The 137th running of the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown, is this Saturday at Pimlico race track in Baltimore, Maryland. The Preakness can either destroy the dreams of the Kentucky Derby winner's team or it can set up drama like no other at the Belmont Stakes. There has not been a Triple Crown winning horse since 1978, when Affirmed completed the trifecta. I'll Have Another, the 2012 Kentucky Derby winner, is hoping to do the same in 2012.

Mitt Romney has locked up the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2012. Just like I'll Have Another, he is riding high right now. Romney is leading President Obama in a recent CBS News/New York Times poll. His next major campaign move, selecting his Vice Presidential nominee, might decide what looks to be a very close general election. If you don't believe me, look no further than Sarah Palin in 2008.

So without further ado I give you the "Mitt Romney VP Odd's Preakness Style" based on the first early morning lines of the race when post positions were drawn. Can there be anything more fun than combining premier US horse racing with presidential politics? I think not.

THE FAVORITES

8-5 Odds - Bodemeister/Senator Marco Rubio (R - FL): Bodemeister led from the gate to nearly the finish of the Kentucky Derby until I'll Have Another caught him. Just like Bodemeister, Rubio sprinted out to an early lead in the veepstakes and has maintained it up to this point. He is a rising star, has been called the "crown prince" of the Tea Party movement, and potentially delivers the most important swing state of them all. He also helps with the all important and growing Latino vote. Can Rubio seal the deal with Romney or will he get passed in the end like Bodemeister in the Derby? Maybe Romney passes if Mitt can't handle Rubio's "star power" potentially outshining him. This pick makes so much sense for Mitt.

5-2 Odds - I'll Have Another/Senator Rob Portman (R - OH): I'll Have Another shocked the horse racing world down the stretch of the 138th Kentucky Derby with his closing and finishing speed. Rob Portman is one those guys who has often been mentioned in the running for Romney's mate, but isn't as exciting to many Republicans as Rubio. Portman has served his country in the United States House and Senate, as well as in two cabinet positions in the George W. Bush administration. He is from the coveted swing state of Ohio, which President Obama won in 2008. Portman is a lot like Romney when it comes to style and substance, but his experience might make him a tad bit safer choice than Rubio. Portman is closing fast on Rubio in I'll Have Another fashion.

6-1 Odds - Went the Day Well/Governor Bob McDonnell (R - VA): Went the Day Well went from 17th to a 4th place finish at this year's Kentucky Derby. His jockey, Jose Valezquez, recently said to Fox Sports, "he was so far back I couldn't make up that much ground, no way." Bob McDonnell doesn't have to make up as much ground because he gives Romney a chance to win the state of Virginia, which President Obama won in 2008. A former State Attorney General who has served in the military, McDonnell has seen unemployment in Virgina drop from 7.3 percent to 5.6 percent during his short time in the Governor's office. If "it's the economy stupid" election, Mitt might show that Virginia is for lovers and chose McDonnell.

6-1 Odds - Creative Cause/Congressman Paul Ryan (R - WI): If Creative Cause gets a clean path in the Preakness he just might pull it off. Why you ask? Based on Trakus data that recorded Kentucky Derby race results, Creative Cause traveled 29 more feet than the winner, but 79 less feet than the runner up. He finished only three lengths behind the Preakness favorite Bodemeister in the Kentucky Derby. Paul Ryan is a high profile Congressman who is every cutting government fan's dream. He has a good rapport with Romney and his "Ryan Plan" was endorsed by Mitt. He is on the cover of the Republican conservative budgeting playbook and this might make him irresistible for Romney.

MIDDLE OF THE PACK

12-1 Odds - Daddy Nose Best/Governor Chris Christie (R - NJ): Daddy Nose Best has been called "very perky" since his 10th place finish in the Kentucky Derby. Christie is the exact opposite of Mitt Romney, he likes to ad lib. Scripts, what scripts? The Republican base loves him, but he might be too much for Mitt to handle. Paging Joe Biden.

15-1 Odds - Teeth Of The Dog/Governor Bobby Jindal (R - LA): Teeth of the Dog's trainer says he has "galloped out real good" lately. Bobby Jindal has been doing well himself, as Americans for Tax Reform's Grover Norquist recently said he was the guy Romney should choose for his VP. Republicans and Louisianans believe he is an effective reformer who has weathered many storms in his state. Jindal has been the flavor of the month many times, and his loose personality might be a good antithesis to Romney.

20-1 Odds - Zetterholm/Senator Kelly Ayotte (R - NH): You say Northeast ticket I say Romney/Ayotte, Romney/Ayotte...Romney/Ayotte. Kelly Ayotte is picking up a lot of steam lately in the veepstakes, just as Zetterholm has won his last three races. A female running mate could help Romney with his lagging numbers with this important demographic. However, Sarah Palin has described Ayotte as a "Granite State 'mama grizzly' who has broken barriers." Say what?

