MILWAUKEE, Feb. 25--After an undercover video released Tuesday showed staff at their Milwaukee abortion clinic agreeing to cover up the sexual abuse of a purportedly 14-year-old girl by her 31-year-old "boyfriend," Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin says they "were unable to make any report" of the suspected abuse because the girl would not give the clinic any identifying information. Live Action, the group responsible for the video, has released extended footage proving Planned Parenthood's claim false.

Remember the optimism with which Americans greeted the new millennium?  Everything seemed to be going our way: the U.S. economy was nearly a third of global output, household net worth was rising fast and the federal budget was in surplus. Today, that era of hope seems far away.  America's share of global output has shrunk steadily for ten straight years, job creation has averaged less than 1% annually, and the federal budget deficit has reached $1.5 trillion (over 10% of GDP).  The political system seems paralyzed and pessimism is the order of the day.

During a Senate defense budget hearing today, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, asked Army Secretary John McHugh and Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey for their opinions on possible legislation imposing a "moratorium" on enforcement of the 1993 Law regarding homosexuals in the military (usually mislabeled "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"). 

Both witnesses demurred and expressed concerns that such an action would cause serious problems at the Pentagon.  These statements, though welcome, understated the legal, administrative, and operational chaos that would result from premature, effective repeal of a law that enjoys widespread support among military personnel. 

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has spent more than a decade advocating the rights of millions of religious minorities from Sudan to Iran and Switzerland. But you'd never know it from a recent Washington Post article on the Commission's work.

The article, prompted by an employment discrimination suit by a former staffer of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and complaints by a handful of other scorned employees, casts an image of the Commission as:

"rife, behind the scenes, with ideology and tribalism, with commissioners focusing on pet projects that are often based on their own religious background."