It may come as something of a shock to those millions planning trips to Washington for the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama that he isn’t really legally capable of taking the oath.
It’s the birth certificate thing.
That’s because he was born in Kenya to an alien father and isn’t a natural-born American as the Constitution requires and the copy of his Hawaii birth certificate looks fake to many and the state won’t release the original, which makes everything that much more suspicious.
This controversy has been brewing for many months online with few taking it seriously.
The Baltimore Examiner interviews the father of slain federal prosecutor Jonathan Luna, found dead in a shallow stream here in 2003. He says he’s angered by law enforcement assertions that his son killed himself. “That’s not true,” Paul Luna tells the paper. “He was killed.”
“What I said is Janet is a person who works 24/7,” Rendell said at an afternoon press conference. “She has no life — neither do I.”
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Rendell said discussions he has had with the original secretary of homeland security, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, made it clear to him anyone who accepts the job will have to spend nearly every waking moment working. Napolitano, who Rendell called one of the country’s best governors, is ready to make that commitment, he said.
Rendell himself said he also doesn’t have a life, a quality he said allows him to be a better governor.
As an example, he said he watched a budget forum airing on PCN Tuesday night from 10:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.
“No person who has a life would do that,” he said.
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Rendell said anybody who took offense to the remark that way was using “fractured logic,” a term he took from the TV show “Rocky and Bullwinkle.” They would have to “stretch” his comment to be offended, he said.
“But if anyone out there was offended, I would apologize,” Rendell said.
Meantime, Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News discovers a New Era story from 2006 in which Rendell defended the legalization of slot machines in Pennsylvania. During a lengthy interview with our editorial board on Oct. 18, the New Era asked Rendell whether easier access to casinos will result in an increase in the number of people addicted to gambling.
The governor said yes, but added that “for every one person who falls addicted to gambling or loses their paycheck, I’ll show you 500 — mostly seniors — who spent $40 at a casino and had the best day of their month.
“And if you don’t believe me, come to Philadelphia — I know exactly where the buses board for Atlantic City.
“These are people who lead very gray lives. They don’t see their sons and daughters very much. They don’t have much social interaction. There’s not a whole lot of good things that happen in their month,” the governor said of some seniors.
“But if you put them on the bus they’re excited. They’re happy. They have fun. They see bright lights. They hear music. They pull that slot machine and with each pull they think they have a chance to win,” he said.
“Most of them lose, and they lose $40 — less than they would lose in Philadelphia if they went to a movie and dinner. And that should be their option,” Rendell said.
Writes Bunch: “Ironically, Rendell himself turns 65 on Jan. 5, and come this time two years from now, I expect to see the then-unemployed East Falls resident hanging around a lot at Chester Downs, watching all the flashing lights. As for his remark about Janet Napolitano, it was dumb beyond belief…but not sexist. The issue of balancing work and family, regardless of how crudely expressed, is one that may affect the different genders in different ways, but its impact is powerful on both men and women.”
The Proposition 8 battle has prompted a star-studded music video that is available at the website Funny or Die.
Written by Marc Shaiman and directed by Adam Shankman, the piece shows gay marriage backers and foes debating the issue in song against the backdrop of a Sacramento community college theater. John C. Reilly and Allison Janney lead the gay marriage foes — all dressed in dark Sunday-best suits (and including some African Americans). The anti-Prop. 8 crowd includes Neil Patrick Harris and Andy Richter.
The musical begins with the gay marriage supporters singing about “a brand new bright Obama day…. Happy days for the gays.” The anti forces then move in, singing: “Nobody’s looking, let’s spread the hate … Proposition 8!”
Jack Black then appears as Jesus, who takes part in some mediation. By the end of the video, everyone seems to oppose Prop. 8 (in part because of the lawyers and tattoo removal required to end those same-sex marriages).
The video posted just recently. Early reviews?
Gawker: “This reminds us how smart Obama was to keep celebrities from too-vocally supporting him…. Because usually they seem really obnoxious and do more to aggravate than they do to inure. Oh, plus the music sucks.”
