(Politics WEEKLY) Santorum OUT; Romney's wrath; Obama Defends; Hilary Joins IN!

• KARMA: Rick Santorum Drops Out!

• POINT: Ann Romney Hasn't Worked a Day in Her Life!

• TOO SOON: Michelle Obama Defends Ann Romney!

• CAT NIP: Let's Please End This Phony 'Girl Fight'!

• PAYBACK: Planned Parenthood Sues Texas!

• CHEATER: John Edwards Repays $2.1M to Taxpayers!

• BITCH FEST: London Mayoral Candidates Out-Gay Each Other; Brian Paddick Talks Bullying!

• LOW DOWN: Gumbel Was Embarrassed by Today 'Co-Host' Palin!

• NOT TRUE: Paul Ryan a Centrist? Pure Myth!

• IN: Clinton Gets In on Text Meme Joke!

(TOP VIDEO) Bully; VD; Zarley; Romney; Disco Glee!

• What if Jesus Christ Was a Bullied High School Teen?

• VD Is For Everybody!

• Matt Zarley Puts Himself in Political Hot Water!

• Mitt Romney Does 'Gay Voice', Asks for the Pink Tie! 

• Anderson Cooper Can't Contain Himself! 

• Bittersweet Memories!

• 'It Gets Bigger,' A Necessary Parody Of 'It Gets Better'! 

• Glee' Enters the Disco Era!

(MY view) My Children's Other Mom, Hilary Rosen!

by Elizabeth Birch

There is something just wrong with people twisting concerns for women and jobs into mom-on-mom conflict.

Here is the thing: Hilary Rosen is an amazing, loving and dedicated mother to our twins. I have absolutely no doubt Ann Romney and Hilary spend most of their waking hours worrying about the same things: how to best support their children in this complicated world. They both know the most important and central issue for children is that they are loved -- and safe.

When Hilary voices concerns over women and jobs what she is really saying is that most women -- and moms especially -- worry day in and day out about how to make it all come together at the end of each day. How to make ends meet, while juggling school bags, soccer balls and healthy lunches -- not to mention the magic tricks with time to to squeeze out those precious hours to be with our children each day.

Read MORE!

(Politics WEEKLY) ROMNEY'S VP; JACKIE; WALLACE!

• SUPERSTAR: Top 5 Picks for Romney Running Mate! 

• LET IT BE SO: Rumors Grow Santorum Will Drop Out! 

• LEZBO: Phyllis Schlafly Warns Men: Don't Date Feminists! 

• SELECTIVE: At GOP Convention, Squirt Guns Banned, Real Guns OK! 

• DUMB-ASS: Romney Could Have a 'Dan Quayle Problem'! 

• BONE COLLECTOR: Jackie Tried to Save Piece of JFK's Skull! 

• FAILING: George McGovern Hospitalized! 

• RESPECTED: 60 Minutes icon Mike Wallace dies at 93!

(Politics WEEKLY) Race Politics; Santorum Bombs; Newt for Sale!

• RACE CARD: Dem Kicked Off House Floor for Hoodie! 

• S-BOMB: Santorum Calls Out NYT Reporter's 'BS'! 

• OVERHEARD: Obama, Medvedev Caught on Hot Mic! 

• SEGREGATE: Anti-Gay Marriage Group's Plan: Divide Gays, Blacks! 

• N-BOMB: Santorum: I Didn't Drop N-Bomb on Obama! 

• FOR SALE: Want a Pic With Newt? That'll Be $50!

(Politics WEEKLY) Obama Grabs a Guinness; Romney Passes on Medicare and Stumbles; Game Change Wins; Santorum Wins; Hilary 2016; Blago; Viagra; Assange!;

• ROOTS: Obama Grabs Guinness for St. Paddy's Day! 

• PRO-GOV: Romney willll Get Rid of Planned Parenthood!

• LOSER: Romney Stumbles in Fox Interview!

