Odds and Ends

Here's some miscellaneous stories that fell through the cracks in the past few days...

First up- 'Homophobia On A Plane'? It appears that a gay couple was harassed by American Airline employees aboard a transcontentinal flight for kissing. The airline insisted- falsely- that the airline had a policy against kissing on planes. In reality, the stewardess and some passengers were just uncomfortable with the couple. When the couple expressed outrage, the captain threatened to divert the plane. "Our passengers need to recognize that they are in an environment with all ages, backgrounds, creeds, and races. We have an obligation to make as many of them feel as comfortable as possible," an airline spokesperson said. No comment.

Karl Rove is promising conservative activists an October surprise. OMG, think it'll have to do with terrorism??!

Meanwhile, further proof of how far this administration has strayed from our constitutional roots... White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said today that it is not up to our courts to decide which laws are unconstitutional or not. Said Snow- "No, as a matter of fact the president has an obligation to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. That is an obligation that presidents have enacted through signing statements going back to Jefferson. So, while the Supreme Court can be an arbiter of the Constitution, the fact is the President is the one, the only person who, by the Constitution, is given the responsibility to preserve, protect, and defend that document." Tony Snow, meet James Madison (ask him about 'tyranny').

Moving on, new information about the growing scandal in which Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson was revealed earlier this year to be doling out contracts based on whether the recipient was a supporter of the President or not. An Inspector General investigation reveals that this was very widespread. Some Democratic congressmen have called for Jackson's resignation.

Virgin CEO Richard Branson pledged $3 billion to invest in alternative energy to combat global warming and appeared on 'Good Morning America' to discuss how Al Gore convinced him of the dangers of global warming.

Finally, news that a "scorching internal review of the Bush administration's billion-dollar-a-year reading program says the Education Department ignored the law and ethical standards to steer money how it wanted." Oops.