As he ordered sandwiches for a speaking event, the president said that mortgage refinancing would guarantee “an extra $2,000 in [a family's] pocket. Then they can buy more hoagies or go shop for some outstanding organic foods.” The president was speaking at a small business roundtable attended by the owners of D.C.-based Taylor Gourmet and Yes! Organic Markets. The sandwiches cost him a pretty penny, the Free Beacon reports:

The president spent $62.79 on sandwiches at Taylor Gourmet, and ordered a foot-long “Spruce Street” hoagie, “which has roast turkey, prosciutto, roasted red peppers, and sharp provolone,” according to the pool.

Watch President Obama order some hoagies (seriously…I know…slow news day) below:

RELATED: NY Times Buries The Lede: Anderson Cooper’s Ratings Surge At 8PM

Apparently, an enterprising campaign staffer or consultant got into Biden’s coffee. That, or they finally persuaded him that soft-talking, commanding-presence Biden was not playing well:

One thing I do resent. I resent when they talk about families like mine that I grew up in. I resent the fact that they think we’re talking about – we’re envy. That it’s job envy, it’s wealth envy, that we don’t dream.

Contrary to the tone of his speech, the Vice President was forced to scale back his dreams mid-sentence:

My mother believed and my father believed, that if I wanted president of the United States – I could be, I could be vice president of the United States.

The above quote has the dubious distinction of being the moment where Biden exhibited the most forethought of his career. He managed to correct himself less than a quarter second after a gaffe, thus nullifying the sound bite. Well played, Mr. Vice President.

My mother dreams as much as any rich guy dreams. They don’t get us. They don’t get who we are.

Applause, ladies and gentlemen, for 2012’s most ham-tacular campaign stop performance. In the roll of righteously aggrieved populist slash spectacularly wealthy and powerful office-holder: Joe Biden.

Remember during the 2012 cycle, when tea partiers across the nation were capturing the national zeitgeist with their angry town halls and protests, the talking heads were universally wondering why President Obama was not exhibiting the same flavor of rage?

Obama heard the message and, in a scripted moment of faux-perturbation, told NBC through pursed lips that he was traveling to the Gulf Coast amidst a catastrophic oil spill to learn “whose ass to kick?”

Yeah. That’s what this feels like.

One part manufactured rage mixed with few dollops of sound bites – unfortunately, the frothy stew that the Obama campaign was concocting was doomed from the start. The very mixing bowl into which they poured their latest concoction was tainted. Behold, “Angry Biden.”

I await the viral internet meme that will form around this episode in three… two… one…

Watch Biden’s rambling, gambling revival speech below:

h/t The Blaze

Said Huckabee:

Listen, you’re a person of faith and so am I. In his administration and now on his re-election campaign, President Obama has surrounded himself with morally repugnant political whores with misshapen values and gutter-level ethics.

The letter also announced “Obama Fundraising Watch” — which will go through Obama’s fundraising, scouring “every single line for fraud and abuse.” It adds, “When we find it…and we WILL find it…The whole world will hear about it.”

Huckabee said Obama’s fundraising “sent chills down my spine,” that he’s going to raise and spend “ONE BILLION DOLLARS.” And where is he getting that money? From “a mishmash of shady characters, corrupt contributors, far left bankrollers and financiers.”

He states, “My friend, I don’t trust President Obama. Do you?”

BuzzFeed later noted, “Jeff Marschner, a spokesman for Citizens United, ‘categorically denies’ the letter was sent by his organization.”

(H/T BuzzFeed)

RELATED: Jimmy Kimmel Goes After Obama, Republicans And The Press At W.H. Correspondents Dinner

Kimmel described an argument that he had with Walters following the WHCD. Kimmel says that Walters was not happy about a joke that he made at the WHCD which lampooned her famous speech impediment.

The Stern Show hosts asked Kimmel to reiterate his joke, which he said was “talking about technology and, you know, how far we’ve come.”

“20 years ago, a ‘tweet’ was something Barbara Walters gave her dog,” said Kimmel recounting the joke. “She’s sitting in the office…”

“She thought that was bad,” asked Stern.

“She was unhappy – she even complained about it on the show the next day,” said Kimmel.

“What did she say,” Stern followed up.

“She said that she didn’t think it was funny and there was some reference to a physical handicap,” said Kimmel. “I don’t know if she’s considered handicapped.”

