4 U.S. Presidents. Former President Jimmy Carter (right), walks with, from left, George H.W. Bush (far left), George W. Bush (second from left) and Bill Clinton (center) during the dedication of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock, Arkansas, November 18, 2004 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WOW!

THIS MORNING, IN AN INTERVIEW ON “MORNING JOE,” MSNBC, FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER SAID HE WOULD BE “COMFORTABLE” WITH MITT ROMNEY AS PRESIDENT!!

WHAT!!!

We need to wait to find out whether President Carter misspoke.

OUR TAKE!!!!

Because if he did not, then President Barack Obama could be in real trouble in Election 2012.

AROUND THE WEB

• Jimmy Carter ‘comfortable’ with Romney in the White House (thehill.com)
• Jimmy Carter: You Know, I’d Be Okay With a President Romney. He Seems Competent. (minx.cc)
• Jimmy Carter Relieved, Because He’s no Longer in Contention for the Title of “Worst President Ever” (minx.cc)
• Extremism in the Defense of Liberty: A Brief History (thecollegeconservative.com)
• Former President Jimmy Carter ‘Gingrich has racist appeal (bazaardaily.com)
• Our Neo-Conservative President: A Barack Obama Retrospective (mediaite.com)
• Clips From Last Night: Jimmy Carter on his relationship with President Obama and Carter shares his thoughts on Egypt (piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com)
• Jimmy Carter: Good Faith Inept President; Barack Obama Bad Faith Inept President (ferrellgummit.wordpress.com)
• It’s Romney versus Carter – ALLBAUGH – Washington Times (gds44.wordpress.com)
• Carter: Agent scandal ‘terrible thing’ (politico.com)

President Barack Obama addresses United States Secret Service Uniformed Division officers before a group photo at the South Portico of the White House, April 4, 2011. (Office White House Photo by Pete Souza) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lead

It’s hard to believe that the sexual misadventures of some Secret Service agents, and perhaps some soldiers, on President Barack Obama’s advance team in Columbia, is drawing so much news coverage and online chatter.

Quote

According to The Washington Post:

The charges are triggering scrutiny of the culture of the Secret Service — where married agents have been heard to joke during aircraft takeoff that their motto is “wheels up, rings off” — and raising new questions at both the agency and the Pentagon about institutional oversight at the highest levels of the president’s security apparatus.

“We are embarrassed,” Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in a briefing at the Pentagon. “We let the boss down, because nobody is talking about what went down in Colombia other than this incident.”

SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST

Our Take

Ok, but so what-because as The Washington Post also reported:

Prostitution, legal and regulated, is a booming business in the Caribbean tourist hub of Cartagena, a city of about 1 million inhabitants that is famous for its Spanish colonial heart and a modern stretch of Miami-style high-rises. As a byproduct of its lure of cruise ships and conventioneers, Cartagena draws prostitutes from both the city’s poor and upper-class echelons — as well as from different cities around the country.

SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST

It’s legal! It’s regulated! But, it’s national or even international news?

Hell, a killing does not even get this much attention!!!

Please folks, give us a break, and a rest.

Let’s find, discover or if need be, make up, a real story, and move on!!!

Related Articles Around the WEB

• Secret Service clearances yanked in Colombia probe (fox13now.com)
• Military embarrassed by Colombia prostitution scandal (csmonitor.com)
• Secret Service Prostitution Scandal: President’s Safety Is Not the Point (theintelhub.com)
• Pentagon: More than 5 members of military involved in Colombia misconduct (upi.com)
• The Reason U.s Secret Service Like to Use Prostitution Service (socyberty.com)
• Secret Service agents partied at Colombian brothel (abclocal.go.com)
• Obama Responds to Secret Service Prostitution Allegations (fox2now.com)
• Dempsey: Military embarrassed by Colombia scandal (washingtontimes.com)
• 5 On Leave In Secret Service Scandal (myfoxorlando.com)

Update

CBS News reports that the Secret Service has revoked the security clearances of the agents accused in the sex scandal. SOURCE: See VIDEO Clip, Sidebar.

All of the benefit and momentum supporters of President Barack Obama supposedly got from weeks of media scrutiny of the GOP attack on women, a female Democratic activist follows suit and attacks Ann Romney, Mitt Romney‘s wife.