• OZ'd: Jail-Bound Blago Says Goodbye!

• GOLDEN: GOP Handing 2016 to Hillary! 
  

• HIT: Game Change Draws Biggest HBO Audience Since 2004! 

• Sandra Fluke: Name Calling Won't Silence Us!

• HATE: Santorum Wins Alabama, Mississippi!

• TIRED: Vets Rip Flag With Obama's Face!

• UNITED: 6 Female Politicians Go After Male Masturbation, Viagra!

• Xpress: Santorum: Time to Ban Pornography!

• LOSER(S): Republicans Brace for Brokered Convention!

• STAR: Julian Assange to Run for Senate in Australia!

(Politics WEEKLY) Gay Navy Moment; Super Tuesday; NY Press Vs. Santorum; Dennis Kucinich; Warren in Trouble; Inslee Serious; Parker may resign; DC Divorce; Game Change!

• Gay Navy Homecoming! 

• Super Tuesday Results: Who Won What!

• Santorum: New York Press Out to Get Me!

• Dennis Kucinich Loses Ohio Seat!

• Scott Brown Beating Warren! 

• GOP Blasts Elizabeth Warren for Hollywood Pals!

• Rep. Jay Inslee to Resign, Run for Governor in Washington!

  Houston Pastor Calls on Mayor Annise Parker to Step Down for Support of Same-Sex Marriage!

• Filmmaker Alexander Payne, Nebraska Football Coach Ron Brown Testify at Omaha Hearing on LGBT Anti-Bias Bill!

• Gay Couples Married in D.C. Can Now Get Divorced More Easily!

• DNCC Chair Antonio Villaraigosa Says Democratic Party Platform Should Include Marriage Equality!

• McCain Blasts Game Change!

(Politics WEEKLY) Santorum Vomit; Gingrich's Backer; Mitt Wins; Breitbart's Death; Limbaugh's Dirty Mouth!

• Could JFK's Speech Literally Make Santorum Vomit?

• Gingrich's Billionaire Backer Coughs Up Yet More Dough!

• Mitt Wins Easily in Arizona; Wins Wyoming Caucuses; Increases Lead in Washington Caucuses!

• Breitbart's Death No Accident: Conspiracy Theorists!

• 63% Back Birth Control Coverage!  

• GOP Senator Olympia Snowe to Retire!
  

• Obama Calls Student After Slam by Limbaugh!

• 

  Limbaugh Apologizes for 'Slut' Insult!

 

 

 

DEBUT! (POLITICS WEEKLY) LEGAL in WA; Veteo'd in NJ; 'Don't Say Gay' approved!

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire Signs Marriage Equality Bill Into Law!

Protesters Arrested, Tased After Heckling, Glittering Rick Santorum in Tacoma!

New Jersey Senate Passes Marriage Equality Bill 24-16!

NJ Governor Chris Christie Vetoes Marriage Equality Bill!

Maryland House Approves Marriage Equality Bill!

Maggie Gallagher Grilled Over NOM's Anti-Gay Agenda!

Santorum Ad Attacking Romney Features Splattering Frothy Liquid!

Romney Touts His Ability to Stop Gay Tourism!

Lesbian Couple Arrested After Locking Themselves to One Another at Albuquerque, NM Marriage Bureau!

Oklahoma Elects First Openly Gay State Senator!

'Don't Say Gay' Bill Approved by Tennessee House Panel!

(TOP NEWS) WA is ThisClose; Senators Blast Komen; Trumped; Remembering Ty; Roseanne; Madonna; GAGA GAG!

HOPE: Washington Steps Closer to Legalizing Gay Marriage!

ORDERED: Senators to Komen: Restore Planned Parenthood Cuts!

NOT FIRED: Trump Endorses Mitt!

VIGIL: Brother Remembers Tyler Clementi!

RUNNING: Roseanne Files Papers to Run for President!

CONTROLLED: Madonna Cut Her Own Daughter From Film!