“She gets to park in that special spot,” said co-host Robin Quivers.

“And then they asked her to say it,” said Kimmel. “’Say treat three times in a row,’ and she’s like ‘tweet, tweet, tweet,’ and everyone claps like oh, see, there’s no speech impediment there.”

Meanwhile, Walters is unlikely to have exhibited nearly the outrage over a joke that Kimmel (probably wisely) decided not to tell at the WHCD.

Watch the segment below via SiriusXM:

When the oil spill that happened in the spring of 2010, there was another moment to say, “Hold on a second, let’s re-look at energy policy in America. Should we be subsidizing companies that are risking our health immediately and in the long-term?” We didn’t do it. You’ve never seen the environmental movement more quiet during an oil spill. I guarantee you if John McCain had been president, with that oil spill, or George Bush had been president with that oil spill, I’d have been out there with a sign protesting. I didn’t, because of who the president was.

Pretty much the greatest unintentional description of partisan hackery since…ever. When people so closely identify with party politics and their leaders, then most issues become “My Idiot vs. Their Idiot,” instead of the actual questions at hand. Take, for instance, how much of the anti-war movement has suddenly disappeared since Obama took office, despite his policies mirroring many of Bush’s.

However, Jones does go on to say that he regrets the partisan blinders he once wore:

Well, that’s a bad, uh, that’s not good for the earth, it’s not good for the cause, it’s probably not good for the president. It’s certainly not the way we should conduct ourselves. And so, I’m very tough on progressive movements and leaders, including myself, who did not stand on principle, based on who we looked across and saw as president.

Hindsight is indeed 20/20, Mr. Jones. Once a Republican is back in office, you’ll be back at it again…protesting for the very same reasons you would have — but didn’t — under Obama.

And I’m sure the staunchly anti-war liberals who’ve suddenly gone silent under Obama will bemoan their silence once a conservative hawk is back in the Oval Office, parroting the same exact policies but with a distinctly Republican spin.

Clip below, via C-SPAN:

(H/T The Blaze)

RELATED: Howard Dean: ‘It’s Likely The Individual Mandate Will Be Declared Unconstitutional’

During an interview with Montreal D.J. Aaron Rand on CJAD, Dean was discussing “geographic boundaries” when an audible impact occurred.

“I’m going to have to… goodbye… We just got hit by a car,” said Dean. He said that neither he nor the other driver experienced any injuries as a result of the accident.

Rand later recalled his thoughts to Openfile.ca: “I heard a thud and I figured somebody had just dropped something in the car,” said Rand. “Then I heard somebody say, ‘Oh no!’”

Listen to the segment below via CJAD:

h/t Talking Points Memo

RELATED: Chris Matthews Explains His Hardball Reporting Method To Alex Trebek

Beck played a clip of Matthews wondering if Palin had the intellectual capacity required to excel in a format like that of Jeopardy:

If she [Palin] were on Jeopardy right now and the topic were government – American government generally defined – would she look like an imbecile or would she look okay? Does she know anything?

I’d like to see her on a few episodes of celebrity Jeopardy. or It’s Academic with Mac McGarry. Just see if she knows anything.

While setting up the clip, the hosts continued to hear the “hoof beats” of an approaching stamped of what Beck characterized as “something bad” coming for Matthews.

They then played a clip of Matthews’ recent appearance on Jeopardy, but stopped themselves midway through his introduction when they learned that he was a speechwriter for former President Jimmy Carter. “Now I feel like a bully,” said Beck. “Now it’s unfair.”

“And he was a dietician for Jeffery Dahmer,” mocked co-host Pat Gray.

“He was the exercise coach for Pavarotti,” tagged Beck.

Back to Matthews’ Jeopardy performance, where he wrestled with the answer format before finally settling on the correct “what is” response after three attempts to answer the question, “at blank, soldier.”

“It starts with that’s Alex Trebek mocking him,” said Beck. “Pay attention now, dummy.”

Beck plays another clip of Matthews stumbling over the answer to the question, “full name of the U2 pilot shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960.”

“Gary Powers,” Matthews responded twice before the answer was stolen by CNN reporter Lizzie O’Leary who correctly answered “who is Francis Gary Powers.” Beck said that he, too, would have failed to answer that question correctly.

