On Tuesday night, President Obama fulfilled one of his Constitutional responsibilities by reporting to Congress on the State of the Union (bottom line: it's strong/stronger).
Shortly after the president's speech—which was widely praised, both for its content and its tone—the GOP's great off-white hope, working class homeowner Marco Rubio, went on TV to deliver the party's official response (not to be confused with Rand Paul's Tea Party nonsense).
Maybe he was nervous about meeting the high standard set by SOTU responders like Bobby Jindal, Bob McDonnell and Paul Ryan, or maybe it was the hot lights he was under; whatever the case, Rubio soon found himself with a sweaty brow and a cotton mouth.
In desperate need of refreshment, he awkwardly lunged for a bottle of Poland Spring, and drowned in the process.
All things considered, that actually might've been the best possible outcome for him.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough; Sen. John McCain (R-AZ); Former Astronaut Mark Kelly; Roundtable: California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Former CEO of Hewlett-Packard Carly Fiorina, Republican Strategist Alex Castellanos and Chris Matthews (MSNBC).
Face the Nation: White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough; Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R); Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker (D); Archbishop of Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl; Foreign Affairs Roundtable: Tom Ricks (Foreign Policy Magazine); David Ignatius (Washington Post) and Margaret Brennan (CBS News); Domestic Policy Roundtable: Amy Walter (Cook Political Report), Michael Gerson (Washington Post) and John Dickerson (CBS News).
This Week: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI); White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough; Roundtable: George Will (Washington Post), Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), Ruth Marcus (Washington Post) and Former Romney Campaign Senior Adviser Stuart Stevens.
Fox News Sunday: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY); Roundtable: Republican Strategist Karl Rove, Bob Woodward (Washington Post), Kimberley Strassel (Wall Street Journal) and Juan Williams (Fox News).
State of the Union: Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY); Sem. John Barrasso (R-WY); Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI); Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI); Former Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-OH); Former Biden Chief of Staff Ron Klain; Jeff Zeleny (New York Times); Dana Bash (CNN); Reliable Sources: George Washington University Prof. Frank Sesno; American University Prof. Jane Hall; Paul Farhi (Washington Post); Will Cain (CNN); Keli Goff (TheRoot.com); Phil Bronstein (Center for Investigative Reporting).
The Chris Matthews Show: Author Michael Beschloss; Nia-Malika Henderson (Washington Post); David Leonhardt (New York Times); Amy Walter (Cook Political Report).
Fareed Zakaria GPS: Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard; Former Obama Economic Adviser Larry Summers; Tsinghua University Prof. David Li.
Up with Chris Hayes: NAACP President & CEO Ben Jealous; James Poulos (HuffPost Live); Jamie Manson (National Catholic Reporter); Gadeir Abbas (Council on American-Islamic Relations); US Air Force Veteran Saadiq Long; Tyson Slocum (Public Citizen); Jen Daskal (Georgetown University Center on National Security and the Law); Bill McKibben (350.org); Michael Brendan Dougherty (The American Conservative); Notre Dame Law School Prof. Father Bill Dailey; Chief Jackie Thomas of the Saik'uz First Nation.
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: a report on Israel's "Iron Dome" missile defense system (preview); a report on the world's largest civilian hospital ship which takes volunteer medical staff to the Third World (preview); and, an interview with Dame Maggie Smith (preview).
On Comedy Central...
Jon Stewart looked back at the first-rate record of Vice President Dick Cheney.
The Daily Show
Monday: Member of Afganistan Parliament Fawzia Koofi (Rerun)
Tuesday: Actress Alison Brie
Wednesday: Author/Journalist Helaine Olen
Thursday: Author/Journalist Steven Brill
And Stephen Colbert gushed over Marco Rubio's response to President Obama's State of the Union address.
The Colbert Report
Monday: TBA (Rerun)
Tuesday: Author Emily Bazelon
Wednesday: Author David Goldhill
Thursday: Dancer Lil Buck
Elsewhere...
The "Gun Nuts" at Field & Stream magazine determined that Sarah Palin is not a very good hunter.
Ms. Palin is an extremely inexperienced shooter.
First, she allows her dad and the guide, who are both apparently nitwits, to jabber at her continually throughout the performance, make suggestions, swap rifles when it turns out that the first one has a bum scope (!), and allow her to blaze away at a moving animal. [...]
If nitwits are yammering at you, you tell them to shut the f**ck up because you can’t concentrate. No experienced shooter would put up with their nonsense. [...]
Why, before the fatal shot was fired, did the editor of the film superimpose a bogus crosshair on the poor dopey caribou? Why do we not see Ms. Palin firing the rifle? Is it because she did not do the shooting?
Finally, look at the way she carries the rifle as the party walks up to the late lamented ungulate. No experienced shooter carries a rifle like this.
I have nothing in particular against Sarah Palin. But I do believe in watching politicians with a critical eye, especially if they try to palm themselves off as something they’re not. She undoubtedly hunts, and is undoubtedly is OK with guns, but to say that as a shooter she’s anything but a rank beginner is wishful thinking.
Meanwhile, in other gun nuttiness...
The NRA distributed literature urging Wisconsinites to prepare for some sort of Civil War/Revolutionary War hybrid.
If you understand the Constitution you throw-up every single time you turn on the TV and hear about another thing or program the U.S. Government is 'going to do for (TO) the American People'. This is a most heinous disease that can only be cured by the constitutional De-Centralized power of our home country of Wisconsin restoring our "supreme Laws" on our Federal public servants within our borders; OR otherwise by a combo Civil/Re-Revolutionary War with the very same goal to restore the Rule of OUR Laws on our elected, non-elected and wannabe elected Republican and Democrat Federal servants through the refreshment of the Tree of Liberty by its natural manure.
And, speaking of patriots and tyrants...
Senate hopeful Paul Broun is trying to cash in on calling President Obama a socialist.
As a Member of the House of Representatives for the last few years, I have fought tooth-and-nail against President Obama’s agenda at every turn.
I was the first Member of Congress to call him a socialist who embraces Marxist-Leninist policies like government control of health care and redistribution of wealth. [...]
Shut up and take my money!
- Trix