David Souter retires; Barack Obama gets early Supreme Court pick

What a coincidence.

News out on the 101st night of Barack Obama's presidency that Supreme Court Justice David Hackett Souter has informed the White House that he will retire soon.

The 69-year-old jurist from New Hampshire was named to the court in 1990 by Bush I, who hoped his nominee would be a conservative. The president was sadly disappointed. Instead, Souter proved to be a centrist, leaning more liberal recently.

Souter will finish out the court's current term, which will be issuing major decisions come summer. And he reportedly has agreed to stay on until a successor is confirmed by the Senate.

Born in Massachusetts the son of a banker, Souter lived much of his childhood on a family farm in New Hampshire.

After a Harvard education and Rhodes scholarship, he spent a career in private practice, the state attorney general's office, state courts and, briefly, as a federal appeals court judge,

Souter filled the Supreme Court seat held by Justice William Brennan.

Souter was confirmed by the Senate 90-9, but his opponents included both of neighboring Massachusetts' Democratic senators, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.

Obama's choice will be closely watched. Will he name another centrist? If so, that would be unlikely to produce change to believe in and would simply continue the current court status quo.

A woman, because the court's only current female is the aging Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who's been treated for pancreatic cancer? A liberal to satisfy the party's left impatient after eight years of not controlling such White House appointments?

Obama shouldn't have much trouble getting his nominee through a Senate now likely to contain 60 Democrats.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Justice David Souter. Photo credit: Associated Press

Rep. Virginia Foxx retracts word 'hoax' in Matthew Shepard murder

Here's what Rep. Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican, said on the floor of the House of Representatives this week about Matthew Shepard, a Wyoming gay man brutally murdered in 1998:

"We know that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn't because he was gay. The bill was named for him, the hate-crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills."

See her House floor video below, courtesy of C-SPAN.

Foxx, who's not related to the TV network, is a 65-year-old former state senator in her third term in Washington. She was speaking against an expansion of hate-crimes legislation.

Foxx now says that although she said those words, her words did not convey what she really meant to say. What she really meant to say, which she is now saying but didn't say in the first place, is:

"The term 'hoax' was a poor choice of words used in the discussion of the hate-crimes bill. Mr. Shepard's death was nothing less than a tragedy, and those responsible for his death certainly deserved the punishment they received."

The beating and killing of the 22-year-old University of Wyoming student, allegedly for his openly gay lifestyle, quickly became a national rallying point for gays and lesbians. Now, Foxx's uninformed comments have done the same again.

Two men were found guilty of the slaying, in which Shepard was beaten and left to die, strung up on a range fence outside of town. They are serving life sentences. But the court never ruled on the motive -- robbery, drugs or anti-gay hatred.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Associated Press

Out-Foxing NBC: TV drama draws a million more viewers than Obama

Well, it looks like Fox made the correct business call in opting not to broadcast President Obama's latest prime-time news conference last night. (Full transcript here, as usual.)

After 100 days and three prime-time news sessions, has the entertainment value drained out of the new guy talking for 55 minutes with no laugh track or applause? (Despite the "enchanted" president item.)

Overnight ratings show that Fox's ironically named drama "Lie to Me" easily beat NBC's coverage of Obama's Wednesday evening news conference, drawing nearly 8 million viewers to the Peacock's 6.7 million in second place.

On those broadcast networks, a little less than 19 million viewed the news conference.

Overall, about 28.8 million people watched the White House media session on 10 TV channels, a sharp 29% dropoff from the last session March 24. Nearly 50 million watched Obama's first news conference. Oh, and Fox News' Obama coverage won the ratings combat on the cable side.

"Lie to Me" is the story of a doctor (Tim Roth) who's, in effect, a living lie detector through his ability to read human expressions and nuances. We could maybe use him at some political events! Meanwhile, here's a sample.

We have a video excerpt below. Of the news conference, that is.

--Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Ron Edmonds / Associated Press 

Newt Gingrich on the Republican National Committee: Tiny group of 'precious' people

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who led the historic Republican Revolution of 1994 that gave his party control of both houses of Congress and might well be a 2012 presidential candidate, has a few typically pithy -- and critical -- words for his own Republican National Committee.

The national committees of both parties are charged with fund-raising and developing national election strategies, plus helping to recruit and train candidates.

The committees tend to play a more important role when they do not hold the White House, which controls political strategy.

After losing the White House in November and both houses of Congress, RNC Chairman Michael Steele faces a major rebuilding -- and rebranding and reunifying -- job for his 155-year-old party.

Appearing on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" today (see video below), Gingrich was asked about reports of internal RNC feuding and efforts by the party's 168-member RNC to put spending controls on its new chairman, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland and the first African American to head the party of Lincoln.

Steele has had a rocky few initial weeks, as has his party adapting to the popular new Obama administration.

Asked if he thought the curbing attempts on Steele were leftover resentments from January's six-ballot struggle to elect a new chair, Gingrich agreed.

Then, with the usual shyness that has made him a very popular party speaker even 11 years after he stepped down, Gingrich added:

The Republican National Committee is this tiny group of people, some of whom have been there 20 years or more. And they all think they're precious. And they all think they should be taken care of. And they all think that the job of the chairman first of all is to make the RNC members happy.

Chances are few of those tiny people -- or was it a tiny group of people? -- will be feeling too happy watching this video. Gingrich has more to say on it. Worth watching.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Associated Press

Obama and Canada's Stephen Harper issue joint Chrysler statement -- full text

Joint statement by President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the Chrysler situation:

We appreciate the close and cooperative relationship between the U.S. and Canadian governments during this period of restructuring in the auto industry. Together, we have put in place a financing package that will give Chrysler a chance to achieve financial viability," said President Obama.

"I want to thank President Obama and the U.S. Automotive Task Force for their close cooperation with Canada on this challenging issue. Thanks to our joint efforts, there is now a road ahead to a stronger Chrysler and a stronger industry in the future on both sides of the border," said Prime Minister Harper.

The Governments will provide $US 10.5 billion in financing, including short term and medium term capital and debtor-in-possession financing to assist with the court-supervised restructuring of Chrysler LLC.   Of this amount, the United States is contributing $US 8.08 billion and Canadian governments (including the Government of Canada and Government of Ontario) $US 2.42 billion. 

The United States will have 8 percent of the equity of the restructured Chrysler LLC, and Canada and Ontario will have 2 percent, and the United States will appoint four independent directors to the new Chrysler LLC board, while Canada will appoint one independent director.

The close cooperation of our Governments acknowledges that the automotive industries in Canada and the United States are tightly linked, with major automobile manufacturers and suppliers operating on both sides of the border in a completely integrated way.  The cost sharing reflects the historic shares of auto production in both countries for Chrysler, which will be maintained under this restructuring agreement.

The United States and Canada are committed to continuing to work together closely as we chart the path to a stronger automobile industry in both countries, both in the short term as we complete similar efforts on General Motors restructuring plan, and in the long term as we seek to ensure a competitive, environmentally responsible automobile industry for the future.  

Today's earlier Ticket item on Obama and Chrysler is available here.

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Photo: President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper at their Ottawa summit in February. Credit: Adrian Wyld / Associated Press

Orange County setback for Lila Rose, anti-Planned Parenthood activist

Our colleague Paloma Esquivel reports today that a divided Orange County Board of Supervisors, which  had suspended a grant of nearly $300,000 to Planned Parenthood for sex education programs, voted to reinstate the funding on the advice of attorneys.

Last Sunday, we reported that some Orange County citizens were perturbed about the funding for Planned Parenthood after seeing videos made by UCLA student Lila Rose, who has posed as a pregnant 13-year-old with a 31-year-old boyfriend.

Tustin businessman Mark Bucher brought the matter to the attention of Supervisor John Moorlach, whose chief of staff told us recently that Moorlach had not realized money from the state's tobacco settlement fund was being allocated to Planned Parenthood.