They proceeded to play several clips of Matthews failing to correctly answer questions, including “how many letters” in the word Istanbul, and eventually losing to former White House Press Sec. Robert Gibbs.

“I think Jeopardy is actually pretty hard,” said Beck. His co-hosts agreed, but mocked Matthews for suggesting that Palin would be so intellectually deficient that she would perform miserably on the program.

Watch the segment below via Glenn Beck TV:

h/t NewsBusters

Yes, thanks to Jest, we can now listen to what a Fifty Shades of Grey book on tape would sound like if Gilbert Gottfried was the one reading sexy lines like “slowly he inserts his thumb inside me, rotating it around and around.” Who wouldn’t want to pay for that?

Honestly, I’d buy it just to pretend it was actually written as Aladdin fan fiction. Oh, Iago! You naughty, naughty bird!

Watch the video from Jest below:

RELATED: Glenn Beck, Forbes Cover Boy, Made $32 Million Last Year

Politico‘s Dylan Byers took a look at the rankings by number, and found Beck tied at #11 with Elton John for the most money made this year– an impressive amount, especially given that in 2010, at the peak of Beck’s fame, he made a comparatively paltry $32 million (and was on the cover of Forbes for it). Continuing to go down the list of most successful financially, one will find among those ranked below Beck Donald Trump, Lady Gaga, Roger Federer, and Beyoncé.

While his fame– or at least fame as considered in the political pundit world– has diminished somewhat, Forbes explains that his network, GBTV, really paid off, and that his publishing company is stronger than ever.

RELATED: Majority Of Americans Say Same-Sex Relationships Are Morally Acceptable

“Homosexuality is the one sin, the one habit, that is 24/7,” Cameron explained on the program. “While I’m not sure about the claims by the various people who have reported that Obama has at least participated at times with them in homosexual acts, this certainly lends some credence.” He did not elaborate on who the “various people” are, but the most “reliable” source a Google search could turn up on this is World Net Daily, so perhaps it’s best he didn’t try to justify this one.

He then went on to explain the “homosexual movement,” with which he appeared to be intimately acquainted (as an expert of course):

Mark my words clearly; the long term goal of the homosexual movement is to get every little boy to grab his ankles and every little girl to give it a try. They will not rest until every one of our children at least gets to try, has the opportunity and maybe is forced to at least once experience homosexual acts. There is no retreating from that, they made it very clear earlier on—now they don’t take about it—but that’s what they want, they will not be happy until they get it, marriage is just a step along the way.

It isn’t hard to see how this happened– how the more fringe anti-Obama elements decided that his declaration was a confirmation that he was secretly gay (hey, Newsweek did the same thing, albeit less maliciously and more metaphorically).

The clip from the Crosstalk program below:

[h/t Right Wing Watch via Queerty]

RELATED: NY Times Buries The Lede: Anderson Cooper’s Ratings Surge At 8PM

Tennessee attorney John Wolfe, who is an official candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2012, is drawing a surprising amount of support among Arkansas voters in the state’s fourth congressional district.

A Hendrix College-Talk Business poll of Democrats from May 10 showed Wolfe drawing 38 percent support to Obama’s 45 percent. 17 percent of fourth district Democratic voters remain undecided in that race. The poll sampled 418 likely Democratic voters and has a +/- 4.8 percent margin of error.

Talk Business notes that the poll was taken the day after President Obama’s highly publicized interview with ABC in which he expressed support for gay marriage rights.

Wolfe told Weekly Standard that “the momentum is good.”

Wolfe predicted that the voters would move his way in the final days before the May 22 primary, despite his shoestring campaign budget. “There’s not been a single TV ad. There’s not been a single radio ad,” he said.

Wolfe is also on the ballot in Texas’ May 29 Democratic primary.

h/t Weekly Standard

The president’s DNC acceptance is scheduled for September 6th in Charlotte, North Carolina. The same night that the likes of Justin Bieber and Katy Perry will gather at the Staples Center in Los Angeles to accept moon-men statuettes. According to CNN, however, MTV now plans to move its scheduled airing so as not to conflict with Obama’s speech:

An MTV spokeswoman told CNN the station would air the awards from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern, rather than their usual 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. “to avoid conflict with the Democratic National Convention proceedings that evening.”

The Obama campaign had no comment.

