Following President Barack Obama's public announcement backing gay marriage last week, Newsweek magazine has featured him on its front cover with the headline, "The First Gay President."

With Obama's face pictured looking skyward and a rainbow-colored halo above his head, the controversial cover leads to a story written by gay writer Andrew Sullivan -- a self-described political conservative -- who analyzes the president's backing of gay marriage.

Obama said Wednesday he supported gay marriage, reversing his position on a controversial social issue just six months before the November election and adopting a stance fraught with uncertain political implications.

The president said that after years of lengthy discussions with friends and family, including his wife and two young daughters, he now "personally" believes gays and lesbians should have the right to marry. Read more:

Mitt Romney has just clinched the Republican nomination, and according to GOP strategist Karl Rove, he has a lot of catching up to do. In fact, according to Rove, if the election were held today, Obama could destroy Romney by as many as 100 electoral votes:

Rove’s map shows that for Romney, even in the event that he wins all of the as-yet undecided 82 electoral votes, he would still have to flip a state that leans toward Obama in order to win – the most likely prospects being Pennsylvania, Ohio or Michigan.

Fortunately for Romney, he has at least one home court advantages in all of those states – all of them have Republican Governors. Unfortunately for Romney, Obama also has a home court advantages in those states. Read more;

The American public has significant disdain for political advertising, especially those citizens living in battleground states where television and radio airwaves are flooded with campaign ads in the months leading to Election Day.  This election season, in addition to advertising sponsored by candidates, political parties, and issue groups, the American public is likely to witness a new form of political ads: corporate political advertising.  While corporations view their right to sponsor political ads as a victory for the First Amendment, political observers caution that such ads could drown out citizen voices in our political process.

In a controversial 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year removed a century-old ban against direct corporate spending on political campaigns.  The Courtoverturned the long-standing ban through its ruling in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission(FEC).  Citizens United v. FEC stems from the 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign in which Citizens United wanted to air Hillary: The Movie, a 90-minute, feature-length documentary film critical of then-Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY).  The FEC disallowed Citizens United from airing the film on the grounds that it violated existing campaign finance laws by expressly advocating for Clinton’s defeat. 

Under prior campaign finance laws established in Buckley v. Valeo (1976), the Supreme Court distinguished between “express advocacy” and “issue advocacy.” Read more;

The Far Right and the Far Left radicals need to realize it's those in the middle, the "independents" and moderates, who have the most say in the General Election, because they have the majority of the votes. But the General Election candidates must have their respective left and right wing bases intact because the moderates are almost split down the middle. 

Obama is in good shape because he does have almost all of the Far Left in his camp, but the GOP folks seem to be having a litlte trouble with their Right wing radicals, especially with those that represent the remnants of the Tea Party faction.

Whoever the winning GOP candidate turns out to be (it will be Romney), needs to have the conservative base solidly behind them, and that base contains a very large Christian Evangelical contingency that will have a hard time voting for a Mormon. I know these God fearing Evangelical Christians, I was married to one of them and lived among them for two years in Michigan. They are very strong in their Christian beliefs and will stay home on election day rather than have to chose between a Mormon or Barack Obama.

The GOP leaders know this, and that is why they are so concerned about a Romney nomination. A brokered convention will give the GOP the opportunity to put up a candidate palitable to a broader range of the party that will assure they do not chose to sit out the election.

If I were ever to campaign for public office, I would be damned if I would try to disguise myself as a local "home boy" in every venue that I visited, in an effort to "Blend in". This Romney character is really beginning to make me sick, and I thought Santorum's comment about a JFK speech making him want to vomit, was enough to make me want to vomit. (Btw, I don't ever recall in the nearly half century since the Kennedy assassination, ever hearing anyone in the public venue make such a derogatory comment about Jack Kennedy)

Today, I heard in the CNN background sound I usually have on, Mitt Romney saying, "Hallo ya'll!, This mornin' I had some biscuits and "Cheezy grits ... delicious! 

What a crock! If Mitt Romney ever ate any Grits, cheesy or otherwise, I assure you he would not find them "delicious". If your not a third cousin to Mammy Yokum, or own the entire collection of ZZ Top albums ... you will not find Grits, Corn Grits, Hominy Grits or Bacon Grease Grits ....."delicious". Edible? Yes. Tasty? Mmmm,... depends, .....but "delicious", to a guy that buys his suits in the likes of Loius Vuitton Shops? ...... I don't think so. 

The pundits are right, the longer this GOP circus goes on, the better the chance for Obama to defeat the survivor. Not the "winner", ..... the survivor. I'm beginning to believe that the GOP is actually minipulating the primary race to keep Romney from gaining enough delegates to cinch the nomination before the Convention. They really and truly do not want to have to chose between a Mormon and a Barack Obama. Santorum is a little too far to the Right and they know that, and Gingrich is just a little too much, well, ...... Newt. 

Sarah Paliin has seemed to catch on to what is going on, as she's been on the tease again, but anything can happen at a brokered convention, so we won't know who's going up against Obama until the smoke clears.

Anyway ... it don't make no never mind ... 'bamas gonna win the big'un no matter whichever happens.

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann appeared on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” this morning, where she confirmed that Evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats, president of The Family Leader, called her over the weekend to discuss the future of her candidacy.

Based on Bachmann’s words, it appears that the reported discussion about her potentially dropping out of the race was accurate. In addition to allegedly asking the congresswoman to drop her presidential bid, Vander Plaats also purportedly asked her to get behind either Rick Perry or Rick Santorum.

But Mediaite’s Nando Di Fino reports that Bachmann has no intention of bowing to this call, as she claims she has consistently polled better than either of the candidates she was apparently asked to support. Read more;

Will Rick Perry’s blend of Christian-right, small-government, and pro-corporate fervor land him in the White House?

In April, Rick Perry traveled to North Texas for a taping of televangelist James Robison’s TV show, Life Today.

For six months, starting as soon as he was re-elected Texas governor in November 2010, Perry had been crisscrossing the country to promote his second book, Fed Up!, while testing the presidential waters with potential donors and conservative activists. 

His visit with Robison, a hellfire-breathing pastor known as “God’s hit man” (for “giving ’em so much hell nobody will ever want to go there”), had the potential to pay serious dividends. 

Robison had led the Christian-right campaign that helped lift Ronald Reagan to the White House in 1980, and he was re-emerging as the chief instigator of a national effort to mobilize evangelicals to defeat Barack Obama in 2012. Read more;

In the run up to elections at all levels, candidates or their proxies often say that God called them to run.  But if experience is any guide, pols should be wary if they get the call from on high.  They might consider the line from the Biblical book of Matthew, "Many are called, but few are chosen."

