American Morning
Big blow against big tobacco
By this afternoon, the president could be signing a bill into law – giving the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco companies. It's considered a huge step in the effort to snuff out smoking in America. The Senate overwhelmingly voted yesterday to strike a big blow against big tobacco.
GOP campaign rallying cry returns
One of the saving graces of this recession has been the low prices at the pump. But not anymore. High gas prices are making a comeback. And so is a campaign battle cry from 2008... "Drill baby, drill!"
Avlon: ‘Wingnuts’ spread hate of Obama, Jews
Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/11/wright.drake.gi.art.jpg caption="Reverend Jeremiah Wright (L) and Pastor Wiley S. Drake (R). Getty Images."]
A new survey by the Pew Research Center reaffirms that America is a religious nation, but it also shows that young voters across the political spectrum are turning away from the inter-mixed influence of religion on politics.
This week’s wingnuts on the left and right offer examples of why the separation of church and state is making a common sense comeback for this new generation – the Reverend Jeremiah Wright and Pastor Wiley Drake.
Rev. Jeremiah Wright became a staple of campaign ’08 with comments that elevated him to all-time Wingnut Hall of Fame. But after he almost sank former parishioner Barack Obama’s campaign for the presidency, Rev. Wright mercifully faded into the background.
That was until this week when he reinserted himself into the political debate with an interview to Virginia’s Daily Press, in which he said: “Them Jews aren't going to let him [President Obama] talk to me." Read more
This off-hand anti-Semitism brings to mind the reverend’s previously infamous sermons. There were his post-9/11 comments that “We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.”
There was the accusation that the U.S. government was behind the AIDS virus and the infamous riff that “The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No, no, no, God damn America, that’s in the Bible for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme.”
In this week’s comments, Rev. Wright reaffirmed that he has no regrets for these and other flashes of extremism from his 20 years on the pulpit in Chicago, which were characterized by content as well as controversy. At a time when President Obama is trying to build new bridges to moderates throughout the Middle East, Rev. Wright’s comments remain unhelpful in the extreme.
On the right is a less widely-known name. Pastor Wiley Drake served as a second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, he ran to be vice president of the United States alongside former ambassador and Obama adversary Alan Keyes on a fringe third party ticket. Now he says that he is praying for President Obama’s death after his prayers for the death of Kansas abortionist George Tiller were "answered."
Is "bad" parenting in?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/12/donna.reed.art.jpg caption="Donna Reed starred in 'The Donna Reed Show'."]
From CNN's Carol Costello and Ronni Berke
Back in the day, it was a cinch to know what a good mom was: the ideal TV mom, Donna Reed. Reed embodied 1950's motherhood. Always there, wise and involved from afar. And exceedingly well-dressed. Today it's difficult to define what exactly an "ideal mother is."
It's as if we've taken Donna Reed's image and put it on steroids. Carl Honoré, who wrote the book “Under Pressure: Rescuing Our Children From the Culture of Hyper-parenting," says this generation has “kind of professionalized parenting. There’s a feeling now that on the frontline of child rearing, that raising a kid now is all or nothing."
For Melissa Chapman, a woman from Staten Island who works at home to care for her two children, it was time to get off the parental fast track. Shuttling her daughter back and forth to activities every day of the week, the family was stressed out and exhausted.
“Monday was dance. Tuesday was art. Wednesday was piano. Thursday was gymnastics,” she said. The family had little time to talk and [her daughter] was often too tired to finish her homework.
“My whole schedule was revolving around, you know, where I was taking her, when I was picking her up,” Chapman adds. “There was no quality family time, just getting in the car, getting out of the car, packing up the car, unpacking the car."
So this year, Chapman cut back. Now her daughter, 8, has only one after school activity a week.
Yet she still wondered whether she was a good mother. And she's not alone. So many mothers feel her pain. Blogs like “Her Bad Mother,” and “Real Bad Mommies” have started popping up, rebelling against the notion moms have to be perfect to raise perfect children. On “Her Bad Mother,” one mom writes: "...I have left my children alone in the bathtub. I have spanked my daughter. I drink. I curse..."
But Ayelet Waldman, author of “Bad Mother,” says over-parenting is certainly not over. “We're not going to turn on the dime here but I do think there's a backlash to over-parenting.”
What's on Tap – Friday June 12th, 2009
Here are the big stories on the agenda today:
- Big tobacco – on the ropes. Congress has granted the FDA the power to change the way cigarettes are made and sold in America. We're paging Dr. Gupta – to find out what this new law means for our health and our healthcare costs. We’re also talking to the man who first asked the question: Is nicotine a drug? He’s Former FDA Commissioner, Dr. David Kessler.
- The enemy within. After the man accused of the Holocaust Museum killing is officially charged with murder, we take a look at hate groups, hundreds of them, springing up all over America.
- A CNN exclusive: Is al Qaeda shifting away from Afghanistan and Pakistan, for a new power base in Africa? Barbara Starr reports U.S. officials are keeping a very close eye on Somalia, for more than pirates.
- Mercy for Madonna. The pop superstar wins her adoption appeal in Malawi for a three-year-old orphan girl – named mercy. A lower court had ruled she could not adopt again in April, but now the high court has ruled in her favor. We'll go live to Kenya for the latest.
We Listen!
The bulk of the American Morning response revolved around the Holocaust Museum shooting and hate speech. Most believed the museum shooter received far too much coverage, while a minority felt that such exposure would prevent future hate groups from hiding on the Internet. Banishing “hate speech” was considered to be the solution for preventing further violence, while others voiced concern over “thought crime” legislation leading to a more “Orwellian” society.
- Dan: Like Blitzer yesterday, Roberts is asking what can be done about the haters and the violent extremists. Cohen gave you the answer....expose them, shine a light on them. These people are well known by groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center. Their bile is all over the Internet. It's the job of the media to expose these homegrown terrorists to the general public. You may not stop all their vile acts, but it's the best, and most necessary start. Get on it! And maybe we can stop the next attack.
- Jared: If there is one certain truth in world politics, I believe that one thing to be that true, real democracy is expensive. From time to time there have been occasional tragedies in our history as a nation, and my heart goes out the family of the officer killed, but it will not help democracy to invoke "thought crime" legislation; that is the stuff of George Orwell.
- Steve: RE: Hate Crimes. When I see these many hate crimes against Blacks, Hispanics, Gays, Jews, etc. I can't help remember the line from "America The Beautiful" – "And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea". Unfortunately that's a bunch of hooey!
- Bernadette: Jim Acosta, Lit the fuse, not! The fuse has been at a low burn for years just awaiting the right opportunity to strike and explode!
- Darryl-pa: What about that hate group called librals and the way that the Palins are treated.
Will exposure for such hate crimes as the killing of Dr. Tiller and the shooting of the guard at the Holocaust Museum help to deter such hate crimes in the future, or will they incite others to follow in the hopes of gaining exposure for their personal causes? Is there an appropriate way for the U.S. to regulate “hate” speech without infringing on our First Amendment Rights to freely express our thoughts? How would you solve this dilemma?
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