Rush Limbaugh's comments on law student Sandra Fluke have made "slut" the new "transvaginal." After Newt Gingrich said you can't fit a dead deer in a Chevy Volt, we're looking forward to the YouTube video where someone does it. Having already blown the domesticated animal vote, Mitt Romney's latest endorsement will cost him the wild ones, too. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Friday, March 2nd, 2012:
TED NUGENT ENDORSES MITT ROMNEY - Mitt Romney probably feels stupid for palling around with Kid Rock when he could have had Nugent all along. Bawitdaba: "Musician Ted Nugent has endorsed Mitt Romney, according to a tweet from Nugent Friday. Nugent said that he spoke with the former Massachusetts governor on the phone:
"after a long heart&soul conversation with MittRomney today I concluded this goodman will properly represent we the people & I endorsed him," reads the tweet. The rocker has a history of making incendiary remarks toward Democratic politicians and vocally supporting Republican ones." [HuffPost]
@tromney: Ted Nugent endorsed my Dad today. Ted Nugent? How cool is that?! He joins Kid Rock as great Detroit musicians on team Mitt!
OBAMA TO FLUKE: YOU'RE NOT A SLUT - Obama made a phone call Friday to Sandra Fluke, the law student whom Rush Limbaugh called a slut and likely prostitute for attempting to testify in support of the president's birth control rule. Sam Stein: "'He encouraged me and supported me and thanked me for speaking out about the concerns of American women,' she told [Andrea] Mitchell, who received permission from the White House to discuss the exchange between Fluke and Obama. 'What was really personal for me was that he said to tell my parents that they should be proud. And that meant a lot because Rush Limbaugh questioned whether or not my family would be proud of me. So I just appreciated that very much.'" [HuffPost]
Boehner Spokesman Michael Steel said the Speaker believes Limbaugh's attacks were "inappropriate," and made a dig at Democrats for raising money off of it.
Rick Santorum said today that Rush is bad, but also good. "He's being absurd, but that's you know, an entertainer can be absurd."
DEMOCRATS: REPUBLICAN BILL IS POLITICAL TRAIN WRECK, METAPHOR SUCCESS - Mike McAuliff: "Congressional Democrats predict Republicans are headed for another train wreck in the House over the stalled transportation bill. The Senate hasn't exactly been having an easy time with its own bill, bogged down in culture war politics this week with a vote over an amendment on contraception that Republicans insisted upon. But Senate Democratic leaders Friday vowed they would push ahead next week with measures that passed committees with strong bipartisan votes, and predicted that if Republicans obstruct the measure -- estimated to support some 2.8 million jobs -- they will pay a political price. They said it would be much like the debacle that followed late last year when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tried to move an extension of the payroll tax holiday, only to have Tea Party Republicans in the House rebel and spark a showdown that they lost in embarrassing fashion. [HuffPost]
GINGRICH: BUT WHERE WILL LIBERALS PUT THEIR DEAD DEER? - Gingrich admitted that you can fit a gun rack in a fuel-efficient car. But he has a new Chevy Volt attack: "'There's a YouTube video of a guy in Atlanta who owns a Volt who put a gun rack in the trunk,' Gingrich confessed to his supporters in Savannah on Friday. 'But a friend of mine from Camilla, Georgia, who's a hunter, said, 'Yeah, but where does the deer go?'" Um, on the roof, dude. [Raw Story]
General Motors is suspending production of the Chevy Volt for five weeks, perhaps to make it more carcass-friendly.
DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - The Obama administration announced Friday that as part of a recent $25 billion settlement with big banks, the government will release money withheld from Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase for doing a bad job modifying mortgages under the administration's signature anti-foreclosure scheme. The administration is letting the banks out of the doghouse not because of vastly improved servicing, but rather as a result of the $25 billion foreclosure fraud settlement struck last month. "As part of the mortgage servicing settlement, Treasury has agreed to release withheld incentives for past deficiencies," Treasury said in a release. "It's just the latest in an unending series of Treasury capitulations to the banks," said HAMP critic Neil Barofsky. [HuffPost]
@MatthewStoller: One reason settlement is still secret is b/c it includes easter eggs like this extra cash subsidy to banks.
Don't be bashful: Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill
EVERY SPERM IS SACRED - Equality! The Wilmington, Del., city council passed a resolution forbidding "every man from destroying his semen," in protest of the personhood movement. More of the resolution: "[E]ach 'egg person' and each 'sperm person' should be deemed equal in the eyes of the government and be subject to the same laws and regulations as any other dependent minor and be protected against abuse, neglect or abandonment by the parent or guardian." HuffPost]
SENATORS PUSH FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY IN DEM PLATFORM - The Washington Blade: "A group of U.S. senators is joining the wave of LGBT rights supporters calling for an endorsement of marriage equality in the Democratic Party platform.