30-1 Odds - Cozzetti/Fmr. Governor Tim Pawlenty (R - MN): Cozzetti's trainer Dale Romans recently said of the horse, "One day he's going to wake up and run lights out." Republicans have been waiting for Pawlenty to do this on a national level for awhile. He dropped out of the 2012 race after the Iowa straw poll and was on the very short VP list for John McCain in 2008. He still has a lot of strong conservative fans. Will Mitt give him the chance to run lights out? Probably not.

TAKE A FLIER

30-1 Odds - Tiger Walk/Governor Nikki Haley (R - SC): Why Tiger Walk? Kent Desormeaux is his jockey. Why Nikki Haley for Romney 2012? Female, Tea Party starlet, and she is a governor from the south. Good contrast with Mitt.

30-1 Odds - Optimizer/Congressman Mitch Daniels (R - IN): Optimizer is using the Preakness to prepare for the Belmont Stakes. Optimizer's trainer believes that the Belmont will be his best race. Mitch Daniels was widely speculated to be a presidential candidate in 2012, but choose not to run. This publicity and positive speculation is only helping a possible run in 2016 should Romney lose to President Obama. Daniels serves out his second term as Governor of Indiana.

LONGSHOT

30-1 Odds - Pretension/Fmr. Governor Mike Huckabee (R - AR): Pretension is the token Maryland horse in the race to make the local fans get excited. Folksy Mike Huckabee does the same thing to the conservative and evangelical base of the Republican party. It would be a surprise, but stranger things have happened in politics.

Happy 137th Preakness and 2012 Republican presidential veepstakes.

And down the stretch they come...

Mitt "Electability" Romney has won just one general election in nearly twenty years of politicking. His one and only term of office left him with an approval rating of 34%. Make no mistake about it: this was the best guy the Republicans had to offer this cycle.

Try to imagine just how bad the guy's running mate will have to be.

Of course, sane people will tell you that Rob Portman is the most obvious choice and, in this context, Portman's not bad at all. There are other promising contenders, too. Rand Paul would be great help in fundraising and energizing the Paul, er, enthusiasts, but the guy clearly isn't ready for prime time and nobody wants to be the next Sarah Palin in that regard. Paul Ryan offers similar benefits, but would have the unfortunate side effect of calling attention to what Republicans have actually been up to these last couple of years. Jeb Bush would make a great running mate, if it weren't for the fact that his last name is poison outside Florida. And, hey, maybe with enough coaxing Mike Huckabee could be convinced to--no, wait. No he couldn't.

But sane people aren't terribly involved in the GOP nomination process. The people who are have--strangely enough, even for them--spent the last week or so lobbying to make Bobby Jindal Romney's #2. Bobby freakin' Jindal.

Bobby Jindal, Bobby Jindal... How can I put this kindly? Bobby Jindal is an outright curiosity. Bobby Jindal is beyond gifted academically, yet he more often than not manages to come off like the lost cousin of Goober and Gomer Pyle. The one they never talk about. When Barney asks how Bobby is doing, Goober and Gomer just shake their heads and stare at their feet. Still, he is a Republican-friendly curiosity: Jindal is, after all, walking validation of every anti-intellectual suspicion the right wing holds about higher education.

Most of the world was introduced to Jindal through his shockingly daft 2009 State of the Union response, described as "painful" by Republican Strategist Ed Rollins immediately after.

If you don't recall Jindal's bizarre, all-smiles rant about "out of control" government spending, it might be because he managed to identify none. His list of pork included just three items: High speed rail systems (since when is the government responsible for infrastructure, anyway?), "cars for the government" and "something called volcano monitoring."

"Something called volcano monitoring." Those were Jindal's very words. It was as if to say, "What sorcery is this!"

"Instead of monitoring volcanoes," he concluded, "what congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, DC." Funny, I know some women who would say the same thing about their uteruses.

Also funny that he used the word "eruption," which made it sound like he knew why a government interested in public safety might want to monitor volcanoes. Yet, there he sat, wide-eyed and slack-jawed, in awe that such a thing might even exist. As if the Earth itself felt compelled to slap him in the back of the head, one of Jindal's volcanoes erupted soon after.

At the same time, it would be very, very difficult to overstate how impressive Jindal's educational pedigree is. Bobby Jindal is, literally, a Rhodes scholar. He is also a biology major who claims there is "no scientific theory" that explains how organic life comes from inorganic matter. You know, like abiogenesis through the formation of amino acids, most likely in the Eoarchean era, as demonstrated in the Miller-Urey experiment. But I might be getting some of that wrong--I'm not a Rhodes scholar or biology major, after all. Bobby Jindal is the science guy; I am not.

Maybe Bobby Jindal missed that day of class because he was, at the time, living in a William Blatty novel.

You see, one of Jindal's college friends, Susan, was treated for cancer. In recounting the events that spun out of that tragedy, Jindal takes great pains to imply that the young woman was in love with him, but that he wanted only a very close friendship. One night, with an operation imminent, the young woman suddenly left a concert they had attended together, sobbing. Later, Jindal noted that she had been acting strangely even apart from that... but for whatever reason? The cancer? The treatment? Unrequited love? Demonic possession?