Playbill has some of the cast names: The “Proposition 8′ers and The People That Follow Them” include John C. Reilly as Prop 8 Leader; Allison Janney as Prop 8 Leader’s #1 Wife; Kathy Najimy as Prop 8 Leader’s #2 Wife; Jenifer Lewis as Riffing Prop 8′er; Craig Robinson as A Preacher; and Rashida Jones, Lake Bell and Sarah Chalke as Scary Catholic School Girls From Hell.
Early this afternoon, Senate Republican leaders said they would return the automatic pay raises of 2.8 percent this year. The announcement followed that of the House Democratic leadership’s late Tuesday night. “As we have said consistently, everything is on the table in terms of spending cuts as we address the state budget deficit,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati in a prepared statement. “Government must live within its means, and this announcement is part of our commitment to do exactly that.” Along with Scarnati, Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, Majority Whip Jane Orie, Appropriations Committee Chairman Jake Corman, Caucus Chairman Mike Waugh, and Caucus Secretary Bob Robbins said they would not accept the cost-of-living adjustment and instead return the money to the Treasury.
CNN’s Campbell Brown hits Gov. Rendell, who apparently didn’t know the microphone he was standing next to was on in Philadelphia Tuesday, over comments the governor made about Barack Obama’s pick for Homeland Security chief, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano.
Said Rendell:
Janet’s perfect for that job. Because for that job, you have to have no life. Janet has no family. Perfect. She can devote, literally, 19-20 hours a day to it.
Opines Brown:
Wow. Now, I’m sure Gov. Napolitano has many qualifications for the job beyond having no family, and therefore the ability to devote 20 hours a day to the job … Again Gov. Rendell, I don’t mean to rake you over the coals. I know what you meant to say. But your comments do perpetuate stereotypes that put us in boxes, both mothers and single women. In government and beyond, men have been given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to striking the right work-life balance. Women are owed the same consideration.
PolitickerPA.com says the guv, apparently thinking his mic was turned off in Philadelphia Tuesday, had this to say about the former Republican vice-presidential nominee:
“I think she has great instincts. She’s not a genius, but she has very good political instincts.”
When airing the remarks, CNN characterized them as praise, “in a Rendell kind of way.”
House Democrats faxed over a statement at 11:06 p.m. Tuesday saying their leadership — including policy chairman Mike Sturla of Lancaster — will give up the 2.8 percent pay raise that took effect Monday and boosted rank-and-file salaries by $2,152. The reason: a “worsening financial picture for Pennsylvania.” Here’s what members of leadership had to say:
Speaker nominee Keith McCall of Carbon County: “With so many working families facing difficult decisions this winter, we will lead by example and make deeps cuts to our operation and encourage all members to say ‘no’ to this COLA.”
Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans of Philadelphia: “The governor will be asking for more cuts. With that in mind, we are encouraging all members to give back the COLA. We expect Democrats will do so and hope the Republicans will follow suit.”
Floor Leader Todd Eachus of Luzerne County: “This economy is challenging and this Legislature is going to rise to that challenge.”
The statement said Gov. Ed Rendell, scheduled to speak at a 2 p.m. news conference about the state budget, will call for $100 million more in spending cuts. The move comes a short time after data showed November was the seventh straight month that Pennsylvania’s revenue collections fell short of expectations. The state Revenue Department said Monday that November collections were a total of $1.6 billion. That is more than 5 percent less than projections. That leaves the state nearly 7 percent, or $658 million, behind for the five-month-old fiscal year. Collections of sales taxes are 3 percent behind, personal income taxes are 2 percent behind and corporation taxes are more than 15 percent behind.
Pennsylvania lawmakers have a scary budgetary hole to deal with in 2009. On Wednesday, they learned exactly how much more they’ll be paid trying to plug it. House and Senate members will receive a 2.8 percent raise, setting lawmakers’ base pay at $78,315.
The 30 legislative leaders will receive more. Their pay will range from $89,300 for caucus administrators, secretaries and policy-committee chairmen, to $122,254 for the speaker of the House and Senate president pro tempore.
The legislative raises will kick in Dec. 1. They will be based on the annual change in the federal Consumer Price Index for the Mid-Atlantic region for the 12-month period ending in October.
“And if you don’t believe me, come to Philadelphia — I know exactly where the buses board for Atlantic City.
