Why Is One Group Putting up a 'Gary and Joseph' Nativity Scene?

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Bad Review

A longtime adviser to Jimmy Carter has resigned his position as a Carter Center fellow over the former president's new book. Emory University professor Kenneth Stein wrote in a letter to Mr. Carter that the title of the book — "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" is "too inflammatory to even print." Stein — who accompanied Mr. Carter to the Middle East three times — says of the book:

"It is replete with factual errors, copied materials not cited, superficialities, glaring omissions and simply invented segments. Being president doesn't give one the prerogative to bend the facts to reach a prescribed reality."

Five-Day Work Week

Incoming Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is shocking some and angering others by abolishing what's been called the "Tuesday-Thursday club," the three-day work schedule Congress typically follows.

The Washington Post reports Hoyer wants members at the Capitol by 6:30 p.m. on Mondays for votes — and to stay until about 2:00 p.m. on Fridays. He also says he'll cut down long weekends and extended holidays.

Republican Jack Kingston of Georgia says the longer schedule will make things tougher at home but "the Democrats could care less about families." Republican Elton Gallegly of California wonders if the idea is what he calls "smoke-and-mirrors hoopla."

Imams Removed

Three parallel investigations have concluded that U.S. Airways personnel acted properly when they removed six imams from a flight in Minneapolis two weeks ago. The Washington Times reports the probes were conducted by the airline, the Minneapolis police, and the air carrier security committee of the Air Line Pilots Association.

The latter report says the crew demonstrated good judgment, and that the decisions were the result of the behavior of the imams, not their ethnicity. The six men alarmed passengers by praying loudly in the terminal, then taking a seating pattern on the plane that law enforcement associates with terrorism. some of the men asked for seat belt extensions — which can be used as weapons — even though they did not appear to be seriously overweight.

"First Amendment Protects Parody"

And the Young Conservatives group at the University of Texas has erected what it calls an "ACLU Nativity Scene." It features "Gary and Joseph" instead of Mary and Joseph to symbolize ACLU support for homosexual marriage. The three wise men are Stalin, Lenin and Marx because — says the chairman of the Young Conservatives — the ACLU founders were supporters of Soviet-style communism. And the angel is Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Texas ACLU executive director Will Harrell disputes the accuracy of the scene — but tells a local TV station that "the first amendment protects parody as well."

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