The next day, she collapsed in extreme pain, followed by a seizure--the sort of thing that might prompt you or me to call an ambulance. Unfortunately for the young woman, this happened at a prayer meeting. Demonic possession was the preferred diagnosis. Jindal and his campus crusader pals decided to perform an exorcism rather than call for help.

Here's a taste of Jindal's account:

"The students, led by Susan's sister and Louise, a member of a charismatic church, engaged in loud and desperate prayers while holding Susan with one hand. Kneeling on the ground, my friends were chanting, 'Satan, I command you to leave this woman.' Others exhorted all 'demons to leave in the name of Christ.' It is no exaggeration to note the tears and sweat among those assembled. Susan lashed out at the assembled students with verbal assaults."

Clearly, this was a case of demonic possession, as no person in the throes of a genuine and serious medical emergency someone might lash out at those people like that.

Jindal's full account reads like satire--a black-as-night comedy that would be hilarious if it were not, allegedly, true. After more "oooh-woo-oooh" and bumps in the night, he continues:

"Maybe she sensed our weariness; whether by plan or coincidence, Susan chose the perfect opportunity to attempt an escape. She suddenly leapt up and ran for the door, despite the many hands holding her down. This burst of action served to revive the tired group of students and they soon had her restrained once again, this time half kneeling and half standing. Alice, a student leader in Campus Crusade for Christ, entered the room for the first time, brandishing a crucifix. Running out of options, UCF had turned to a rival campus Christian group for spiritual tactics. The preacher had denied our request for assistance and recommended that we not confront the demon; his suggestion was a little late."

Apparently, no one suggested the "spiritual tactic" of calling an ambulance to the man Grover Norquist would like to see a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Politics is my passion, and I particularly love comedy and satirical news programmes that breathe new life into current events.

One of my favorites is Saturday Night Live, the long-running comedy sketch program which airs on NBC in the U.S. President Obama, Vice President Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are amongst those politicians who have been 'profiled' on the show, and the candidates of the current presidential election continue to be featured on a weekly basis, with Republican Mitt Romney perhaps facing the harshest criticism.

Romney is often portrayed as a bland politician willing to tell his audience what they literally want to hear. Continuous impressions of this nature reinforce Romney's inability to inform voters of his core beliefs, and over time, I believe this could seriously damage Romney's campaign for the presidency.

In the UK there is no parallel show to SNL, although Have I Got News For You comes pretty close to providing political entertainment. Many politicians have appeared as guests on the BBC program, and in some circumstances, former MPs such as Boris Johnson and John Prescott have even hosted the show. Whilst HIGNFY is particularly brilliant, it has not had the same impact on the UK political environment that SNL and other American comedy shows continue to do in their native land.

Saturday Night Live made headlines in the 2008 presidential election, identifying the clear media bias against Sen. Hillary Clinton in her race for the Democratic nomination. One of these sketches featured Amy Poehler as Sen. Clinton and Fred Armisen as Sen. Obama, and clearly defined what some believed at the time as 'different levels' of questioning during live televised debates. The sketch show also helped to define the 'character' of Gov. Sarah Palin, featuring Tina Fey as Palin accompanied by the real governor in a mock press conference. This parody, along with the "Alaska Rap," is perhaps one of the best known and funniest in SNL's entire history, and one that will continue to be played for generations of elections to come.

Other influential comedy/political hybrid television shows include the The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Airing on cable and satellite channel Comedy Central, comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are influential in shaping the daily conversation of the American political world. Surveys conducted by institutes such as the Pew Research Center have shown that regular viewers of The Daily Show tend to be more knowledgeable about news than audiences of other news sources. Both shows have been and continue to be at the forefront of topical issues, with The Daily Show campaigning for improved healthcare rights for 9/11 emergency responders and The Colbert Report's continuing discussions over Super PACs. They continue to have strong viewing ratings, with politicians such as Nancy Pelosi have publicly admitting that she sets her DVR recorder so not to miss an episode.

From Texts from Hillary to appearances by former British Prime Minister's Tony Blair and Gordon Brown on Comic Relief, satirical politics will continue to have a place in our modern media world. Candidates such as Mitt Romney should be aware of the dangers that hybrid news shows present, with the ability to make and shape the news agenda. Both Barack Obama and John McCain appeared on Saturday Night Live during their race for the residency, and one wonders if Mitt Romney will embrace this precedent before Election Day.

President Obama unleashed a string of zingers about the media (including The Huffington Post) during his speech at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner. He also paid tribute to journalists Anthony Shadid and Marie Colvin, who both died while reporting in Syria this year.

The media jokes started right away. Before Obama spoke, a pre-taped skit of his inner thoughts played.

"OK, I'm going," he said at the end of the bit. "God forbid we keep Chuck Todd and the cast of 'Glee' waiting."

When Obama got to the podium, he gave Todd a shout-out. "Chuck Todd, I love you brother," he said.

Obama also said he'd be "remiss" if he didn't congratulate HuffPost on its recent Pulitzer Prize win.