This year, we have no less than four God-called GOP candidates for president,  former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX), (Mrs. Perry agrees) and now Herman Cain. So far.

This week Jon Stewart said if presidential candidate Mitt Romney was a color, he’d be “beige.” 

But that may change — and not likely to the color green.

According to CBS News, the former Massachusetts governor’s recent reputation for changing positions continues with a move farther to the right on the issue of climate change and human impact.   

As recently as June, Romney acknowledged a human impact on climate change, and even advocated for reducing emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases. But by August, candidate Romney was saying that he didn’t know whether or how much humans were contributing to global warming. And at fundraiser in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Thursday, Romney reportedly put forth a still different view. Read more;

In his weekly column for the Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove has written about how Obama is jeopardizing his chances for re-election by appearing too liberal or too populist...

American Crossroads, the big money GOP group founded by Karl Rove, is warning Republicans that President Obama's new campaign to raise taxes on millionaires is a political winner.

More Seeds :: JCAtom

Congress would never agree to Republican presidential front runner Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan. Cain’s bold tax plan would put Congress out of its tax-wheeling-and-dealing business, as pork-barrel-tax politics are their stock-in-trade.

 

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Rick Perry loves to talk about all the jobs he's created in Texas... but that's only part of the story... and a bit misleading at that.

The other part of the Perry story is that nearly 1 in 5 Texans in the state where he is the governor are living below the poverty line; and that the poverty rate is growing faster in Texas than the national average.

CNN Money reports that Texas ranks 6th in terms of people living in poverty.

Both demographic and economic factors play into this high poverty rate - more than half the state are minorities and many Texans have little education. Especially in southern Texas, many families live in shanty housing with no electricity or indoor plumbing. In 2011.

Also, the poor in Texas don't get much help. The state has one of the lowest rates of spending on its citizens per capita; and it has the highest share of those without health insurance. Read more:

The proposal would replace the range of tax deductions for wealthy people, oil companies and other businesses that the president had proposed to end to offset the cost of the job-creation initiatives in his plan.

Democratic leaders said they hoped to bring the revised plan to the Senate floor next week for debate. But assuming they keep all of their votes, they would need at least seven Republicans to vote in favor of any effort just to start debate on the legislation.

 

More Seeds :: JCAtom

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Just what President Obama needs, another fire threatening to burn out of control.

The Democrats' loss in New York's special congressional election this week could signal serious trouble for Obama and the Jewish vote in 2012.

District 9, made up of parts of Brooklyn and Queens, is one of the most Jewish in the nation. And many believe that if the Democrats lost there, Obama could be in jeopardy in key states like Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. It's nearly impossible to win a presidential election without those states.

The problem is, a lot of American Jews feel neglected by this president and think he has been too tough on Israel.

In the New York race, former Mayor Ed Koch – a Jewish Democrat – endorsed the Republican. Koch cited Israel as the main reason why. He says he likes the president and helped get him elected, "but Obama threw Israel under the bus."

And it's not just Obama's policy toward Israel. A recent poll shows that other issues that trouble many voters – like the economy, Social Security and Medicare – are more important than Israel among Jewish voters.

Republicans smell blood in the water here and will no doubt make Israel a wedge issue in 2012.

In 1980, Jimmy Carter was the last Democratic candidate to not get an overwhelming majority of the Jewish vote. All Obama needs is another comparison to Carter.

Obama's approval rating is about 60% among Jews nationally. In 2008, exit polls showed nearly 80% of Jews voted for him.

This makes Jews just one more group to start deserting Obama. He's also lost support among other key voting blocs like blacks, women and independents.

Here’s my question to you: How can President Obama save the Jewish vote?

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

The Republican presidential debates are turning into lively affairs. Maybe too lively.

For the third time in as many debates, crowd members have either booed or cheered at what some say are inappropriate moments.

Most recently, former Sen. Rick Santorum was asked about the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."

When an openly gay service member asked what the candidates' intentions were for gays in the military, members of the crowd booed loudly.

After the fact, Santorum said he condemned those who booed the gay soldier. He said he didn't hear the boos in the debate hall.

In another debate, Rick Perry was asked about the death penalty and the more than 200 executions that have happened under his watch as Texas governor. The crowd cheered that question.

Another GOP debate crowd got worked up when Ron Paul was asked a hypothetical question about a 30-year-old uninsured man. The crowd cheered when Paul was asked if that man should be allowed to die.

President Barack Obama has criticized the reaction of some of these audience members at the GOP debates; and Vice President Joe Biden calls the booing of the gay soldier “reprehensible.”

Politico asks in an online conversation if the GOP debate crowds are bloodthirsty.

Critics say these debates promote extremism within the Republican Party, and show “the mean season is upon us.”

They fault the candidates themselves for not stamping out the behavior when it happens. They should. Also, some suggest the booing or cheering could turn off moderate and swing voters in the general election. It should.

Here’s my question to you: Are Republican debate crowds bloodthirsty? 

See Caffertys' Blog;

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has shut the door on a 2012 presidential run, saying "now is not my time."

Christie says he won't abandon the commitment he made to his state as governor – you know, unlike a certain half-term dropout governor of Alaska.

Christie put it this way: "New Jersey, whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me."

This also means that whether Republican voters like it or not, they are stuck with the current crop of Republican candidates.

Unless, that is, Sarah Palin decides she'll get in. But it's getting a little late for that. Plus, more than two-thirds of Republicans say they don't want Palin to run for president.

So with Christie out, it looks like Republicans will nominate either Mitt Romney or Rick Perry, who's sinking fast in the polls.

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Romney leading the pack at 25%.

Perry is now tied for second place with businessman Herman Cain at 16%.

For Perry, that's a whopping 13 percentage-point drop in this poll.

The Texas governor's stock has been falling after a shaky debate performance and questions about where he stands on Social Security and immigration.

Cain, on the other hand, has been surging in national polls after his surprise win in the Florida straw poll – and a flurry of media attention.

Ron Paul is the only other candidate receiving double-digit support in this survey, at 11%.

With primary season sneaking up on us, it's time for Republicans to pick their poison. Go to Caffertys' Blog

Since Republicans won control of many statehouses last November, more than a dozen states have passed laws requiring voters to show photo identification at polls, cutting back early voting periods or imposing new restrictions on voter registration drives.

With a presidential campaign swinging into high gear, the question being asked is how much of an impact all of these new laws will have on the 2012 race.

State officials, political parties and voting experts have all said that the impact could be sizable. Now, a new study to be released Monday by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law has tried to tally just how many voters stand to be affected.

