Rangel’s Endgame

Um, to end your career with dignity, don’t you have to have conducted it with dignity? 

“I think Charlie Rangel served a very long time and served—his constituents very well. But these—allegations are very troubling,” Obama told Harry Smith in an interview to be aired on the “Early Show.” and first broadcast on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.

“And he’ll—he’s somebody who’s at the end of his career. Eighty years old. I’m sure that—what he wants is to be able to—end his career with dignity. And my hope is that—it happens. “

Caption This

Obama Administration Discusses Undermining Congress

So much for representative government and whatnot.

The internal draft written by officials at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services outlines ways the government could provide “relief” to illegal immigrants — including delaying deportation for some, perhaps indefinitely, or granting green cards to others — in the absence of legislation revamping the system.

It’s emerging as chances fade in this election year for a measure President Barack Obama favors to put the nation’s estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants on a path to legal status, and as debate rages over an Arizona law targeting people suspected of being in the country illegally.

The 11-page internal memo, written in April to the agency’s director, says: “This memorandum offers administrative relief options to promote family unity, foster economic growth, achieve significant process improvements and reduce the threat of removal for certain individuals present in the United States without authorization.”

It goes on: “In the absence of comprehensive immigration reform, USCIS can extend benefits and/or protections to many individuals or groups.”

The memo drew a backlash by Republicans who called it evidence that Obama is looking for ways of relaxing immigration policies without political consensus to enact a new law.

Obama Knows Snooki?

To be fair, he just reads the words off of the prompter. 

Sandra Bullock

If her part was in line with her beliefs, then who cares if an oil company might have been involved?

A spokeswoman for Sandra Bullock says the actress wants her parts of a video promoting Gulf Coast restoration removed until she learns whether oil companies influenced it.

The statement Thursday came after the website DeSmogBlog called the campaign an industry push to get support for drilling and taxpayer money to repair wetland damage caused by the BP oil spill.

Women of the Storm, a New Orleans group that produced the video, lists America’s Wetland Foundation as a partner. The foundation lists BP and other oil companies as sponsors on its website.

New Union Boss

Cheers.

The West Bend Education Association has new leadership.

West Bend West High School Library media specialist Jason Penterman was elected president of the teacher association.

Penterman started working in the West Bend School District in the fall of 2001 as an English teacher.

   He was elected president of the teacher’s association in March, along with Salley Heuer as secretary and Diane Praeger as treasurer. Terms of office are two years.

Penterman said he hopes to build the association’s relationship with the West Bend School Board and district administration. He also wants to improve student attendance and reduce drop-out rates.

   The WBEA represents about 500 professional staff and another 200 teaching assistant and secretarial support staff in the West Bend School District.

Friends of a Feather

Barrett, Doyle, and the President of Planned Parenthood Cecile Richards (daughter of Ann Richards, former Pelosi staffer, married to SEIU thug, etc.).

Hat tip Charlie Sykes.

Ripon Woman Becomes International Arms Dealer

Sort of...

Earlier this month, the Ripon Police Department received a tip from a firearms dealer in Iowa who said someone used a stolen credit card number to order a $1,600 rifle scope and have it shipped to an address in Ripon, Wallner said.

Police launched an investigation into possible credit card fraud and instead uncovered an intricate system to obtain military equipment banned by the U.S. State Department for overseas shipping.

Police identified several packages being sent to the same address and obtained a search warrant, Wallner said.

Inside they found about 20 packages, containing high-end rifle/sniper scopes, night vision equipment, police and military uniforms, GPS units, and electronics, all addressed to different names, that the woman was planning to readdress and ship to Novorossijsk, Russia - a city located on the north coast of the Black Sea and north of Iraq.

The woman, who police say has been cooperative with the investigation, told police the online temporary agency that hired her previously had sent five boxes with baby clothes and diapers that she opened, repackaged and shipped to what she thought was an orphanage in Russia.

The agency told her she would be paid $30 per package through her PayPal account and that the next packages didn’t need to be opened and repackaged, just readdressed and shipped.

Luckily, Wallner said, the woman had sent only the baby clothes and diapers by the time police intervened.

Police confiscated more than $15,000 worth of property purchased with credit card information stolen from at least 20 different victims across the U.S.

It’s hard to find fault with the woman other than by the old yarn, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”