Moorlach was one of two supervisors who voted against restoring the funding today.

On her website, Rose has posted videos that appear to show Planned Parenthood staffers telling her to lie about the age of her boyfriend so they didn't have to report the case to authorities as statutory rape.

In a second vote, this one unanimous, Esquivel reports, the supervisors agreed to have the county Health Care Agency adopt policies requiring tobacco settlement money to be spent on direct health services, not education.

And she writes: "In addition to eliminating health education, the new rules say services can't be provided in the same place where abortions are performed."

Planned Parenthood exec Jon Dunn told Esquivel: "Clearly this is an effort to target Planned Parenthood. It's much more costly to treat people once they have a symptom than to provide them with the information they need to prevent an infection from occurring."

-- Robin Abcarian

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Photo: Live Action Films

Obama predicts a Chrysler comeback, slams hedge fund holdouts

Standing in front of his auto task force in the Grand Foyer of the White House, President Obama today announced the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for Chrysler, the once proud member in good standing of America's Big Three automakers.

The last time a major American car company sought bankruptcy protection (cue the music, Alex)? Studebaker. In 1933. As in the Great Depression. Studebaker managed to come back, producing wagons and other car engines into the 1950s.

Obama said all the right things in hopes that Chrysler will come back too.

He said he has "every confidence that Chrysler will emerge from this process stronger and more competitive."

Obama thinks the new partnership with Fiat "will give Chrysler a chance not only to survive, but to thrive in a global auto industry." 

He lauded the company's management and the United Automobile Workers, for making concessions. He even praised J.P. Morgan and other financial firms that "agreed to reduce their debt to less than one-third of its face value to help free Chrysler from its crushing obligations" and German automaker, Daimler, for agreeing to give up its stake.

Then he slammed unnamed hedge funds that rejected the government’s settlement offer in hopes of getting a taxpayer-funded bailout. "They were hoping that everybody else would make sacrifices, and they would have to make none," he said. "Some demanded twice the return that other lenders were getting."

Then, with pointed anger, the president added:

I don't stand with them. I stand with Chrysler's employees and their families and communities. I stand with Chrysler's management, its dealers and its suppliers. I stand with the millions of Americans who own and want to buy Chrysler cars. I don't stand with those who held out when everybody else is making sacrifices. 

 No names were mentioned but you can read his full statement below.

-- Johanna Neuman

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Photo: Agence France-Presse

Republicans to Specter: We want our money back

When he announced the other day that he was switching to the Democratic Party, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter offered to return campaign donations from any contributors who might take offense.

Turns out that includes a lot of his Senate Republican colleagues who lent money to the cause.

Georgia Republican Johnny Isakson was first in line -- asking Specter to return his $5,000 leadership political action committee contribution. Other Republicans requesting refunds on behalf of their PACs: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky ($10,000), Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander ($5,000), Texas Sen. John Cornyn ($5,000) and Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker ($5,000).

"They gave that money to elect a Republican. They did not give that money to strengthen [Democratic Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid's majority," National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Brian Walsh told the Washington Times. "I expect a lot of people will be looking to have their money returned."

No question Republicans are peeved. One Republican official in Hamilton County, Ohio, Alex Triantafilou, was criticized for crossing the line into tastelessness when he posted an image of Specter, then bald from his chemotherapy treatments for a brain tumor, next to one of the hairless Dr. Evil from the “Austin Powers” movies. He's since replaced it with a photo of a frowning child.

Now, Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Robert A. Gleason Jr. is demanding that Specter return all campaign contributions, no questions asked. On CNN, Gleason said Specter should "do the right thing and proactively return any and all campaign contributions he has received in recent months to run as a Republican in the upcoming election."

Oh, and Gleason thinks Specter should apologize to the state's Republicans for misleading them.

Even if he returned every penny now in his campaign coffers, this is one of those "don't cry for me, Argentina" moments for Specter.

President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have promised to campaign for him. Democrats have promised to back him. And, if history is any guide, Democratic donors will soon be filling his campaign funds with cold, green cash.

