Politics

Dozens of Catholic institutions have hauled off and sued the Obama administration, claiming religious freedom is on the line. But as I see it, both sides are in the wrong.

More than 40 Catholic schools, hospitals, charities and dioceses, including the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. are going to court, ostensibly to fight a requirement that would force them to violate church teaching by including free contraceptive coverage for employees in their health plans by as soon as Aug. 1.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York (Andrew Medichin - AP)

The litigants do have one point: It’s true that the Department of Health and Human Services has so narrowly defined its exemption for religious institutions that it really only covers churches, dioceses, and diocesan schools, but not other church-run hospitals and charities.

That’s a mistake. And that the HHS hasn’t addressed the problem is seen by those who are suing as proof that they aren’t being heard, or dealt with in good faith, so to speak.

LONDON — Britain’s phone hacking scandal truly is the gift that keeps on giving. On Sunday, news broke from the Cannes Film Festival that “Rebekah Brooks: The Movie” will be coming soon to a theater near you.

Most people know Rebekah Brooks as Rupert Murdoch’s erstwhile girl Friday in the British arm of his media empire, News Corp. Until July of last year, she served as chief executive at the London-based News International, before abruptly resigning over her alleged role in the phone-hacking scandal.

Should American citizens who have been convicted of crimes and served their time have their right to vote restored?

The question is a political issue, part of a voting-rights debate that is being fought in the states and among political candidates. To ex-felons, it
From left: 2 Chainz, Kanye West, Rosci and Terrence J in New York City in April. Rapper 2 Chainz has his voting rights after a conviction on drug possession when he was 15. (Craig Barritt - GETTY IMAGES) can be a personal challenge, as well: Will their votes matter, and why should they care?

The rapper 2 Chainz, made the case for the vote at a pre-show stop at the Urban League of Central Carolinas in Charlotte on Saturday. He told his story for 40 young people, a few with criminal records. The 35-year-old Atlanta-based performer said he was first arrested at age 15 for cocaine possession. When it came to voting, he thought he was “counted out” and didn’t know he was eligible until he picked up a brochure at a registration drive at an Atlanta mall. Along with 10 friends, he recruited from his recording studio, “I walked around with a sticker the whole day” they voted.

Cher is a household name. Grover Norquist is not.

Cher, the singer, actress, activist and gay icon, never holds back. She has often come under fire for her outspokenness, and her boldness is no different on Twitter, where she has more than 600,000 followers.

(LENNOX MCLENDON - AP)

Norquist is the conservative founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform. Political junkies and politicos know him, but the random man or woman on the street probably don't. It’s almost a guarantee they would know Cher.

Cher and Norquist are in a Twitter tete-a-tete. Cher often mixes politics into her tweets, and that doesn’t sit so well with Norquist.

On May 3, Cher tweeted: “Whats the difference between Mitt Romney & a Jellyfish??? NOTHING ! Whats the difference between Grover Norquist & the Devil ?? SAME THING !”

Norquist, who only has 22,000 followers, responded Friday night: “Hi Cher. get some sleep.”

Or maybe they just never gave up on it.

Arizona — where a top election official has said President Obama might not make the ballot because of questions about his birth certificate — is one place where it is enjoying a resurgence.

And then there is the latest version of Obama birthology, with a new twist: Okay, maybe he wasn’t born in Africa, but he tried to pretend he was.

Here’s where it comes from: A few days back, Breitbart.com came across a 1991 short bio of Obama published by his then-literary agency, which described him as “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii.” It was included in a booklet that contained descriptions of 90 agency clients and was distributed only within the publishing industry, according to Breitbart.

President Obama walks from the White House Fridayto board Marine One for the trip to Camp David for the G-8 summit. (Carolyn Kaster - AP) This has set off a frenzy in the conservative blogosphere, with the Drudge Report describing it as “Obama Lit Agent Shocker.” Speculation as to why he would be described that way ranges from declarations that this is proof that he was indeed born in Kenya to the supposition that he was seeking some kind of professional advantage by suggesting in a narrowly circulated pamphlet that he was.