"There's no one out there linking to the kinds of hard-hitting journalism that HuffPo is linking to every single day," he said. "And you don't pay them! It's a great business model." (For the record, Mr. President, HuffPost won for its original reporting, and these words are being typed by a paid editor!)

Other targets included Sarah Palin, whose hosting stint on the "Today" show came under fire.

At the end of the speech, as is custom, Obama turned serious, and praised the press. He also noted the deaths of Shadid and Colvin. Shadid, a New York Times reporter, died of an asthma attack in Syria in February; Colvin, a Sunday Times journalist, was killed by shelling in the same country a week later.

"Tonight, we remember journalists such as Anthony Shadid and Marie Colvin, who made the ultimate sacrifice as they sought to shine a light on some of the most important stories of our time."

The Obama administration has had a somewhat rocky relationship with the White House press corps, and his aggressive pursuit of leakers has created controversy in journalistic circles. But those things were forgotten on Saturday night.

Steve Holland, Reuters
In picking a vice presidential running mate, Republican Mitt Romney wants to avoid the Sarah Palin syndrome.Then-Republican nominee John McCain shook up the 2008 race with his dramatic choice of the relatively unknown Palin, but the problems she faced during the campaign will be on the minds of Romney and his vice presidential search team.

Now that Mitt Romney's general election campaign is breathing air, will he soon be "live, from New York"? The Republican presidential candidate has been asked to host "Saturday Night Live," according to Maureen Dowd's New York Times column, published Saturday evening.

Lorne Michaels, the show’s executive producer, has offered a guest spot to Romney, who is considering it.

If recent seasons of "SNL" are any indication, the current season, the show's 37th, will see three more episodes. None of the remaining guest hosts have been formally announced, as of Saturday evening. If Romney does not host this season, he would not host until the next season's premiere in September, which is only about a month before the 2012 election.

The last time a figure in the world of politics hosted was Donald Trump's episode in 2004. That same season, Al Sharpton performed a guest hosting stint. But the last time a presidential candidate hosted was in the spring of 1996 with GOP hopeful and magazine publisher Steve Forbes, although he ultimately did not get far in the primaries. In the last several election cycles, all presidential candidates, with the exception of John Kerry, have made an appearance on "SNL" during their campaigns, either in the studio or pre-taped.

Of course, in 2008, Tina Fey made a cultural mark by lampooning Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in opening of the 34th season. As recently dramatized in the HBO movie "Game Change," Fey's impersonation of Palin cemented public opinion of the Alaska governor. (Palin's candidacy was announced in August 2007 while "SNL" was on hiatus.)

Dowd's op-ed column quotes several sources at "SNL," including writer James Downey, who has written the bulk of show's political parodies nearly since the show's beginning, and Seth Meyers, the show's current head writer and "Weekend Update" anchor. Much of Dowd's column is devoted to the show's staff expressing boredom with the likely pairing of Romney and Obama, with Dowd calling it "Tin Man vs. Spock."

Meyers unfavorably compared the 2012 race to the 2008 race, telling Dowd he saw Palin as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" for a comedy writer.

In 2012, the show will have another potentially tricky option to solve: The casting of Mitt Romney. Jason Sudeikis has always portrayed the former Massachusetts governor. But with rumors that Sudeikis will exit the show at the end of this season when his contract expires, it seems likely that another cast member will take over for Romney, such as newcomer Taran Killam. Kristen Wiig, who plays Ann Romney, is also rumored to leave at the same time. However, Downey says that he is "sure they would stick around for the pre-election shows."

As a senate candidate in 1994, Mitt Romney claimed life has changed since the 1960s and "now Mom and Dad both have to work whether they want to or not."

"This is a different world than it was in the 1960s when I was growing up, when you used to have Mom at home and Dad at work," Romney said, as shown in a video posted by BuzzFeed's Andrew Kaczynski. "Now Mom and Dad both have to work whether they want to or not, and usually one of them has two jobs."

Romney made the remark while touting Bright Horizons Family Solutions, a childcare company. The comment is a sharp contrast to Romney's latest argument that "all moms are working moms."

The Romney campaign came to the defense of stay-at-home moms after Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen criticized Ann Romney for having "never worked a day in her life." Both the Romney campaign and the Republican National Committee used the remark as fodder for fundraising, using Google ads and items like bumper stickers and coffee cups tout their suport working moms.

Rosen's comment sparked a major political debate about stay-at-home moms, with many coming to Ann Romney's defense. Sarah Palin said Rosen's controversial comment "awakened many mama grizzlies," and Vice President Joe Biden called the remark "an outrageous assertion."

Obama even weighed in on the controversy, saying "there's no tougher job than being a mom."

(h/t Buzzfeed)

FULL DISCLOSURE: Rosen was once employed by The Huffington Post.

Below, Democrats who have reacted to Rosen's comments:

Bristol Palin is upset and shocked that the father of her son is expecting another child.

"I said, 'No way, shut up!'" she told In Touch Weekly.

Bristol continued, "I think it’s a little bit of everything, and a lot of confusion. I’m upset about it."

