Today in the News

Here’s my take on a number of current events:

* UF Tasers Student Heckler. Yes, Andrew Meyer need not have been Tasered simply because he was rude and disturbing a town hall meeting with Senator Kerry, but the full tape suggests he was almost asking for it. Were the police wrong in using the Taser to subdue him? I dunno, but the whole episode has been played for far too much drama than it was worth, and Meyer is not free from fault here.

* Jerry Weller retires. Yet another House Republican in a marginal district has announced intentions to retire at the end of this Congress. The interesting thing here is that he is the 3rd Illinois Republican to make retirement plans. 3 out of 9. That’s an impressive drop-out rate.

* Webb Amendment filibustered. Jim Webb (D-VA) tried to pass a rule requiring that troops get as much time at rest from combat as they put in on the frontlines. The GOP refused to let it go. They’ve literally gone on the record saying that the War in Iraq matters more than the health and well-being of the troops fighting that war. A truly scary policy, if you ask me.

* UMWA endorses John Edwards for President. I work for the Funds, a nonprofit organization that is jointly run by the UMWA and the coal companies. One benefit of this is we hear a lot from the UMWA, through their International office, through their official magazine, and other avenues. So while I’m making up my own mind about the presidential race, I am taking note that my beneficiaries back John Edwards in 2008.