The center, which has studied the new laws and opposed some of them in court and other venues, analyzed 19 laws that passed and 2 executive orders that were issued in 14 states this year, and concluded that they “could make it significantly harder for more than five million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012.” Read more;

Businessman Herman Cain on Sunday called it "insulting" that the family of Rick Perry owned a hunting camp with a racially charged name well into the 1980s and possibly even later.

According to a Washington Post article that appeared Sunday, the hunting camp owned by the Texas governor was branded with the name "N-----head." The word -- reportedly on a rock at the entrance of the 1,070-acre parcel -- has been painted over and the camp renamed.

Perry has said it was changed in 1983 or 1984, but others suggest it may not have been covered until later -- with one person estimating for the Post that it was as late as 2008. Read more: 

Throughout modern economic history, whether in Western Europe in the 1920s, in the US and elsewhere in the 1930s, or in Japan in the 1990s, every major financial crisis-driven downturn has been followed by premature abandonment—if not reversal—of the macroeconomic stimulus policies that are necessary to sustained recovery.

 

More Seeds :: JCAtom

The one African-American running for the GOP presidential nomination said Wednesday the black community was 'brainwashed' for traditionally siding with liberal politicians.

"African-Americans have been brainwashed into not being open minded, not even considering a conservative point of view," Godfather's Pizza executive Herman Cain said on CNN's "The Situation Room" in an interview airing Wednesday between 5-7 p.m. ET. "I have received some of that same vitriol simply because I am running for the Republican nomination as a conservative. So it's just brainwashing and people not being open minded, pure and simple."

(Oh Really? I'll bet that's going to over big with the Black voters.)

1. Compromise is core to politics...

2. American exceptionalism isn't a natural state of being or an inheritance -- it is something to which we aspire, and we're presently falling short.

3. Americans should care what foreigners think of us.

4. Americans cannot remake the world in our image through force.

 

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"[Perry]: I don't think our founding fathers when they were putting the term 'general welfare' in there were thinking about a federally operated program of pensions nor a federally operated program of health care...

"Q: So in your view those things fall outside of general welfare. But what falls inside of it? What did the Founders mean by 'general welfare'?

"[Perry]: I don't know if I'm going to sit here and parse down to what the Founding Fathers thought general welfare meant.

"Q: But you just said what you thought they didn't mean by general welfare. So isn't it fair to ask what they did mean? It's in the Constitution.

"[Perry]: [Silence.]

"Q: OK. Moving on..."

 

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More shocking than Cain's victory (and Perry's defeat) in the Florida Straw Poll, was the utter collapse of Rep. Michele Bachmann. 

Somehow, in a state chock full of tea party groups, Bachmann finished dead last, with 1.5 percent of the vote. Once a frontrunner in early GOP presidential polls, Bachmann has sunk so far, so fast that even moderate Jon Huntsman, the former governor of Utah, and former House speaker Newt Gingrich, whose campaign imploded months ago, placed higher than her. It's all unraveling for Michele. 

Bachmann advisor and veteran GOP strategist Ed Rollins, said Bachmann's chances of claiming the nomination are slim. Rollins said Bachmann lacks the "resources or ability at this point in time" to challenge for the nomination after Iowa. Her last-place finish in Florida raises questions about whether even winning Iowa is realistic for Bachmann, especially given Rick Perry's support among the social conservatives who dominate the GOP in the Hawkeye State.

The U.S. House of Representatives unexpectedly defeated a bill that would fund the federal government past September 30 on Wednesday as dozens of Republicans broke with their party to push for deeper spending cuts. 

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As of September 2010, the Affordable Care Act allowed young adults up to the age of 26 to remain on their parents' health insurance plans. Previously, adult children could stay on their parents' plans only if they remained in college or lived in a state with laws similar to the Affordable Care Act. HHS estimated that 650,000 people would sign up for the new coverage.

However, through the end of March, the number of young adults ages 19 to 25 with health insurance rose by about 900,000.

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The Republican Party is in a fight to the death with the tea party, and only one of them will be left standing at the end of it, TV host Glenn Beck tells Newsmax.TV in an exclusive interview.

“Either the tea party will eat the Republicans or vice versa,” he said. “The Republicans make me nervous, quite honestly.”

[Me too. (?!) Did I just agree with Glenn Beck??!!]

“The Republicans have one last chance to redeem themselves and if they go with a big government kind of guy and the tea party doesn’t understand that service… and conservative small government values go hand-in-hand, we may lose the soul of our country.”

Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama's Re-Election? Vote Here Now!

A decade after 9/11, American politics continues to be polarised by some rather unexpected figures. The latest Republican fire-thrower is a Christian conservative from Bandra, finds Shougat Dasgupta -->

IT IS easy to make a convincing case that Dinesh D’Souza, the prominent conservative commentator and Christian apologist, is a loon. Many already have. His recent book, The Roots of Obama’s Rage, is brandished by the prosecution as more, perhaps even clinching, evidence. The book’s case was made in miniature in an article in Forbes, remarkable for its half-baked thesis that Obama is a ’50s-60s style anti-imperialist. Like any student clutching his dog-eared Fanon or Said reader, Obama, D’Souza contends, believes his country to be the oppressor and is acting to subvert its power.

Except, and this is the nub, Obama is not motivated simply by ideology but by the spirit of his Kenyan father who, in absentia, infected his son with a Third World Weltanschauung unbalanced by hatred and rage for the white and wealthy. D’Souza’s evidence? Read More;

Remember how Glenn Beck promised that at last summer’s rally in Washington, D.C., he would reveal “God’s plan….well, not really a plan”? 

Well, this is what Perry said to that audience, “He who knows the number of drops in the ocean, He counts the sands in the desert, He knows you by name?? He doesn’t require perfect people to execute His perfect plan. As spiritual beings, we are meant to live in relationship with our creator and with one another. And the happiest moments of every experience are when I am in communion with God and in community with others.” 

Using Moses and King David as examples, Perry said, “God uses broken people to reach a broken world. The mistakes of yesterday say nothing about the possibilities of tomorrow.”

“His perfect plan”? So, just like Glenn Beck, Rick Perry believes that he knows God’s plan and was chosen to implement it? Do we know which denominations of the Protestant faith fail to teach that pride is one of the seven deadly sins?

Perry’s speech was a combination of “aw shucks” memories of a Lincolnesque Texas prairie childhood, acknowledgment that he was an inadequate student and a testimony of his rebirth in Jesus. And he did describe his “born again” period as “wrestling with God.” Read more;

Economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Moody’s Analytics Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. said last week that the U.S. economy would get a boost of up to 2 percent under Obama’s plan.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said the proposal would create 1.9 million jobs and lower the unemployment rate by one percentage point compared with current policy. He forecast it would add 2 percent to next year’s GDP . 

