Target Hillary, Obama Frustration, Fast Billion
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Vol. 4, No. 108
The Long Campaign: Republican presidential hopefuls gathered in New Hampshire this weekend opened fire on their prime target; Hillary Clinton. Rand Paul got a standing ovation when he said about Clinton’s performance in the attack on the Benghazi consulate, “I think her dereliction of duty, her not doing her job should forever preclude her from holding high office.”
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush shot an elbow at Clinton saying, “Accomplishment matters; leadership matters. Who sits behind the big desk as it relates to the presidency is different than perhaps United States senator or another job.” That would be Secretary of State.
Jeez, Really: In a rare moment of public frustration, President Obama yesterday lashed out at Congressional Republicans over their refusal to call a vote on the nomination of Loretta Lynch to become Attorney General. “There are times where the dysfunction in the Senate just goes too far. This is an example of it. It’s gone too far. Enough. Enough,” Obama said in a White House news conference. The Lynch appointment is being held hostage to a Republican effort to inject anti-abortion language into the human trafficking bill.
ArtBeat: The FBI has arrested a 79-year-old Hartford, Conn. man in an apparent effort to squeeze him for information about the biggest art theft in the history of the country. Twenty-five years ago thieves posing as Boston police officers got away with $500 million worth of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Robert Gentile has been a suspect for years but investigators have been unable to pin the art theft on him. He was arrested for the illegal sale of a handgun. A prosecutor said in court that they have recordings of Gentile talking about selling the stolen paintings.
Permawar: A suicide bombing in front of a bank killing 35 people in eastern Afghanistan has been blamed on the Islamic State. Soldiers and civilians had ben gathered outside the bank in Jalalabad to collect their salaries. The attack is considered a major escalation of ISIS tactics.
Below the Fold: Celebrity Doctor Mehmet Oz, best known as “Dr. Oz,” is defending himself from calls that he should be dismissed from the faculty of Columbia University. “He’s a quack and a fake and a charlatan,” said one of the doctors who signed the letter. Oz is a thoracic surgeon. He’s come under fire for endorsing weight loss products that might be scientifically dubious.
> Basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has had quadruple coronary bypass surgery in Los Angeles. He’s 68 and doctors say he should be fine.
Rosie Ruiz: The woman who crossed the finish line first at last Sunday’s St. Louis Marathon, and who came in third last year, has been stripped of both titles because she didn’t run either race. Kendall Schler of Columbia, Mo. didn’t show up in any pictures during the course of the races and her interval times were not caught by the race sensors. She’s been kicked out of Monday’s Boston Marathon.
The occasionally exercised tradition of faking a marathon win was established by Rosie Ruiz in the 1980 Boston race.
Fast Times: Furious 7 has gone from zero to $1 billion in ticket sales faster than any movie in Hollywood history. The seventh in the fast cars franchise has earned $1 billion after just 17 days in theaters. The previous record holder was Avatar, which hit a billion in 19 days.
So what is Furious 7 about? It’s about an hour and 40 minutes.
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