Before any conservatives interpret MTV’s decision as proof-positive of the network being “in the tank” for the president, let me say that this is proof-positive of one thing: the free market in action. The acceptance speech will be a highly-watched affair, and the businessmen at MTV don’t want to risk the lower ratings by airing during a conflicting time slot.

That’s not to say that MTV isn’t in the tank for the president in other ways. They probably are…given their demographic. But sorry folks, this just isn’t an example.

The sketch, produced to promote this year’s Webby Awards which Oswalt will be hosting, features the comedian as the host of a cheesy mystery show called In Search Of…. He also plays the show’s focus, a man named Donny “Diamond” Ruiz, who was the first to stake the “First” claim. Apparently, he did it on an FDA lunch order form and just couldn’t stop.

The whole thing is ridiculous and awesome. Particularly Donny’s “FIRST” brass knuckles. If the Webby’s don’t give versions of those out in gift bags or something, then the organizers are clearly crazy.

Watch the video from Funny or Die below:

Taking the ol’ “Even Ronald Reagan would be too liberal for modern conservatives” type of argument to its logical extreme, Christopher pointed out why the Jesus could be the King of Kings…but not a Republican candidate.

“It was a lousy endorsement, but the thing making me laugh was the idea of Jesus running against Obama. I can just see the ads now. ‘Jesus turned water into wine, devastating the liquor industry. He brought loaves and fishes, killing hundreds of fishing and baking jobs.’ Y’know? Jesus would get crucified during a Republican Primary.”

I have neither gone to enough CPACs or read enough of the Bible to really comment on how true Christopher’s statement was. Fortunately, we’ll never have to find out. Obviously, Jesus is too busy to run for office.

Watch the clip from Current TV below:

RELATED: Joe Scarborough In Disbelief Over Romney’s Lead Among Women: What Happened?!

“While The Times and CBS regularly conduct fresh random sample surveys on a variety of issues, we occasionally employ a short-term callback method of previous respondents when we are interested in analyzing changes in public opinion on timely subjects, as we did, for example, upon the death of Osama bin Laden. As we pointed out when we published the article, results on subgroups from call back surveys have a larger sampling error.”

The Obama campaign has called foul on the way the poll was conducted.

“The methodology was significantly biased,” Obama’s deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter told Chuck Todd. “It is a biased sample.”

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough was astonished earlier on Tuesday that Romney had made up the difference:

“Remember the gender gap, Mark Halperin? What happened?” Scarborough asked. “Romney had the latest CBS/New York Times poll, you look inside the numbers, 6% more of the respondents were Democrats than Republicans. This poll was tilted Democratic. Still, more women supporting Romney right now.”

The book is written by satirists Bruce Kluger and David Slavin (of NPR’s All Things Considered) illustrated by Colleen Clapp (who’s worked for The Chris Matthews Show and NBC News, among others).

Description of the book includes:

Now for the first time, here is the completely true—and only mildly embellished— shaggy-dog story of Seamus Romney, the famously fetching Irish setter whose master, future presidential candidate Mitt Romney, plopped him atop the family station wagon for that infamous 1983 car trip. From the majesty of Mount Rushmore to the fabulousness of San Francisco, from the sacred temple of Salt Lake City to the hallowed halls of Washington, D.C., here at last is Seamus’s rooftop account of that headline-grabbing journey . . . unleashed.

The look at “the wild ride that’s sweeping—and bewildering—the nation” is published next month.

RELATED: Rush Limbaugh: “1965′s A Great Year, Bullying Was Legal”

The numbers, he argued, would “remind you just how bad things are for Obama… if you dig deep.” The polls were not surprising to Limbaugh, but certainly pleasing “after the contrived Sandra Fluke thing… [after making] Obama look like the first gay President, first female President, first Jewish President.” He then explained liberal philosophy:

They look at America [and] they see groups of people: they see victims, they see oppressed millions, they don’t see people living free prosperous lives with ambition and desire. They don’t see happiness and contentment. They see people in misery; they see people in poverty; they see people being discriminated against… those are the people they’re gunning for in the campaign.

But, he concluded, “one of the groups they have attempted to make miserable,” women, has failed entirely, as the poll proves. Given that liberals, he explains, “use polls to shape the news,” the fact that they want to bury this one is quite telling.

