By ,
Published May 08, 2017
And now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine...
Star Power
The Newark-based Star Ledger's headline after Tuesday's election is raising some eyebrows.
It reads -- quote -- "Dems Strike Back, Finally Give Christie a Black Eye"
The story begins - quote -- "After being bloodied by Gov. Chris Christie for nearly two years, Democrats struck back yesterday, fighting off well-funded Republican challenges and gaining one seat in the state Legislature."
The paper's own editorial section -- in that same paper --has this analysis -- quote -- "In the end, Christie lost nothing. The bipartisan coalition he put together, which relies on his alliance with the big Democratic bosses, survived the night unscathed."
Time Well Spent?
The staff of Washington Senator Patty Murray, who is co-chair of the deficit reduction super committee, is spending Tuesday and Wednesday holed up in the offices of a prominent Seattle lobbying firm.
Murray's spokesman tells the Seattle Times this is a non-story.
But a congressional watchdog group is questioning the ethics of the arrangement.
Using a free conference room is technically not a formal Senate ethics breach but the Sunlight Foundation notes -- quote -- "It's the kind of thing that makes most people shake their head and say, 'Why isn't it against the rules?"
Chapter and Verse
And finally, the Reverend Al Sharpton is taking issue with the Bible.
On his MSNBC show, Sharpton played a clip of Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann
Saying -- quote -- "Our nation should stop doing for people what they can and should do for themselves. Self-reliance means, if anyone will not work, neither shall they eat."
Sharpton responded -- quote -- "If you don't have work, you should starve. Is that her vision of America?"
The phrase that the Reverend Sharpton blasted and Bachmann cited is actually from the Second Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians in the New Testament.
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/grapevine-n-j-papers-mixed-election-messages