She accused Levi of being an absent father to their son, Tripp--something he has blamed on Sarah Palin's efforts to keep him away from the family. Bristol told In Touch that Levi's story is a "lie" and she worries that if her ex continues to spread his seed, Tripp will be teased at school.

"I don’t want him to go to elementary school with 10 half-siblings," she said. "That would really affect him."

Levi and his girlfriend, Sunny Oglesby, appeared on the Insider Wednesday to talk about the pregnancy and try to bring Palin supporters over to Team Levi.

"It's really sad that [the Palins have] put that image out for him cause I mean everyone's gonna believe them because they're more famous," Sunny said. "You know it's Sarah Palin and she has lots of fans so everyone believes that and Levi doesn't really have a chance against them."

Like Bristol, Sarah Palin has accused Levi of lying about his efforts to see his son.

"We have never hidden Tripp from Levi or discouraged Levi from spending time with him," she said in a statement to TMZ. "Any suggestion that we have is false and contrary to our core beliefs."

The New Yorker has gotten pretty good mileage out of something I wrote in August 2007. It was in this here breezy lil’ web column. Some of us National Review types were fresh off a cruise to Alaska. (Through Alaska, I should say.) And, amid my jottings, I wrote,

In Juneau, the governor invited us to the mansion for a reception. She is Sarah Palin, a former beauty-pageant contestant, and a real honey, too. Am I allowed to say that? Probably not, but too bad. She is a honey in multiple ways. It was a pleasure to be with her, and her political career will probably take her beyond Alaska. Dick Morris is only one who thinks so.

Keep reading this post . . .

Meghan McCain doesn't appear to be a fan of some comments Bristol Palin made in her recent memoir "Not Afraid Of Life: My Journey So Far."

In the book, Sarah Palin's daughter tells stories from the 2008 campaign trail and writes about her experiences with John McCain's daughter Meghan and wife Cindy. Per ABC News, Bristol said of the McCain women, "I'd never seen people with so much Louis Vuitton luggage, so many cell phones, and so many constant helpers to do hair and makeup."

Meghan shot back at Bristol's claims in a new interview with Playboy. "I did bump into her [Bristol] at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, actually," said McCain. She continued:

"I saw her across the room. That girl biffed it fast, totally took off. All that stuff she wrote was a total lie. I have, like, one Louis Vuitton purse. She's just young and confused and was thrust into all this. The media aren't kind to her. But once someone signs up for Dancing With the Stars, it's hard to sympathize."

On the subject of Palin's "Dancing With The Stars" stint, and presumably the TLC reality show "Sarah Palin's Alaska," McCain was asked if she had any interest in appearing on reality television. "Never!" she said, explaining that "Hell would freeze over before I would do a reality show." Summing up her own dancing prowess, McCain joked, "You certainly won't see me dancing on TV. I'm the worst. I have, like, two moves--the hair flip and the shoulder move and that's it, baby."

As previously reported, McCain also touched upon the 2012 presidential contest in her Playboy interview. "It's just been so lame," she said. Lamenting the lack of "electricity" in the race thus far, she explained, "You'd think someone would rise up and tap the frustration and energy of the Occupy movement or the Tea Party, but it just hasn't happened yet."

McCain also told the magazine that she was "very uncool in high school." On her sex life, she explained that she is "not a lesbian," adding "I’m strictly dickly. I can’t help it. I love sex and I love men."

The full Playboy interview can be found here.

Sarah Palin, Big Government
There is a new street art poster that’s being emailed around and will no doubt eventually be spotted on a street corner near you. It’s a gritty black and white image of Andrew Breitbart looking both battle-worn and ever vigilant with the caption: “BREITBART IS HERE.”Those three words express the instant connection many of us feel for our fallen friend. They express our identification with him, and our need to continue his fight for the good of our republic.

Yesterday, we explored the Obama campaign’s ad against Sarah Palin featuring heavy selective editing to take her comments about President Obama out of context. As we pointed out, the ad cut out all discussion of both Bill Maher’s nasty language about Gov. Palin and President Obama’s association with Derrick Bell. And last night, Gov. Palin commented on the ad herself, writing:

 

 

The far Left continues to believe American voters are not smart enough to grasp the diversionary tactics it employs to distract us from the issues our President just doesn’t want to talk about – issues that affect us all every day and must be addressed. Exhibit A in these diversionary tactics is an absurd new attack ad President Obama has released taking my comments out of context ….

 

 

This latest ad is quite odd, but also quite telling. It shows that our President sure seems fearful of discussing the economy, energy prices, and all the other problems people need addressed. And intended or not, now that his ad opens up the discussion of Barack Obama’s radical past associations and the radical philosophy that shaped his ideas about his promised “fundamental transformation” of our country, I welcome the media to join ordinary Americans in finally vetting Barack Obama.

 

 

Today, Politico reported on the controversy, and in doing so, presented “the full comments from Palin’s March 8 interview with Hannity.” The only problem: the remarks they present aren’t close to full. In fact, they don’t mention either Bill Maher or Derrick Bell either. So Politico, even when covering the controversy, refused to give the context. Leave it to the liberal media to cover a story about selective editing … and selectively edit in the process to protect President Obama. This is why we have to vet the media as well as the president.

