Ask any supporter of Rep. Ron Paul– and even some of the Republicans competing for the presidential nomination against him– and they will tell you that the Congressman is nothing if not sincere. So perhaps it isn’t much of a shock that, when asked whether he sees himself in the Oval Office when he goes to sleep at night, he answered that, honestly, “not really,” and that he sometimes jokes that, more than an aspiration, “it’s a risk that I take.”

Four years ago, 14 year-old Angie Varona snapped some sexy, semi-nude pictures of herself and posted them online for her then-boyfriend. The password she used to protect the gallery was hacked, the photos spilled out onto the rest of the Internet, and ” target=”_blank”>predictably creepy things happened from there.

In an interview certain to fuel another day’s debate over the not guilty verdict that stunned people watching the Casey Anthony murder trial, ABC’s Terry Moran talked to Jennifer Ford, previously known to reporters covering the Anthony trial as “juror number three.” In the interview, which aired last night on Nightline, Ford was firm that after three weeks of trial testimony, she was left with “no idea” if Casey Anthony killed her daughter, and believes she had no choice but to acquit Anthony on all felony counts in the case. “I did not say she was innocent. I just said there was not enough evidence.”

The former governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, says he will decide in the next few months on a 2012 presidential campaign. In the meantime, he’s talking about how that run–and facing former Alaska governor Sarah Palin–might shape up. Pawlenty insists nobody’s pulling any punches for fear of alienating Palin’s legion of die-hard supporters: “I don’t think it’s fair to say people are afraid of her,” Pawlenty tells ABC’s Terry Moran in an exclusive interview set to air Friday night on Nightline.

Two suspicious packages have been found on separate UPS planes in Newark and Philadelphia airports. Both airplanes are currently quarantined, but reports are already suggesting that this may be part of a much larger and coordinated International attack. ABC News’ Terry Moran tweeted: “Federal sources tell ABC News more than a dozen potential bombs shipped to US,distributed on UPS trucks to NY, NJ. Bomb technicians on scene.”

As Melissa Block interviewed Karen Grigsby Bates Wednesday on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, Bates made a startling statement that may have caused many listeners to drive off the road. In describing Judge Vaughn Walker, who had just found a ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, she said “He’s gay and out. And it doesn’t seem to be an issue for anybody, including the supporters of Proposition 8.”

In a surprise move, FishbowlDC is reporting longtime CNN anchor and foreign correspondent Christiane Amanpour has been offered the ABC Sunday morning show This Week anchor job. She was initially thrown into the mix for the vacant role earlier this month.

But thel hiring of Amanpour would signal a major direction shift for the future of This Week.

ABC is deploying former Bush strategist and political commentator Matthew Dowd to moderate their Sunday political program This Week this Sunday, which is currently rotating hosts on a weekly basis. With Jake Tapper, Barbara Walters, and Terry Moran among past rotating hosts, Dowd will be the first moderator since Stephanopoulos himself to have a background outside of objective journalism.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was on ABC’s “This Week” hosted by Terry Moran and dismissed the Tea Party movement. “The Tea Party is not going to go anywhere,” Schwarzenegger told Moran. “I think the Tea Party is all about just an expression of anger and dissatisfaction.” The video and transcript after the jump.

Stephen Colbert interviewed George Stephanopoulos last night, and in between needling George about cooking segments as a path to the evening news anchor chair, he put in a good word for Jake Tapper as the next host of “This Week.”

Colbert isn’t the only fundit® to weigh in on the subject recently. Seth Meyers, anchor of the resurgent SNL Weekend Update, also lent his support to the tenacious White House reporter. Whether ABC News taps Tapper or not, though, it’s about time they make up their minds.

Cross Ted Koppel off the list of potential anchors of ABC’s Sunday morning show This Week.

Broadcasting & Cable‘s Marisa Guthrie reports that, despite previous reports, talks have ended between ABC and the former Nightline anchor without an offer.

The past two weeks have provided an opportunity to compare the performance of a pair of leading candidates to succeed George Stephanopoulos as the host of ABC’s This Week. By one measure, at least, White House correspondent Jake Tapper has emerged with an advantage over Nightline co-anchor Terry Moran, drawing 60,000 more viewers. That might seem slim, but a closer look at the numbers indicates that ABC might want to consider moving in Tapper’s direction.

Ted Koppel has been offered ABC’s This Week job, reports Politico’s Mike Allen ‘exclusively’ and definitively this morning.

Except, the story has already changed – and ABC News President David Westin has delivered a strong smackdown of Allen’s rushed “reporting”.

Yesterday the news came out that George Stephanopoulos had been “offered” the Good Morning America job being vacated at the end of next week when Diane Sawyer takes over for Charlie Gibson the following week on World News.

The Washington Post reported the story as “BREAKING” – but it wasn’t a surprise. What it means is Stephanopoulos has to take the job.

Many changes are about to take place at ABC News, as Charlie Gibson officially signs off as anchor of World News December 18.

If George Stephanopoulos gets Diane Sawyer‘s GMA gig, Nightline anchor Terry Moran could be the odds-on favorite at This Week.

In the age of the Verified Account, we expect our celebrities and media personalities to be on Twitter. It’s both the quickest and easiest way for them to reach their audiences and it provides a small window into the minutiae of their everyday lives. So we’ve tallied and ranked the top 25 media figures by number of Twitter followers and the results, if not surprising, are telling.

Yesterday, the Washington Post issued Twitter guidelines for employees of the paper. The new rules are actually pretty reasonable: When publishing in any media using your byline, remain impartial. And don’t do anything stupid. But is demanding impartiality in the social media world really in the best interests of the paper?

President Obama had an outburst last night! Sort of. Alas, it was less Kanye-style than actually about Kanye West — the President was quoted on Twitter referring to him as a “jackass” — but it’s still a headline dominator this morning. Also, it was supposed to be off the record. However, thanks to the beauty of Twitter we all get to enjoy the unedited Obama. But will this mark the end of unedited Twittering for jounos everywhere?

The late night supremacy debate has recently been framed as a battle between the longtime CBS star David Letterman and the recently promoted NBC host Conan O’Brien.
But there’s a third participant in the debate, making its presence felt in a big way: ABC’s comedy-counter-programming of Nightline.