(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!

(POP NEWS): Vanessa's Confession; Bynes Busted; Texting Hilary; Banned in Malaysia; Radcliffe Goes GAY; Adam spotted!

• I CONFESS: Vanessa Williams Was Molested as a Child! 

• WASTED: Amanda Bynes Busted for DUI! 

• CONNECTED: Ryan Gosling Texts Hillary Clinton! 

• SELECTIVE: Poverty Groups With Gay Ties Lose Catholic Funding! 

• BANNED: Malaysia to Ban All LGBT Characters from Television Because They're 'Against Norm of a Religious Society'! 

• ATTACKED: LA Gay & Lesbian Center slams KCBS/KCAL for publishing mug shots of men charged in sting operation!

• PRO: Daniel Radcliffe says he felt “no discomfort” filming gay scenes for upcoming “Kill Your Darlings”!

• NOW: Adam Lambert at NewNowNext Awards!

NEXT: Hilary Ready to Leave 'High Wire' of US Politics, But....!

Doesn't sound like Hillary Clinton is having second thoughts about stepping down as secretary of state if President Obama wins a second term. “I’ve made it clear that I will certainly stay on until the president nominates someone and that transition can occur,” she told State Department staffers today, according to Bloomberg. "But I think after 20 years, and it will be 20 years, of being on the high wire of American politics and all of the challenges that come with that, it would be probably a good idea to just find out how tired I am." Clinton has said much the same before

Of course, "everyone always says that when they leave these jobs," she added as her audience laughed, notes AP. As for the GOP race: "You know, I didn't watch any of those debates." And the persistent rumor that she'll replace Joe Biden as VP: "I am happy to work with Vice President Biden, who does an excellent job." More at Politico.

WSH LIST: It's Obama-Clinton in 2012?

Robert Reich may have "absolutely no inside information," but the former labor secretary is making an educated guess as to the 2012 Democratic ticket: It'll be President Obama and Hillary Clinton, Reich writes on his blog. "Obama needs to stir the passions and enthusiasms of a Democratic base that’s been disillusioned with his cave-ins to regressive Republicans. Hillary Clinton on the ticket can do that," he notes.

Echoing Jonathan Alter, Reich suggests that Joe Biden would love to be secretary of state. Putting Clinton on the ticket would also turn the focus away from the economy—a big plus, given the "better than even chance we'll be back in a recession"—and put it on the administration's successful foreign policy. An Obama-Clinton ticket would also combine Gallup's "most admired" man and woman this year. On top of all that, Clinton would become the frontrunner for the Dems in 2016, which could help the party hold the presidency for 12 years, Reich notes.

SOUL-FUL: Hillary Clinton's Historic UN Speech, Now With Music!

Early this month, Hillary Clinton delivered a beautiful speech about LGBT rights to the UN. Apparently the US State Department liked it as much as we did -- they've turned it into a music video.

RECRUITED: Democrats Should Write In Hillary in NH Primary!

It's time for Democrats to start a Draft Hillary campaign for the 2012 election, beginning with a write-in campaign in New Hampshire, write two Democratic pollsters on Politico. Patrick Caddell and Douglas Schoen called on President Obama to step aside last month, saying Clinton would make a far stronger candidate in 2012 and then president going forward. Now they are taking their Clinton push to the next level, asking Democrats "with resources and stature" to lead the write-in movement for the Jan. 10 primary. Since 1944, an incumbent president has had an approval rating below 49% only five times while attempting to get re-elected—and each time that president lost, they write. Obama currently has a 49% approval rating, the worst of any modern president at this point in his presidency.

Citing the repeated candidate surges in the GOP contest, Caddell and Schoen say that grass-roots efforts are driving the political process, making a grass-roots campaign more plausible than ever, especially in New Hampshire "where grass-roots politics predominates." "All that is needed is a spark on the dry tinder of political frustration and anxiety," they write. "A few Democratic patriots can provide the means to make it possible—and change the course of US history."

HOPE: Hillary Clinton's Landmark Speech to the UN on LGBT Rights!

Here's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's historic and unprecedented speech to the UN today on LGBT rights.

Says Clinton, in her opening:  Today, I want to talk about the work we have left to do to protect one group of people whose human rights are still denied in too many parts of the world today. In many ways, they are an invisible minority. They are arrested, beaten, terrorized, even executed. Many are treated with contempt and violence by their fellow citizens while authorities empowered to protect them look the other way or, too often, even join in the abuse. They are denied opportunities to work and learn, driven from their homes and countries, and forced to suppress or deny who they are to protect themselves from harm.

RESPECTED: Dorothy Rodham, Hillary's Mom, Dead at 92!

Dorothy Rodham, Hillary Clinton’s mother, died shortly after midnight, surrounded by her family at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, the Clinton family announced today. She was 92, and had been living with her daughter in Washington since 2006. Clinton canceled a planned trip to London and Istanbul to be with her when she fell ill last night, ABC News reports.

In its statement, the family said Rodham “overcame abandonment and hardship … to become the remarkable woman she was.” They asked well-wishers to make a donation in her name to George Washington Hospital, the Heifer Project, or a local charity of their choice. Rodham had mostly avoided the spotlight during her daughter and son-in-law’s political careers, but did appear alongside Clinton a few times during her campaign for the Democratic nomination in 2008, the AP notes.

BABE: Gaga Channels Marilyn at Clinton Party!

In perhaps a case of history repeating itself, a blonde bombshell serenaded a notoriously libidinous Democratic president last night: But this time it was Lady Gaga sending up Bill Clinton, so things wouldn't have been complete without some extra raunch and an F-bomb. Appearing at last night's "A Decade of Difference" concert in salute of the William J. Clinton Foundation, Gaga told the crowd, "Tonight I thought we'd all get caught up in a little Bill romance," later telling the former prez, "I love you and your hot wife," before demanding that "Billary" "sit back down where you belong in the Oval Office with those high heels on." Finally: "If someone had told me so many years ago that I'd be doing that right in front of you ... I would have given a good American f**k you."

RETIRING? Clinton: Ready to Get Off the 'Merry-Go- Round'

After decades of living in the public eye, Hillary Clinton tells the BBC she is ready to get off the "merry-go-round" at the end of President Obama's first term and enjoy her private life, reports Politico (which has a link to the full transcript.)

“I think that I am a pretty normal, average person, despite all of the hype,” Clinton said. “And I am very interested in spending time with my friends and my family." While Clinton has said before that she is ready to take a break or retire, these comments came unprompted from Clinton herself, not in response to a specific question about stepping down, notes Jennifer Epstein. “I do wake up and say I’m tired so I better get up and get going,” said Clinton, calling her job a "nonstop marathon." "It is for me a moveable adventure." You can hear the full audio at the BBC.