Should Government Tell You if You Can Spank Your Child?

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Ban Spanking?

California Assemblywoman Sally Lieber is introducing legislation that would outlaw spanking children three and under, according to The San Jose Mercury News. The law would prohibit, "any striking of a child...smacking, hitting or punching," and would be punishable by up to a year in jail or a fine up to $1,000.

Some critics note that it would be practically impossible to enforce the ban, and wonder whether three-year-olds would be expected to report they'd been spanked.

If enacted, California would become the first state to explicitly ban parents from swatting their children's behinds.

Loyalty Test for 2008

Democratic Congressman and former Clinton White House aide Rahm Emanuel's loyalty is being tested as the 2008 presidential race heats up, reports the Chicago Tribune. Last April, Emanuel had no doubts about who he'd support, saying, "I'm supporting Hillary Clinton. I'm public about it."

But now, Emanuel, a key strategist, faces a quandary. The candidacy of Barack Obama, also from Illinois, is gaining momentum, and Emanuel has advised him in the past. So, now he's just hoping to avoid having to choose, saying, "I'm hiding under the desk...I'm very far under the desk, and I'm bringing my paper and my phone."

Would Have Been 72

On what would have been Elvis Presley's 72 birthday earlier this month, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library opened an exhibit to give the public a look at the relics from the meeting between the President and the King that took place in 1970.

Elvis had written a letter asking Nixon to make him a quote "Federal Agent at Large" to work against the drug problem and asked if he could meet Nixon. A memo from the President's appointment secretary suggested to Nixon's chief of staff H.R. Haldeman that, "if the President wants to meet with some bright young people outside of the government, Presley might be the perfect one to start with."

Haldeman wrote back, "You must be kidding." Presley's offer to help fight the drug problem may have been compromised by his experience...as an abuser of prescription drugs which contributed to his death seven years later.

Stop the Spin

And finally, yesterday, we noted that the Weather Channel climate expert Heidi Cullen had said TV weather forecasters skeptical of predictions about manmade global warming should lose their American Meteorological Society certification.

Cullen now says she wants to quote "stop the spin." She says, "the point of my post was never to stifle discussion," but said she sees it as her job at the Weather Channel to "give YOU the facts on global warming...to keep people out of harm's way. Whether it's a landfalling hurricane or global warming."

One AMS-certified weatherman in Alabama wrote that he didn't know of a single meteorologist who buys into the man-made global warming hype.

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