by Mark Silva On the anniversary of a tornado that devastated the Kansas town of Greensburg, President Bush today delivered the commencement address at the high school - a rare event for a community that has suffered rare hardship. “The Greensburg Class of 2008 has learned that Americans will always rebuild stronger and better than before,” Bush told the graduates at a ceremony underway now. “Often in life, you are dealt a hand that you do not expect. The test of a community and a people is how you play that hand.” The president also commended one graduate in particular, whose next stop is Marine Boot Camp. .”This fall, Aaron decided to enlist in the Marine Corps,” the president said. “Like many other courageous young men and women across America, he has stepped forward to defend our freedom during a time of war, and we honor him today. Aaron, I wish you best of luck at boot camp, and I look forward to serving as your commander-in-chief.” Bush, former managing partner of the Texas Rangers, delivered his commencement address at the home of the Greensburg Rangers. “As some of you know, I used to be the owner of a baseball team by the same name,” the president told the graduating class. “So from one Rangers fan to another, I give you this message: “Beat ‘em up, beat ‘em up, GHS.” Bush also thanked the school for moving its commencement to today, from its originally planned date next weekend - when his daughter Jenna will be married at the family ranch in Texas. “I could have suggested changing the date of the wedding instead,” Bush said, “but I think we all know how that idea would have turned out.”

Superheroes soaring on the silver screen - San Francisco Gate
del.icio.us As anyone who has watched the entirety of “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace” can tell you, there’s nothing harder to make in Hollywood than a really good superhero movie. Superhero film directors are faced with the unenviable task of Protection weighed for bird in West s energy areas - […]

Easter cute = lots of care - Biloxi Sun Herald
W ith Easter around the corner, many of you will find yourselves the proud new caretakers of a little bunny, duckling or chick. I, too, have fallen victim to the Easter Bunny (E.B.) and his need to bestow furry or feathered cuteness upon the world. I The fury, the feathers - Record SearchlightBIG […]

N.C. Democrat: Fight ‘not bad for country’
by Mark Silva Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, backing Sen. Barack Obama, says it’s time for the party’s primaries to “come to closure.” Former Gov. Mike Easley of North Carolina, backing Sen. Hillary Clinton, says, “If it goes all the way to (the Democratic National Convention in ) Denver, I don’t think it would be bad for the party. I don’t think it would be bad for the country.” Richardson and Easley appearing on CNN’s Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer today. While Richardson maintains that Obama is best-suited to lead the party’s presidential ticket, Easley - who suggests that Obama has done what he needed to do about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s comments for now, will face that controversy again in November if he is the nominee. “Sen. Obama has continued to move forward,” Richardson said. “He’s won Guam (by seven votes, splitting the four pledged convention delegate votes with Clinton), it’s now 31 states to 15 in caucuses… I believe that in North Carolina that Senator Obama will prevail. It’s very tight in Indiana. I was recently in Kentucky across the river, where it’s obviously a very highly contested race. But look at the reality… Sen. Obama needs 270 more delegates to secure the nomination. He’s won 31 states. He’s ahead in the popular vote. There are nine primaries to go. “Well, we’re not going to win White House by winning Guam.” Easley said. “We know that… The thing that is helping Hillary Clinton right now is Hillary Clinton and her policies about creating jobs, about getting the economy turned around. This is what this country needs. This is what people want right now. She’s reaching out. And she’s really connecting with people who are — those we might call Reagan Democrats. Easley, noting that Republicans in his own state are attempting to use Obama’s association with Wright against the Democratic candidates for governor there, said: “It’s not going to be an issue in North Carolina in the primary….But it will be an issue in the fall if he’s the nominee. But it’s not going to be in this primary. And Senator Clinton has not tried to make any political gain out of it. I admire her character for that. “‘The most important thing, I think, is that Sen. Obama finally did what he had to do,” Easley said. “He has two competing interests here. He’s got a spiritual adviser and friend for 20 years on one hand. On the other hand, he’s got a man who said some things that he just cannot condone, needed to denounce. Those are the kind of tough decisions you have to make in politics and in executive positions. I think he made the right one this week. But it’s not going to — it’s not going to be an issue.” See the full interview here, courtesy of CNN:

Guam: Obama, Clinton split-decision
by Mark Silva The road to the White House may or may not run through Guam, but if it does it appears that Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton might have to share that road. Obama and Clinton picked up what basically amounts to a split decision today in a place where neither Obama nor Clinton personally campaigned for the support: Guam. Obama defeated Clinton by seven votes in the Guam Democratic presidential caucuses, the Associated Press reports of a count of more than 4,500 ballots that took all night. Neither candidate campaigned in the U.S. island territory in person, but both did long-distance media interviews and bought campaign ads for the caucuses. The tally of the count finished Sunday morning Guam time show delegates pledged to Obama cornering 2,264 votes to Clinton’s 2,257. That means they’ll split the pledged delegate votes. Eight pledged delegates will attend the Democratic convention in Denver, each with one-half vote - while US. citizens on the remote Pacific island have no vote in the November election. Presidential caucuses on Guam usually pass without much notice from the candidates. This time, Obama and Clinton made their case for the territory’s four regular delegates with local advertising and long-distance interviews. Lines formed early at some caucus sites. Cynthia Estrada of Dededo said she was making up her mind while waiting to vote, but she was leaning toward Clinton. “She’s had the experience,” she said. “She’s got her husband to help her.” Yona resident Tommy Shimizu said he was voting for Obama delegates. “It’s the fact that he grew up in Hawaii, and I think he can make change,” he said. “I think it’s time for that.”

Bob Dole: Clintons were ‘core of elite’
by James Oliphant Useful political rhetoric never dies; it just switches parties. Sunday morning, Sen. Hillary Clinton ridiculed critics of her gas-tax holiday proposal as elitists. Pressed by ABC’s George Stephanopolous to name an economist who supported the idea, she said she didn’t need to. “I think we’ve been, for the last seven years, seeing a tremendous amount of government power and elite opinion basically behind policies that haven’t worked well for the middle class and hard working Americans,” Clinton said. Pressed to name a supportive economist, she replied, “I’m not going to put my lot in with economists because I know if we did it right, if we actually did it right, if we had a president who used all the tools of the presidency, we would design it in such a way that it would be implemented effectively.” Hmmm. Government policies designed by elite, out-of-touch members of the administration. Does that sound at all familiar? It should: “And you now work from the first of January to May just to pay your taxes so that the party of government can satisfy its priorities with the sweat of your brow because they think that what you would do with your own money would be morally and practically less admirable than what they would do with it. And that simply has got to stop. It’s got to stop in America. It is demeaning to the nation that within the Clinton administration, a core of the elite who never grew up, never did anything real, never sacrificed, never suffered and never learned, should have the power to fund with your earnings their dubious and self-serving schemes.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 4th, 2008 at 5:29 pm and is filed under Chicago News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.