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Wright: No golden rule for Barack


  • We can think of no place lonelier than a delivery room where a teen FDLS mom has to give birth, nearly alone, to a child she may not be allowed to keep in an uncertain future in a world she has no hold on. Hearbreaking for the child, the mom and how all of this was even allowed to happen. While the whistleblower here may yet be a hoax, there must be more than a few people in Texas, if not the U.S., glad that someone made the call.


  • We saw Barack Obama's controversial former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, speak in Detroit and thought his remarks a lot more tame than those delivered at the National Press Club. He was actually an entertaining and intriguing speaker, both well-educated and dare we say funny. It was easy to see how he would be charismatic for a congregation. We suspect his recent public speaking engagements are perhaps designed to promote a future book. And we can't help but wonder how such Christian values would allow him to continue this rhetoric, knowing how much it could potentially hurt Sen. Obama. Strange. Some have also suggested that he is narcissistic and enjoying the publicity.


  • We can't help but think that there exists a cautionary tale in the Britney Spears story for young Miley Cyrus, now under fire for photos she took for Vanity Fair magazine. When teen celebs become marketing tools, positioned as sexual objects for future career goals, its worth considering what has transpired not only for Britney but for Lindsay Lohan and others who have seemingly grown up so fast in the limelight. When big money is at stake, sometimes it seems the grown-ups forget their important roles.


  • Our fave story this week is out of West Palm Beach where a would-be robber pulled a gun in a supermarket heist, only to have the store manager as well as the assistant, pull their own guns on him. We wonder if everyone had a concealed weapons permit. Lots of unusual crime stories coming out of South Florida. No wonder so many books and television series are set there.


  • We wonder how tough it is for meteorologists and climatologists who don't buy into the theory of global warming to stay employed?


  • Some of the latest released pager transcripts between Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff, both under indictment, are certainly not friendly for a family newspaper. Judging from Mr. Kilpatrick's warm reception at the recent NAACP dinner there, he does have a group of loyal supporters, for now.


  • An apparent Jimi Hendrix sex tape is set to be released. Remember, this is before videocams and YouTube. If true, one thing is for certain: the, er, parameters for rock stars don’t seem to have changed much. S'cuse me, while I view this file.

  • A gossip site — for real people. How dangerous!


    In the midst of all of the primary cacophony, it was good to have a nice UFO sighting — actually a couple of them — to take our minds off of the wonkery. Strange the stories of similar lights appearing in Florida and Arizona. Perhaps there will be a bigfoot sighting soon to kick off the summer.


  • A new Web site for real people to dish — on each other, rather than celebs — is on the horizon. It promises a lot of outcry — read publicity — and probably some lawsuits. Check out www.gossipreport.com. The potential for abuse seems enormous.


  • What kind of legal quandary will emerge once DNA testing is completed on the Mormon sect kids and parents in Utah? Will those dads who fathered children with underage girls be tried for statutory rape? And what about their offspring? Will they ultimately be sent to foster care, particularly when the moms are underage? This story will reverberate for years to come. What we wonder is why it took so long for someone to investigate.


  • Good to see that former White House press secretary Tony Snow is well enough to join CNN. Lots of folks rooting for his recovery and to see him punditing in the spotlight soon. We'd enjoy a forum with several of the past press secretaries and how they view their very tough jobs in hindsight.


  • Ben Stein's "Expelled" is doing a brisk business at the box office thus far. We've gotta wonder how often he's had to listen to "Bueller. Bueller. Anyone? Bueller." It's the first thing we think of when we see him, even though we know he's a total smarty-pants.


  • An Indianapolis man who is blind wrestled an intruder and held him at knifepoint until police arrived. Ya gotta love the sheer power of the human spirit. Stories like these continue to amaze.


  • President Bush says we are NOT in a recession, despite current indicators. However, existing home sales went up in March in South Florida. Could this mean anything for the rest of the country? We wonder.


  • We also wonder if Chelsea Clinton, given the proximity to her famous parents and also politics, might one day pen a book about them in the context of getting involved. We could see this happening after the election. She seemed wildly popular with a growing fascination and admiration for her as a grown-up. She was mobbed as she toured Philly gay bars, too, where she was complimented on her look.




    Andrea Billups, The Washington Times

  • Condi as veep? A good idea gone bad


    We like Condi Rice — perhaps not her retro-hair — but definitely her. We think she's smart and thoughtful, and has carried herself in a high-minded way amid much criticism of the current administration. We do not think she is the wisest choice for vice president.


    Not that she isn't qualified, because she is, but because of her connection with George W. Bush. That will most certainly be used against her if she is the veep nominee. The Barackster, who seems like he's headed toward victory, even with all of the Hill-Bill machinations, will point to the General and Condi and say they represent the past. It's not a bad political argument either. They sorta do. He'll use McCain's age and Condi's Bush association against them very effectively. We can already see the TV ads, too. With a younger and more unknown running mate, McCain escapes a lot of the "this is a total step backward" criticism, we think. Not that we don't respect Condi and hope she continues in some sort of national public service role. That said … a black female candidate on a GOP ticket would just kill a bunch of the liberals, dontchathink?


    Firing her chief strategist at the 11th hour won't help Hillary. It might be the above-board thing to do, but it also makes her look like she continues to crash. It's the notion that she can't keep her team together as her campaign runs out of steam. Some people in the middle of America who can't find Colombia on a map will not understand the implications of his lobbying, thus making her look more like a shrew for canning him when she's losing. It's a perception thing, and not everyone out there is a political junkie, something people in Washington tend to forget.


    NFL star and PETA bullseye Michael Vick is now playing football on his prison's team. Mebbe he's trying to stay in shape while he's in the pokey. Wouldn't he be concerned that he might get hurt? Seems like a good place to sustain serious injuries. Go play — uh, go.


    We were sorry to see that Charlton Heston died, but very glad that he disappeared from public life when it was clear his Alzheimer's was progressing. We remember him strong and passionate — doing that "my cold dead hands" speech at the NRA meeting.


    We still don't think the USA should be going to those Olympics this summer.


    They call it a polygamist "retreat" so we gotta wonder if this is where dudes worn out by having four or five wives and three dozen children go to chill before returning to their illegal broods. Probably it's the womenfolk who need the rest here, although they always have free babysitting, we bet. Life there is also likely nothing like it is on "Big Love." The subject matter is tough but we think the writing is sublime.


    — Andrea Billups, The Washington Times

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