Our take: DUMB, plain and simple.

It turns out that Ann is very articulate.

Ann strikes us, and perhaps others, as a forceful and persuasive advocate for the notion that a stay-at-home

Photo of Ann Romney at the Reagan Dinner in Des Moines on October 27, 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

mom raising 5 children is  working no less than a woman punching a time clock at the factory every day.

And, if her rebuttal sticks, Democrats could find that the President may be in trouble with his reelection bid among his strongest constituent base: women.

Related articles

• Have Democrats shot themselves in the foot by attacking Ann Romney? (thedaleygator.wordpress.com)
• Hilary Rosen, Ann Romney and the Perpetual Outrage Industry (thedailybeast.com)
• Ben Romney Insists that His Mom Did Too Work Raising Five Little Romneys All on Her Own [Ann Romney] (jezebel.com)
• #WARONWOMENFAIL: Attacking Ann Romney – yeah, that’s the ticket! “Needless to say, the ‘war on… (pjmedia.com)
• More on the Left’s war on Conservative women (thedaleygator.wordpress.com)
• [Popular this week] Michelle Obama defends Ann Romney (bazaardaily.com)
• Cenk Uygur Blasts Wolf Blitzer for Forcing Hilary Rosen to Apologize to Ann Romney… Again (crooksandliars.com)
• Let’s Please End This Phony ‘Girl Fight’ (newser.com)

Mitt Romney at one of his presidential campaign rallies. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

OPINION

Of all the dumb things a GOP Presidential candidate could say (quote):

Mitt Romney continued his verbal assault on President Obama on Thursday, accusing him of spending “too much time at Harvard” while speaking at a rooftop event in Harrisburg, Penn.

It’s an odd attack coming from a fellow Harvard graduate, especially considering Romney spent more time at the Ivy League institution than Obama did.

Source: HUFFINGTON POST

President Obama spent “too much time at Harvard?”

Mr. Romney, apparently your 4 years at Harvard was not enough time to develop your brain!

How Romney, a Harvard graduate, who holds both a law degree and a M.B.A., from one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world, with over 323,000 living alumni, 62 of whom are billionaires, could make a statement like that, is just plain dumb!!

What an idiot!!!

Related articles

• Romney, Who Has Two Harvard Degrees, Says Obama Spent ‘Too Much Time At Harvard’ (thinkprogress.org)
• Romney Mocks Obama’s Harvard Ties Despite His Own (and His Sons) (themoderatevoice.com)
• Romney: Anti-Harvard talk from Harvard man (seattlepi.com)
• Romney’s misguided bashing of his alma mater (kaystreet.wordpress.com)
• Harvard Two-Degree Holder Mitt Romney Says Obama Spent Too Much Time At Harvard (alan.com)
• Harvard-educated Bostonian Mitt Romney says President Obama ‘spent too much time at Harvard’ (dailykos.com)
• VIDEO: Mitt Romney Used To Brag About Getting Two Degrees From Harvard (thinkprogress.org)
• Harvard-Educated Elitist Accuses Barack Obama of Being a Harvard-Educated Elitist (slog.thestranger.com)

George Zimmerman (Photo credit: Donkey Hotey)

Can there be any doubt?

Radio Station V-103 in Chicago [WVAZ Radio, "Today's R & B," 102.7 FM] reports (Quote):

According to a records search on George, he was previously arrested for domestic violence, resisting an officer without violence and most shockingly, resisting an officer with violence — a felony charge that surely could have landed him in prison.

All three of those arrests, however, were mysteriously closed with no semblance of charges for the Florida resident.

SOURCE: Read More:  RADIO STATION V-103

And, George Zimmerman, who killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17 year old, in cold blood more than 30 days ago, has yet to be arrested?

It’s not that he is the son of a retired judge.

It’s that he’s an informant, plain and simple, who has been protected by the authorities in Sanford, Florida, and who to this day is still being protected by them !!!