In the weeks following the horrific Tuscon, Arizona shootings of January 2011 that left six dead and 19 wounded, including Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, most Americans called for less divisive rhetoric in what had become an extremely heated socio-political discourse.

Some looked at Sarah Palin's Super PAC website -- which had posted Giffords' district in the crosshairs of a rifle scope with a tag line -- "Don't Retreat! Reload!" -- as evidence there was a misguided encouragement of right-wing, insurrection and violence coming directly from elected officials and political operatives.

As Stephen Colbert famously explained, the horrible circumstances of that day led many to hope, "Sarah Palin will, at long last, shut up for ten f**king minutes."

It was not to be.

Palin went on the defensive: accusing the "lamestream media" of waging a "blood libel" campaign against her.

Misguided? Yes. But, as she likely anticipated, the statement effectively kept her name in the headlines for another news cycle.

It appears, as the 2012 election takes shape, Palin is at it again: using her political celebrity to make outrageous claims, and draw attention to what appears to be prevailing ignorance, but reveals itself as a staggering genius to make money and fuel her own vanity.

Last week, the former, half-term governor and failed VP candidate, accused President Barack Obama of taking the nation backwards to days "before the Civil War". In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Palin claimed "what Barack Obama seems to want to do is take us back to those days when we were in different classes based on income... based on color of skin."

It has been awhile since anyone took Palin seriously as a presidential nominee. The TLC reality show, lackluster bus tour and failure to establish intellectual credibility on matters of foreign or domestic policy, led most Americans to the correct conclusion Sarah was purely in it for the money. Of course that truth didn't stop loyal, committed fans, many of whom are honest American conservatives -- albeit naïve -- from giving handily to Sarah PAC.

Much like a corrupt televangelist, Palin continued to rally and inspire at organized Tea Party events; raising cash for her political action committee, while accepting speaking fees upwards of $100,000.

Just as Palin appealed to women voters during the 2008 campaign by using an indelible charm, she has now learned to manipulate the economic malaise caused by the Bush-Cheney economy, perfecting the momma grizzly shtick, and misinforming the electorate about "Obamacare", stirring up old prejudices and inciting anti-Obama sentiment.

That line of work, of course, has been lucrative and she's been at it for even longer than she was Governor of Alaska; three whole years, in fact.

But Palin is a symptom, rather than the disease.

GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum claims he doesn't what to make "blah" people's lives better "by giving them other people's money", and former Speaker Newt Gingrich incites old racial stereotypes by suggesting "President Obama is the greatest food stamp president": Sarah Palin has simply joined the race-baiting club. She boldly suggests the nation's first African-American president would prefer a country reflective of an antebellum American South: a society in which blacks were bought and sold in chains, counted three-fifths of a person, and broke their backs and wills working in cotton fields for no pay.

Silly Sarah, can you possibly believe that's what President Obama wants? Or are you, like Rush Limbaugh, willing to say anything for money and fame? No matter how vile or destructive?

The nation rightly called into question Limbaugh's recent verbal attacks on women; now it is time to shed light on Palin's subversive attacks on African Americans.

The former governor blatantly disrespects the president, using racially coded tales; and by doing so denigrates the Office of the Presidency as well as the long, tortured history of slavery and racial discrimination against black people in this America she claims to know "by heart."

In her interview with Sean Hannity last week, Palin went further by making an outrageous claim that late Harvard Professor Derrick Bell's call for greater diversity on the Ivy League campus amounted to racism.

Of course she did no research to discover Bell was the first tenured African-American law professor at Harvard - and so failed to understand there was little to no diversity when he arrived in 1969, just one year following Martin Luther King's assassination. Instead Palin suggested Bell believed "white men oppressed blacks". The factual evidence of the latter aside, Palin ignored all historical contexts, and pandered to a Republican far-right base, by asserting Obama's association with Bell -- as student and professor -- made him guilty of "racism".

The ignorance is baffling, especially when one considers Palin is being paid to spew this unique form of propaganda as fact. Hers is a dangerous fallacy, sold to a misinformed, undereducated and increasingly impoverished poor, white America -- especially in the South and Midwest -- who are prone to believe her lies.

These tactics have been successfully employed by the GOP for years, creating a Republican Party defined by its resentment of America's changing demographics and the African-American president currently occupying the Oval Office. The fact that Fox News executives, producers and millions of conservatives don't see anything wrong with Palin's race-baiting only proves this nation has so much further to go before it is truly "post-racial."

But the more important narrative here is that Palin has become emblematic of the new Republican Party -- and though she isn't running for office -- she continues to influence the message used by the likes of Michele Bachmann, Santorum and even Gingrich and Romney. Her appeal to base supporters generates a powerful movement that, if managed correctly, can deliver political power and electoral success. It was already proven in November 2010.

Perhaps now the most we can hope for is that reasonable-minded republicans, independents and democrats alike, will vote for a Democratic platform which is "post-Palin."

Her ignorance is powerfully deafening, and should be silenced.

