WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Capital Comment -- Daily news notes, political rumors, and important events that shape politics and public policy in Washington and the world from United Press International.
School's in - the kitchen -- California Republican gubernatorial nominee Bill Simon is taking incumbent Gov. Gray Davis to task for failing to provide what he called "sensible educational options for California parents and children."
"Make no mistake - there are many good public schools in California," Simon said. "But a complete picture of education in California includes charter schools, private schools and home schooling. California needs to accommodate all these different options because no two children are the same." The candidate said a recent memo sent to public schools administrators by the California Department of Education declaring home schooling an unauthorized substitute for attendance at public school is a prime example of state education bureaucrats run amuck.
"The fact of the matter is, home schooling is turning out well-educated kids," Simon said. "Often times, parents are choosing to teach their children themselves only because the believe the circumstances of their own child demand special attention ... These individuals should be celebrated and applauded, not threatened with litigation and even criminal penalties."
"When I'm governor," Simon said, "I will improve our public schools. That is my promise. But at the same time, parents who believe the best choice for their child is home schooling will be allowed that choice," Simon said.
Beam up those ballots -- Election officials in Trumbull County, Ohio say former Rep. James Traficant, D-Ohio, remains on the November ballot even though he has been expelled from the House and is serving an eight-year sentence in federal prison for bribery and other crimes. The Trumbull County is the largest of the counties in the newly redrawn 17th Congressional District, giving it jurisdiction to render a decision in the matter. Traficant filed for re-election to the seat as an independent after his conviction.
Up in the air, junior birdmen -- U.S. Air Force Captain Ryan Berry has filed suit against the United States Air Force after nearly four years of what have been termed "fruitless efforts to persuade senior officers to end reprisals against him." Berry, a 1996 honors graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, was cross-commissioned in the USAF and assigned to duty at the 740th Missile Squadron at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. When told of the potential for being assigned to missile alerts -- during which two officers spend 24 to 48 hours together in a small underground bunker with female officers, Berry sought the counsel of the base Chaplin as to whether this posed a religious conflict. Berry, a Catholic, is married and believes he is required to avoid situations in which he might "develop inappropriate intimacy -- even platonic -- with a woman who is not his wife." Three successive squadron commanders approved Berry's request for an accommodation but in December 1998 the Operations Group Commander sent a letter warning that "there will not be any future accommodation of this religious practice." Soon afterward, Berry was suspended from missile alert duties, and later permanently decertified.
Although Berry had never refused to perform alert duties with a female officer, the commander of the 91st Space Wing rejected Berry's exemplary performance review and denounced his request for religious accommodation as "unwillingness to perform prescribed ICBM alert duties," and termed him "unprofessional." Berry's efforts to have this and other materially false statements removed from his record were rejected by various review boards. Christine Lockhart, an attorney for the public interest legal group The Becket Fund who is handling the case said the suit, "Is not about whether Ryan Berry is entitled to an accommodation. It is about whether he should be punished just for asking."
Off the management track -- The post-impeachment careers of the GOP House managers who argued the case against Bill Clinton before the Senate seem increasingly to be leading them out of House. Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., is the latest of the managers to see his congressional career come to an end. Barr was defeated for renomination in a party primary against fellow Republican Rep. John Linder. Among the 12 other managers, Rep. Ed Bryant, R-Tenn., was defeated in a bid for his party's nomination for U.S. Senate by former Gov. Lamar Alexander; Rep. Jim Rogan. R-Calif., was defeated for re-election in 2000 and now heads the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., was taped by President George W. Bush to lead the Drug Enforcement Agency; Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is now running for U.S. Senate; Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla., was defeated in his bid for U.S. Senate in 2000; and Rep. Charles Canady, R-Fla., left the House of his own volition thanks to a self-imposed term limit.
Personnel notes -- The White House has announced that the president intends to nominate Grover Joseph Rees to be ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of East Timor. Rees has served as the counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations since February 2001 and, from 1986 to 1991, was an associate justice and then chief justice of the High Court of American Samoa ... President George W. Bush has announced his intention to nominate Scott Muller to be general counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency. Muller is presently a managing partner at the law firm of Davis, Polk and Wardwell ... Philip Hogen has been chosen by the president to be the new chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission. Hogen is currently the associate solicitor for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior and was a member of the National Indian Gaming Commission from 1995 to 1999.
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