Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
As if taking a cue from the White House press corps, Senate Democrats came out in full swing Tuesday attacking the administration for its delay in releasing information on Vice President Cheney's hunting accident. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid called the Bush administration the most secretive in modern history and compared the hunting incident to the Valerie Plame leak investigation and the White House response to Hurricane Katrina.
He also called on the vice president to appear publicly to talk about what happened. New York Senator Hillary Clinton chimed in that the administration has a tendency to withhold information from the public and resists legitimate requests for information.
Originalist Outlook
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia Monday sharply defended his originalist philosophy of interpreting the Constitution. Speaking to an audience of lawyers in Puerto Rico, Scalia took aim at those who believe the Constitution is a living organism that can become brittle and break if it doesn't change with society.
Scalia said, "You would have to be an idiot to believe that. The constitution is not a living organism, it is a legal document. It says some things and doesn't say other things." He said living constitution adherents really want matters to be decided not by the people but by the court. Scalia said his own philosophy has often prevented him from doing what he wants as a judge, but that there can be no room for personal, religious or political beliefs on the bench.
Defies Protesters
In an act of defiance against Islamic protesters, a member of Italy's cabinet has had t-shirts made showing the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. Roberto Calderoli, who holds the post of reform minister, planned to start wearing the T-shirts Tuesday and has offered them to anyone who wants to join him in what he says is not meant to be an act of provocation, but an act of pacifism.
Calderoli is a member of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, which has cited the cartoon violence as a reason not to allow Muslim immigrants to settle in Italy. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi reportedly advised Calderoli to be more cautious on the evolving cartoon controversy, but Calderoli says he does not intend to stay quiet.
No Love at Work?
Employers in Britain have found a novel way to avoid sexual harassment suits banning Valentine's Day cards from the workplace. A third of British businesses support such a ban and 90 percent of them believe that inter-office romance is bad for business. Peter Mooney — a consultant for the U.K.-based Employment Law Advisory Services, which polled 600 businesses on office romance — says that if employers really want to protect themselves, all Valentine's Day messages should be punishable by disciplinary action.
— FOX News' Dominique Pastre contributed to this report
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