Ranking the Dads-in-Chief

Without a strong progressive movement, country won't shift leftward

(NEWSER) - If Barack Obama wants to be a transformational progressive president like Lyndon Johnson or FDR, he’s going to need a strong liberal movement in the streets. “Every Democratic president since Johnson has raised the hope that he would bring with him a new era of progressive reform,” writes Harold Meyerson, but they’ve all suffered from “the absence of a vibrant left movement,” like the communist, democratic socialist, or civil rights movements. More»

(NEWSER) - All four living former presidents will attend Ted Kennedy’s invitation-only funeral, the Boston Herald reports. President Obama will also be there, breaking off his Martha’s Vineyard vacation to deliver a eulogy. Gordon Brown also plans to attend, as will Irish PM Brian Cowen. “Sen. Kennedy is being honored as though he were a former sitting president,” observed one political scientist. More»

Non-Bush ex-president has already made one

(NEWSER) - Obituaries are a newspaper standby, but the New York Times has removed the journalistic middleman with its series of video obits, Editor & Publisher reports. After starting 2 years ago with humorist Art Buchwald’s greeting of “Hi, I’m Art Buchwald and I just died,” the Times has added 30 more to its “Last Word” stockpile. More»

Paternity scandal grows, but so far no political fallout

(NEWSER) - The paternity scandal surrounding Paraguay’s president, a former bishop, has reached new heights: A third woman says he fathered her child, McClatchy reports. Fernando Lugo recently acknowledged paternity of a 2-year-old; soon after, another woman said he was her 6-year-old’s dad. She filed an official paternity claim yesterday, the same day a third woman came forward with her 16-month-old. More»

Leaders traditionally release limited number of pictures

(NEWSER) - When the five current, former, and future occupants of the Oval Office mugged together at the White House last week, one could almost hear the cash registers cha-chinging, reports Politico. All five will sign a limited 250 copies of the photo—with each keeping 50—instantly jacking the value to an estimated $6000 per photo. Works out to a cool $300000 for any chief exec looking for a little pocket money. More»