Bill Clinton raised more than a few eyebrows this week when a photo popped up on the Internet of the former president posing in between two famous porn stars — Brooklyn Lee and Tasha Reign — at a fundraising event in Monaco.

The picture, which was taken at the “Nights in Monaco” gala in Monte Carlo, was first posted to TMZ, then spread like wildfire all over the web, because, well … it’s Bill Clinton … posing with two porn stars!

But how did the “shocking” photo come about?

The porn actresses called TMZ and explained how they attended the gala — which was a fundraiser for the Clinton Foundation and Prince Albert of Monaco’s charitable foundation — as guests of FriendFinder CEO and Penthouse magazine owner Marc Bell.

“We had our own table and everything, dining side by side with Bill, and the prince, and everybody,” Lee told TMZ. “He kind of was looking over at us every once in a while, and we’re huge psycho fans of Bill–we just think he’s really cute.”

The women say initially approached Clinton in the hopes of meeting him and having their picture taken with him … but Bill’s Secret Service agents brushed them off.

When Bill caught the girls out the corner of his eye, he told his SS agents to call them back, and he took a quick picture and chatted with them briefly.

“It was brief–he’s really, really sweet. I just told him that I loved him, I thought he was a great president, and he just kind of winked and smiled and gave us hugs,” Lee said, describing Clinton as “very sweet and cool about the whole thing.”

Brooklyn Lee and Tasha Reign said that they were unsure, but hopeful, that the former president knew who they were, and they felt bad about the negative press Clinton received over the picture.

“I kind of feel like he knows [who we are],” Lee said. “We hope he likes us and we hope he likes to watch our movies.” Reign agreed: “I have a feeling that everyone watches adult entertainment.”

Meanwhile, Marc Bell — who, as we previously mentioned, invited the girls to the event — says that the media is blowing the whole thing out of proportion, and Bill Clinton had no idea who the women were.

“It’s unfortunate that a harmless picture has gotten so much play,” Bell said. “It wasn’t done for publicity, it wasn’t done for malice, it was done because they thought it was really cool to meet the president.”

He continued, “He didn’t even know who they were. When he met them, he had no idea who they were. They were there not under their stage names. They were there under their real names … The man had no clue.”

Of course he didn’t. ;)

According to Newsweek Magazine, President Barack Obama is our country’s “First Gay President.”

The cover, which shows Obama adorned with a rainbow halo above his head, follows the president’s declaration last week that he is personally in favor of gay marriage.

Written by longtime Obama fan and gay political writer Andrew Sullivan, the cover article (and its attention-grabbing headline) isn’t an Obama diss, but a throwback to an article written by Toni Morrison in 1998 that called Bill Clinton our country’s “First Black President.”

Sullivan’s article isn’t available online yet, but he did write an emotional blog post last week in response to Obama’s announcement for his support of same-sex marriage:

I do not know how orchestrated this was; and I do not know how calculated it is. What I know is that, absorbing the news, I was uncharacteristically at a loss for words for a while, didn’t know what to write, and, like many Dish readers, there are tears in my eyes.

So let me simply say: I think of all the gay kids out there who now know they have their president on their side. I think of Maurice Sendak, who just died, whose decades-long relationship was never given the respect it deserved.

I think of the centuries and decades in which gay people found it impossible to believe that marriage and inclusion in their own families was possible for them, so crushed were they by the weight of social and religious pressure.

I think of all those in the plague years shut out of hospital rooms, thrown out of apartments, written out of wills, treated like human garbage because they loved another human being.

I think of Frank Kameny. I think of the gay parents who now feel their president is behind their sacrifices and their love for their children.

The interview changes no laws; it has no tangible effect. But it reaffirms for me the integrity of this man we are immensely lucky to have in the White House.

Obama’s journey on this has been like that of many other Americans, when faced with the actual reality of gay lives and gay relationships. Yes, there was politics in a lot of it. But not all of it.

I was in the room long before the 2008 primaries when Obama spoke to the mother of a gay son about marriage equality. He said he was for equality, but not marriage.

Five years later, he sees–as we all see–that you cannot have one without the other. But even then, you knew he saw that woman’s son as his equal as a citizen. It was a moment–way off the record at the time–that clinched my support for him.

