Dick Cheney's maternal grandmother
-Dick offends hillbillies-
Or, at least, people he thought were hillbillies.
At an appearance before the National Press Club, Dick Cheney made what he thought was a joke at his own expense. Many disagreed that it was a joke or that it was at Dick's expense.
Cheney was talking about his family's lineage and a distant link between himself and Barack Obama. According to the report, "[Cheney's wife] traced the connection to Mr. Cheney’s maternal grandmother who, as it turned out, is also descended from someone named Cheney."
"So we had Cheneys on both sides of the family — and we don’t even live in West Virginia," Dick said. "You can say these things when you’re not running for re-election."
Turns out that, no, you can't.
WV Gov. Joe Manchin said the comments were "a derogatory statement about my state." Sen. Robert Byrd said, "This pitiful comment is not entirely surprising when you consider the source." Two WV congress critters also chimed in.
This all resulted in one of the rarest natural events known to mankind -- Dick admitted he was wrong. "The Vice President’s offhand comment was not meant to hurt anyone," his office said in a released statement. "On reflection, he concluded that it was an inappropriate attempt at humor that he should not have made. The Vice President apologizes to the people of West Virginia for the inappropriate remark."
Geez, can we get him to apologize for Iraq?
Dream on. (NYT)
-Headline of the day-
"AP tally: Obama clinches Democratic nomination."
No super-huge surprise here, other than reporting their projection before the polls closed. But how far in advance was this projection? The earliest comment on the story I found was at 8:02 am PST.
That's just sad -- if you're Hillary Clinton. Oh, and way to spoil the suspense, guys. CNN's got these big crazy electronic maps and everything. Now what's Wolf Blitzer supposed to do with his night? (AP)
-News quote of the day-
This seems like a real bad idea.
At Fort Benning in Georgia, the Army has assigned soldiers suffering from PTSD to housing located just 200 yards away from firing ranges. The “barrages from rifles and machine guns” make these wounded soldiers “cringe” and “stay awake and on edge,” and recently “sent one soldier to the emergency room with an anxiety attack.” Complaints to medical personnel and officers have brought no relief.
The Army, ladies and gentlemen, putting the AFU into SNAFU. (Think Progress)
