SACRAMENTO, Calif. – What a California lawmaker intended as a benign resolution honoring a late, world-renowned movie icon exploded into an emotional debate over decades-old racist comments.
The state Assembly defeated the official ode to John Wayne Thursday after several legislators described statements he made about racial minorities and his support for the anti-communist House Un-American Activities Committee and John Birch Society.
Republican State Assemblyman Matthew Harper of Huntington Beach sought to declare May 26, 2016, as John Wayne Day to mark the day the actor was born.
“He had disturbing views towards race,” objected Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, leading off a 20-minute debate.
Alejo cited a 1971 interview with Playboy in which Wayne talked disparagingly about blacks.
WASHINGTON – A senior Pentagon official criticized the House Republican-led investigation into the deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya, saying the panel has made a “crescendo” of costly, duplicative and unnecessary requests, including some based on claims made on Facebook or talk radio.
Stephen C. Hedger, an assistant secretary of defense, expressed frustration with the Benghazi panel’s potentially futile calls for witnesses and information, including some that were later withdrawn. Hedger also challenged a line of questioning of current and former military officials that focused on hypotheticals suggested by committee members or staff.
“This type of questioning poses the risk that your final report may be based on speculation rather than a fact-based analysis of what a military officer did do or could have done given his or her knowledge at the time of the attacks,” Hedger wrote Thursday in a letter to Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., chairman of the House Benghazi panel.
WASHINGTON – The State Department says China has recently denied a request from a U.S. aircraft carrier for a port visit in Hong Kong.
That appears to be a sign of mounting tension in the disputed South China Sea.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter and his Philippine counterpart visited the carrier, USS John C. Stennis, in those waters two weeks ago, a move that irked Beijing.
Gabrielle Price, spokeswoman for East Asia, says Friday the U.S. has a long record of successful port visits to Hong Kong, including a current visit by the USS Blue Ridge.
The Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama announced new steps Friday to help curb gun violence, including by identifying the requirements that “smart guns” would have to meet for law enforcement agencies to buy and use them as well as sharing mental health records with the federal background check system.
Smart guns use various technologies to prevent an accidental shooting or help track down a missing gun.
“These common-sense steps are not going to prevent every tragedy, but what if they prevented even one?” Obama wrote in a Facebook post. “We should be doing everything we can to save lives and spare families the pain and unimaginable loss too many Americans have endured.”
Associated Press