More Seeds :: JCAtom

The Repbulican primary lineup took on a more clear batting order after Wednesdays Reagan Center debates. Michele Bachmann failed to shine as she did in the first debate, and appears to have lost some of her luster as a GOP front-runner. Ron Paul was more of the same old Ron Paul rhetoric, and it's doubtful he gained any significant number of followers (he never does), but it's just as doubtful he lost any significent number of followers (he never does). I have no idea why Rick Santorum is still hanging around, however Gingrich, Cain and Huntsman at this point, are pretty much campaigning for the VP spot. (I doubt that Bachmann would be considered for the number two spot -too much dejavu Sarah Palin) 

While Romney used his experience gained from being in numerous presidential debates in the past to counter each of Perrys' jabs, Perry did little to allay concerns that his controversial record in Texas and his hard-line conservative positions will present problems in a general election.

If the economy does not improve, Romneys' experience as a governor and private businessman could offer voters what could seem like a more comfortable choice in '012 and Obama could be in some trouble. However if Perry gets the nod, I'm not so sure Americans are going to be willing to take a chance on another flamboyant, opinionated Texas governor, and Obama could survive regardless of the economy in '012.

So, right now, Liberals have to be careful in their criticism of Perry, because if they go after him too strongly, they could make Republicans aware that Perry is "too hot to handle" and nominate Romney, who is clearly the more dangerous candidate for Obama.

It was a "Godfather of Conservatism"(there are many) who said :

• "I am a conservative Republican, but I believe in democracy and the separation of church and state.  The conservative movement is founded on the simple tenet that people have the right to live life as they please as long as they don't hurt anyone else in the process." 
  (in a 1994 Washington Post essay)
• "The religious factions will go on imposing their will on others,"
• "I don't have any respect for the Religious Right." 
• "Every good Christian should line up and kick Jerry Falwell's ass."
• "A woman has a right to an abortion."

More:

The Texas Tribune has a story on how important federal stimulus money has been to Rick Perry as he balanced the last two budgets. 

The Lone Star State has spent $17.4 billion in federal stimulus money through the second quarter of this year. Ross Ramsey's story notes that "the governor famously refused $556 million in federal stimulus funds for the state's unemployment insurance program...but Texas happily accepted the rest...

In the second quarter of this year alone, federal stimulus money in the state budget helped create or retain 40,411 Texas jobs, according to the Legislative Budget Board, which keeps a quarterly accounting of the money and how it's spent.... As it turned out, instead of getting Texas through a short rough patch, the stimulus money merely bought the state some time, which ran out when lawmakers turned to the 2012-2013 budget earlier this year." Read more;

"You don't accuse the chairman of the Federal Reserve of being a traitor to his country. Of being guilty of treason,"....

...... Karl Rove, who has clashed with Perry before, told Fox News (via TPM). "And, suggesting that we treat him pretty ugly in Texas — You know, that is not, again a presidential statement."

Rove continued: "If Rick Perry were to be elected president he'd be saddled with Ben Bernanke who has a term. He's an independent chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, appointed by president and confirmed by Congress and serves for a term and the president couldn't even ask him to resign. So, this is — I hope this is not the first of sort of over the top statements." Read more;

President Barack Obama placed the blame for Washington's current political paralysis squarely at the feet of his Republican opponents Tuesday, telling CNN that the GOP's "ideological rigidity" is standing in the way of compromises necessary for stronger economic growth.

In a wide-ranging interview with Wolf Blitzer, the president said the inability of GOP leaders in Congress to support a recent $4 trillion deficit reduction deal focused more heavily on spending cuts than revenue increases is evidence of a party placing political considerations before national interests.

Americans want to see "Democrats and Republicans putting country before party," he said. "The fact that Speaker (John) Boehner and folks in his caucus couldn't say yes to that (deficit deal) tells me that they're more interested in the politics ... than they are in solving the problem." Read more;

DECORAH, Iowa — US President Barack Obama went head-to-head with a prominent conservative Tea Party activist, in a microcosm of a political clash that will play out in the 2012 election.

Ryan Rhodes, a leader of the group in Iowa, took on Obama during an open-air town hall meeting, which marked a moment of new intensity in the president's campaign for a second term.

  Nice people those Tea Partiers -------->

Rhodes shouted out that Obamas' call for more civility in politics had little chance of coming to pass after "your vice president is calling people like me, a Tea Party member, a 'terrorist.'"

The clash came as Obama was wrapping up a town hall style meeting in a barn draped with an American flag,in a rural corner of Iowa.

Obama said, "In fairness, since I have been called a socialist who wasn't born in this country, who is destroying America and taking away its freedoms because I passed a health care bill, I am all for lowering the rhetoric."

Obama and Rhodes later engaged in an animated conversation as he greeted supporters on a rope line after the event, and the activist later told reporters that he believed that Obama was indeed a socialist.

(It's gonna be interesting)

Among the 11 declared candidates, polls are beginning to suggest that the Minnesota congresswoman is the one with the best chance of upsetting front-runner Mitt Romney for the GOP nomination, and that has put a target on her back for those with longer-shot hopes.

Candidate Tim Pawlenty has led the attacks on Bachmann. He likened her lack of executive experience to that of Barack Obama at the 2008 election. His campaign slogans include “Results not Rhetoric,” a thinly veiled attack on his fellow Minnesotan, and he constantly suggests that she would have no chance of beating Obama if she were to win the Republican nomination.

He's got that right!

btw, compare the current file photo of Ms. Bachmann (right) to the slightly airbrushed Newsmax photo used in the article.

Recent reports that the therapy clinic co-owned by Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann offers “ex-gay” therapy are raising questions about the extent to which federal dollars are subsidizing the widely discredited practice.

John Becker, a gay activist with Truth Wins Out, an LGBT group dedicated to fighting “ex-gay” conversion therapy, posted a report last week detailing his experience seeking reparative therapy with Bachmann & Associates, a Minnesota-based clinic operated by Bachmann’s spouse, Marcus Bachmann.

Feigning a desire to change his sexual orientation, Becker caught on tape sessions with counselor Timothy Wiertzema, who told him he could change from being gay to straight. Major psychological and other medical organizations have refuted the idea that people can change their sexual orientation.

Rick Perry is watching 2 Things: Bachmann's excitement And Romney's money.

With a Republican primary electorate not entirely satisfied with its field of candidates, this man is eyeing a run for the Presidency. 

