The Party’s leaders have for reasons that aren’t rational, left [Rep. Todd Akin] behind on the political battlefield, wounded and bleeding, a casualty of his self-inflicted, but not intentional wound. In a Party that supposedly stands for life, it was tragic to see the carefully orchestrated and systematic attack on a fellow Republican. Not for a moral failure or corruption or a criminal act, but for a misstatement which he contritely and utterly repudiated. …Who ordered this “Code Red” on Akin?Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee • Issuing, via email last Thursday, a vociferous defense of congressman and Missouri senate candidate Todd Akin, who’s been under a lot of pressure by the GOP to drop out of his race after espousing a fallacious theory about rape victims and pregnancy last week. To be clear, the “code red” Huckabee disdains isn’t so much dealing with the policy implications of Akin’s views – the GOP is ardently anti-abortion, and makes no exceptions for rape or incest victims in their official party platform. Rather, the turmoil is a political one. With the party struggling among likely female voters, during a huge general election year, the name of the game since the story broke has become ‘down with Akin.’ But Huckabee won’t play ball; rather, he’s emerged as Todd Akin’s most vocal defender. This is the same Mike Huckabee who has a mainline speaking slot at the upcoming Republican convention in Tampa next week. Rest assured, there’s some heartburn being felt over at Romney HQ because of this. source (via • follow)
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I have not been asked. I think there’s a greater likelihood that I’ll be asked by Madonna to go on tour as her bass player than I’ll be picked to be on the ticket.Mike Huckabee • On his chances of being Mitt Romney’s running mate. The Huck is a great bassist, we’ve heard.
![theatlantic:
For the Next Two Weeks, Rush Limbaugh Won’t Have National Advertisers
Right after releasing an ever-growing-list companies that don’t want anything to do with Rush Limbaugh on Monday (the count is at 140), the broadcaster’s distributor has sent out a memo telling affiliates to suspend national advertising spots for the next two weeks.
Though Premiere Radio Networks did not specifically comment on why the suspension was needed, but it does address one problem in particular: In the past week, several companies were unaware that their ads had aired during Limbaugh’s show in the wake of his comments about Sandra Fluke.
Read more. [Image: Reuters]
The real question, obviously: If Rush lays low for two weeks with advertisers, will they eventually come back? In a related note, David Frum makes the astute point that Mike Huckabee (who’s jumping in the talk-radio game with a friendlier approach) is a real, genuine threat to Rush’s long-term future on radio, partly because he’s safer for advertisers, partly because he’s competing for the same time slot, and partly because his timing is perfect.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0tuuaSfF01qcokc4o1_500.jpg)
For the Next Two Weeks, Rush Limbaugh Won’t Have National Advertisers
Right after releasing an ever-growing-list companies that don’t want anything to do with Rush Limbaugh on Monday (the count is at 140), the broadcaster’s distributor has sent out a memo telling affiliates to suspend national advertising spots for the next two weeks.
Though Premiere Radio Networks did not specifically comment on why the suspension was needed, but it does address one problem in particular: In the past week, several companies were unaware that their ads had aired during Limbaugh’s show in the wake of his comments about Sandra Fluke.Read more. [Image: Reuters]
The real question, obviously: If Rush lays low for two weeks with advertisers, will they eventually come back? In a related note, David Frum makes the astute point that Mike Huckabee (who’s jumping in the talk-radio game with a friendlier approach) is a real, genuine threat to Rush’s long-term future on radio, partly because he’s safer for advertisers, partly because he’s competing for the same time slot, and partly because his timing is perfect.
Dave Weigel, stand-up comedian: Huck’s absolutely right to make the announcement. That bassline is really tough. Not everyone can be a God like Geddy Lee.
It really sucks to be a GOP voter right now. Despite wide frustration on the right side of the aisle over Barack Obama’s policies, nobody appears to be doing the trick for conservative voters, according to this poll by The Washington Post and ABC News. And it gets worse: In a general election, Obama would best the entire field. Only Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee really get within fighting distance. Tim Pawlenty and Newt Gingrich are 15 points behind. Sarah Palin is 17 points behind, by far the worst showing. source
So, because we like watching car crashes, we went to the local Borders tonight to check out the scene three days before its death. Many of the shelves were empty. The story was in the books that were still there even at 80 percent off. (Surprisingly, nobody wants to read a tome written by The Situation.) It was sad and depressing, which is why we’re sharing these low-res iPhone photos with you. Enjoy!
One of the perks of being an early employee...
Over the last 90 days, the Digg...
#FMMDI (at 30 Rockefeller Plaza)
Thanks. I guess my thoughts are as follows:
1. I think...
Two Months Ago I set out to interview the principal cast...
This guy’s name is Gen. Keith...
» What to make of this: By and large, the takeaway here is that the Republican field is very weak, and there’s no clear favorite (Huckabee and Romney could perhaps be considered “co-favorites”). Trump has done well in a few polls, but this is more likely due to a) boredom on the part of primary voters, and b) Trump’s recent media blitz. It’s difficult to imagine a candidate with such toxic approval ratings winning a national election; he’d have to win over an additional 18% of voters just to break even. That being said, 26% of voters in the PPP poll haven’t yet made up their mind about Trump, giving him lots of room to grow. Still, we agree with Christian Heinz over at The Hill, who noted that Trump’s numbers illustrate “the tremendous thirst for a new, charismatic candidate” in the GOP primary. Charismatic? You betcha. Electable? We’re not so sure.
When you interview people, if ever I got the nomination, if I ever decide to run, you may go back and interview people from my kindergarten. They’ll remember me. Nobody ever comes forward. Nobody knows who he his until later in his life. It’s very strange. The whole thing is very strange.Donald Trump • About Barack Obama, in an interview with ABC news. On the heels of his Comedy Central roast, which he ended with an awkwardly obvious political self-promotion, Trump is now using dog whistle rhetoric to appeal to people who doubt the legitimacy of the President (the birthers, basically). This is, as it happens, not uncommon in the realm of Republican politics at this time- Mike Huckabee, however he might like to deny it, was doing precisely the same thing when he claimed Obama had a Kenyan upbringing. So, an early sign that Donald Trump knows how to pander to those racked with distrust and conspiracy theories. source (via • follow)
Yeah, why isn’t Natalie Portman sleeping in a gutter somewhere, turning her big doe eyes up pitifully at every passing stranger, begging for government handouts and then giving birth to a sick baby, to be realistic? Doesn’t she know what kind of message it sends to the youth of America, her not being super poor and miserable at the Oscars?Mike Huckabee Trashes Natalie Portman’s Sinful Pregnancy (via bbook) • Guess he isn’t running for president after all. Don’t #*(@ with Natalie, OK?
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