Castro Could Have Saved Some?

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Castro Could Have Saved Some?

Cuban President Fidel Castro says it's the U.S. government's fault that so many people died in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, insisting some victims could have been saved if the U.S. had accepted his offer to send 1,600 Cuban doctors to the Gulf region.

Castro, speaking in Havana yesterday, said, "It hurts to think about it. Perhaps some of those desperate people, situated in the water and on the verge of dying, could have [lived]." He added, "That's a hard lesson for those whose false pride and erroneous concepts have driven them not to respond, even late, to our offer."

Bush administration officials, by the way, have called the response from U.S. medical services "robust."

Rapid Response

No sooner had President Bush finished his address from New Orleans last Thursday, than Massachusetts Democratic Senator John Kerry issued a statement saying, "…Americans want an end to politics as usual that leaves them dangerously and unforgivably unprepared ... not speeches in the aftermath to explain away the inexcusable."

But while the president was giving his address, Kerry was having dinner at the fashionable Cafe Milano Italian restaurant in Georgetown. Witnesses tell The Washington Times that Kerry sat with his back to the TV at the bar, and never turned around. What's more, he was still eating at the time his statement was sent out in his name.

Roberts ‘Too Much Of A Mystery’?

In a Sunday editorial calling for the Senate to reject Supreme Court Chief Justice Nominee John Roberts, The New York Times said Roberts was "too much of a mystery" to be approved, since he wouldn't answer questions about his personal views and potential future rulings.

But 12 years ago, when then-nominee Ruth Bader Ginsburg refused to answer dozens of questions, the Times fully endorsed her approval, saying, she "[showed] the patience and courtesy befitting a justice of the highest court. ... While the politicians repeatedly pressed for bottom lines on particular issues like the death penalty and gay rights, Ms. Ginsburg asked to be judged as a judge, not as an advocate."

Have It Your Way?

Burger King has recalled its ice cream cone desserts from British restaurants, after a Muslim man in Park Royal, England, complained that the treats were offensive and "sacrilegious." Specifically, the man insisted that the design on the lid of the dessert resembled the Arabic word for Allah, or god. He threatened to launch a "jihad" if the lid wasn't changed.

Burger King, quoted by The Scotsman newspaper, says the design "simply represents a spinning ice cream cone." Still, it has apologized, and is now spending thousands of dollars to redesign the lid.

— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report