Rush Limbaugh says talk of a sequester has made him ashamed of his country: The conservative talk-show host lambasted President Obama and other Democrats on Thursday, accusing them of playing politics and creating political tension and public anxiety over a sequester. "Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in my life, I am ashamed of my country," he said, according to a transcript published on his site. "To be watching all of this, to be treated like this, to have our common sense and intelligence insulted the way it's being insulted? It just makes me ashamed … "
Airline passenger accused of using the n-word and slapping a toddler has turned himself in to the FBI: Joe Rickey Hundley, 60, of Hayden, Idaho, appeared in federal court on Tuesday and was released, the Daily News reports. He was charged with assaulting a minor after the mother, Jessica Bennett, accused him of hurling a racial slur and slapping her toddler son, Jonah. The slap left a scratch beneath the child's eye. On Sunday, Hundley was also fired from his job.
Bloomberg Poll shows President Obama's approval rating at three-year high: Even as the president gears up for a showdown with congressional Republicans over looming sequestration cuts, the Huffington Post reports that a new poll shows that 55 percent of Americans approve of his job performance. The news is not as good for Republicans. Only 35 percent of participants said they have a favorable view of the GOP, the lowest ratings for the party since the poll began three years ago.
David Baldwin Barnes, the former Democratic press secretary for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has died: On Feb. 18 in Accra, Ghana, Barnes was in an accident while riding his motorcycle home after business meetings and spending time with friends, according to the site Living, Loving & Laboring Out Loud. He was immediately rushed to the hospital but did not survive his injuries. He was working as a budding social entrepreneur.