Today Obama did more than make a logical step. He let go of fear. He is clearly prepared to let the political chips fall as they may. That’s why we elected him.

When asked if the president had any thoughts about the cover Monday morning (May 14), White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, “I don’t know if he’s seen it and I haven’t spoken to him about it.”

Meanwhile, President Obama will reportedly tape an appearance on ABC’s “The View” Monday, where he is expected to speak further about his support for gay marriage. The interview is scheduled to air on Tuesday morning’s episode.

Your thoughts on Newsweek calling President Obama “The First Gay President?”

During an exclusive interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts Wednesday afternoon (May 9), President Barack Obama came out of nowhere and announced that he personally endorses the legalization of same-sex marriage.

President Obama said in an interview that appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Thursday:

“I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors, when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together … When I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.“

The president also discussed how his young daughters Sasha and Malia, and the younger generation as a whole, played a role in forming his opinion:

“It’s interesting, some of this is also generational … You know when I go to college campuses, sometimes I talk to college Republicans who think that I have terrible policies on the economy, on foreign policy, but are very clear that when it comes to same-sex equality or, you know, sexual orientation, that they believe in equality. They are much more comfortable with it.

“Malia and Sasha, they have friends whose parents are same-sex couples. There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table and we’re talking about their friends and their parents and Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them and, frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective.”

President Obama also talked about how his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, and his Christian faith were also instrumental in his opinion on the issue:

“This is something that we’ve talked about over the years and she feels the same way, she feels the same way that I do. And that is that, in the end the values that I care most deeply about and she cares most deeply about is how we treat other people.

“And we are both practicing Christians and obviously this position may be considered to put us at odds with the views of others but, you know, when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule, treat others the way you would want to be treated.

“And I think that’s what we try to impart to our kids and that’s what motivates me as president and I figure the most consistent I can be in being true to those precepts, the better I’ll be as a as a dad and a husband and, hopefully, the better I’ll be as president.”

As ABC writer Rick Klein notes, President Obama’s public support of gay marriage is a “complete turnabout,” as he has opposed marriage between same-sex couples throughout his career in politics.

In 1996, as a state Senate candidate, he indicated support for gay marriage in a questionnaire, but Obama aides later disavowed it and said it did not reflect the candidate’s position.

In 2004, as a candidate for the US Senate, he cited his own religion in framing his views: “I’m a Christian. I do believe that tradition and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman.”

He maintained that position through his 2008 presidential campaign, and through his term as president, until today (May 9th 2012).

As president in 2010, Obama told ABC’s Jake Tapper that his feelings about gay marriage were “constantly evolving. I struggle with this.” A year later, the president told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, “I’m still working on it.”

“I probably won’t make news right now, George,” Obama said in October 2011. “But I think that there’s no doubt that as I see friends, families, children of gay couples who are thriving, you know, that has an impact on how I think about these issues.”

What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree with President Obama’s public support of gay marriage … and do you think this will positively or negatively affect his re-election this November?

French lawmakers recently repealed France’s law against sexual harassment in the workplace, claiming that the definition of the crime was too vague.

When France’s first sexual harassment law was implemented back in 1992, it was originally defined as a person abusing their position of power and authority in an effort to receive sexual favors.

The law was revised in 2002 to broaden the definition to include anyone pressuring any person to perform sex acts in exchange for favors.

According to Reuters, the repeal of the law doesn’t necessarily mean that there won’t be a new law to replace the old one, but French women will have to wait until the new Parliament goes into office this June before any new law with clearer guidelines can even be discussed.

Some women’s groups said the decision, by France’s highest constitutional body, would leave victims without legal protection until a new law is penned, while others argued an improved law could lead to more convictions. [Source]

So that means for the next few months, if not longer, it’s totally legal to sexually harass someone in France, which is really bad news for women of the workplace … but good news for their perverted bosses. At least until the new law is drafted up, and put into practice, whenever French lawmakers “get around to it.”

Do you think sexual harassment will get out of control in France over the next several months?

President Barack Obama is a fan of Young Jeezy. During his speech at the 2012 White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday night (Apr 28), the Prez gave a special shout-out to the Snowman:

“In my first term I sang Al Green. In my second term, I’m going with Young Jeezy. I sing that to her sometimes.” He said referring to the first-lady.

