Monday, July 6, 2009
Your Morning News 7.6.09
Posted by Josh in Alaska, Andy Roddick, Congress, Election 2012, facebook, health care, Honduras, MI6, Resignations, roger federer, sarah palin, sports, tennis, Wimbledon, Your Morning News
Though it is already old news, I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention that over the weekend Republican 2008 Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin announced she is resigning as Governor of Alaska. The Governor’s resignation and the odd timing (Fourth of July weekend) leaves many wondering if she is resigning just ahead of some sort of scandal or if this is all part of a master plan to gear up for 2012. I sort of suspect that she might just want to pull the plug and get out of the public spotlight since she must realize she has become a national punchline, right? However, after resigning in a hastily-assembled (an adjective I hope is never used to describe my resignation from anything) back yard press conference at 4 p.m. on Friday, Palin spent the night posting weird legal threats/manifestos on Twitter and Facebook. Sarah, if you are really trying to get out of the public spotlight then there is an old saying that applies here: “Ur Doing it wrong.”
The coup in Honduras continues today. Ousted and exiled former President Manuel Zelaya tried to fly back into the country over the weekend with media and international leaders in tow but was prevented from landing by military trucks blocking airport runways. The military occupied the airport in Tegucigalpa and clashed with the hundreds of thousands of protesters who turned out to greet the President. The President, who strikes me as disturbingly media-savvy, did live interviews with various Latin American TV and radio outlets while his plane circled the Honduras capital. Though one’s gut instinct is to root for the embattled President-in-exile, it is worth reading this Slate article that points out that the President made horrible decisions for his country and was running roughshod over the constitution there before he was ousted.
Roger Federer won his 15th Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon yesterday. Federer outlasted Andy Roddick into a fifth set that lasted for hours. I feel bad for Roddick, because even while I was watching yesterday’s match (one of the greatest I have ever seen) I could tell it was just going to become a footnote to last year’s epic championship match between Federer and Nadal.
Your “this-is-an-outrage” fact of the day: The health-care industry is spending $1.4 million a day lobbying Congress to influence the current debate over the future of our nations health care system.
You “this-is-not-news” story of the day: The head of MI6’s wife put photos of him up on facebook. I don’t think his identity is a secret though, so why do we care?