Justin Bieber Transcends Politics
Another Disbelieber
Remember 2014 as the year that Justin Bieber turned into a political topic. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner said he wanted to endorse the whitehouse.gov petition to deport the troubled Canadian teen singer. "As a dad with three daughters, is there some place I can sign?" the Virginia lawmaker asked FM 99. He followed up by tweeting, "It's true. I'm not a Belieber." Then the campaign of Republican Ed Gillespie, who is challenging Warner, shot off a memo: "Senator Warner, it's time to get serious." It flayed Warner for tweeting about Bieber rather than the "disastrous consequences" of the Affordable Care Act. But Warner isn't alone. The White House will be responding to that petition, which has garnered more than 100,000 signatures. Indeed, Americans of all stripes dislike the Canadian pop singer. In 2013, even before his DUI arrest, Public Policy Polling found that a majority of Americans, across party lines, held unfavorable views of the icon. Hating on Bieber may be the bridge that unites this divided country.
Elahe Izadi
How to Treat the Gadflies
The last time President Obama was seen taking a picture it was his now-famous selfie with Prime Ministers David Cameron of Great Britain and Helle Thorning-Schmidt of Denmark at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela in December. This week, he was wielding the camera again. But this time he was turning the lens outward. During his visit to Buck Lodge Middle School in suburban Adelphi, Md., on Tuesday, the president delighted the seventh-graders when he picked up an iPad and started recording a video, pointing it at his entourage. "That's Mike, my Secret Service agent. He never smiles," Obama joked. "And this is our press, the press corps." A few minutes earlier, the president had given the students some advice on dealing with those reporters. Noticing that the kids seemed a little intimidated by the cameras and lights, he told them, "Basically, you just have to ignore those people. That's what I try to do at all times."
George E. Condon Jr.
Murmurs
On Track Just how bullish are Republicans that the party will gain control of the Senate? Consider this prediction Mitch McConnell laid down last year to a group of GOP movers and shakers. "We're gonna win the Senate [in 2014] if we do two things," McConnell said. "If we don't lose any primaries to kooks and don't shut down the government." So far, he's following the formula. He and House Speaker John Boehner have put their rebellious colleagues on notice that they won't abide another government-shutdown attempt. And while several Republican senators, including McConnell himself, face primary challenges from the right, none of the insurgents is expected to prevail.
Another Disbelieber
Remember 2014 as the year that Justin Bieber turned into a political topic. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner said he wanted to endorse the whitehouse.gov petition to deport the troubled Canadian teen singer. "As a dad with three daughters, is there some place I can sign?" the Virginia lawmaker asked FM 99. He followed up by tweeting, "It's true. I'm not a Belieber." Then the campaign of Republican Ed Gillespie, who is challenging Warner, shot off a memo: "Senator Warner, it's time to get serious." It flayed Warner for tweeting about Bieber rather than the "disastrous consequences" of the Affordable Care Act. But Warner isn't alone. The White House will be responding to that petition, which has garnered more than 100,000 signatures. Indeed, Americans of all stripes dislike the Canadian pop singer. In 2013, even before his DUI arrest, Public Policy Polling found that a majority of Americans, across party lines, held unfavorable views of the icon. Hating on Bieber may be the bridge that unites this divided country.
Elahe Izadi
How to Treat the Gadflies
The last time President Obama was seen taking a picture it was his now-famous selfie with Prime Ministers David Cameron of Great Britain and Helle Thorning-Schmidt of Denmark at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela in December. This week, he was wielding the camera again. But this time he was turning the lens outward. During his visit to Buck Lodge Middle School in suburban Adelphi, Md., on Tuesday, the president delighted the seventh-graders when he picked up an iPad and started recording a video, pointing it at his entourage. "That's Mike, my Secret Service agent. He never smiles," Obama joked. "And this is our press, the press corps." A few minutes earlier, the president had given the students some advice on dealing with those reporters. Noticing that the kids seemed a little intimidated by the cameras and lights, he told them, "Basically, you just have to ignore those people. That's what I try to do at all times."
George E. Condon Jr.
Murmurs
On Track Just how bullish are Republicans that the party will gain control of the Senate? Consider this prediction Mitch McConnell laid down last year to a group of GOP movers and shakers. "We're gonna win the Senate [in 2014] if we do two things," McConnell said. "If we don't lose any primaries to kooks and don't shut down the government." So far, he's following the formula. He and House Speaker John Boehner have put their rebellious colleagues on notice that they won't abide another government-shutdown attempt. And while several Republican senators, including McConnell himself, face primary challenges from the right, none of the insurgents is expected to prevail.