Afternoon Fix: Secession petitions raise 'worthwhile questions,' Ron Paul says

Afternoon Fix from The Washington Post

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Monday, November 19, 2012

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WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

* President Obama sounded a hopeful note during his trip to Burma on Monday. "I'm proud to be the first American president to visit this spectacular country, and I am very pleased that one of my first stops is to visit with an icon of democracy who has inspired so many people, not just in this country but all around the world," Obama said in a brief appearance with Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate and former political prisoner.

* Nearly two-in-three (65 percent) Americans say they believe Obama will make a sincere effort to reach bipartisan solutions to the country's woes, but only about half (48 percent) say the same thing about congressional Republicans, according to results of new USA Today/Gallup poll.

* Ninety-seven House Republicans signed a letter to Obama not to nominate United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice for secretary of state. The move is more symbolic than practical though, as the Senate votes to confirm cabinet secretaries while the House does not.

* Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said in an interview that he isn't certain what the age of the earth is, and that parents should be able to teach their kids both scientific and religious attempts to answer the question. "Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer that. It's one of the great mysteries," he said.

WHAT YOU SHOULDN'T MISS

* Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) could soon be living off food stamps for a week, following a challenge the mayor issued via Twitter to someone who tweeted at him: "Nutrition is not a responsibility of the government." Booker responded: "Lets you and I try to live on food stamps in New Jersey (high cost of living) and feed a family for a week or month. U game?"

* Sen. John Kerry's (D-Mass.) spokeswoman calls the speculation that the senator might join Obama's cabinet a "ginormous waste of time." Kerry's "only focus is his job as senior senator from Massachusetts and Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and that's not changing," said Kerry spokeswoman Jodi Seth. Kerry is under consideration to become the next secretary of defense. He's also been mentioned as a possible secretary of state.

* Fifty-seven percent of Americans said Israel's current military campaign in Gaza is justified, while a quarter said it isn't, according to a new CNN/ORC International poll released Monday.

* Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) wrote Monday that secession protests that erupted via the White House's "We The People" website after Obama's reelection "raise a lot of worthwhile questions about the nature of our union."

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