The full segment from today’s show below:

RELATED: Washington Post‘s Dana Milbank Calls Obama’s Constant Campaigning ‘Sleazy’

In a take on Newsweek columnist Andrew Sullivan’s latest piece titled “The First Gay President,” Milbank called Obama the first female president. But the comparison was not flattering – Milbank wrote that Obama’s appearance at Barnard College on Monday “veered into pandering, as Obama brazenly flaunted his feminine mystique.”

He speculated that “Congress would get a lot more done” if more women were there. He speculated that, although no women signed the Constitution, “we can assume that there were founding mothers whispering smarter things in the ears of the founding fathers.”

He announced that “more and more women are out-earning their husbands. You’re more than half of our college graduates and master’s graduates and PhDs.” He told them that they are “poised to make this the century where women shape not only their own destiny but the destiny of this nation and of this world.”

And they can look good doing it! “You can be stylish and powerful, too,” he said. “That’s Michelle’s advice.” The first lady, the couple’s two daughters, and the president’s mother and mother-in-law had recurring roles as “strong, remarkable women” in the speech.

Milbank noted that Obama’s myriad applause lines received passionate ovations from his crowed of newly minted female college graduates. “The tone seemed more suited to campaign than campus,” Milbank wrote.

President Obama went on to join the cast of ABC’s The View to further target female voters which most polls have shown are supportive of Obama’s reelection effort. However, a highly publicized poll from CBS/New York Times, which resampled registered voters from a previous poll in mid-April, showed women are moving in former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s direction. In that poll, Romney took the lead over President Obama among female registered voters — they support Romney over Obama by 44 to 42 percent in that poll.

h/t Washington Post

RELATED: Marine Corps Fires Sergeant For Anti-Obama Facebook Page

Stein wrote:

President Obama was in Hollywood for a fundraiser. Forty grand a plate — because nothing says “man of the people” like demanding 40 grand for some rubbery chicken. Insiders say Obama’s pretty comfortable around actors. He should be. He has been “acting” like he was born in Hawaii for a long time.

The nine-year veteran was dismissed after criticizing the president on Facebook, including calling him the “economic and religious enemy” and writing “screw Obama.” He’d defended himself on First Amendment rights. Since his dismissal, Stein has launched his own weekly radio show.

(H/T Huffington Post)

According to Orlando’s WFTV, the FBI has been “questioning witnesses from the Retreat at Twin Lakes gated community where the February shooting occurred.”

“What the government would have to prove is that Mr. Zimmerman acted out of hatred toward African-Americans,” said WFTV’s Bill Sheaffer. “That’s why he came into contact with him. That’s why he shot and killed him.”

“Mr. Zimmerman could be punished by up to life in prison or even the death penalty,” he added.

Watch the report from WFTV below:

(h/t Raw Story)

“I’m for Mitt Romney,” Bush responded, “as the doors of an elevator closed on him,” after giving a speech on human rights.

Negrin noted that Bush has been absent from the campaign trail and hadn’t made any public comment despite his own parents, President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush, endorsing Romney in March.

He writes:

People who worked in the Bush administration say they doubt the former president will be campaigning for Romney this year. Even in his post-presidential life, Bush still gets a lot of the blame for the poor economy, according to polls, though he has become more popular since leaving office.

(h/t ABC News)

RELATED: Mitt Romney Admits To Doing ‘Dumb Things’ Following Anti-Gay Prep School Prank Allegations

“This is an opportunity for Romney to really lead on this issue,” Hirsh added. “His apology fell short of that. That’s not to say he won’t feel different after some soul searching. I would hope anyone standing for president would take the opportunity to set a clear example on this issue. We’re looking to do away with language that minimizes bullying.”

Romney acknowledged that the reported situation had occurred in his youth, but denied he targeted a student for being gay. “Back in high school, I did some dumb things & if anybody was hurt by that or offended, obviously I apologize,” Romney told The Washington Post. “I participated in a lot of hijinks and pranks during high school and some might have gone too far and for that, I apologize. I certainly don’t believe that I thought the fellow was homosexual,” he added. “That was the furthest thing from our minds back in the 1960s.”

(h/t Hollywood Reporter)

Vice presidential hopefuls are famous for ruling themselves out, only to hear he siren again later, but Pawlenty’s kiss-off sounds pretty final:

“I’m going to take my name off the list, so if … you’re a journalist, an observer, remove my name from the list,” Pawlenty said. “I went through it before with McCain.”

Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, passed over Pawlenty for Sarah Palin.

This time around, Pawlenty has been mentioned as a possible contender for Mitt Romney’s second-in-command, often followed by a one-word assessment from pundits: “boring.”

How boring is Pawlenty? He actually made this announcement 2 weeks ago, but the reporter just noticed.

T-Paw was unclear about his future plans, other than explaining to the enraged Trekkies who show up at Romney campaign rallies that he is not a Vulcan high priestess:

He was more vague about his future. Asked whether he might run for U.S. Senate or for governor in 2014, he replied: “I haven’t ruled anything in or out.”

…The former governor, who was heckled at an Oklahoma Republican convention over the weekend that later was shut down when Paul and Romney supporters brawled, said he does not plan to attend this weekend’s Minnesota Republican convention.

He will, he said, be elsewhere in the country, campaigning for Romney.

All kidding aside, Pawlenty would have been an excellent fit for Romney, with good conservative street cred, but a moderate temperament that would have appealed to independents. He also possesses a great deal more personal warmth than Romney, all qualities which suggest that Pawlenty bowed out of the presidential race too soon, before everyone in the known world got a turn as Republican frontrunner.

Well, several of those Wonder Bread slices took exception to that notion, reports Buzzfeed‘s Rebecca Elliott.

Politico‘s Mike Allen and Jim Vandehei report that the Romney search committee has adopted the political equivalent of the George Costanza rule:

The strategy: Whatever McCain did, do the opposite.

Many of the current strategy discussions are centered on not falling into the traps McCain did: looking wobbly as a leader and weak on the economy in the final weeks of the campaign. The private discussions include ruling out any vice presidential possibilities who could be seen as even remotely risky or unprepared; wrapping the entire campaign around economic issues, knowing this topic alone will swing undecided voters in the final days; and, slowly but steadily, building up Romney as a safe and competent alternative to President Barack Obama.

McCain, according to Romney advisers, blew it on all three scores. And of the three, the most conscious effort by Romney’s team to do things differently will be in the vice presidential selection process. One Republican official familiar with the campaign’s thinking said it will be designed to produce a pick who is safe and, by design, unexciting — a deliberate anti-Palin. The prized pick, said this official: an “incredibly boring white guy.”

I’m not sure who to be offended for, the incredibly boring white guys, or the women, non-white men, and Chris Christies who are being denied the chance to be Mitt Romney’s running mate. I’m also not sure about the strategy, if the idea is to go whiter and more boring than Mitt Romney. They’ll have to run him with a piece of paper that says “This Page Intentionally Left Blank.”

In a great bit of post-Ben Smith synergy, Buzzfeed sought comment from four of Romney’s prospective pale riders. Ohio Senator Rob Portman told Rebecca Elliott “I hope that I’m viewed as someone who gets things …” zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Elliott actually published reactions from Portman, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels’ office, and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell‘s spokesman, but the funniest reaction was this one:

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty did not respond to a request for comment.

What’s funny about that is that Pawlenty did respond to Elliott, in person, standing on his head, holding two road flares.

Not that he asked, but I still think Romney ought to pick Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Sec. Rice has been pooh-poohed as a pick (despite polling that shows support for the idea) because of some moderate positions she holds, particularly on abortion rights. Those might make her less-than-palatable for the conservative base, but those people hate President Obama so much, they’d turn out for George Soros if you put an “R” after his name. Sec. Rice would, however, appeal broadly to independents, and maybe even some Democrats, in a way that your average white male VP pick never has.

According to the Guardian’s Sandra Laville, Brooks will be charged with “three counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in July last year at the height of the police investigation.”

Brooks disputed the charges, and denounced the Crown Prosecution Service in a statement to the press.

“We deplore this weak and unjust decision after the further unprecedented posturing of the CPS,” according to the statement. “We will respond later today after our return from the police station.”

Brooks resigned as chief executive of News International (NI) last year; she was editor of the News Of The World (NOTW) when missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler’s phone was hacked and messages were deleted. The teenager was later found murdered.

(h/t The Guardian)

In the episode of The View airing Tuesday, Obama used the news about the bank to discuss with the hosts his views on the need for financial regulation and reform on Wall Street in general.

