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For those who misunderstood my joke today, here's my quest for forgiveness... Last week my joke at the Conservative Political Action Conference generated laughter and media attention. Today on Andrea Mitchell's show, my aspirin joke bombed as many didn't recognize it as a joke but thought …
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Santorum: Friess Controversy ‘Crap,’ Focuses on Issues — As the furor over Foster Friess's comments about contraception escalates, and the press obsesses over Rick Santorum's wealthy backer, the former Pennsylvania senator tells National Review Online that he is “not going to put up with it.”
Discussion:
Politico, The Hill, Wonkette, Swampland and The Other McCain

Foster Friess Doubles Down — So on his “Campfire Blog,” which is apparently how he communicates with the world when he's not on our television screens, Santorum Super-PAC heavy and all-purpose spokesman Foster Friess apologized to the poor dumb humorless people who didn't get his “joke” …
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Mediaite, CNN and Balloon Juice

GOP candidate says she wants to kick Santorum ‘in the jimmy’ — Republican congressional hopeful Martha McSally, who is running for the House seat recently vacated by Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), said Rick Santorum's remarks about women in combat made her want to “kick him in the jimmy.”
Discussion:
CNN, The Raw Story and Politico

Foster Friess: In my day, women “used Bayer aspirin for contraceptives”
Discussion:
Mediaite, Hullabaloo and Daily Kos

Mike DeWine Switches Endorsement From Mitt Romney To Rick Santorum
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog and Outside the Beltway

Santorum dodges Friess ‘bad joke’
Discussion:
News Desk, Politics, Shakesville, Mediaite, Balloon Juice, Campaign 2012 and National Review

Romney: Rombo ad is “most negative ad I've seen”
Discussion:
National Review


Exclusive: Feds arrest man allegedly heading to U.S. Capitol for suicide mission after sting investigation — Authorities have arrested a man allegedly on his way to the U.S. Capitol for what he thought would be a suicide attack on one of the nation's most symbolic landmarks, Fox News has learned exclusively.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Times, Atlas Shrugs, NO QUARTER, Weasel Zippers, Gawker, RedState, Mediaite, The PJ Tatler and Associated Press
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Federal agents arrest man who allegedly planned suicide bombing on U.S. Capitol — The FBI and the U.S. Capitol Police arrested a man Friday after a lengthy investigation into an alleged plot to carry out a suicide attack on the Capitol. — In a cryptic news release …
Discussion:
Verum Serum, Wonkette, Algemeiner.com, emptywheel, The Heritage Foundation and Jammie Wearing Fools


Top GOP Senator Says ‘If Romney Loses Michigan, We Need a New Candidate’ — A prominent Republican senator just told me that if Romney can't win in Michigan, the Republican Party needs to go back to the drawing board and convince somebody new to get into the race.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Maddow Blog, GOP 12, Outside the Beltway, Balloon Juice and Booman Tribune


Inside Newt Gingrich's Plan To Steal Back The GOP Race — Newt Gingrich has been laying low this month, slipping in the polls and public opinion but gearing up for yet another comeback in the rollercoaster Republican primary. — Gingrich was never expected to do well in February's nominating contests.
Discussion:
The Impolitic, Los Angeles Times and The Atlantic Online
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Gingrich to get another $10 million from casino backer - sources — Sheldon Adelson, left, and Newt Gingrich, right — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's faltering campaign is about to get another shot in the arm, CBS News has learned. — Billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson plans …
Discussion:
Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog and Political Insider

Republican donor expected to shell out $10 million to Gingrich super PAC
Discussion:
GOP 12, Washington Post, Business Insider, ABCNEWS, Daily Kos, Wonkette, The PJ Tatler and Ballot Box


