Weiner’s Popularity Goes Flacid; Will Resign House Seat…

According to coverage on CNN this morning, Representative Anthony Weiner has told House leaders as well as his friends that he plans to resign his seat after coming under growing pressure from other Democrats.

After initially claiming that his Twitter account had been hacked, Weiner finally admitted that he sent the lewd picture of his…um…well…yeah…and had engaged in inappropriate relationships with a number of women he had met online.

From CNN:

Weiner, 46, was considered a possible front-runner to succeed New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2013 until the revelation of his online communications, including lewd photos of himself he sent to women he befriended on Facebook and Twitter.

Last year, Weiner married Huma Abedin, a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton in the White House, Senate and now in the State Department. Former President Bill Clinton officiated at the ceremony, and Abedin is pregnant with the couple’s first child.

Weiner has been in the spotlight since late May, when a lewd photograph of him became public after it was sent to a woman over the Twitter social networking service.

Dick Cheney Hospitalized

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has been hospitalized with chest pains, this according to CNN.

First Bill Clinton, now Cheney. Not a good time to be a politician with a bad heart!

From CNN:

His doctors are evaluating the situation, and Cheney, 69, is resting comfortably at George Washington University Hospital, the staff said in a statement.

From WPTV:

Cheney was admitted Monday afternoon after experiencing chest paints. Two doctors say tonight that Cheney is stable, but may have additional treatment tomorrow. Cheney had an angiogram to allow doctors to look in his coronary arteries. What they saw raises the possibility of additional treatment.

Dick Cheney has had four heart attacks–the first when he was just 37.

Bill Clinton Hospitalized

Former President Bill Clinton has been hospitalized with chest pains at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.

I’m waiting to start hearing the “Too Much McDonald’s” lines…

From CNN:

“Today President Bill Clinton was admitted to the Columbia Campus of New York Presbyterian Hospital after feeling discomfort in his chest,” said Douglas Band, counselor to the former president, in a written statement.

“Following a visit to his cardiologist, he underwent a procedure to place two stents in one of his coronary arteries. President Clinton is in good spirits, and will continue to focus on the work of his Foundation and Haiti’s relief and long-term recovery efforts. In 2004, President Clinton underwent a successful quadruple bypass operation to free four blocked arteries.”

Dave Matthews Sees “Racism Everywhere”

Interesting interview with CNN and the Dave Matthews Band.

I think I grew up a very sheltered life. I spent my first 24 years only leaving the state of California twice, hardly ever leaving the Bay Area. What do you think? Is racism still a large part of our society?

From CNN:

We caught up with Matthews just as news hit the Web that former President Jimmy Carter believed racism was the root of some of the negativity directed toward President Obama in recent weeks. The 42-year-old singer-songwriter offered a unique perspective, as a man who split his childhood between the United States and South Africa during apartheid. The following is an edited version of the interview.

CNN: President Carter said he thinks that a lot of the animosity directed toward President Obama is race related.

Dave Matthews: Of course it is! I found there’s a fairly blatant racism in America that’s already there, and I don’t think I noticed it when I lived here as a kid. But when I went back to South Africa, and then it’s sort of thrust in your face, and then came back here — I just see it everywhere. There’s a good population of people in this country that are terrified of the president only because he’s black, even if they don’t say it. And I think a lot of them, behind closed doors, do say it.

Maybe I’m paranoid about it, but I don’t think someone who disagreed as strongly as they do with Obama — if it was Clinton — would have stood up and screamed at him during his speech. (Shakes his head) I don’t think so.

CNN: Everything has gone to such a frenzied pitch.

Matthews: I think a lot of it has to be on the press. We give the podium to a lot of people who shouldn’t have the podium. The message that’s delivered the loudest and in the most entertaining way is the one that we’re going to put on because that’s what we want. We want ratings more than we want to deliver information. That’s just where the culture’s gotten.

There’s no way that Walter Cronkite, as a young journalist, no way Ed Murrow would be hired to do news today. Not a chance.

CNN: Because they’re too low-key? Because they’re not bombastic?

Matthews: Because they’re thoughtful, and they’re patient, and they’re tying to tell you a truly balanced story. They’re trying to impart information. I don’t think that’s the goal [now] because it’s not a good business plan.

American Journalists Pardoned in North Korea

According to a report from Reuters, Kim Jong Il, leader of North Korea, has pardoned two jailed American journalists.

From the New York Times:

The report came after former President Bill Clinton met with the reclusive and ailing Mr. Kim in Pyongyang on Tuesday.

Mr. Kim granted “a special pardon,” KCNA said in a statement. It was not clear how rapidly the two journalists, Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, might be allowed to leave the country. They were being held near Pyongyang after having been sentenced to 12 years at hard labor for entering North Korea illegally.

The pardon added to speculation among analysts in Seoul that North Korea, after months of raising tensions and hostile rhetoric towards Washington, may be ready to return to dialogue with Washington.

Bill Clinton Meets With Kim John Il

Former President Bill Clinton is on a diplomatic mission to North Korea to try to secure the release of two journalists detained earlier this year along the border with China.

From the Associated Press:

Clinton met Tuesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on the first day of a surprise visit to Pyongyang, holding “exhaustive” talks that covered a wide range of topics, state-run media said. Clinton “courteously” conveyed a verbal message from President Barack Obama, the official Korean Central News Agency said in a report from Pyongyang. Kim expressed his thanks, and engaged Clinton in a “wide-ranging exchange of views on matters of common concern,” the report said.