The Texas state legislature special session is over (without a win on the anti-TSA bill), and Texas Gov. Rick Perry will now enter the intensive phase of his deliberations over whether to run for president. As he does so, he will be closely watching two things: Michele Bachmann's grassroots excitement and Mitt Romney's money.

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann came into Monday night’s presidential debate in the Queen City as an unknown commodity. She left it as the most talked-about candidate in the 2012 GOP field.

Bachmann stole headlines at the start by announcing that she had filed to run for president — skipping the exploratory phase entirely — and then proceeding to command the stage in the first hour of the CNN-sponsored debate with quotable answers on every question asked of her. 

The crowd assembled at Saint Anselm College broke into spontaneous applause after several of Bachmann’s answers

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

For Republicans to keep conservatives happy, social issues - like abortion, gay marriage, "don't ask, don't tell" - manage to work their way into every political conversation. And that may prove to be a problem for Republicans once we head into the general election campaign.

According to a CNN Opinion Research Corp. poll, nearly three-quarters of Republicans and Republican-leaning independent voters say they want a real contender who can defeat Obama in 2012, even if that nominee doesn't agree with them on every issue. More importantly, that's up 7 percentage points from January.

With the president's approval ratings near all-time lows, our national debt sky-high and climbing, and unemployment above 9%, it would certainly seem it's the Republicans’ race to lose.

Jacks Question;

Will Republicans have to lighten up on social issues in order to succeed in 2012?

Today the media seems to be focused on Anthony Weiners' weiner. I know, he's a Democrat and he's not running for president .... but that's what everybody is talking about, because it's a scandal, and we never want to pass up on a good scandal! And then there is Sarah Palins' emails from when she was governor of Alaska ....... like that's important! Actually the emails are revealing that she was a more engaged governor than most people thought and will likely help her more than hurt her, but because there's no juicy scandal there, the media will quickly loose interest and move on to ...... Newt Gingrich, .... because his staff quit. (Surrendered is a better term .... there is no way he's going to get the nomination)

Maybe we'll find out something tonight when the GOP holds it's first debate and although Sarah Palin will not be there, Michele Bachmann will be. Actually, between the two of them, Bachmann is the more articulate, she is always absolutely clear about her lack of knowledge regarding American history, where Sarah hem's and haw's as she re-writes history. I mean even I know Paul Revere was Americas' first silversmith!

So what do you think the candidates should be discussing? The debt ceiling? Oh, now that's exciting! Who cares if they have to put a new ceiling in the accounts payable department of the Treasury Department? They need someplace to store all those bills, don't they? And then there's the deficit, another exciting issue that requires math to understand. So what if we have a deficit, we're Americans, we always spend more than we make. It's a tradition! So what's to discuss?

JOBS! They can discuss jobs! Even though 91% of Americans that want jobs, have jobs .... the politicians insist it's an important issue. Because, everyone knows the reason the economy is bad is because we need more jobs, and the way to get more jobs is to fix the economy, so as soon as we create more jobs the economy will be fixed! (Hey, we're talking about politics here, we're supposed to go in circles aren't we?) 

So take the poll and tell us what you think is important, after all it's your opinion that's important here!

While serious competitors for the Republican presidential nomination have dropped out of the running. Romney has flexed his financial muscle with a $10 million-plus one-day fundraising haul. 

Most of all, his narrow, economy-focused message appears to be resonating amid growing alarm about the unemployment rate – which rose above 9 percent the day after Romney declared his campaign.

Add it all together and Romney has had his best political month in nearly four years. He increasingly looks like the 2012 election’s marathon man, a steady and durable candidate who enters Monday’s New Hampshire presidential debate with a better shot than ever at becoming his party’s nominee.

We're not sure what's more laughable -- the fact that the South Florida Tea Party can't keep up on its bills for a Donald Trump rally they held in Boca Raton, or the fact that they held a rally for The Donald to begin with.

The city has sent invoices for the $6,145 the Tea Party owes for barricades set up and police security, but they haven't been paid since the April rally.

   The Donald "I hope they don't expect me to pay it" -->

Even better, the Tea Party would stick Boca Raton with the bill if they don't pay it -- so those real "fiscal conservatives" would be causinggovernment spending. .......... Whoops!

Rudy Giuliani said in an interview today that if Sarah Palin decides to become a presidential candidate, she should not "fall into the trap that I fell into" during the 2008 campaign, ......

..... thinking that national popularity automatically means victories in early primary and caucus states.

The Republican former New York City mayor agreed that, like him, but "for different reasons," Palin has high national name recognition.

I would say to her, don't fall into the trap that I fell into (in 2007 and 2008) in thinking it's about how nationally popular you are.

Giuliani said that while he won't decide until later summer whether to run for President because he wants to see "how the field develops," if he does, "I'd never run the campaign like the one I ran three years ago. That was a big mistake."

Of course The Donald would invite The Sarah up to his New York penthouse. She is, after all, taking her Clampett bus expedition to American shrines, and that's what Donald Trump considers himself.
Sarah Palin and Trump also share two interests: presidential politics and sham reality shows.

(Actually, that's just one.)

They both also have a remarkable ability to turn reporters into shills who chase after them to snap up whatever crumbs they toss.
Palin can even keep a straight face when she tells her Fox News BFF Greta Van Susteren that her bus jaunt isn't "a publicity seeking tour." All the while she's getting disproportionate publicity from the very news people she disparages.
"I don't owe anything to the mainstream media," she gloats.

Thursday Palins' "One Nation," traveling road show stopped in Boston, where the former Alaska governor, her parents, her husband, and little Piper visited Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, and Bunker Hill. Palin posted photos of that leg of her trip on the SarahPAC blog.

One moment that you won't find posted on the blog is Palin's response to reporters when they asked her who Paul Revere was. she stammered while saying this;

"He who warned, uh, the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms, uh, by ringing those bells, and um, makin' sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be sure and we were going to be free, and we were going to be armed."

Needless to say, the lamestream media are having a field day with that gaffe.

After months of relatively robust job growth, President Barack Obama and his team must now reckon with the reality that the economy probably won't be on firm ground during the 2012 campaign — and that he must temper some of the Morning-in-America optimism he'd hoped to run on.

The president has been unable to curb the nation's nine percent unemployment rate, so he will be forced to put the best possible face on a sputtering recovery.

Democratic strategists say that means adopting an ungainly three-pronged political approach: Talking up economic gains since the darkest days of 2008 and 2009, highlighting a modest job-creation agenda blocked by Republicans and making the case that things would be far worse if the GOP were in charge.

,

[By Steven Bertioni - Forbes]
Donald Trump just took possession of his big, used Boeing 757 plane. He wants everyone to know about it. His camp sent Forbes this article (yes, I see the paradox of me now writing about it. Does it mean Trump wins?)

