Jack Abramoff’s former lobbying partner who pleaded guilty to conspiracy, yesterday defended his graduate thesis at Johns Hopkins University on…the House ethics process. Scanlon argued that the “system now is not broken, but functioning in the same manner it has since its creation.” Scanlon faces up to five years in prison and $19.7 million in restitution. He is currently free on $5 million bond.
Washington Post Covers Bush Hypocrisy On Singing National Anthem In Spanish
The Washington Post – in an article headlined “Administration Is Singing More Than One Tune on Spanish Version of Anthem” – picked up on President Bush’s hypocrisy on singing the national anthem, reported by ThinkProgress yesterday. An excerpt:
The Center for American Progress, a liberal group run by Clinton chief of staff John D. Podesta, posted on its blog a reference to Bush singing the anthem in Spanish. In his book, “American Dynasty,” Kevin Phillips wrote that Bush “would drop in at Hispanic festivals and parties, sometimes joining in singing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ in Spanish, sometimes partying with a ‘Viva Bush’ mariachi band flown in from Texas.”
White House spokesmen and former campaign operatives said they could not recall whether that happened, though given the level of Bush’s Spanish proficiency, they seemed dubious.
“Honestly, I don’t remember him ever singing the national anthem in Spanish,” said Leonard Rodriguez, who was national director of Hispanic Coalition for Bush/Cheney 2000. “I can’t see any of his advisers recommending it.” But he added: “They may have played it. That’s certainly in the realm of possibility.” And Rodriguez said he does not recall Bush ever objecting to it.
The Post also noted that a news story by Cox News Service which reported that the national anthem was sung “in English and Spanish” at Bush’s 2001 inaugural, cited by ThinkProgress yesterday, was incorrect. We updated our post below last night to reflect this information.
Read the whole article. It’s a good rundown of the national anthem controversy to date.
ThinkFast: May 3, 2006
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said yesterday that the Armed Services subcommittee he chairs “would reject one of the most controversial aspects of President Bush’s fiscal 2007 defense budget request, a proposal to charge some military retirees more for their health care.”
67: Number of U.S. troops who have died this year due to attacks on their Humvees caused by IEDs. The number of deaths is up from 27 at a comparable point last year.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) “warned the Bush administration Tuesday that he intends to ride herd on its efforts to crack down on leaks to reporters. He also said his panel would consider legislation that would establish a federal shield law for journalists.”
A government study commissioned by the Bush administration concluded there is “no statistically significant conflict between measures of global warming on the earth’s surface and in the atmosphere,” thus eliminating “a significant area of uncertainty in the debate over global warming, one that the administration has long cited as a rationale for proceeding cautiously” on curbing harmful emissions.
Two-thirds of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students (ages 13-20) report having been verbally harassed because of their sexual orientation, a new study shows. More than a third have suffered anti-gay physical harassment. Read more