Back in 2008, Jeezy showed his support for Obama with his single “My President (is Black)” off his critically acclaimed album “The Recession.”

After catching wind of the President’s acknowledgment, Jeezy tweeted the following:

“Shout out to @BarackObama. You know they love the snowman in the white house. #Turntup”

Watch the Big O give Jeezy a shout-out below:

Obama has got to be the coolest president to have EVER lived!

Your thoughts?

President Barack Obama paid a visit to “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” Tuesday night (Apr 24) and joined the host for a special installment of “Slow Jamming the News,” a running skit on the late-night TV show.

If you’re not familiar with slow jamming the news, the segment’s name pretty much speaks for itself.

In front of a live audience filled with college students at the University of North Carolina, President Obama talked about student loans while Jimmy Fallon‘s house band The Roots provided the slow, sensual, blues-inspired background music.

“What we’ve said is simple: now is not the time to make school more expensive for our young people,” Obama said with the music providing a velvet smooth background.

Fallon responded (in his best Barry White voice), “Awww yeah, you should listen to The President, or as I like to call him, ‘The Preezy of the United Steezy.”

Obama played it cool throughout the jam session and didn’t crack a smile even as Fallon joked, “The Barackness monster ain’t buyin it.”

“The GOP is steady sayin’ ‘no, no, no,’ they should find something new to do like Tim Tebow,” sang Roots frontman Tariq Trotter.

The president also sat down with Fallon and discussed higher education, and talked more in depth about his plans to keep student loan interest rates down. He also talked about life in the White House and answered questions from Twitter.

Watch below:

[Video Credit: Yardie]

First Lady Michelle Obama has responded to Beyonce‘s kind open letter of admiration, in which she called Mrs. O a “caring mother” and a “loving wife.”

In her hand written note, the singing icon wrote that she’s delighted that her 3-month-old daughter Blue Ivy Carter can “grow up in a world where she has people like you to look up to.”

On Friday, the First Lady took to social networking site Twitter and tweeted, “Thank you for the beautiful letter and for being a role model who kids everywhere can look up to.” She signed off “-mo” which is used by her campaign to note that the tweet personally came from Mrs. O.

Beyonce has been friends with The First Family for some time now.

In 2009 at the now historical inauguration for President Obama, the “4” singer performed Etta James’s classic “At Last,” and in 2010 she performed at the White House State Dinner when the Obamas hosted Mexico president Felipe Calderon.

@Beyonce Thank you for the beautiful letter and for being a role model who kids everywhere can look up to. –mo

— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) April 13, 2012

North Korea went against international warnings and decided to launch a long-rage rocket into the air on Thursday (Apr 12). Or at least they tried to.

U.S. officials say the the rocket broke apart shortly after launch, which means that their rogue mission was a total and complete #FAIL!

Japan was prepared to shoot down any rocket flying over its territory, and officials there say the rocket wasn’t even in the air for a full minute before it fell into the ocean.

“We have confirmed that a certain flying object has been launched and fell after flying for just over a minute,” Japan’s Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka said. He said there was no impact on Japanese territory.

Marked in red in this simulation photo is the field of debris left from the crash of North Korea's Unha-3 rocket shortly after its April 13th 2012 launch. The North Korean peninsula is located at the upper right. (Image Credit: Analytical Graphics, Inc.)

According to the U.S. military, the missile fell into the sea west of South Korea and posed no threat to any landmasses.

International leaders urged North Korea to cancel the launch, but they went ahead with it anyway against everyone’s wishes, insisting that the rocket launch was for peaceful purposes only.

Prior to the launch, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said, “The wise thing would be for North Korea to avoid this provocative and ill-considered action, which is in blatant violation of international law and their international obligations.”

Officials in Pyongyang, North Korea said that the rocket was going to be used to simply launch a weather satellite into orbit.

However, officials in the US, South Korea and other countries believe the North Koreans are using this purported “rocket launch” as a cover-up to test a ballistic missile armed with a nuclear warhead capable of hitting United States soil.

After the failed launch, the White House called North Korea’s actions “provocative” and said that what they did threatens regional security, violates international laws and was a total breach of trust internationally.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement:

“Despite the failure of its attempted missile launch, North Korea’s provocative action threatens regional security, violates international law and contravenes its own recent commitments.

