Edward Snowden, Der Spiegel reports. ‘America has no functioning democracy,’ Carter said  at a meeting of The Atlantic Bridge in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday. Carter also claimed there was currently no reason for him to be ‘optimistic’ about Egypt’s internal conflicts and mused whether the standards The Carter Center applies to foreign elections could be fulfilled by U.S. elections, which he believes are plagued by confusing campaign rules and a lack of restrictions on free speech in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling.”

America has some problems, but one suspects that our election standards are a little better than those of the banana republics The Carter Center involves itself in. Who would have thought that the author of such incisive books as “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” could be so foolish? Besides, of course, everybody.

3.) The children are our future — The Daily Caller caused a stir Wednesday when one of our reporters asked Jay Carney a question at the White House briefing that made Carney pouty. Well, the reporter wasn’t exactly a full fledged staffer. He was a 16-year-old intern. TheDC’s Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel respond to the uproar:

“Some reporters in Washington are asking why The Daily Caller sent our intern Gabe Finger to the White House press briefing this afternoon. Talk about missing the point. The real question is, why did it take a 16-year-old intern to raise an obvious and important question that the White House press corps should have asked days ago? We don’t care how old Gabe Finger is. It doesn’t matter to us what his credentials are. All we care about is how well he does his job. Today he did it a lot better than most White House reporters.”

Naturally, the statement ended with the lyrics of Whitney Houston song.

4.) Be careful what you say — One legislator wants to turn the tables on the IRS. TheDC’s Alex Pappas reports:

“Citing recent scandals across the federal government, a Republican lawmaker is pushing a new bill that would make it legal for Americans to record most conversations they have with employees of federal agencies. ‘I have heard story after story of federal regulators abusing their power,’ said Rep. Lynn Jenkins, a Kansas Republican. On Wednesday, Jenkins introduced legislation that she says would expand the rights of Americans to record their conversations with federal employees. Under current law, people are only able to lawfully record certain in-person conversations with IRS officials.”

5.) Tweet of Yesterday — David A. Graham: It took 58 years, but we won the Vietnam War. RT @benhjacobs: They’re going to open a McDonald’s in Ho Chi Minh City

6.) Today in North Korean News — BREAKING “Kim Jong Un Visits Children’s Hospital, Dental Hospital under Construction”

VIDEO: Man wrestles sharks as a hobby, like a completely normal person

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