     Trump Force One at La Guardia ---------->
     [Photo by Matt Molnar/NYCAviation] 

Naturally, the article very bluntly raises the question of 'will he rejoin the Presidential race he never joined?' America loves reading and debating that question. Plus, Trump can't let Sarah Palin and her bus tour hog the entire election-speculation spotlight.

As Matt Molnar points out; The Boeing 757 is a very presidential plane ...." See article for Molners full comment.

Republican Michele Bachmann is making plans for a presidential campaign announcement next month in Waterloo, Iowa, the city where the Minnesota congresswoman was born.

Bachmann trickled out the details in a conference call with reporters Thursday night, but said she could still reverse course and sit out the 2012 White House campaign.

When describing former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's tour through Washington D.C. on the back of a motorcycle -- in theory a grand kickoff to her national bus tour of significant historical sites, in actuality a media circus surrounding a creeping crawl through our nation's capital -- perhaps the New York Times said it best: "A short ride with lots of rumbling."

WHERE'S SARAH?  ------>

Palin only took a slow, meandering tour through D.C. on Sunday, but she got more public attention than any speaking engagement could possibly bring. And it all comes back to Palin's greatest strength: her ability to whip the media -- the same "lamestream media" she claims to despise so much .......

The Republican Party flirts should stop complaining about how tough it is to run for president and get in the game

Increasingly, we are told, White House aspirants are horrified by the grueling pace, the relentless attacks, the withering scrutiny, the notion of dragging their families into a slimy swamp that will taint them forever. My response: stop the whining.

First, the presidency is a pretty cool job. You get a nice mansion with backyard, a bowling alley, a chef, your own helicopter, and an impressive pile of nuclear weapons. No one forced these folks to stir up presidential speculation. The agonizing is getting old.

Second,.....

The New Hampshire Republican Party found out Sarah Palin would be coming to town by hearing about it in the news.

Where would she be stopping? They didn't know. Palin's staff wouldn't even return their calls, leaving them to ask reporters for more answers.

And they're not alone: With hours to go before Palin's bus tour is supposed to begin, it's still unclear what she'll be doing when she gets to the first stop. It's even more of a mystery what her second stop will be.

Or when.

Or why.

Michele Bachmann's goal for today? Raise $240,000 in 24 hours

Though the Minnesota Republican says she won't officially announce whether she is running for president until June, it has not stopped the Tea Party favorite from an aggressive grassroots fundraising effort.

"Please make a contribution and join my 24-hour money bomb to raise $240,000 in 24 hours and make Barack Obama a one-term president," Bachmann writes on her website. (And the nit-wits will send it to her)

When ABC News first reported in January that Bachmann was seriously considering a White House bid, the news was generally treated as either a compelling media sideshow or a savvy fundraising head fake on Bachmann's part. After all, the idea that a third-term congresswoman with a light legislative record and a penchant for controversial statements could become a serious White House contender seemed unlikely at best.

Almost five months after would-be contenders like Mike Huckabee, Haley Barbour and John Thune decided to take a pass -- the notion of a serious Bachmann campaign doesn't seem so implausible anymore, especially in Iowa.

On Tuesday, (May 17th) the Teapot Party announced our biggest endorsement yet – former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson for the Republican presidential nomination.

But not so fast. I sent the press release and coverage links to Nelson. His response took me by surprise: "My position is it too early for me to endorse anyone. And I think every one should vote their own conscience."

".........I think I will wait and see where he stands on other things. My bad. Sorry. I still think he is a good guy but so Is Dennis (Kucinich) and if he decided to run I would personally vote for him. If it came down to either him or Gary I'm already committed to Dennis."

It's a sign of the GOP's straits that the party is depending on the bland, wonkish Daniels for an adrenaline boost.

Top Republicans are increasingly convinced that President Barack Obama will be easily reelected if stronger GOP contenders do not emerge, and some are virtually begging Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels to add some excitement to the slow-starting nomination race.

But interviews this week with longtime party activists and strategists made clear that many in the Republican establishment are unnerved by a field led by Mitt Romney, who could have trouble confronting Obama on health reform; Tim Pawlenty, who has yet to ignite excitement; Jon Huntsman, who may be too moderate to get the nomination; and Newt Gingrich, weighed down by personal baggage and a sense that he is a polarizing figure from the 1990s.

In other words ..... they're desperate.

Stoking more speculation about whether she intends to run for the White House, Sarah Palin is sending out 400,000 direct mail fundraising solicitations for 2012, including to voters in earlier primary states.

First reported by The Washington Post, the solicitations are titled "2012 Can't Come Fast Enough," but make no specific mention of her plans.

"Taking back control of the House last year was only the first step," Palin says in the mailer from SarahPac, sent out nationwide. "Now you and I must fix our eyes on 2012. Our goal is to take back the White House and the Senate."

Palin headed into 2011 with more than $1.3 million in her political action committee. (A mere 997 million short of what Obama plans to raise.)

Billionaire Donald Trump will not be getting any support, moneywise or otherwise, from Billionaire David Koch if The Donald should decide to run for President.

Koch said, "Donald's political positions over the last 10 years have been highly variable and unusual. He's a wonderful guy, but I don't think he should run for office."

Noting Trump's love of press, Koch said the Celebrity Apprentice host is "getting more publicity than he ever dreamed about right now." But, he added, "at some point I think he's going to drop out of the race when he realizes that he's really not qualified to be President."

The glow of national pride seemed to rise above partisan politics, as support for the president rose significantly among both Republicans and independents. In all, 57 percent said they now approved of the president's job performance, up from 46 percent last month.

Though there has been talk in some quarters that the United States military can now leave Afghanistan, the poll showed that public sentiment on the issue seems more complicated.

Nearly half said the nation should decrease troop levels in Afghanistan. But more than six in 10 also said the United States had not completed its mission in Afghanistan.

None of the potential candidates in the Republican presidential field breaks the 20% mark, according to a poll released Wednesday on the eve of the first official debate among some contenders.

"It's difficult to get a handle on the 2012 Republican race," Peter Brown, assistant director of the Hamden, Conn.-based polling institute, said in a statement. "Many contenders are not well-known, and many who are known are not liked."

In interviews with registered voters of various political stripes, 58% said they would never consider voting for Donald Trump or Sarah Palin in a general election. Also, 42% of those surveyed saying they would never consider voting for Newt Gingrich, of Georgia.

Despite last year's midterm shellacking of the Democrats and record low approval ratings for President Obama, there is a big potential problem for Republicans heading into the 2012 presidential election......... Other Republicans."