Instead of watching Saturday night's premiere of Game Change, the controversial HBO movie that depicted John McCain and Sarah Palin's run for the White House in 2008, McCain watched the Phoenix Coyotes defeat the San Jose Sharks. Speaking on Fox News Sunday, the Republican senator from Arizona said that he didn't watch the film because it is "based on a book that's completely biased," and expressed dismay over the film's negative portrayal of Sarah Palin. "I admire and respect her. I'm proud of our campaign. ...

By Nicolle Wallace “Game Change” is not a movie about Sarah Palin.  And it’s definitely not about staffers like me. It’s a film about the vast, murky gray area in which the majority of politics takes place.  I’m not talking about what you see on...

Chris Matthews bashed the GOP for its take on women in the 2012 election with a claim against the party on his Sunday morning show.

"One of the time warps these days is watching Republicans ignore the simple fact that women vote and are the majority voters," he said.

He replayed footage of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin on the 2008 campaign trail. "With all the progress of those two iconic developments," he compared, "I do think it's odd the way we're talking about contraception — by the way, as if that's only a women's issue, it's a male female issue, obviously — and treating women like they're not really voters."

The Washington Post's Nia-Malika Henderson remarked that Republicans "are forgetting" that support from women voters was key to Obama winning the presidency in 2008, and called the debate over contraception a "surprising development." She also speculated that the GOP nominee would have to strongly consider choosing a female running mate in light of the recent uproar.

While Sarah Palin has denounced the HBO docudrama “Game Change” about her rise to national stardom during the 2008 presidential campaign as a “false narrative,” one of Palin’s top advisers said today that the film was actually “true enough to make me squirm.” Nicolle Wallace,...

Michelle Goldberg, The Daily Beast
If you're a fan of Sarah Palin, or if you just haven't followed the recriminations from John McCain staffers in the wake of the 2008 campaign, you will likely find Julianne Moore's portrayal of her in the HBO movie Game Change to be sexist. It's not just the depiction of her shocking ignorance""at one point, she has to be told that the Queen of England doesn't conduct that country's foreign policy, while at another, she is confused to hear that Saddam Hussein was not behind the September 11 attacks. She's also absurdly vain, going on the...

The former VP candidate claims “the movie is based on a false narrative”; our “World News” report: -Jake Tapper

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sarah Palin is shrugging off a controversial new HBO movie on Friday that portrays her as unstable and unprepared for the 2008 vice presidential run that made her a Republican political star. The television premiere of "Game Change" is on Saturday, based on a book of the same name by journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin about Republican John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. Both Palin, who is portrayed by Julianne Moore in the movie, and McCain have said they will not watch the movie. ...

WASHINGTON -- After three years of speculation and plenty of criticism from its main subjects, HBO’s “Game Change” premiered in Washington on Thursday at the Newseum before a packed audience of more than 200 political and media heavyweights.

Adapted from the book by Jon Heilman and Mark Halperin, the film chronicles a two-month period in the 2008 presidential race, beginning with then-Gov. Sarah Palin’s nomination to be the Republican vice presidential nominee, and ending with Sen. John McCain’s concession speech following Barack Obama’s victory.

Stars Julianne Moore and Sarah Paulson, director Jay Roach and screenwriter Danny Strong walked the red carpet at the premiere, where they spoke to HuffPost about the relationship between politics and acting, as well as what they might say to the film's subjects if they had the chance.

“This movie isn’t as much about Sarah Palin as it is about how we choose our leaders and why we’re drawn, again and again, to people who are wildly charismatic and attractive, with almost a movie star quality," said Moore.

“Why [we think] those qualities are necessary in a leader is beyond me. Obviously they’re not,” Moore said.

But for Roach, the director, the similarities between politics and acting were front-and-center to his thinking. "You almost have to be an actor [to be elected to office], no matter what your chops are as a policy expert or a candidate," he said.

Strong, the screenwriter, said he would love the chance to tell Palin "how amazing I think she is. She’s this extraordinary, dynamic, fascinating person.”

WATCH ALL THE RED CARPET INTERVIEWS ABOVE.

In the wake of the controversy over Rush Limbaugh's derogatory remarks about Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke, conservatives have accused the left of hypocrisy in not condemning comments made by liberal political satirist Bill Maher.

Maher, who donated $1 millon to Obama-supporting super PAC Priorities USA Action last month, used a sexual epithet to refer to Sarah Palin during his stand-up act in 2011. Palin and other conservatives have demanded that the group return Maher's money.

But on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports" on Thursday, Priorities USA chairman Bill Burton rejected the idea that comments made by Limbaugh and Maher were equivalent to each other, saying that the argument distracted from larger issues

MITCHELL: There's been a suggestion that you should return the $1 million contribution from Bill Maher, that if liberals are going to go after Rush Limbaugh for the outrageous things that he's said about Sandra Fluke, that you should return the contribution from Bill Maher because of things that he has said about Sarah Palin.

BURTON: Well, a couple of things. First of all, obviously, some of those things were vulgar and inappropriate and said over the course of years of a comedian's life. It's not language I would use or language we would use at Priorities USA.