GAG: Gaga's Parents' Restaurant Is Gross!

WRECK: Last Night's GOP Florida Debate in 100 Seconds!

Getting GOP debate fatigue? You're not alone. But here are the big moment's from last night's.

Here's where they're polling:

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich holds a 9-point lead over his GOP rival Mitt Romney among Republican voters nationwide, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. The new survey comes five days ahead of the Florida Republican primary, where polls suggest Romney has the edge. Victory in Florida could give either Romney or Gingrich the momentum they need to pull ahead as the frontrunner.

RE-MATCH: Let Bill Clinton Run Against Gingrich!

If the GOP can revive Newt Gingrich from his political grave, Democrats are allowed to play retro too—and bring back Bill Clinton, David Maraniss writes in the Washington Post. True, "the law prohibits the Comeback Kid from coming back to serve a third term, and Obama might not go for it, but only old-school twits would let any of that get in the way," chuckles Maraniss. Plus it's a perfect matchup: Bill and Newt's foibles would brilliantly balance each other out, banishing "pious baloney about sex" from our national debate. Clinton could also satisfy Gingrich's desire for 3-hour Lincoln-Douglas-style debates, because Bill, "who was born talking and never stopped, can match him word for word, hour after hour, until the last dog flaps its ears down.

It would be a blabfest for the ages." Most delicious advantage for Clinton: In Gingrich's own words, "I melt when I'm around him." Writes Maraniss: "Clinton ate Gingrich alive back then. There is no reason to believe he has lost that magic spell."

PROOF: Romney Returns: $6.2M in Taxes on $42.6M!

Just hours after debating tax rates during the GOP debate in Florida, Mitt Romney released his tax returns, revealing that he collected $20.9 million in income last year, and $21.7 million the previous year—nearly all of it in profits, dividends, or interest from investments. None came from wages, reports the Washington Post. He estimates he'll pay $3.2 million in federal taxes for a tax rate of 15.4% for last year's income. The previous year, he paid $3 million in taxes at a 13.9% rate. His tax rates are below most American wage earners because his income isn't from wages, notes Reuters.

The Romneys gave away $7 million in charitable contributions the last two years, including $4.1 million to the Mormon church. Romney boasted during the debate that his tax bill is "entirely legal and fair," adding: "I'm proud of the fact that I pay a lot of taxes." Newt Gingrich, who supports a 15% flat tax, quipped during the debate that he wants to bring Americans' tax rate "down" to Romney's. But Romney pointed out that Gingrich wants a 0% tax on capital gains, and that under such a strategy, he would pay "no taxes." Romney has released nearly 550 pages of tax documents, including the 2010 returns for three family trusts and a foundation, after criticism from rivals for failure to bare his income earlier and following a sound trouncing in South Carolina by Gingrich.

BIG-GOT: Santorum Gets Glitter-Bombed!

Adding insult to his third-place injury, protesters crashed Rick Santorum's South Carolina primary party last night, chanting "Rick, Rick, Rick, bigot, bigot, bigot" and glitter-bombing the candidate. As Santorum closed out a speech in which he hailed family values, gay-rights activists and members of Occupy Charleston shouted "Except when you're gay!" and stormed his rally at the Citadel, reports the Summerville Patch. 

No one was arrested, but police forcibly removed the 20 or so protesters. A protester called the move "the people of South Carolina taking a stand against" bigotry.

HILL BILLY: Newt Gingrich Wins South Carolina!

Here's that victory speech. A representative excerpt: So many people who are so concerned about jobs, about medical costs, about the everyday parts of life, who feel that the elites in Washington and New York have no understanding, no concern, no reliability, and in fact do not represent them at all.  ... In the two debates that we had here, in Myrtle Beach and then in Charleston, where people reacted so strongly to the news media -- I think it was something very fundamental that I wish the powers that be and the news media would take seriously. The American people feel that they have elites who have been trying for a half century to force us to quit being American and become some kind of other system.

