THE OTHER SHOE DROPS: Updates To Previous Posts
† Is Obama Already A Lame Duck?: According to a recent Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll, 39 percent of voters would vote to re-elect President Barack Hussein Obama if the 2012 election were held today, while 50 percent would vote for someone else. Only 23 percent would “definitely” re-elect Obama, but 37 percent would definitely vote for someone else, reports The National Journal. The poll also shows that Dems don’t have enough of a cushion on the generic Congressional ballot to gain seats in November (39 percent to 35 percent).
† Former School Employee Allegedly Embezzles Sports Funds: Susan Thanh Litwin, 37, formerly a financial officer at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County, VA, pleaded guilty to embezzling money from student activities and sports accounts, reports The Washington Post:
Litwin, who resigned in March after 18 years with the Fairfax County school system, withdrew $279,000 in student funds from, using most of it to play blackjack in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, court records show.
"She has a gambling addiction," said her attorney, Gregory Beckwith. Litwin, of Woodbridge, relinquished ownership of a house in Florida on Thursday morning and has plans to forfeit her retirement savings from the school system, worth about $60,000.
Because the school receives federal funds, Litwin is facing up to 10 years in federal prison and $250,000 in fines.
The WaPo reports that an apologetic Litwin said, “I love the kids. Working with them … it's my passion.” Um, no. Playing blackjack in Atlantic City and Las Vegas was her passion, which is what got her into trouble in the first place.
† Updates To Previous Posts (third item, Lawyers Defending Terrorists: Gotta Do It, But Don’t Gotta Like It): Convicted terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab, 22, was sentenced to death for his role in the November 2008 attack on Mumbai, India, reports The Washington Post:
On Monday, Kasab was convicted of most of 80 charges against him, including waging war against the Indian state, murder and smuggling of arms into Mumbai. On Tuesday, Nikam demanded the death penalty for Kasab, calling him a "mad dog," "a snake" and "an agent of death." Kasab's defense lawyer, K.P. Pawar, argued for life imprisonment, saying his client was young and needed a chance for reform.
Under the Indian judicial system, Kasab has the right to appeal in a higher court, which will scrutinize the sentence, after which he can also take his case to the Supreme Court. Legal analysts said that he also can appeal to the Indian president for mercy. …
But relatives of Mumbai victims are impatient with the long judicial process and say the government should not spend more money keeping Kasab alive and in custody.
† Updates To Previous Posts (fifth item, Dead Men Write No Wills): U.S. District Judge Lawrence Stengel sentenced Allentown, PA, lawyer John Karoly Jr. to 78 months in federal prison for not reporting $4.2 million in income and on money laundering charges for defrauding a charity, reports The Legal Intelligencer.
† Updates To Previous Posts (last item, Never Mind Marxism. Will An Obama Administration Be Totalitarian?): Joe the Plumber went from suing the OH state government to joining its ranks, reports The Associated Press:
Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher, who was hailed by Republican John McCain's presidential campaign in 2008, won one of nearly 400 seats on the local Republican Party committee in Ohio's Lucas County. …
The group he'll serve on meets only a few times a year to elect the county chairman and sets the party agenda. Wurzelbacher won the seat by a 38-24 vote Tuesday in his suburban Toledo precinct.
† Updates To Previous Posts (fifth item, Now Is Not The Time To Talk About Race): The Washington Post’s Krissah Thompson examines why playing the race card is dealing from the bottom of the deck:
The accusations fly back and forth, a kind of political food fight: You played the race card! No, you played the race card! The tit-for-tat has become a near daily occurrence in the political message wars. …
Truth is, there is very little agreement about the meaning of the "race card" - a phrase that once described an attempt to unnecessarily insert the issue of race into a debate and that now sometimes seems to describe a whole lot more.
One group that finds itself engaged in the back-and-forth attacks is the "tea party" movement. Democrats level charges of racism against the movement; tea party supporters, in turn, accuse Democrats of playing the race card. …
Republican strategist, pollster and tea party supporter Leslie Sanchez said labeling an entire group, such as the tea party, as racist is "extreme." Racial prejudice against Obama "isn't the genesis of this movement and to label it as that based on a few fringe elements is a false argument," she said. That, Sanchez said, is playing the race card. …
Sanchez said there is "no tolerance" for attempts "to use race to drive a wedge." The more frequent accusations of playing the race card could be a sign of increased racial sensitivity, she said. "These days people are aware of every statement and every tone."
† Updates To Previous Posts (ninth item, Take The Veil Off, Or Go Home): Jean-François Copé, the majority leader in the French National Assembly, explains why he supports the burqa ban being considered in France, in this New York Times op-ed:
The ban would apply to the full-body veil known as the burqa or niqab. This is not an article of clothing - it is a mask, a mask worn at all times, making identification or participation in economic and social life virtually impossible.
This face covering poses a serious safety problem at a time when security cameras play an important role in the protection of public order. An armed robbery recently committed in the Paris suburbs by criminals dressed in burqas provided an unfortunate confirmation of this fact. …
The visibility of the face in the public sphere has always been a public safety requirement. It was so obvious that until now it did not need to be enshrined in law. But the increase in women wearing the niqab, like that of the ski mask favored by criminals, changes that. We must therefore adjust our law, without waiting for the phenomenon to spread. …
Individual liberty is vital, but individuals, like communities, must accept compromises that are indispensable to living together, in the name of certain principles that are essential to the common good.
Copé points out that the Koran does not instruct women to cover their faces, Tunisia and Turkey have banned burqas in public buildings and pilgrims to Mecca are forbidden to cover their faces. So the French ban is not an assault on individual liberty or anti-Muslim discrimination.
† Updates To Previous Posts (last item, 10 Reasons Michelle Obama Should Be Proud – Really Proud – Of America): This latest installment in The Stiletto Blog’s ongoing series meant to help instill the necessary pride of country in Michelle Obama’s consciousness to enable her to serve as an unofficial ambassador focuses on San Jose, CA, police officer Rory McMilton. Because of budget cuts the 27-year-old recruit who was hired last July, was notified that his job was in jeopardy. But just a few days later he helped perform CPR on a 60-year-old bicyclist who suffered a heart attack and saved his life, reports the San Jose Mercury News.
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