Around the WEB

• Racist Vigilante Killer of Trayvon Martin Once Blamed an Ex for Domestic Violence [Trayvon Martin] (jezebel.com)
• George Zimmerman ,3 Closed Arrests due to father being a retired Judge (getwititmagazine.com)
• George Zimmerman, the Man Who Shot Trayvon Martin, Profiled by Family and Neighbors – The Daily Beast (aboriginalpress.wordpress.com)
• Trayvon Killing: Tweet Forces OAPs From Home (news.sky.com)
• George Zimmerman Prays for Trayvon Martin, Says Friend (people.com)
• George Zimmerman Defense: Trayvon Martin Struck First, Tried to Grab Gun, Killer Claims (thehollywoodgossip.com)
• George Zimmerman’s Friends Speak Out, Deny Shooter Was Racist (inquisitr.com)
• Trayvon Martin’s Killer Should be Punished, Right? (mschuettblahblahblah.com)
• Justice for Trayvon (queerd.com)
• Trayvon Martin’s Mother: ‘My Son Was Exercising His Stand Your Ground Rule’ (mediaite.com)
• New witness says George Zimmerman basically beat Trayvon Martin to death (bazaardaily.com)
• Elderly Couple Forced Out Of Home After Left-Wing, Racist Director Tweets That George Zimmerman Lives At Their Address (thedaleygator.wordpress.com)
• Are George Zimmerman’s Legal Connections Covering For Him? (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)
• Pictures and Prejudice in the Trayvon Martin Case (themoderatevoice.com)
• Outcry mounts, answers few in Trayvon Martin shooting (cnn.com)
• Florida Couple In Hiding After Their Address Mistakenly Tweeted As George Zimmerman’s (mediaite.com)
• Common sense needed to understand the George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin case (redantliberationarmy.wordpress.com)
• Lead Cop Wanted Zimmerman Arrested (newser.com)
• Could Trayvon Invoke Stand Your Ground? (obpopulus.wordpress.com)
• Spike Lee Mistakenly Links Elderly Couple to Trayvon Martin Death (eonline.com)
• Zimmerman: Trayvon Martin Pummeled Me (newser.com)
• New Reports Emerge In Trayvon Martin Case (npr.org)
• Zimmerman: Self-Defense or Blame the Victim? It’s a Dangerous Precedent (annecarolinedrake.com)
• The case of Trayvon Martin (RIP) (myownpersonalblog88.com)
• Why We Need to Talk About Trayvon Martin (bigthink.com)

Rush Limbaugh - Caricature (Photo credit: DonkeyHotey)

Lead

As with the ill fated Picket’s Charge at the Battle of Gettysberg, Rush Limbaugh‘s Charge in the GOP‘s media assault on women is a suicidal attack doomed to fail with massive casualties in the ranks of conservative media men.

Discussion

Limbaugh and the other white media males of his ilk just can’t stand it anymore.

Women are on the rise in business, in political power and in all aspects of media.

As time has gone by, what was regarded as the hollowed preserve of media dominated by him and other white men has diminished. And, before they even realize what has happened to what they have heretofore arrogantly regarded as their turf, that hollowed ground will be occupied fully by women.

So Rush, charge ahead as you will.

But, just like Major General George Pickett at Gettysburg, your efforts to attack and impede the progress of women will fail, and will go down in media history as  “Lost Cause” II.

Around the Web

• Goldie Taylor On Limbaugh Advertisers: Could CNN Afford To Lose 140 Advertisers? No (mediaite.com)
• Miggs Burroughs’ “Rush” To Judgment (06880danwoog.com)
• Limbaugh and One-Way Wantonness – NYTimes.com (2worlds1eye.com)
• Why We Can’t Beat Rush Limbaugh by Boycotting His Advertisers (agreetodisagree.me)
• The GOP Isn’t Going to Repudiate Rush Limbaugh (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• Diamonds And Dinners: Limbaugh’s Recipie For Not Being Anti-Woman (lezgetreal.com)
• After Social-Media Backlash, Rush Limbaugh Starts Tweeting (newsfeed.time.com)
• Media Insider: Limbaugh is ‘Out of Touch’, ‘Canary in a Coal Mine’ for ‘Attack’ Radio (bradblog.com)
• George Will: Republican Leaders Afraid of Rush Limbaugh (themoderatevoice.com)
• the Progress Report – Romney, Limbaugh and Contraceptives (ynative77.wordpress.com)

Image via Wikipedia

Lead

Brit Hume’s smackdown of Rick Santorum‘s social issues agenda is tantamount to the political death penalty in GOP politics. Santorum is done.