This is red meat -- the kind which, in steak houses, is said to have been aged to perfection. For a few moments, he seemed on the verge of singing the praises of The Great, Silent Majority and throwing up the double-V's-for-victory.

TOGETHER: Obama Sings Al Green!

When the legendary Reverend Al Green is at your fundraiser, what choice do you have other than to burst into one of his songs onstage? That's what President Obama did last night at the Apollo Theater, singing the first line of Green's "Let's Stay Together" to cheers. Pointing backstage afterward, he joked, "Those guys didn't think I would do it. I told you I was gonna do it." Guess this adds a little fuel to Obama's recent claim that he's not as "aloof" as the media make him out to be. Click for more on the event.

STUD: Newt Gingrich Rips John King in First Moments of Debate for Asking 'Open Marriage' Question!

Newt Gingrich received a standing ovation in the first moments of last night's debate after getting a question from moderator John King about allegations from his ex-wife Marianne that he wanted an "open marriage".

Said Gingrich: "I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country harder to attract decent people to run for office. I’m appalled you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that...Every person in here knows personal pain. Every person in here has had someone close to them go through painful things. To take an ex-wife and make it two days before the primary, a significant question in a presidential campaign, is as close to despicable as anything I can imagine.”

HATE-BACKER: Romney's Bain Gave Millions to Mormon Church!

If Mitt Romney does lift the veil on his tax returns, one thing that voters will get a look at is how much he gives to the Mormon church, and the answer might be a lot more than anyone thought. ABC News finds that Bain Capital routinely cuts the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in on its deals, handing the church millions in stock—including, notably, 65,326 shares of Burger King in 2008, worth some $1.9 million. Romney's campaign acknowledges that such transactions were made at Romney's behest, but says that some of the shares may have been donated by other Mormons at Bain.

"Mitt Romney has publicly stated that he regularly tithes to his church," a spokesman said. "Any shares donated by Mitt Romney are personal shares owned by him." Romney has always been known as a major church benefactor; his family charity, the Tyler Foundation, has given more than $4 million to the church in the past 10 years. But that pales before the Bain windfalls, which have included DDi, Domino's, Innophos Holdings, and Marquee Holdings, parent of AMC Theaters.

SMART: Perry Quits, Endorses 'Not Perfect' Gingrich!

"I've always believed the mission was greater than the man," said Rick Perry this morning, as he announced that he is no longer the man for the mission. Perry officially bowed out of the GOP race for the presidential nomination in an 11am press conference, and threw his support, as expected, behind Newt Gingrich, praising him as a "conservative visionary who can transform our country."

In what could be a nod to some of Gingrich's personal issues, Perry noted that "Newt is not perfect, but who among us is?" He continued, "I believe in the power of redemption." Perry noted that he will return home to Texas "with pride ... with the love of my life by my side," but vowed to stay in the public eye. "I'm not done fighting for the cause of conservatives; as a matter of fact, I have just begun to fight. God bless ya, and God bless this great country of America."

REJECTED: Three South Carolina Gay Couples to Request Marriage Licenses and Be Denied Today!

Protest is brewing in South Carolina as three gay couples plan to ask the state for marriage licenses on January 17th and 18th in Greenville: Alyssa Weaver and Michel McIver, along with the other two couples, know their request will be denied, because in 2006, the state passed a constitutional amendment not just banning gay marriage, but any other type of domestic union. But Weaver said she wants to call attention to the fundamental unfairness of denying her the ability to marry the woman who in their three years together supported her through breast cancer and has helped her as she goes through nursing school.

It's a campaign that's already had a run in North Carolina: Weaver and McIver and the other couples are being supported by the Campaign for Southern Equality, which backed about 20 same-sex couples in Asheville, N.C., who also sought marriage licenses knowing they would be denied. But North Carolina has never passed a ban on gay marriage, while South Carolina voters spoke emphatically about the issue.