As the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, after Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party to become an independent in 2001, he refunded about $21,000 to 64 Vermont residents -- and collected $58,000 in donations after the switch, mostly from out of state.

-- Johanna Neuman

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Photo: President Obama, Sen. Arlen Specter and Vice President Joe Biden. Credit: Kevin Dietsch, United Press International

Biden urges Americans to stay off planes, subways during swine flu outbreak. Oops, White House correction follows

Vice President Joe Biden, known for verbal excess, stepped on the Obama administration's talking points this morning when he suggested that Americans should stay out of confined spaces with other people -- like trains, planes and subways -- until the swine flu epidemic passes.

On the "Today" show, NBC's Matt Lauer asked the vice president why the federal government has not closed the border with Mexico and what advice the vice president would give to members of his own family. Here's what he said:

I would tell members of my family, and I have, I wouldn't go anywhere in confined spaces  now.... When one person sneezes, it can go all the way through the airplane. I would not be at this point, if they had another way of transportation, suggesting they ride the subway.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

That guidance is at direct odds with administration policy, which is that Americans WHO ARE SICK  should stay home and that institutions where folks gather -- from schools to sporting events -- should close IF THERE'S AN OUTBREAK of the H1N1 virus in their communities.

The last thing the White House wants is to inspire public panic that might not do anything to slow the epidemic but could also dampen prospects for economic recovery in key sectors like transportation and the hospitality business.

So within hours, the White House had put out a "clarification" of Biden's remarks, explaining that what the vice president meant to say was that only members of his family WHO ARE SICK should avoid confined spaces. As Biden press secretary Elizabeth Alexander put it:

The advice he is giving family members is the same advice the administration is giving to all Americans:  that they should avoid unnecessary air travel to and from Mexico. If they are sick, they should avoid airplanes and other confined public spaces, such as subways. This is the advice the vice president has given family members who are traveling by commercial airline this week. As the president said just last night, every American should take the same steps you would take to prevent any other flu:  Keep your hands washed; cover your mouth when you cough; stay home from work if you're sick; and keep your children home from school if they're sick.

President Obama, who has worked valiantly to marshal federal resources without inspiring public panic, may have more to say about Biden's remarks later in the day.

In the meantime, the administration quickly trotted out two of its most calming voices to correct the gaffe.

Asked about Biden's remark, Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called this "a teachable moment" in which health professionals can inform the public -- including presumably the vice president -- on how to deal appropriately with the crisis without panic.

And Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who has been the administration's face of the swine flu crisis, said she guesses if Biden had it to do over again he'd insert the words "if you are sick."

Conceding for the first time that the federal government might close ports on U.S. borders if that is the advice of local health officials, Napolitano told MSNBC that Washington's overall message is unchanged: Let's not overreact. Let's take common-sense approaches.

Biden said recently that Team Obama had encouraged him to "just be Joe." With 94 swine flu cases now confirmed in 11 states, and with the vice president stepping all over the president's message in encouraging Americans to be prudent but not to panic, it may be time to rethink that strategy.

Ah, Joe, say it ain't so.

-- Johanna Neuman

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Iraqis love Barack Obama on his 100th day; well, two do anyway

In case you're a fan and didn't get enough Barack Obama 100 days coverage Wednesday, here's a postscript for today's breakfast. Let's see, that'll make it the 101st day.

In case you're not an Obama fan and perhaps voted in our Reader Report Card here Wednesday, you can read this little item anyway, just to get your blood pressure up and flowing for the day. Think of it as another tiny piece of the vast mainstream media conspiracy to canonize the GCA already.

The Associated Press asked two of the estimated 6.5 million residents of the ancient city of Baghdad what they thought about the Great Change Agent. And they said they really like the new guy, who strongly opposed the U.S. troop increase that enabled them to stand on the street for the interview without wearing body armor. So that pretty much seals the deal. (See video below.)

If you speak Arabic, you can double-check the interpreter on this quick video. There's also explosion aftermath footage, which we don't get much of in U.S. politics.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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