Could Ron Paul possibly be planning to serve as the second banana on a Romney-Paul GOP ticket? Should we get used to saying, "Vice President Ron Paul?"
Rick Santorum would have you think so, after the most recent GOP presidential debate. Because it appeared that Paul was coordinating his attacks on Santorum during the Arizona debate, Rick is hinting that the two have struck a deal to "gang up" on him.
The UK's Daily Mail quotes Santorum as saying to reporters, "It was interesting to me that if you watch Ron Paul when he came into the debate, he wrote negative things about Rick Santorum down because when he started to get questions he would immediately pick up his paper and start mentioning Santorum stuff."
Hmm. Romney - Paul. (Mitt & Ron, maybe.)
Doesn't really roll off the tongue, but from an electroal point of view, it might make sense.
Clearly, Romney is the "safe" choice for republicans. He's conservative enough to capture mainstream GOP voters, and safe enough for country club republicans. Santorum may be sewing up the far right, but the far right isn't big enough to capture the nomination or win the general election.
By adding Paul to his side, Romney would bring a whole new demographic to his campaign, the younger, more independent-thinking, socially moderate voter that supports Paul so strongly. For now, it looks like Paul supporters will cast their votes for him no matter what his ultimate chance for capturing the nomination.
But, if Paul's base see's an alliance with Romney as the best chance of getting their man to within a heartbeat of the presidency, they might fall in line behind Mitt.
I think all of this is much ado about nothing, that Santorum is just whining because two of his opponents are attacking him as "the frontrunner" (today).
Yet, a Romney-Paul pairing might just be what the GOP needs in order to come together and oust Obama from the White House.
There are reports that Whitney Houston's daughter, Bobbi Kristina appeared to be under the influence at her mother's funeral and that she was later found getting high in a hotel room, just hours after the cermony.
If this is the case, she desperately needs some Truth, from family and loved ones.
The Times of India is reporting that Bobbi Kristina almost didn't make it to the singer's burial and looked 'wasted' and 'glassy eyed.'
Other repors said Bobbi Kristina had disappeared and was getting high after her mother's nearly four hour emotional funeral.
First, let's hope that this is sensationalism and is simply incorrect. The last thing that family needs right now is a crisis with another family member, especially Whitney's daughter.
Yet, the stories seem to come from reputable sources (Times of India / NY Daily News, etc.).
A source quoted by RADAR Online said, "The true cause for concern is that the Houstons feel absolutely powerless to do anything about Krissy because she is an adult and they are afraid to push her too hard for fear of driving her away."
Hopefully, this is my last Whitney Houston-related post, but this is worth a moment of thought.
Recent media stories would have one believe that the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, purosely disrespected Whitney Houston's memory in a televised NBC interview with Al Roker and THAT is the reason she ultimately did not sing at Houston's funeral.
At least one story found it odd that NBC had removed the interview from its website, yet it IS possible to find the story (thank you YouTube) if you're patient enough and resourceful enough.
I watched the Al Roker interview of Aretha Franklin expecting to hear her claim that Whitney couldn't hold a candle to her or maybe saying that Whitney turned to the dark side or SOMETHING.
Instead, what I saw was a very balanced view of Houston's life, struggles and death, unlike most of the coverage seen since Houston's death which were either sensationalized and macabre or exultations proclaiming Houston to be a faultless angel.
No, in this story, Franklin's sadness comes through. It is obvious that she understands what a tragic and unnecessary waste Houston's death was.
Coverage of the piece implies that something Franklin said must have offended Houston's family. But, if that's the case, I simply don't see it.
The ONLY thing that one could stretch into a dig might be the highlighted remark below, but I would strongly disagree. Here is a partial transcript of the NBC interview in question:
AF = Aretha Franklin -- AR = Al Roker
AF:“When one has as much success as she did, almost overnight, and she had phenomenal success overnight, so I’m sure it was very overwhelming for her at times.You get a lot of adoration when people like you.It’s easy to lose sight of yourself.
AR:Did she ever talk to you looking for any sort of guidance or counsel?
AF: No, but early on, I let her know then that if she needed any advice, and if she needed to talk about anything, she could always call me.
AR:But the call never came.And, so, Franklin watched from afar as Whitney’s success faded and she desperately tried time and again to regain her superstar status including the 2009 European tour, when dogged by rumors of alcohol and drug abuse, Whitney’s once magical voice, tragically let her down.
AF: She had a number of difficult evenings in Europe.I watched that online myself.I didn’t like what I saw happening.The audience was very rude.I’m sure she was totally devastated by the time it was over.
You know, when you’re a singer, and you can’t sing what it is you want to sing, when you can’t give the audience what you want to give, it’s very disheartening.
