NEWS AND OPINION:
Celebrity climate alarmist Al Gore has some competition. Arnold Schwarzenegger has joined the ranks of high-profile folks eager to warn the world about global warming. He’ll stage a major forum on the topic on Monday at the — yes — Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy of the University of Southern California. The bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned governor-turned-professor also plans to submit a 33-page report on climate change to President Obama and Congress.
“The science on climate change is in, the debate is over and the time for action is now,” Mr. Schwarzenegger declares. “We call upon our national leaders to listen to the science and take bold action to address this serious issue.”
COOL TO WARMING
Just for the record, 58 percent of Republicans think global warming is a hoax, compared to 11 percent of Democrats and 37 percent of the American population. So says a wide ranging “conspiracy” survey from Public Policy Polling, which also asked respondents about lizard people, aliens, Bigfoot — and if they thought President Obama is “the anti-Christ.” Results on that one: 20 percent of Republicans, 6 percent of Democrats and 13 percent of Americans in general agree. See all the ballyhoo here: publicpolicypolling.com
PARSING THE SCHOOL SHIELD
There was much squawking over the National Rifle Association’s new school security research, but not much real information in news coverage, or from noisy critics. What did not get much notice: the 12-man task force who created the National School Shield recommendations included Ralph Basham — former director of the U.S. Secret Service, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center — and retired Air Force Col. John Quattrone, a former security forces officer and commander of Joint Staff Operations Antiterrorism/Homeland Defense Directorate at the Pentagon.
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The task force developed model training for armed personnel in the school environment, plus addressed complicated budget issues and practical relationships with local law enforcement.
The report also noted that big responses to school violence have been around for decades, including a $60 million grant for the Department of Justice’s “Community Oriented Policing Services,” created by President Clinton in 1994.
“The work of the National School Shield has only just begun. The NSS Task Force has done its work by providing best practices in school security, new tools for security assessments, recommendations for funding and a private sector program model,” the report says. See it here: NRAschoolshield.com
FEULNER’S WISDOM
“Remain optimistic about the future. Yes, progressives are on the offensive, aggressively trying to remake our country using a Euro-socialist mold. But this is why we must now redouble our efforts, not lessen or abandon them. I know that as a patriot, you will do all within your power to ensure that our society will take back the reins from Big Government. I know that you believe in the enduring truth of our ideas of limited government, free enterprise and individual freedom, and that they will eventually win the day. Freedom is man’s natural state; whenever he’s enslaved, all he thinks about is how to become free once again.”
— From Ed Feulner’s farewell message Monday, his last day as president of the Heritage Foundation, an office he held for 35 years.
PRESIDENTIAL ’ILLEGAL’
Now that The Associated Press has banned the phrase “illegal immigrants” from the lexicon of all good journalists, some enterprising researchers have combed through history to determine how much the phrase has surfaced in the White House. The answer: plenty.
President Obama, in fact, has used the term “illegal immigrant” 28 times during his presidency, beginning on his 51st day in office and as recently as late as Jan. 29, says Eric Ostermeier, director of Smart Politics, a research group at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs.
It’s unclear if the president will heed the news service.
“One wonders if Obama will ever utter the phrase ’illegal immigrants’ again,” muses Mr. Ostermeier.
The phrase itself is not new.Harry Truman was the first president to make a public reference to illegal immigrants, doing so 11 times in a July 1951 “special message” to Congress. Ronald Reagan used the phrase once in a 1981 policy speech. George H.W. Bush never used the term, Bill Clinton employed it 84 times. Then there is George W. Bush, who referenced “illegal immigrants” 157 times, the research says.
RINGSIDE
“One great boxer standing up for another.”
So says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in a tweet Wednesday, regarding boxer Mike Tyson s new Change.org petition calling on President Obama to posthumously pardon black heavyweight boxing champion, John Arthur “Jack” Johnson, convicted in 1913 under the Mann Act, which prohibited taking women across state lines for “immoral purposes.”Mr. Reid, plus Sens. John McCain, Arizona Republican, and William M. Cowan, Massachusetts Democrat, in addition to Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican, already have introduced a resolution before Congress, also seeking a pardon. The conviction, the lawmakers say, was both wrongful and “racially motivated.”
POLL DU JOUR
• 85 percent of federal managers expect more “budget pressure” in the next year.
• 73 percent believe their budgets will be even lower by 2015.
• 62 percent are currently reporting “personal experience” with tighter budgets.
• 58 percent say budget cuts have a “significant” impact on their agency’s mission performance.
• 12 percent say the cuts are “devastating.”
• 55 percent say they have stopped hiring, 51 percent say they have cut or reduced services.
Source: A MeriTalk survey of 200 federal managers conducted Dec. 1 to 31 and released Wednesday.
• Utterances, muttering and grand arias to jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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