The first people in line for tickets to see President Barack Obama during a town hall meeting on the economy at Racine’s Memoiral Hall waited a full 12 hours before the doors opened Tuesday morning.

Norris Johnson said he couldn’t give up the chance to see the president. “As an African American raised in the South, it’s a historic event for me,” said Johnson. “I just want to hear exactly what he’s got to say. This is his time speak, and whatever his views are, I just want to stand behind him.” Don Castleberry drove up from Beach Park, Illinois for tickets to the presidential event on Wednesday. For Castleberry, the economy is the number one issue. “The main concern for me is jobs . . . and the unemployment rate,” he said. “I think that’s the biggest concern for the country, other than the BP problem.” [Read more...]

The Senate Judiciary Committee continues to question Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. Is her confirmation hearing an exercise in “vacuity and farce”? Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl cited an often referenced article Kagan wrote more than a decade ago. “You said back then, when the Senate ceases to engage nominees in meaningful discussions of legal issues, the confirmation takes on an air of vacuity and farce.” Kagan conceded she may have “gotten a bit of the balance off” in that article. [Read more...]