According to a CNN/Opinion Research poll, just 32% of Americans have a favorable view of the Tea Party, while 46% have a favorable view of the Democratic party and 44% have a favorable view of Republicans.

There's clear evidence that Mike Huckabee is taking the prospect of running for president more seriously now than a few months ago. The question is whether it's too late.

his mixed signals and his politically questionable feud with conservative commentator Glenn Beck has left many Republicans wondering if he's waited too long—and whether he has the fire in the belly for a grueling second presidential campaign.

Huckabee further fueled that speculation on Friday when he spoke to Fox News about people proclaiming to know his intentions. "They know something I don't know. What I know is the country is in a world of hurt…whether I'm the best person to take that challenge on is something I haven't yet determined."

There's clear evidence that Mike Huckabee is taking the prospect of running for president more seriously now than a few months ago. The question is whether it's too late.

Trump also told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren Thursday Obama's decision to send armed drones into Libya is "a little late" to save the many lives lost, was another sign of his weak leadership, and if he was president he would just go in "and take the oil."

More Seeds :: JCAtom

Potential presidential candidate Donald Trump, at or near the top of some recent polls of Republican contenders, said he might release his tax returns when President Barack Obama produces a birth certificate.

More Seeds :: JCAtom

In his lengthy interview with NBC's Savannah Guthrie, Donald Trump appeared stumped when asked about the legal principle that served as the cornerstone for the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. Here's the key part of the interview:

More Seeds :: JCAtom

Standard & Poor's Ratings Service cut its outlook Monday on the United States' sovereign debt, saying there is a one in three chance it will downgrade the rating on the debt in the next two years.

The agency lowered the long-term outlook to "Negative" from "Stable."

More Seeds :: JCAtom

A group of millionaires have banded togethor and are asking the president to raise taxes on the wealthy. Laura Ingraham speaks with a couple of them.

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Sarah Palin is traveling to Wisconsin this weekend to provide some in-person support for embattled Gov. Scott Walker's push against state labor unions.

For Palin, the decision comes at time when her political future--or lack of same--is being fiercely debated. Recent polls, including one this week conducted by CNN, show her tumbling down the ranks of potential GOP 2012 contenders.

Donald Trump appears to have supplanted her as an incendiary right-wing media colossus. Meanwhile. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who holds similar appeal to social conservatives, has been laying the kind of groundwork in Iowa and elsewhere for a presidential campaign that Palin has avoided.

Thinking reporters were out of the room, President Obama opened up Thursday night about the recent budget talks with Republicans and what he called their efforts to sneak in attacks on Planned Parenthood and his health care bill.

"I said (to Republicans), 'you want to repeal health care? Go at it,'" Obama told backers in a private meeting with an open microphone. "'We'll have that debate. You're not going to be able to do that by nickel-and-diming me in the budget.'"

He said he added: "'You think we're stupid?'"

More Seeds :: JCAtom

Here are two numbers to keep in mind when thinking about the House Republicans' budget plan: They want to cut spending on government programs over the next decade by $4.3 trillion. And they want to cut tax revenues over the same period by $4.2 trillion.

More Seeds :: JCAtom

Stephen Colbert absolutely killed it last night taking on the GOP's attempts to defund Planned Parenthood. First, Colbert mocked Sen. Jon Kyl's lie that abortion is "over 90% of what Planned Parenthood does."

"That is unbelievable... in that it is not true," Colbert said. "Only 3% of what Planned Parenthood does is abortions. Kyl just rounded up to the nearest 90."

Donald Trump says he will "probably" run for president as an independent if he doesn't win the Republican nomination.

More Seeds :: JCAtom

So the pundits who praised this proposal when it was released were punked. The G.O.P. budget plan isn't a good-faith effort to put America's fiscal house in order; it's voodoo economics, with an extra dose of fantasy, and a large helping of mean-spiritedness.

More Seeds :: JCAtom

Oil is a good short-term bet for another five months due to upcoming peak U.S. summer driving season, while prices in the long-term are likely to double along with gold in five years, said a leading fund manager.

More Seeds :: JCAtom

As federal officials began formal preparations for, the Obama administration told House members on Tuesday that their version of a short-term spending budget was a no-go...

More Seeds :: JCAtom

The U.S. will reach its $14.29 trillion legal debt limit no later than May 16 unless Congress acts before then, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said today, and he warned of "severe hardship" for Americans if lawmakers fail to act.

More Seeds :: JCAtom

...I still couldn't figure it out.

But then I saw this stunning photo, which ran with a recent VF Daily post by my colleague Juli Weiner discussing Oprah's gracious offer to give Donald Trump a make-over. Thanks to the miracle of harsh lighting, the photo appears to reveal one of Trump's most tightly-held secrets. Look closely. See the cross-hatching in Trump's hair?

My baldly-stated thesis: this could be evidence of a rarely-sighted, possibly unprecedented "double comb-over."

More Seeds :: JCAtom

...look at the sheer volume of wealth controlled by the top 1 percent in this country, it's tempting to see our growing inequality as a quintessentially American achievement—we started way behind the pack, but now we're doing inequality on a world-class level

...we'll be building on this achievement for years to come...what made it possible is self-reinforcing. Wealth begets power, which begets more wealth...Virtually all U.S. senators, and most of the representatives in the House, are members of the top 1 percent when they arrive, are kept in office by money from the top 1 percent, and know that if they serve the top 1 percent well they will be rewarded by the top 1 percent when they leave

...a tax bill cannot emerge from Congress unless big tax cuts are put in place for the wealthy...this is the way you would expect the system to work.

More Seeds :: JCAtom

The allure of their newfound majority status helps Republicans to attract donor dollars, as does having a "rising conservative star" like Christie headlining the event.

"I'm proud to announce that we raised over $10 million with the NRCC March Dinner to strengthen the new Republican majority in 2012," said NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions (Texas) in a statement. "This outstanding fundraising effort will enable the NRCC to stay on offense against House Democrats who continue to support the failed policies and leadership of Nancy Pelosi."

Top House Republicans and Democrats are raising millions of dollars for redistricting fights, opening the floodgates for what could be a $30 million campaign funded in part by unregulated, unreported soft money.

They're doing so with permission from the Federal Election Commission and a waiver from the House Ethics Committee, but campaign watchdog groups worry that it could lead to abuses and a lack of transparency for millions in big money donations.

It was supposed to be one of the clearest messages of the 2010 elections: Voters were finally fed up with government spending.

It felt like the usual rules had changed, and that Americans were worried enough about the size of government to support a new era of belt-tightening. They wanted leaders to make the tough choices – and would stick by the ones who did.