AR: Franklin says she saw something else in those scenes of anguish, that fighting spirit that her mother Cissy had instilled in Whitney.That was still there.
AF: She stood there, let me tell you, she stood there and with the heart of a champion, she went through it night after night.
AR: At the end of 2011, Franklin says she finally saw hopeful signs that Whitney could finally resurrect her career, in a preview of “SPARKLE,” in which Whitney executive produced and starred in.
AF:She looked fresh, healthy.She looked gorgeous, and I thought, ‘Yes, she has conquered her challenges and she’s on her way.'
Certainly her body of work is going to go on for generations to come, from generation to generation.
AR:This ending, do you think it tarnishes it at all, or takes away from it?
AF: No, I don’t.I don’t think we should focus on the challenges that she had because in some ways, we all have challenges from time to time.Look at the character of a person, and the character of a woman.Think about the hits, and forget about the misses.
AR:How are you going to remember her?
AF:As an adorable young lady, as Cissy’s baby, a great artist, a very kind and giving person, a very sensitive young lady.
AR: Isn’t it ironic that it comes full circle, back to New Hope Baptist Church?
AF:She didn’t just smile, she twingkled, so I wrote something with that in mind.“Twinkle, twinkle, superstar, we don’t wonder where you are.Up above the world so bright, like a diamond in the night.Twinkle, twinkle, she’s still alone, I can’t believe that she’s gone.”
Howard Kurtz reports on an internal memo from Media Matters which indicates the group at least CONSIDERED using Rupert Murdoch-type mud digging in an attempt to discredit employees of the conservative-leaning Fox News network.
Isn't THAT like the pot calling the kettle black?
In a 2009 internal memo from the liberal media watchdog group, former Executive Karl Frisch says, "We should hire private investigators to look into the personal lives of Fox News anchors, host, reporters, prominent contributors, senior network and corporate staff."
Wow. Way to win the debate in the marketplace of ideas. This sounds like something J. Edgar Hoover might have done in the 1950s.
Oh, and BTW, Media Matters is (for the moment) a tax-exempt organization. So, OUR tax dollars are helping to fund these Gestapo-like tactics.
Kurtz dissects the issue in a video interview with Vince Coglianese, senior online editor for the Daily Caller. (See the Daily Caller's series on the issue here.)
Once Media Matters gathered up the requisite "dirt" on Fox personnel, the idea was to target them personally through attacks on their character via billboards in their communities and placing yard signs in their neighborhoods, as a few examples.
Further, the ideas discussed, included mud-slinging not only at Fox anchors and executives, but lower-level producers and other staffers.
To be fair, there is no evidence that Media Matters followed through on the tactics the Frisch memo describes, but the idea that a tax-exempt group would seriously consider this approach should concern all Americans, regardless of their political affiliation.
Yet, Media Matters has not refuted the Daily Caller's story.
Kudos to FOX NEWS' Tommy Christopher for highlighting the Obama campaign's "Truth Team Tip Sheet."
As Christopher reports, the Obama Campaign released its Obama For America Truth Team Tip Sheet. This first round of propaganda is essentially talking points to be used by Obama supporters. The interesting thing is that these aren't the "Democrat Talking Points" that all of the party-faithful talking heads use on the 24-hour news.
No, these are talking points the Obama camp is hoping its supporters will use in casual, everyday conversations.
Work with a pesky Tea Party supporter that always seems to have a greater command of the political facts than you?
No need to keep quiet anymore because Obama's "Truth Team Tip Sheet" will give you all of the ammunition required to beat back the angry hordes along with their torches and pitchforks.
Whatever happened to following the candidates / leaders and forming your OWN opinions?
"Remembering a Legend" was the caption on some live coverage today of the Whitney Houston funeral.
What a crock. Soldiers dying in Iraq and Afghanistan are legends, not a washed-up pop singer completely responsible for her own downfall and eventual death.
Whitney's story is tragic alright, but not for the reasons cited by the talking heads on TV over the past week. It's tragic because a great talent chose to throw all that away in order to indulge in drugs.
It's as simple as that.
All week, we've seen and heard people talking about what a great talent Whitney Houston was, and there's no denying that. But instead of holding her up like some sort of angelic goddess, we should use her death as a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of fame and the clear and present danger of drugs, either illegal or prescribed.
CNN's coverage described the "private" (yet televised) funeral as a "homegoing." That is not a typo for "homecoming." Home GOING, presumably because she was GOING back to the church. The talking heads were all quick to point out Whitney's gospel roots. And, guess who one of the "gospel" singers was today at the funeral.
R. Kelly. The same guy who was indicted on 21 counts of child pornography in 2002 stemming from a videotape that allegedly showed him having sex with an underage girl. Yes, I understand that he was acquitted of those charges. But, really, come on.
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