CNN announced Tuesday that they’ve hired former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer as a political contributor. Fleischer was the lead spokesman for a little over two years under President George W. Bush . “Having worked on a successful presidential campaign and having spent 21 years in Washington, I’m looking forward to joining CNN as a regular contributor,” Fleisher said in a CNN press release. It’s shaping up as a red hot political year and I’m eager to lend my perspective to it.” Fleischer’s hire marks his transition from sports media back into politics. After leaving the White House, he ran his own company Ari Fleischer Sports Communication. h/t FishbowlDC
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Ari Fleischer ‘looking forward’ to joining CNN
Kevin McClain, 57, lived out of his car in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. That may seem like a lonely venture, except for the fact that McClain wasn’t alone. He had the companionship of his dog, Yurtie. But when McClain was diagnosed with lung cancer a month ago and rushed to the hospital, Yurtie was taken to a local shelter. That led to the moving story of McClain’s dying wish. As he lay on a stretcher, McClain made a request: he wanted to see Yurtie one last time. Thanks to a loving community, that wish was granted. “In the transition of moving him over from our ambulance cot to the bed, he told me, ‘I have a dog,’” Area Ambulance Service Paramedic Specialist Jan Erceg told KCRG-TV . It just so happens that Erceg volunteers at the shelter Yurti was taken to. “He said her name is Yurt and at that moment, that was my Aha! moment,” she told the station. The hospice center McClain was staying at teamed up with the ambulance service and the shelter and brought Yurtie to him. “And the moment he opened those eyes and saw that dog there was instant recognition and with Yurtie, she licked his arms, she licked his face,” Erceg told KCRG. A couple days later, McClain died. But not before seeing his final wish fulfilled. Yurtie has since been adopted by a young couple. You can watch the heartwarming story below: (H/T: HuffPo )
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Homeless Man Granted Final, Dying Wish — To See His Dog Again
Bad news for America’s fledgling economic recovery, via ABC News’ Dan Arnall — the median period of unemployment is now at a historically high 39.7 weeks : A new research report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics dug into this trend to offer new details on how long it takes to make the transition from unemployed to employed and found that 11 percent of job seekers took a year or longer to land a new job. Another off-the-chart reading. Data included in the report shows that between 2000 – 2008 about half of all unemployed people found a job within five weeks. Last year, a little more than a third of jobseekers were able to land a new position in that amount of time. Aside from so many unemployed, perhaps more concerning is the number of Americans who are chronically unemployed — the average worker taking just 20 weeks to give up in their search.
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Report: Finding a job today takes FOREVER
Over on the home page, an interview with Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, who's running for Senate in 2012, hoping to knock off Sen. Ben Nelson, well known for the “Cornhusker Kickback.” I liked his answer when I asked him about law school writings that would have put him solidly on the liberal end of the political spectrum: NRO:
The Columbus Dispatch is unimpressed with the behavior of their former governor : There is a long tradition in American politics in which an outgoing elected official says his goodbyes and then clears the stage for his successor. Even after bitterly fought campaigns, losing officeholders who take the high road during and after the transition are respected for their graciousness and dignity. At the very least, this conveys respect for the office, and equally important, it shows respect for the will of the voters who decided that someone new should take the helm. . . . Sadly, former Gov. Ted Strickland has not taken that high road, instead choosing almost from the moment the November ballots were counted to try to torpedo his successor, Gov. John Kasich. Of course, this is his prerogative. He is an Ohioan fully entitled to participate in politics and express his views. But most politicians do not choose to end their careers and cap their legacies by engaging in sour-grapes sniping and public efforts to undermine the successor whose administration is barely under way. Don't go away mad, Mr. Strickland. Just go away. Jim Geraghty
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Columbus Dispatch to Ex-Gov. Ted Strickland: Stop Embarrassing Yourself
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s military leaders dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution on Sunday, meeting two key demands of protesters who have been keeping up pressure for immediate steps to push forward the transition to democratic, civilian rule after forcing Hosni Mubarak out of power. In their latest communique, the military rulers that took over when Mubarak stepped down Friday, said they will run the country for six months, or until presidential and parliament elections can be held. The military leaders said they were forming a committee to amend the constitution and set the rules for popular referendum to endorse the amendments. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy Both the lower and upper houses of parliament are being dissolved. The last parliamentary elections in November and December were heavily rigged by the ruling party, virtually shutting out any opposition representation. The caretaker Cabinet, which was appointed by Mubarak shortly after the mass pro-democracy protests began on Jan. 25, will remain in place until a new Cabinet in formed — a step that is not expected to happen until after elections. The ruling military council reiterated that it would abide by all of Egypt’s international treaties agreed in the Mubarak era, most importantly the peace treaty with Israel.
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Egypt’s Military Rulers Dissolve Parliament and Suspend Constitution
AP – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday the Obama administration supports the transition to a new government now moving forward in Egypt, but she says it must be up to the Egyptian people to decide if the reforms go far enough.
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US noncommittal on Muslim group joining talks
(AP)
Former governor and almost-certain presidential candidate Mitt Romney is launching a big media blitz today, and he kicked off the day with an eyebrow-raising statement: Hosni Mubarak has to move on. ROMNEY: I think what the United States has to do is make it very clear to the people in Egypt that we stand with the voices of democracy and freedom. And we have to also communicate, as I think the administration has, that we would like to see a transition to a permanent democracy, not just a one time, one vote, and then the extremists take over, but instead a permanent democracy with the rule of law, with a support for the allies that have existed in the past. And that kind of transition would be best undertaken if President Mubarak were to step out of the way or lead the transition. But I don't know that I would say to the president, 'you should call for Mubarak's resignation.' That, I think, flies in the face of a long history of friendship between he and our country and our friends. But it's very clear that he needs to move on, and the transition to the voices of democracy. STEPHANOPOULOS: So it sounds like you have no quarrels with how the administration has handled this so far? ROMNEY: Well, I think they got off to a rocky start. I think some of the statements early on were misguided. But I think they've corrected and they've said they want to see transition, I think that's right. And I think that you're going to find Mr. Wisner and others are going to say, 'look, there ought to be a transition, that you Mr. Mubarak or someone else leads, to the voices of democracy in the street.' We are a nation whose values and principles demand freedom, free enterprise, democracy. That's the right course for Egypt. Romney also said that he agrees with the recent decision declaring the individual mandate in Obamacare unconstitutional and emphasized that he prefered state-level solutions to health care, not a one-size fits all solution. When Stephanopoulos argued why the “same requirement in Massachusetts” wouldn't be unconstitution “States have rights that the federal government doesn't have,” Romney said. “Under the Tenth Amendment, the powers of the federal government are specifically limited… States have certain rights that they can exercise… I'll be the first to tell you as well, our plan isn't working perfectly. There are a number of things I would do differently the second time around.” Jim Geraghty
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Mitt Romney on Egypt: It’s Very Clear That Mubarak Has to Move On.