Now, a new wave of polling has challenged that consensus, raising serious questions about whether voters really are yearning for a grown-up conversation about the cost of government — or would simply rather keep punting the problem down the road, just like in the past.

...data Thursday showed the improvement in the labor market was becoming sustained, with new claims for jobless benefits falling last week and the four-week moving average dropping to it lowest level in more than 2-1/2 years.

More Seeds :: JCAtom

Watch these videos of Rep. Bachmann in action on "Meet the Press". She claims there is 105 Billion dollars hidden in the the Health Care bill.

(She also at one time said Obamas trip to the Middle East was going to cost over 200 million dollars a day)

She is absolutely unwilling or unable to answer any direct questions during the interview.

WASHINGTON — Restrict abortion or cut spending?

The Republicans' "Pledge for America" says the new majority will do both. But negotiations over the federal budget threaten to force the GOP, including its 87 House freshmen, to choose between them.

It's a lesson in congressional reality that has Republicans struggling with how to vote — and what to do — when a divided government pits pledge against pledge.

The new Republican majority has done plenty of fighting for what they promised, but getting their wish list through the entire Congress is a tougher task. The health care law repeal failed in the Senate. The House's budget received a thorough scoffing from Senate Democratic leaders and President Obama said he would veto it.

Republicans, Pledge for America, new majority, federal budge, GOP, House freshmen, divided government, new Republican majority, Congress, health care law repeal, Senate. House's budget, Senate Democratic leaders, President Obama, veto,

Some of the biggest savings could be achieved by consolidating the government's computer data centers, which have multiplied from 432 to more than 2,100 in little more than a decade. Some computer servers have utilization rates of just 5 percent. A private sector study estimates that consolidating data centers could save the government as much as $200 billion over 10 years.

More Seeds :: JCAtom

As Sarah Palin wonders whether to run for president, she might want to talk to people in places such as South Carolina.

She'd find her star fading, and her prospects daunting.

Republicans still like her, but now they openly question whether she could or should be nominated for president, let alone elected.

At a recent gathering in South Carolina, the site of a crucial early presidential primary next year, party activists said the former Alaska governor didn't have the experience, the knowledge of issues or the ability to get beyond folksy slang and bumper-sticker generalities that they think is needed to win and govern.

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has added fuel to the firestorm of speculation that she may launch a 2012 presidential bid.

Palin recently announced that she has hired Michael Glassner to serve as chief of staff to her political team. Glassner, whose hiring was first reported by CNN, will be responsible for managing Palin's small, loosely organized team across a number of states.

While Palin has not formally announced her 2012 plans, hiring Glassner signals that she may be considering a presidential bid more seriously than has been thought.

Sarah Palin is mixing it up with potential rival Rick Santorum, suggesting the former Pennsylvania senator and presidential hopeful is a "knuckle-dragging Neanderthal."

The eyebrow-raising slap came in response to Santorum's recent comments that Palin was likely skipping an annual gathering of conservatives in Washington this weekend because of other "business opportunities" and her mothering responsibilities.

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First, give U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, credit for having the backbone to be an occasional guest on Real Time, Bill Maher's weekly program on HBO that often knocks the GOP.

On the Jan.28th episode, Kingston, as he often does, joined a panel of pundits, politicians and celebrities to discuss current events. The topic that evening was climate change. (Kingston's a skeptic.) For some reason, talk moved to evolution, which the congressman revealed he also thinks is a bunch of hooey. (Delicious quote: "I don't believe a creature crawled out of the sea and became a human being one day." When it's explained like that, I kind of wish one did, as it'd make a great ABC Family series.)

See the article for an unedited video of the discussion.

Part of the grim underlying reality of this ongoing saga, the stirrings of Jewish protest against the sort of Jew-baiting that Texas megapastor John Hagee and other evangelicals have been doing for years, which Glenn Beck has now picked up, is that the group of 400 rabbis who have written a letter to Fox News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch, concerning Glenn Beck's attacks on Holocaust survivor George Soros, appear to have taken on an organizational mandate which, once upon a time, was championed by the Anti Defamation League.

In an attempt to end the "birther" myth that President Obama was not born in the United States (and thus not qualified to serve as president), five Democrats on the Hawaii state legislature have introduced a bill that would allow anyone to obtain a copy of President Obama's birth records for a $100 fee.

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Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned that Congress was causing a "crisis on my doorstep" by failing to approve a key spending bill, inaction that could create a funding shortfall hurting the military.

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Buoyed by their meaningless victory in repealing last year's improved health care bill, House Republicans are now planning and strategizing to repeal the Law of Gravity.

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White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says a senator's proposal that Democrats and Republicans sit together rather than divided by party during the President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech is "an interesting idea."

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Former Minnesota Governor Talks About His Potential Rival for the Presidency in 2012

The evangelical Christian, Tim Pawlenty, who has been an outspoken voice for the GOP, sat down exclusively with "Nightline's" Terry Moran to talk about running for president in 2012, his chief potential rival Sarah Palin and President George W. Bush's legacy.

Pawlenty denied that his upcoming book tour, which will take him to some key battleground states in December, was the kickoff for his presidential campaign. His autobiography, "Courage to Stand: An American Story," is due out on Jan. 11

After months of back-and-forth over whether he might run for president, Donald Trump is now telling friends he will definitely throw his hat in the ring in 2012.

The billionaire real estate mogul has said he will announce his candidacy as a Republican when the current season of his hit NBC show "The Apprentice" ends in the spring, Newsmax reported Thursday.

Earlier this week, Trump told Forbes he was encouraged by surveys that found his business acumen would be seen as a positive by voters.

"Polls have come out and have been very strong," Trump said. "A recent poll came out where Trump and [Bill] Gates are the only two that beat [President Barack] Obama. Gates isn't running obviously, but they put names on it, and we're the only ones who beat Obama."

The country has a new guardian for its national security secrets: Rep. Michele Bachmann.

The outspoken Minnesota Republican and Tea Party favorite has been tapped by House Speaker John Boehner for a coveted slot on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, giving her a new role as overseer of the CIA, the National Security Agency and the rest of the U.S. intelligence community.

The move comes as Bachmann is seeking to burnish her national security credentials as she weighs a possible run for higher office.

House Republican leaders are so far not specifying which programs would bear the brunt of budget cutting, only what would escape it: spending for the military, domestic security and veterans.

The reductions that would be required in the remaining federal programs, including education and transportation, would be so deep — roughly 20 percent on average — that Senate Republicans have not joined the $100 billion pledge that House Republicans, led by the incoming speaker, Representative John A. Boehner, made to voters before November's midterm elections.

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