About CEO Jamie Dimon, Obama said he’s “one of the smartest bankers we’ve got” — and the losses at the nation’s largest bank show that “even if you’re smart you can make mistakes.” The lesson, Obama said, is that we need reform on Wall Street, that incidents like these underscore the need for regulatory measures like the Dodd-Frank Act.

Said Obama:

“This is one of the best managed banks. You could have a bank that isn’t as strong, isn’t as profitable managing those same bets and we might have had to step in. That’s why Wall Street reform is so important.”

While the president hasn’t been alone in arguing in favor of regulation following JP Morgan’s loss, others haven’t kind quite as kind words for the Dimon. Also on Monday, Massachusetts Senate hopeful and former financial regulator Elizabeth Warren called on “a revival of 1933’s Glass-Steagall Act, which kept commercial banks out of the investing business from the Great Depression until the 1990s,” according to the Boston Herald. Furthermore, Warren’s called for Dimon’s departure from the New York Federal Reserve Board.

The CEO has apologized for the error after it became public that irresponsible trading led to the loss.

(H/T POLITICO; ABC News)

According to the poll, 54% accept gay/lesbian relationships — compared to 56% in 2011. While that’s a slight dip, the number had been steadily increasing from 38% in 2002. The trend is in line with the support for legalizing same-sex marriage, which rose from “42% support in 2004 to 50% or greater support in the last two years.”

Via Gallup:

Americans’ acceptance of gays and lesbians as equal members of society has increased steadily in the past decade to the point that half or more now agree that being gay is morally acceptable, that gay relations ought to be legal, and that gay or lesbian couples should have the right to legally marry. While public support has been trending upward, support on all three measures was slightly higher in 2011 than in the new 2012 poll, suggesting attitudes may be leveling off — at least for the time being. However, they are stabilizing at a point that makes President Obama’s decision to publicly support gay marriage much less controversial than it would have been even four years ago. Significant pockets of resistance remain — namely Republicans, those 55 and older, Protestants, residents of the South, and, in some respects, men — but majorities of other groups have grown comfortable with gay rights.

(H/T Gallup via LA Times)

Michelle Schimel is a Democrat who’s been her district’s assemblywoman for three terms now. However, in the race for her fourth term, she will now be running against Mark Schimel, yes relation. Schimel is her estranged husband who just recently sought and received the Republican nomination in the race.

From ABC News:

“Frank Moroney, chairman of the North Hempstead Republican Committee, told ABC News Mark Schimel assured them he wasn’t running with an agenda to hurt his estranged wife.

‘He had the plan and the interest, and we made sure that everybody knows him. We weren’t looking for a circus. We weren’t looking for a sideshow,’ Moroney told ABC News. ‘We want an issue oriented campaign. He made that commitment, and we moved forward. He kept reassuring us that it was all about business.’”

Yeah, that sounds believable.

We can all see how this would work in a movie. Rachel McAdams just doesn’t have enough time for her husband, Ryan Gosling, because of her high-profile political campaign. So, to save their marriage, Gosling does the only thing he can; gets in the race himself! With his wacky best friend, Jason Segel, as his campaign adviser, Gosling gets to the big debate where he declares his love and then he and McAdams make out in the middle of a bunch of red, white, and blue confetti! And Jason Segel totally bangs McAdams’ sassy press secretary played by Aubrey Plaza! Yay!

Somehow, I don’t see the real life version going this way. I also don’t think the movie version would give the couple two poor children who are caught in the middle. Because that, like everything else, more sad than funny.

But don’t worry! At least the real story has a wacky old lady character! Just read how funny this is!

“Mark Schimel’s mother, Irma, expressed disbelief at her son’s decision to run against his wife to a New York paper.

‘You’re joking,’ Irma Schimel told the Daily News when she learned about his bid. ‘This is a really startling thing. It’s a shock. Why would he do this?’

When contacted by ABC News, Irma Schimel said she was no longer discussing her son’s campaign.”

Oh, wait. No. Just sad again.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether their cover outing President Obama would go on to become as iconically controversial as some of their others, but it wasn’t the first time that Newsweek had made headlines for a provocative cover photo in recent times. In fact, it is pretty clear that part of the Newsweek/Daily Beast strategy for the ailing weekly is to get people talking about them. Good and bad. So like any good lemmings might, we are here to oblige.

Here are some of their most notorious modern-era covers: