The ACLU Comes to Sen. Larry Craig's Defense

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Funding Pulled

The Student Government Association at the University of Arizona last week rescinded its promise of more than $4,000 in funding for an annual Christian-themed concert, after changing its bylaws to prohibit donations to events with religious or political themes.

The Arizona Daily Star reports members of the student senate say they changed the rules in order to comply with state law. But one of the group's leaders could not specify which law was being cited and the university's legal counsel says there is no such law. And a First Amendment lawyer says what the students did actually breaks a law — the First Amendment.

And, while the students cut money for the Christian concert, they approved funding for an ad in the student newspaper sponsored by a gay rights group that lists names and job titles of students, faculty and staff who are homosexuals.

Not Kosher

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Israel should be destroyed and has questioned whether the Holocaust took place. But now one of the hottest TV shows in Iran takes a sympathetic view of the Holocaust and makes a hero out of an Iranian diplomat who helps Jews escape from World War II Nazi-controlled Paris.

"Zero Degree Turn" is a fictionalized adaptation of a true story. It airs on state-run television, meaning it has been approved at the highest levels of the Iranian government.

The show also skirts another taboo in Iran, by allowing female actors to break the state-mandated Islamic dress code.

Unlikely Allies

The American Civil Liberties Union has come out in defense of Sen. Larry Craig. The ACLU has filed a "friend-of-the-court" brief urging the Minnesota District Court to allow the Idaho Republican to withdraw his disorderly conduct guilty plea, after he was arrested for soliciting sex in an airport restroom. The ACLU says the sting operation used to catch Craig was likely unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, that restroom has become the Twin Cities' hot new must-see attraction. An information specialist at the airport told a reporter that just 15 minutes into her shift Friday, she'd already been asked for directions four times by folks anxious to go inside and take pictures. A local newspaper published a detailed map of the airport Sunday, highlighting the location of the men's room.

Grab Bag

A mother sitting in a west London coffee shop with her 10-month-old son was the victim of a purse-snatcher who grabbed her bag and ran out of the store. So 34-year-old Sam McAlister asked the employees to watch her son and took off after the thief. The Evening Standard reports McAlister founder the female robber in a nearby store and wrestled the purse away from her.

But when McAlister went to the police station to file a complaint, a female desk officer told her that no crime had been committed because she had gotten the bag back. McAlister says she was dumbfounded and demanded to speak to a superior officer. She later received a call from a supervisor and a crime report was written up.

A police spokesman says of the desk officer, "words of advice will be given to the staff member involved."

— FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.