MITCHELL: Isn't that what Mitt Romney said over Rush Limbaugh's language? "Not language that I would use."

BURTON: But the notion that there is an equivalence between what a comedian has said over the course of his career and what the de facto leader of the Republican Party said to sexually degrade a woman who engaged in an important political debate of our time is crazy. There's no similarity between what Rush Limbaugh said, lying about the argument that Miss Fluke was making, that law student at Georgetown, and what a comedian has said in the past. And then finally, if we want to have this debate where we're stacking up what supporters of candidates have said over time, Mitt Romney begged Ted Nugent for his endorsement and he gave it to him and he embraced it and his campaign was bragging about it. I mean, you look at some of the things he's said. But this is all distraction from the fact that there are real differences in this race between Mitt Romney and President Obama on key issues, and that's what's important here. Where do they stand on contraception? What kind of Supreme Court justice is Mitt Romney going to put in place? An Antonin Scalia or an Elena Kagan? That's the argument that I think is important here.

[Photo by Gage Skidmore]

If you are one of those who "enjoys" the topsy-turvy nature of the election season, the only real show to watch these past few months has been the Republican Primary. I will say that I have managed only to watch the debates via the filter of my friends on Twitter, but still it has been fascinating. Like every arm-chair political pundit, I too have been wondering who has the best shot at unseating President Obama -- for the record, I think John Huntsman was the only legit threat -- and now that it's down to the final four, the past few weeks have been pretty wild.

One of the issues that keep arising is the boldness with which Rick Santorum has been speaking the ways his faith influences his politics and should influence the laws of the United States. I am not a fan, but I get why some people might like him. No one is going to fault him for not speaking his mind including saying that 1960's John Kennedy's Speech about the separation of church and state made him want to vomit.  His "throw up" comment combined with his comments about the snobbery of a college education and a growing list of other provocative statements may be moving him closer to the Dan Quale and Sarah Palin Quotable Club than the White House. But I guess we'll see.

In any case, one of the Santorum posts that has been going around is the Top Ten Catholic Teachings Santorum Rejects while Obsessing about Birth Control post by Juan Cole. His list begins as follows:

1. So for instance, Pope John Paul II was against anyone going to war against Iraq I think you'll find that Rick Santorum managed to ignore that Catholic teaching.

2.The Conference of Catholic Bishops requires that health care be provided to all Americans. I.e., Rick Santorum's opposition to universal health care is a betrayal of the Catholic faith he is always trumpeting.

3. The Catholic Church opposes the death penalty for criminals in almost all situations. (Santorum largely supports executions.)

4. The US Conference of Bishops has urged that the federal minimum wage be increased, for the working poor. Santorum in the Senate repeatedly voted against the minimum wage.

5. The bishops want welfare for all needy families, saying "We reiterate our call for a minimum national welfare benefit that will permit children and their parents to live in dignity. A decent society will not balance its budget on the backs of poor children." Santorum is a critic of welfare.

Read full list and post by Juan Cole here.

Now, when I first read this list, my inside snarky junior high school boy voice was like, "Yeah, Santorum take that, you big mean right-wing hypocrite!" Because, let's be honest, it does seems like a serious amount of selective faith positions are being used to support political ones. Now I am not Catholic. I personally differ on some social and theological positions that the Roman Catholic church holds and I also agree with a great deal of what the Catholic Church believes and does. But again, I am not a Catholic, so I do not know what the expectations are of the members of the Roman Catholic Church. Should a member agree with everything that the Catholic Church believes in doctrine and practice? Wow, that's a huge question for Catholics around the world.

I am so very glad that I am a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA) where, in our tradition, every member agrees with every one of the social and theological positions that our denomination has ever taken.

Oh ... wait a minute.

Dangit, I guess it's hard for me to really get on Santorum too much because really, is any of us pure of heart and action when it comes to our denominational or religious affiliations let alone the entirety of our faith? I think not. So while I would love to bask the condescending glow of his own inconsistencies and hypocrisy, I keep hearing Jesus scream into my ear,

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. - Matthew 7:1-2

Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. - John 8:2-11

Please don't get me wrong, I am also not defending him, his positions or the tone of the attacks that are coming from the GOP primary. It is probably safe to say that much would have to happen in order for me not to support a secnd term of Barack Obama. What I am doing is calling on those of us Christians who vigorously disagree with the folks like Santorum, to do so with a little more care than others might, because, while he is certainly opening himself up to public scrutiny by seeking the highest elected office in the land, I do not think Jesus' would see that as an excuse to unfairly judge or cast any stones his way.

While I would love to be able to keep up with comments on the various blogs that I post on, if you really want me to respond, please comment on the original post on www.reyes-chow.com.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Julianne Moore has played a range of film characters from a cocaine snorting porn star in "Boogie Nights" to a lesbian cheating mom in "The Kids Are All Right," and she's been Oscar nominated four times for movies including "The Hours." On Saturday, the 51-year-old takes on another complicated role, portraying real-life conservative firebrand politician Sarah Palin in HBO's "Game Change. ...