TPMDC — Obama Administration Wouldn't Defend Blocking Military Benefits From Same-Sex Couples — The Obama Justice Department has concluded that legislation banning same-sex couples from receiving military and veterans benefits violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo and Towleroad News #gay
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Maine GOP: Results went to spam — Maine Republican Party chairman Charlie Webster has admitted that the state party made numerous clerical errors in counting the state's caucus results — even omitting some votes because emails reporting tallies “went to spam” in an email account.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, MaineGOP.com, Portland Press-Herald, CNN, Bangor Daily News, The BRAD BLOG, Daily Kos, Frontloading HQ, Slate and Swampland
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Romney's Victory in the Maine Caucuses Is at Risk
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, Washington Wire and Politico


Heartland Memo Looking Faker By the Minute — After yesterday's post on why I thought that one of the documents in the Heartland leak was a fake, I discovered that David Appell had been investigating along the same lines. Appell, however, looked at one thing that hadn't occurred to me: where the PDF was created.
Discussion:
The Agonist, Washington Post and Watts Up With That?

The Jeremy Lin Problem — Jeremy Lin is anomalous in all sorts of ways. He's a Harvard grad in the N.B.A., an Asian-American man in professional sports. But we shouldn't neglect the biggest anomaly. He's a religious person in professional sports. — We've become accustomed …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Weasel Zippers, No More Mister Nice Blog, Feministing, The Maddow Blog and Gothamist


Maryland lawmakers under national pressure on marriage bill — New York's mayor, cardinal-elect make phone calls — As a handful of undecided Maryland delegates wrestle over their position on same-sex marriage, they've received calls from national leaders trying to move them one way or another on the bill.
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, Daily Kos, HorsesAss.Org, Business Insider, ThinkProgress, Gay Politics and Box Turtle Bulletin
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Dick Cheney is lobbying for gay marriage in Maryland?
Discussion:
Box Turtle Bulletin and Baltimore Sun


The Myth of Runaway Health Spending — The growth rate of national health expenditures has been declining for a decade, driven by better medical care and consumer choice. — New data show that health spending over the past several years has been normalizing toward the rate of general inflation …
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler
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Entitlements Hysteria — Wall Street Journal , Federal Budget …
Discussion:
Economist's View

Google's iPhone Tracking — Web Giant, Others Bypassed Apple Browser Settings for Guarding Privacy — Google Inc. and other advertising companies have been bypassing the privacy settings of millions of people using Apple Inc.'s Web browser on their iPhones and computers …
Discussion:
Bits, TechCrunch, The Heritage Foundation, VentureBeat, Politico, Washington Post, Mashable!, CNET, The BLT, Big Journalism, AllThingsD, Slashdot and The Daily Caller, more at Techmeme »

Record 19 reporters, media execs join Team Obama — For some Washington reporters and media execs, cheering their team from the sidelines just isn't good enough: Tugging on a red, white and blue Team Obama jersey is the answer. — That's the case for a whopping 19 journalists and media executives …
Discussion:
Don Surber and Weasel Zippers


Al Sharpton's SUV impounded at La Guardia Airport — Can I get a witness? — The Rev. Al Sharpton tried to move heaven and earth yesterday to keep his SUV from being towed at La Guardia Airport — but no amount of preaching could stop Port Authority cops from impounding the vehicle.
Discussion:
iOwnTheWorld.com, Washington Free Beacon and Gothamist


A Syllabus for the ‘Occupy’ Movement — Conservatives are wrong to deride college courses on the anti-Wall Street protests. Here's a lesson plan and possible reading list. — Schools from New York's Columbia to Chicago's Roosevelt University are offering courses on the “Occupy” movement.
Discussion:
The Volokh Conspiracy, Belmont Club, Hit & Run and Ed Driscoll


Six recused in Waters ethics case — Six members of the House Ethics Committee — including all five Republicans on the secretive panel — have recused themselves from the long-running case involving Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.), an unprecedented move that raises new questions on whether the Waters case can be finished.
Discussion:
The Raw Story

Santorum to Mainline Protestants: You Are Satan's Spawn — Kyle Mantyla of People for the American Way's indispensable Right Wing Watch has come up with an audiotape of a Rick Santorum address to the students of the conservative Catholic Ave Maria University in Florida, delivered in 2008.
Discussion:
Right Wing Watch, No More Mister Nice Blog and Alan Colmes' Liberaland