Mitt is not a moderate, he’s not a liberal, he’s not a conservative. He’s a rich guy doing whatever he thinks he needs to do to claim the power that rich guys feel entitled to. And if that means saying one thing to these people and the opposite to others, so be it.

Addicting Info on Romney’s reaction to the decision by an appeals court that California’s Proposition 8, which outlawed same-sex marriage in the state, is unconstitutional:

Not long after the ruling was handed down, Mitt Romney, eager to pander to ultra conservative anti-gay hate groups, made a statement, condemning the decision.

[Romney's statement begins] “Today, unelected judges cast aside the will of the people of California who voted to protect traditional marriage. This decision does not end this fight, and I expect it to go to the Supreme Court. I believe marriage is between a man and a woman and, as president, I will protect traditional marriage and appoint judges who interpret the Constitution as it is written and not according to their own politics and prejudices.” [Romney's statement ends]

The problem with Mitt’s statement is that the judges did indeed correctly interpret the Constitution. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say anything about marriage. It does not say that straight couples are the only ones who can marry, nor does it say that homosexuals can’t get married. What the Constitution does say is that everyone has the right to personal liberty, privacy, and equality under the law. Laws that ban consenting adults from marrying violates the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the Constitution. In other words, the judges made the right call. So basically, Romney is promising to appoint judges who will consistently misinterpret the Constitution, which is similar to what Newt Gingrich has promised to do.

How ridiculous does your campaign pandering seem when even Jimmy Kimmel challenges your claims of American exceptionalism?

Perfect timing for a documentary on what’s really going on with breast cancer “awareness” efforts that do less to fight the disease and more to consumerize it. I knew things had really gone south when the “Save the Ta-Tas” merch came out.

– CNN’s Roland Martin, reflecting on Mitt Romney’s statement that, “I’m not concerned about the very poor. There’s a safety net there, and if it needs repair I’ll fix it.”

– Dr. Kathy Plesser, a member of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation’s New York medical advisory board, explaining why she will resign if the foundation doesn’t reverse its decision not to fund grants for mammograms performed through Planned Parenthood. Komen said it pulled its funding because rightwing Rep. Cliff Stearns (R – Fla.) is holding hearings on whether Planned Parenthood complies with federal abortion restrictions. The outcome of the investigation is immaterial, according to founder Nancy Brinker, a George W. Bush appointee, who says the mere fact of any investigation is enough to end aid. The Komen Foundation has in the past sued other groups supporting breast cancer research for the use of the color pink and the word, “cure.”

From left, Paul at the 2007 Values Voters debate with Don Black, of the neo-Nazi web site Stormfront, and his son, Derek Black

We’ve all wondered about the zealotry of Ron Paul followers and dismissed it as the idealistic naivete of his frequently young apostles. They call into radio shows and protest that their man isn’t being respected. They wave signs from freeway overpasses. They post on Facebook that, despite all evidence to the contrary, Paul still has a path to the White House. And they whisper to each other about a third party run.

But what if there is more to this devotion? What if, like the racist statements in Paul’s newsletters that appeared regularly and for years, it is exactly what it looks like?

Anonymous, the internet hacking group, is exposing close ties between Ron Paul’s campaign and neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

Members of the nationalist American Third Position Party (A3P), whose website was defaced by Anonymous, organised Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul’s meetings and campaigns, according emails hacked by the collective…

“According to these messages, Ron Paul has regularly met with many A3P members, even engaging in conference calls with their board of directors,” read a statement from Anonymous.

Paul is apparently unconcerned about these supporters’ views.

It also claims that Paul received financial support from other white power groups, such as the online hate forum Stormfront, founded by Don Black, a white supremacist. There is even a photograph of Paul with Black, a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and a current member of the American Nazi Party. Paul allegedly refused to return donations from Black and Stormfront. Black told The New York Times that Paul’s newsletter had inspired him to become a supporter.

Earning special scrutiny is Jamie Kelso, a major figure in the white power movement, and adminstrator of the web site, WhiteNewsNow.

Kelso, a former Scientologist and account owner of other German Nazi forums, became an active supporter of Paul in 2007. He was reportedly attracted to Paul because he believed the Republican’s followers would be receptive to his white supremacist views. He described Paul as “implicitly white” and started to actively organise Paul’s events.

“Let’s appreciate this big (Paul) audience that’s overwhelmingly white,” Kelso said in an interview with the Southern Poverty Law Center. “This is our audience, this is our public. These are our people. If we can’t persuade these people of the rightness of our cause, then we’re finished,” he said.

Kelso need not worry. The message seems to be getting through. People who hate Obama but don’t feel the need to explain why, and yet who are decidedly not among the 1% or 1% wannabes who support Romney and Gingrich are finding common ground with Paul, who is doing nothing to discourage their support and might even be encouraging it.

The web site Little Green Footballs is exploring this story, which was first reported on the British site, International Business Times. Follow the links in this post to find out more and decide if you think Paul’s relationships with racists can continue to be explained away.

But what can we discover about Callista Gingrich from this?

Here’s my theory. Remember when Newt told Mrs. Gingrich II that Callista didn’t care who he sleeps with? I think if Mrs. G III were to loosen up that helmet and let some oxygen get to her head, she might encourage Newt to satisfy his lusty urges with other women even more emphatically.

Number of additional seats Democrats must win in order to regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012.

Amount American consumption of meat has dropped since 2007. While Americans still consume 1/6 of the animal tissue eaten worldwide, the 5-year plunge is significant. The government, however, continues to subsidize growing corn and soybeans for use as animal feed.

Nice little video from Team Obama.