For the past couple of months, Ann Romney has been trying to convince Americans that her husband is a "wild and crazy guy," and this week we began to see evidence of it.
On Monday, Mitt told a Cleveland TV station that he'll
take a lot of credit for the auto industry's recovery, which is pretty fucking crazy.
But it wasn't until Thursday that Mitt's wild side came into focus, thanks to the investigative reporting of The Washington Post.
According to several classmates who witnessed his high school "pranks" firsthand, at the tender age of 18, Mitt was already displaying wild and crazy leadership skills—much like Jack Merridew in Lord of the Flies.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon; RNC Chair Reince Priebus; Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI); Andrew Ross Sorkin (CNBC); Roundtable: Lt. Gov. of California Gavin Newsom (D), Chairman of the American Conservative Union Al Cardenas, Kathleen Parker (Washington Post), Jonathan Capehart (Washington Post) and Chris Matthews (MSNBC).
Face the Nation: Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D); Former Solicitor General Ted Olson; Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI); Roundtable: Former White House Communications Director Anita Dunn, Conservative Strategist Bay Buchanan, Melinda Henneberger (Washington Post) and Norah O'Donnell (CBS News).
This Week: Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA); Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN); Roundtable: Republican Strategist Mary Matalin, Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D); Ralph Reed (Faith and Freedom Colation), Democratic Strategist Hilary Rosen and Maggie Haberman (Politico).
Fox News Sunday: Sen. John Thune (R-SD); Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA); Roundtable: Brit Hume (Fox News), Liz Marlantes (Christian Science Monitor), Paul Gigot (Wall Street Journal) and Juan Williams (Fox News).
State of the Union: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL); Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX); Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D); Tony Perkins (Family Research Council); Gary Bauer (American Values); Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT); Rep. Peter King (R-NY); Reliable Sources: Matt Lewis (Daily Caller); John Aravosis (AmericaBlog); Nia-Malika Henderson (Washington Post); Terence Smith (Formerly of PBS); Lauren Ashburn (DailyDownload.com); Mark Mazzetti (New York Times); Tom Brokaw (NBC News).
The Chris Matthews Show: Gloria Borger (CNN); Andrew Sullivan (Newsweek/Daily Beast); Howard Fineman (Huffington Post) and Nia-Malika Henderson (Washington Post).
Fareed Zakaria GPS: David Frum (Newsweek/Daily Beast); UK Labour Party Lord Peter Mandelson; Elaine Sciolino (New York Times); Josef Joffe (Die Zeit); Outgoing World Bank President Robert Zoellick; BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink.
Up with Chris Hayes: Chloe Angyal (Feministing.com); Michael Tomasky (Newsweek/Daily Beast); Author Ronald Scott; Author Janny Scott; University of Pennsylvania Professor Anthea Butler; Rev. Vivian Nixon.
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: an interview with former CIA covert officer Harry Crumpton (preview); an interview with Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania (preview); and, an interview with actor Gary Sinise about his humanitarian efforts on behalf of disabled veterans (preview).
On Comedy Central...
Jon Stewart studied the evolution of Fox News' Republican talking points about gay marriage.
And Stephen Colbert critiqued the work of conservative artist Jon McNaughton.
Note: The Daily Show and The Colbert Report will be airing reruns this week.
Elsewhere...
The Catholic Church is escalating its War on Girl Scouts, based on some rumors circulating on the internets.
The nation's Roman Catholic bishops are reviewing the church's long-standing ties to the Girl Scouts of the USA after complaints that some of that venerable organization’s programs might contradict church teachings on contraception and abortion.
The inquiry by the Catholic bishops has been ongoing for two years and was prompted by persistent reports, circulated on the Internet and by some social conservatives, that the Girl Scouts of the USA has ties to Planned Parenthood or, for example, endorses material on sexuality that the church would not approve.
Girl Scout leaders have denied the claims, but the bishops decided to continue their inquiry. In a March 28 letter to his fellow bishops, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, chairman of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, wrote that "important questions still remain and need to be examined."
Meanwhile...
Über-patriot Michele Bachmann briefly became a Swiss citizen at the behest of her children.
Marcus Bachmann, the congresswoman’s husband since 1978, reportedly was eligible for Swiss citizenship due to his parents' nationality — but only registered it with the Swiss government Feb. 15. Once the process was finalized on March 19, Michele automatically became a citizen as well, according to Honegger. [...]
Bachmann's three youngest children are also now Swiss citizens, and her two older children are eligible to apply for a fast-track citizenship process, according to an email from the consulate provided and translated by Honegger.
Bachmann's office confirmed that the congresswoman had received Swiss citizenship, and attributed the decision to her children.
"Congresswoman Bachmann's husband is of Swiss descent, so she has been eligible for dual-citizenship since they got married in 1978. However, recently some of their children wanted to exercise their eligibility for dual-citizenship so they went through the process as a family," said Bachmann spokesperson Becky Rogness.
She subsequently
renounced her Swiss citizenship, but not before being branded a
traitor.
And, in tangentially-related news...
The Palin family's total lack of self-awareness manifested itself this week in a blog post by Bristol, in which she attacked President Obama's parenting skills.
"While it's great to listen to your kids' ideas, there's also a time when dads simply need to be dads. In this case, it would've been helpful for him to explain to Malia and Sasha that while her friends parents are no doubt lovely people, that's not a reason to change thousands of years of thinking about marriage. Or that – as great as her friends may be – we know that in general kids do better growing up in a mother/father home. Ideally, fathers help shape their kids' worldview.
In this situation, it was the other way around. I guess we can be glad that Malia and Sasha aren't younger, or perhaps today's press conference might have been about appointing Dora the Explorer as Attorney General because of her success in stopping Swiper the Fox.
Sometimes dads should lead their family in the right ways of thinking. In this case, it would've been nice if the President would've been an actual leader and helped shape their thoughts instead of merely reflecting what many teenagers think after one too many episodes of Glee."
Word to your mother.
- Trix