Quotes of the Morning

“A woman alleged in a call to police last fall that U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood had started choking her while giving her a back rub at his Washington apartment, but no charges were filed, according to a published report.
The encounter between Sherwood, 64, a four-term Republican congressman, and Cynthia Ore, 29, of Rockville, Md., occurred on the afternoon of Sept. 15, according to a copy of a Washington Metropolitan Police incident report obtained by the Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Times Leader.
[…]
'Both parties have left out significant information or are not willing to discuss in detail what actually happened,’ the incident report said.
Sherwood, who is married, told the Times Leader in a story published Saturday that Ore was ‘an acquaintance’ but wouldn't elaborate on why she was in his apartment. Ore told the newspaper the two met in 1999 at a Young Republicans meeting but wouldn't go into specifics about their relationship.”
-Associated Press, May 2, 2005

“No particular reason to include that quote except blatant partisanship (and I found it darkly funny). It always amazes me how many times the party of ‘family values’ seems to be behind stories like this..”
-Skippy

“A 13-year-old whose decision to have an abortion ignited a legal battle ended her pregnancy Tuesday after Gov. Jeb Bush announced that Florida would not fight a judge's order.
The Florida American Civil Liberties Union had helped represent the girl, a foster child in state custody, in court.
The Department of Children and Families had argued that state law prohibited the department to consent to abortion.”
-Kansas City Star, May 4, 2005

“What the heck is it with Jeb losing fights regarding people’s right to choose? This is two in a row for him after his loss in the Schiavo case. I understand the concern at least. We should be doing everything that we can to protect the children trapped in our foster care system. These kids often fall between the cracks and end up in bad situations like the one that led this girl to an unwanted pregnancy. They deserve better.”
-Skippy

“Government-funded researchers tested AIDS drugs on hundreds of foster children over the past two decades, often without providing them a basic protection afforded in federal law and required by some states, an Associated Press review has found.
The research funded by the National Institutes of Health spanned the country. It was most widespread in the 1990s as foster care agencies sought treatments for their HIV-infected children that weren’t yet available in the marketplace.
The practice ensured that foster children — mostly poor or minority — received care from world-class researchers at government expense, slowing their rate of death and extending their lives. But it also exposed a vulnerable population to the risks of medical research and drugs that were known to have serious side effects in adults and for which the safety for children was unknown.”
-Associated Press, May 4, 2005

“They did it for the kids.. After all, by testing these experimental and quite likely highly dangerous drugs on poor and minority children, they gave them the only government-provided healthcare they are likely to receive. Isn’t that swell of them? Gosh, if it works out well, they’ll soon provide those drugs to wealthy white people too. No matter what your political persuasion feel free to use this one.. It was common under Republicans and Democrats, so there is plenty of blame to spread around.”
-Skippy

“You know.. for kids.”
- Norville Barnes, The Hudsucker Proxy