From The Washington Post:
Lyndon B. Johnson once said of his wife that, given the choice, people would probably rather vote for her than for him. She was an extraordinary first lady, public-spirited, principled and steadfast when it came to those causes advanced by her husband that she thought most important – first and foremost the civil rights legislation that stands as one of the greatest achievements of any American president.
Mrs. Johnson had been away from Washington for nearly 40 years by the time she died Wednesday at the age of 94. There are by now many who know her only vaguely as a figure from history, as the smiling wife in the president’s shadow, with that funny name (a childhood endearment bestowed on Claudia Alta Taylor by a nursemaid). Her most visible legacy is the millions of flowers she caused to be planted all over Washington, D.C., in tourist spots and bleak neighborhoods, by roads and public buildings. This was her “beautification” program, a cause that she continued to pursue in places all over the country long after she left the White House.
COMING UP
MONDAY: Fresh faces abound when the Denver City Council gathers at 5:30 p.m. with three new members: Paul Lopez, Carla Madison and Chris Nevitt.
TUESDAY: Party with Hizzoner. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s “Inaugural Celebration Concert” runs from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Botanic Gardens, 1005 York St. It’s free. Entertainment by Hazel Miller Band, Opie Gone Bad and the Denver Municipal Band.
WEDNESDAY: Former Colorado Gov. Dick Lamm, co-director for the Institute for Public Policy Studies, will discuss and sign “Condition Critical: A New Moral Vision for Health Care” at 7:30 p.m. at the LoDo Tattered Cover.
BY THE NUMBERS
37
Percentage of U.S. births in 2005 that were out of wedlock. In 1960, the rate was 5.3 percent. Today, 47 percent of adults in their 30s and 40s have lived in a cohabiting relationship.
71
Percentage of people surveyed in a Pew Research study who believe that having children out of wedlock is a “big problem” for the U.S.; 44 percent believe it is “always or almost always wrong” for unmarried women to have children.
Source: TIME magazine
OVERHEARD
It’s our president’s birthday. He’s 61 today. Also, Sylvester Stallone is 61 today. But Stallone and Bush don’t have much in common. One’s a bad actor who mumbles and blows stuff up, and the other is Sylvester Stallone.
– Craig Ferguson, CBS’s “Late, Late Show”
John Edwards is on the campaign trail. He is now doing something called his “poverty tour” where he is visiting people who have no money and no hope. In fact, his first stop today: John McCain’s headquarters.
– Jay Leno, NBC’s “Tonight Show”
In the States, it’s like we’re in the last half of the third reel of a three-reel movie, and all we have to do is decide we’re done here, and the credits come up, and the lights come on, and we leave the theater and go on to something else. Whereas out here, you’re just getting into the first reel of five reels, and as ugly as the first reel has been, the other four and a half are going to be way, way worse.
– Ryan C. Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq
