For the Record

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Offering a grammar lesson guaranteed to make any English teacher cringe, President George W. Bush told a group of New York school kids on Wednesday: “Childrens do learn.”

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Ebony and Apathy

From the Los Angeles Times:

BALTIMORE — The lesser-known Republican presidential candidates condemned their top rivals Thursday for skipping a debate on minority issues and said their absence hurt the party’s image and amplified racial divisions.

Four empty lecterns highlighted the decisions of former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee to skip the debate at historically black Morgan State University.

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How does he eat with that foot in his mouth?

From The New York Times:

The food, atmosphere and clientele at Sylvia’s were a matter of nationwide attention yesterday because Bill O’Reilly, the Fox News Channel talk show host, recently described being surprised to find that the black-owned establishment was as pleasant as other restaurants.

“It was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there, and they were ordering and having fun,” Mr. O’Reilly said on his nationally syndicated radio show on Sept. 19. “And there wasn’t any kind of craziness at all.”

No wonder he was surprised. It wasn’t at all like BillO thought it was going to be:

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When Can We Say “Goodbye, Mr. Chimp”?

Congresspedia:

The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was created to provide health insurance coverage to children who might otherwise not have access to coverage. The program was created in 1997, and provides federal funds to states, with the states creating and administering individualized programs.
SCHIP was created by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, and enacted Title XXI of the Social Security Act.[2] The program initially allocated roughly $20 billion over five years to help states insure more children, and SCHIP plans have been approved in all 50 states.[3] The program allows each state to provide health insurance to children under the age of 19 who are not already insured, and each state sets its own guidelines. The program primarily benefits children whose families earn too much to be covered by Medicaid, but too little to afford health insurance. Roughly 6 million children fall into this category and receive coverage.

From the Chicago Tribune:

WASHINGTON – On a 265-159 vote, a broad House majority gave final approval Tuesday night to a $35 billion expansion of the popular children’s health insurance program, with members from both parties brushing aside a stern veto threat from President Bush.

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Harlem Slights

From the Washington Post:

NEW YORK — After eating dinner at a famed Harlem restaurant recently, Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly told a radio audience he “couldn’t get over the fact” that there was no difference between the black-run Sylvia’s and other restaurants.

“It was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there, and they were ordering and having fun,” he said. “And there wasn’t any kind of craziness at all.”

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Mahmoud Gets Schooled

From CNN:

Columbia University president Lee Bollinger took Iran’s president to task Monday, bluntly criticizing his record and saying he exhibits “all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator.”

Bollinger’s assessment came as he introduced Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to an audience of students and faculty.

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Basketball Oops

(As promised, this is a bonus diary to try to make up for the time I was unable to connect to the internets. Let’s take a moment and talk about something other than politics (and if you just got here, look for the diary posted today if you like politics more.)
From ABC News:

African-Americans Tuesday criticized New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas for saying it was less offensive for black men than for white men to call black women “bitches.”

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Disgusting!

From your very own United States Senate:

Question: On the Amendment (Cornyn Amdt. No. 2934 )
Vote Number: 344 Vote Date: September 20, 2007, 12:36 PM
Required For Majority: 3/5 Vote Result: Amendment Agreed to
Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 2934 to S.Amdt. 2011 to H.R. 1585 (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008)
Statement of Purpose: To express the sense of the Senate that General David H. Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, deserves the full support of the Senate and strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces.

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