The Promise the President Keeps Breaking
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Promises Promises
When President Obama signed the omnibus land conservation bill this afternoon, he again broke his campaign promise to post bills on the Web for five days before adding his signature.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The bill passed the House last Wednesday, but the White House did not post the document for comments until Friday, leaving just two weekend days for the public to register comments.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs addressed the shortened time saying: "Although not perfect, I think the president has made a greater step forward in transparency and feels like we're making progress on ensuring that the American people can see and read what their president is going to sign into law."
Of the nine bills President Obama has signed, six of them have not been posted the full five days. Officials say some of those bills were emergency legislation and therefore do not qualify for the five day minimum posting. And adding another excuse, White House officials said — in the most recent case — the President is leaving for Europe Tuesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}History Lesson
Maybe Hillary Clinton should have picked up a guidebook prior to her trip to Mexico. Last week the secretary of state visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is the second most popular Catholic shrine in the world. Catholics believe the image of the Virgin Mary was miraculously imprinted on a peasant's cloak 500 years ago. Clinton was apparently unaware of the legend. The Catholic News Agency reports that after being shown the famous image, Secretary Clinton asked, "Who painted it?" The rector of the Basilica responded, "God!"
And as she left the church, Clinton told some waiting outside, "You have a marvelous virgin!" Spokesmen for Clinton did not respond to requests for comment.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PETA Panned
And a consumer group says the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals isn't exactly animal-friendly. The nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom cites public records in accusing PETA of using its euthanasia program to kill almost six pets every day which works out to 95 percent of the adoptable pets in its care last year.
David Martosko, CCF research director, writes:"PETA hasn't slowed down its hypocritical killing machine one bit, but it keeps browbeating the rest of society with a phony 'animal rights' message."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Daphna Nachminovitch from PETA calls the center's statement defamatory and false, saying it is proud to be a shelter of last resort but that, "...organizations like PETA must do society's dirty work. Euthanasia is not a solution to overpopulation but rather a tragic necessity."
— FOX News Channel's Zachary Kenworthy contributed to this report.