Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Driving Force
President Obama spoke of the importance of a strong automobile industry during Tuesday’s address to Congress, saying: “I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it.”
But the Library of Congress says the nation that invented the automobile is actually Germany. Karl Benz built the first true car that used a gasoline-powered internal combustion engine in 1885. France built the first steam-powered self-propelled road vehicle in 1769. The first major U.S. contribution was Henry Ford’s development of the auto assembly line and the affordable Model T in 1908.
Party Tricks
Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning says he might sue the National Republican Senatorial Committee if it recruits a primary challenger against him.
Bunning said Tuesday in the Associated Press: “In the bylaws of the NRSC, support of incumbents is the only reason for their existence. If they recruited someone and supported them in a primary against me I would be able to sue them because they’re not following their bylaws.”
Bunning added that he does not believe anything said by Committee Chairman John Cornyn of Texas. He says the two have miscommunicated from the first week of the current session and that Cornyn “doesn’t understand English.”
Unwelcome Mat
Earlier this month we told you about Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch opposition political party, who was banned from entering Britain because British authorities were concerned about the anti-Islam film Wilders has produced. The documentary juxtaposes verses of the Koran with images of violence by Muslims. The Daily Mail reports that Wilders will be in Washington D.C. Thursday to show the film.
Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl will host the screening for members of Congress and their staff. The event is sponsored by the International Free Press Society. Kyl says he agreed to do it because, “All too often, people who have the courage to point out the dangers of militant Islamists find themselves vilified and endangered.”
Moving Notice
As we mentioned a few moments ago, violence along the Texas border with Mexico has increased dramatically in recent months. It’s so bad in fact that the mayor of the Mexican city of Juarez has moved his family to the U.S. city of El Paso for safety.
A local TV station reports anonymous signs appeared in Juarez threatening to behead Mayor José Reyes Ferriz and his family members, even if they live in El Paso.
A U.S. Border Patrol spokesman tells FOX News the mayor, who owns a home in El Paso, has legal documentation to be in the U.S. The previous Juarez mayor had similar papers that allowed him to cross the border freely.
Several government officials and business owners in the Mexican city have moved their families to the U.S. side of the border to protect them from escalating violence related to the drug trade.
— FOX News Channel’s Zachary Kenworthy contributed to this report.
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