Top News Stories of the Week
By Drudge Retort
Friday, September 24, 2010 at 08:00 AM
The following stories were the biggest news events of the preceding week, according to the users of the Drudge Retort.
Filibuster Kills DADT Repeal in Senate
Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked legislation that would have repealed the law banning gays from serving openly in the military. The partisan 56-43 vote was a defeat for Senate Democrats and gay rights advocates, who saw the bill as their last chance before November's elections to overturn the law known as "don't ask, don't tell." Sixty votes were needed to defeat a Republican filibuster and advance the legislation.
Posted by Rob_The_A_Hole at 05:24 PM on September 21, 2010 | 600 COMMENTS
Academic: 'USA! USA!' Offensive to Muslims
In a letter to the University of Illinois student newspaper, university academic David Green wrote that the "USA! USA!" chant and military observances on 9/11 are militarism and propaganda. "A moment of silence was followed by a military airplane flyover; in between, Block-I students chanted 'USA, USA.' This was neither patriotism nor remembrance in any justifiable sense, but politicization, militarism, propaganda and bellicosity. ... Athletic planners should cease such exploitation for political purposes. They might at least consider how most Muslim students, American or otherwise, would respond to this nativist display ..."
Posted by American1st at 08:53 AM on September 23, 2010 | 290 COMMENTS
O'Donnell: 'I Dabbled in Witchcraft'
During an appearance on Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect in 1999, Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell (R) said that she "dabbled in witchcraft" and went on a satanic date. "I dabbled into witchcraft -- I never joined a coven," O'Donnell said. "I dabbled into witchcraft. I hung around people who were doing these things. I'm not making this stuff up. I know what they told me they do. One of my first dates with a witch was on a satanic altar, and I didn't know it. I mean, there's little blood there and stuff like that. We went to a movie and then had a midnight picnic on a satanic altar."
Posted by AMERICANUNITY at 05:10 PM on September 18, 2010 | 251 COMMENTS
Carter: I'm Best Ex-President Ever
Former President Jimmy Carter, often lauded as the best former president because of his charity and diplomacy work, appears to share that opinion. "I feel that my role as a former president is probably superior to that of other presidents," he said in an interview with NBC's Brian Williams. "Primarily because of the activism and the injection of working at the Carter Center and in international affairs, and to some degree, domestic affairs, on energy conservation, on environment, and things of that kind."
Posted by rob_the_a_hole at 09:18 AM on September 21, 2010 | 167 COMMENTS
Paul Krugman: The rage of the rich has been building ever since [President] Obama took office. At first, however, it was largely confined to Wall Street. Now, however, as decision time looms for the fate of the Bush tax cuts the rage of the rich has broadened, and also in some ways changed its character. ... The spectacle of high-income Americans, the world's luckiest people, wallowing in self-pity and self-righteousness would be funny, except for one thing: they may well get their way. You see, the rich are different from you and me: they have more influence. Sacrifice is for the little people.
Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 09:09 AM on September 20, 2010 | 152 COMMENTS
Repub Wants to Furlough Federal Workers
Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) introduced a bill this week that would require two weeks of furlough in 2011 for federal civilian employees, saving taxpayers $5.5 billion in their salaries. "[Furloughs] provide slight problems but they provide large solutions to the budget trouble we face," Coffman said.
Posted by milfman at 07:32 PM on September 19, 2010 | 148 COMMENTS
Soldiers May Have Killed Afghans for Sport
Platoon members from the 5th Stryker Combat Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, are charged with dismembering and photographing corpses in Afghanistan, as well as hoarding a skull and other human bones, military sources reveal. The military ignored warnings that the out-of-control soldiers were committing atrocities -- one soldier's father said he repeatedly tried to alert the Army after his son told him about the first killing, only to be rebuffed. A review of military court documents and interviews with people familiar with the investigation suggest the killings were committed essentially for sport by soldiers who had a fondness for hashish and alcohol.
Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 03:31 PM on September 19, 2010 | 144 COMMENTS
Carter: Hostage Rescue Should Have Worked
Former President Jimmy Carter writes in his new book that his efforts to rescue U.S. diplomats held hostage by Iran should have worked but were thwarted by a "strange series of mishaps."
Posted by rcade at 03:27 PM on September 20, 2010 | 142 COMMENTS
Huckabee: Let Insurers Use Pre-Existing Conditions
Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said that insurers should be allowed to exclude people with pre-existing conditions, a reversal from the health care reform bill passed this year. "It sounds so good, and it's such a warm message to say we're not gonna deny anyone from a preexisting condition," Huckabee explained at the Value Voters Summit. But he compared it to buying property insurance the day after your house burns down.
Posted by rcade at 09:47 AM on September 19, 2010 | 133 COMMENTS
Top Economic Adviser Leaving White House
Top White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers will step down from his post after November's mid-term elections, the White House announced Tuesday. He becomes the third out of four key economic advisors to leave the Obama administration this year.
Posted by mysterytoy at 09:19 PM on September 21, 2010 | 131 COMMENTS
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