Quote

RELATED: Santorum Explains Why JFK’s Speech On Religion & Politics Makes Him Want To ‘Throw Up’

Hume noted that his recent comments on contraception were something of a shock, and politically inexpedient. “To many Americans… that seems peculiar,” he noted, adding that many Americans did not see how pre-natal care was something to fight against.

SOURCE: MEDIAITE.COM

Commentary

Hume is one of the most influential political commentators among conservatives. Hume’s critique of Santorum means that there is no mainstream conservative support for Santorum.

Santorum is now effectively out of the race for the GOP Presidential nomination.

Image via Wikipedia

Today [02-26-12] Arizona Governor Jan Brewer endorsed Mitt Romney for president during her appearance on Meet The Press.

That should help.

If Mitt takes the Arizona and Michigan primary elections, he’s got the nomination.

If Mitt gets the GOP nomination, he stands a good chance of winning the general election.

SOURCE: Video Clip, see Sidebar.

Around the Web

Related articles

• Arizona governor endorses Romney in primary (sfgate.com)
• Brewer endorses Romney (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
• Jan Brewer Endorses Romney (newser.com)
• Arizona’s Mormons give Romney the edge, but all is not lost for Santorum (guardian.co.uk)

Our conversation centers on the realities and dynamics of news, coverage and commentary in politics, and the influence of political media on the public’s opinion in this era of new media.

Quote

This article was inspired by a piece on Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry, the newly minted weekend host on MSNBC, and her clear frustration with how the media covers politics.

During her Sunday show, Harris-Perry discussed what she called “a dirty little secret” that those who cover “horse-race politics” like to keep under wraps. “We are suffering from premature speculation,” Harris-Perry said.

The 2012 Republican primary race has taken many sharp twists and turns. Harris-Perry showed headlines from leading news organizations that reflected the Republican primary’s constant change of course. Headlines read “Herman Cain, Frontrunner,” to “Another Poll Confirms Trump As Republican Frontrunner,” to “Ingraham: Perry Should Drop Out.”

“Headlines like these…expose the media for its secret wish to skip the foreplay and get right to the main event,” Harris-Perry said. “And it’s all left me very frustrated.”

SOURCE: Melissa Harris-Perry: The Media Suffers From ‘Premature Speculation’ (VIDEO) HUFFINGTON POST

Our Take

Mainstream media is doing its job as best it can in this new area of media the dynamics of which are changing nearly every news cycle of the week because of the impact of digital technology, blogging and the 24 hour news cycle.

There was a time when the media took the lead in shaping policy and influencing the public’s opinion. Thus, for example, when some of the giants of the media such as David Brinkley or Mike Wallace or Tom Brokaw aired a story and articulated a viewpoint, that view had some shelf life. It influenced the coverage of political news for several weeks, and over time influenced opinions, policy decisions and outcomes in political contests.

But, the good old days of political media and its influence in shaping public opinion are gone.

Today, a Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry can air a scholarly commentary on an important issue of public policy or a significant development in politics, and within minutes it can be shredded, and then lost forever in the court of public opinion. An attack can be mounted in minutes by bloggers; disseminated worldwide on the Internet within a few more minutes, and by the time of the talk shows on radio, TV and the Internet within hours on the same morning, afternoon and evening of the news cycle, be distorted and discredited.

So, Dr. Harris-Perry, we understand your frustration. But, the playing field and dynamics of political media have changed dramatically.

To be credible, informative and sustainable in today’s environment as a political analyst and commentator, you and others in the media will have to call the balls and strikes well before you step up to the plate, and well before you would have done so before the evolution of digital technology.

“And, that’s the way it is.”

Article (Quote)

Navy SEALs rescue kidnapped aid workers Jessica Buchanan and Poul Hagen Thisted in Somalia

Source: THE WASHINGTON POST

President Barack Obama is praising Special Operations Forces who rescued two hostages, including an American aid worker, from pirates in Somalia early Wednesday. (Jan. 25)

Graphic

Timeline of raid in Somalia