Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Rich Man, Poor Man
We've been told for years that Republicans are the party of the rich and Democrats represent the middle class and the poor.
But a new study by the Heritage Foundation's Michael Franc indicates Democrats now represent the majority of the nation's wealthiest congressional districts. The Washington Times reports the conclusion comes after a state-by-state, district-by-district comparison of wealth concentrations based on Internal Revenue Service income statistics.
Franc says Democrats represent a majority of the 167 House districts where the median annual income is higher than the national median income. He also found more than half the wealthiest households in the U.S. are concentrated in the 18 states where Democrats hold both Senate seats.
Texas Mayor Banned From City Hall
The mayor of Poteet, Texas, is going to have a more difficult time doing his job — now that he is legally prohibited from going to City Hall.
Mayor Lino Donato was accused of exposing himself to two girls and improperly touching one of them. He pleaded guilty to three counts of indecency. Then he reneged on a promise to resign a week after the plea, saying he was not guilty.
But Donato is now a registered sex offender, and since city hall is fewer than 1,000 feet from a youth center, he is barred from entering the building. He cannot be forced from office because he pleaded guilty and technically was not convicted. The city attorney says there is no law requiring the mayor to attend city business meetings.
Redford Bashes Gore
One of Hollywood's leading liberals is taking shots at Al Gore. Robert Redford tells the New Statesman magazine:
"He's making a lot of money; he's having a… heroic moment. It must have been really hard for Gore to suffer all that [losing the presidential election], so he found another thing to come back with: the environment. He had a lot of money behind him, because in Clinton's administration there was a lot of money. With that he was able to build himself a new campaign and pick an issue. And he picked an issue that just happened to arrive at its moment in time."
And when asked why Gore will not get back into politics, Redford says: "What's most important: to be a hero to your country and go save it… or do you want to be happy and rich and be a hero and not get into the political scene?"
Recipe for Disaster?
Backers of a new law in Thailand to boost patriotism want everyone to stop what they are doing twice a day when the Thai flag is raised or lowered and the national anthem is played — and that includes people driving their cars on surface streets.
The amendment states that members of the public must stand at attention or stop their vehicles when the flag ceremony is performed every day at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. The only exceptions are people in planes, trains, boats and vehicles on the expressway.
One assembly member called the idea "chaotic." The bill has been tabled for now, but will be reviewed by a committee in the next few days.
— FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.
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