The Washington Blade received statements from the offices of 20 Democratic senators -- including Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) -- expressing support for including a marriage equality plank in the Democratic Party platform...The senators follow the lead of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who on Tuesday became the first U.S. senator this year to get behind the idea of including same-sex marriage in the Democratic Party platform." [Washington Blade]
NORM DICKS OUT - Colin Clark: "Norm Dicks, one of the toughest and most engaging players in Congress, announced today that he will not run for Congress again after 36 years serving his country. Dicks became best known in recent years for his hard-edged and sometimes unquestioning support for Boeing on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee. His advocacy of the company could sometimes veer perilously close to pitchman. I still remember him approaching reporters outside the House Armed Services Committee's hearing room and telling us about a "study" that proved Boeing's offering for what became the botched airborne tanker contract would be much cheaper than competitor Northrop Grumman's offering. Left unsaid, until we asked, was that the "study" had been done by a consultant working for Boeing. Boeing, after losing the $35 billion contract once, won it after the contest was reshaped by the Pentagon. Many observers believed Dicks successfully drove the military to reshape the contest to Boeing's advantage." [AOL Defense]
POOR BOEING - Norm Dicks was always willing to stick up for a mainstay of the military-industrial complex. Clark: "I still remember [Dicks] approaching reporters outside the House Armed Services Committee's hearing room and telling us about a 'study' that proved Boeing's offering for what became the botched airborne tanker contract would be much cheaper than competitor Northrop Grumman's offering. Left unsaid, until we asked, was that the 'study' had been done by a consultant working for Boeing." [AOL Defense]
MICHIGAN DELEGATE SLAP FIGHT CONTINUES - Sam Stein: "The chief counsel to Rick Santorum's presidential campaign formally submitted a letter of protest to the Republican National Committee on Friday over the allocation of Michigan's two at-large delegates to Mitt Romney. The letter, written by Cleta Mitchell, makes the case that there was a clear set of rules that were summarily disbanded after the vote took place. Mitchell asserts that the state's two at-large delegates were supposed to be divided proportionally among the top finishers. It remains unclear how the RNC will address the issue. Members of the Michigan GOP have insisted that the confusion is based on an incorrect reading of a non-official memorandum that said the at-large delegates should be awarded proportionally." [HuffPost]
CHILL THE F*** OUT, BIBI. I GOT THIS. - The Atlantic: "At the White House on Monday, President Obama will seek to persuade the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to postpone whatever plans he may have to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities in the coming months. Obama will argue that under his leadership, the United States 'has Israel's back,' and that he will order the U.S. military to destroy Iran's nuclear program if economic sanctions fail to compel Tehran to shelve its nuclear ambitions. In the most extensive interview he has given about the looming Iran crisis, Obama told me earlier this week that both Iran and Israel should take seriously the possibility of American action against Iran's nuclear facilities. 'I think that the Israeli government recognizes that, as president of the United States, I don't bluff.' He went on, 'I also don't, as a matter of sound policy, go around advertising exactly what our intentions are. But I think both the Iranian and the Israeli governments recognize that when the United States says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say.'" [The Atlantic]
KEN MEHLMAN ON GAY MARRIAGE: SORRY, BROS - Salon: "When I asked Mehlman, a partner at a New York private equity firm, to handicap gay marriage as a state and national political-electoral issue today, he said: 'Most polls now show that a majority of Americans support gay marriage. What you see in Maryland and Washington, and states like New York earlier, is a reflection of politicians representing their constituents.' As for his role in the 2004 Bush campaign and its exploitation of marital politics, Mehlman is candid -- and remorseful. 'At a personal level, I wish I had spoken out against the effort,' he says.
'As I've been involved in the fight for marriage equality, one of the things I've learned is how many people were harmed by the campaigns in which I was involved. I apologize to them and tell them I am sorry. While there have been recent victories, this could still be a long struggle in which there will be setbacks, and I'll do my part to be helpful.'" [Salon]
Malia Obama likes Parks and Recreation, but Obama told Aziz Ansari to not get too cocky. "I've got more Twitter followers than you, man." [Buzzfeed]
TASTY GREENS: On HuffPost DC: Have you ever tasted tangerine lace? It's great, we promise.
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Here is a .gif of Bo Obama in bunny ears.
COMFORT FOOD
By @bradjshannon!
- Dog has a ball. [http://bit.ly/xOu8aj]
- Dog hates a bowl. [http://bit.ly/zLqXBj]
- Documentary clip from This Space Available, about some people fighting against ads in public spaces. [http://bit.ly/AmGYLp]
- Watch this to get Spin Doctors stuck in your head for a while. You know you want it. [http://bit.ly/wDRXU4]
- Sammi the quadriplegic dog learns to walk. [http://bit.ly/yY3lAv]
- Don't punt into the wind. [http://bit.ly/ylSAVW]
- Foto Friday: Smithsonian Magazine's photo contest winners. [http://bit.ly/znoIQ5]
- RIP James Q. Wilson, political scientist of "Broken Windows Theory" fame. [http://bit.ly/wt59NW]
TWITTERAMA
@7im: I'm not a slut. I'm you.
@LOLGOP: This President thinks a woman should be able to decide when she has a baby. What a snob.
@samsteinhp: Can we attach discarded Solyndra solar panels to used Chevy Volts?
@THEHermanCain: The goldfish is fine! In fact he is tweeting! #FF @gorfin_goldfish! #SOS
ON TAP
By @christinawilkie
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