“While this action is not surprising given North Korea’s pattern of aggressive behavior, any missile activity by North Korea is of concern to the international community.

“The United States remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations, and is fully committed to the security (of) our allies in the region.”

The last time North Korea carried out a “satellite launch” was in April 2009, and at the time, the U.N. Security Council condemned the action and demanded that it not be repeated.

Before this week’s launch, U.N. diplomats warned the North Koreans that they could face further isolation from the rest of the world if it went ahead it.

“This launch will give credence to the view that North Korean leaders see improved relations with the outside world as a threat to the existence of their system,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said this week. “And recent history strongly suggests that additional provocations may follow.”

“Pyongyang has a clear choice: It can pursue peace and reap the benefits of closer ties with the international community, including the United States; or it can continue to face pressure and isolation,” Clinton said.

North Korea heavily promoted their launch in an attempt to draw attention to the country as a show of its strength amid economic hardship as their new young leader Kim Jong Un adjusts to his position of power following the death of his father Kim Jong Il four months ago.

**Start slow handclap** Good job. Way to show your “strength” North Korea!

Kim Il-sung would be proud.

[Sources: Reuters, CNN]

It’s been almost three years since President Barack Obama called Kanye West a “jackass” after West’s infamous 2009 VMAs incident when he interrupted Taylor Swift’s award acceptance speech. And it sounds like the president still holds the same opinion about the Chicago rapper.

In an interview with the May issue of The Atlantic, the president says he prefers Jay-Z over Kanye West, and he still thinks Kanye is a jackass.

A talented jackass, he noted, but still a jackass no less.

Check out an excerpt from the interview below:

“Kanye or Jay-Z?” The president smiles. “Jay-Z.” he says, as if the answer should be obvious.

When it comes to the most meaningful pop-cultural divide of the moment, the question of whether you prefer Kanye West or Jay-Z—the top two hip-hop artists in the world, who recently joined forces for a national mega-tour called Watch the Throne—Barack Obama is clearly a Jay-Z guy.

Jay-Z is about control. Jay-Z is about success. He’s a natural-born leader. He is married to Beyoncé Knowles, the gorgeous, sugar-spun R&B star who recently joined with Michelle Obama in a public campaign against the epidemic of childhood obesity.

Together, Jay and Beyoncé are worth something close to $1 billion. Jay-Z fills arenas and enunciates clearly—unlike Kanye West, who jumps onstage and interrupts during award ceremonies, cries on talk shows, and jets off to Rome to apprentice with the House of Fendi.

Besides, the president’s smile says, we are at a fund-raiser in New York, which is Jay-Z’s hometown.

“Although I like Kanye,” Obama continues, with an easy smile. “He’s a Chicago guy. Smart. He’s very talented.” He is displaying his larger awareness of the question, looking relaxed, cerebral but friendly, alive to the moment, waiting for me to get to the heart of the matter.

“Even though you called him a jackass?,” I ask.

“He is a jackass,” Obama says, in his likable and perfectly balanced modern-professorial voice. “But he’s talented.”

Back in 2009 when Kanye interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for “Video of the Year” at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, President Obama called him a “jackass” while conversing with a reporter prior to an interview.

The president didn’t know his mic was on at the time, and NBC leaked the audio, which quickly went viral.

“I thought that was really inappropriate. You know it was like she’s getting an award — why are you butting in?” he said. “The young lady seems like a perfectly nice person. She’s getting her award. What’s he doing up there? He’s a jackass.”

Beyonce loves her some Michelle Obama.

The singer — currently vacationing in St. Barts with her hubby of 4 years Jay-Z — recently penned an open letter to the First Lady, and posted a copy of the letter to her official website.

In the letter, Bey commends Michelle for being a great mother and wife who always remains humble, while also thanking her for being a strong African American woman and role model to Baby Blue Ivy, her newborn daughter with Jay-Z.

Check it out below:

Awww … how sweet! **tear**

President Barack Obama has finally responded to the tragic shooting death of Trayvon Martin for the first time since the controversy erupted on a national scale.

“If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon,” Obama said on the steps of the White House today, noting how the issue has affected him on a personal level, and not just on a political or legal level. “I think [Trayvon's parents] are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves, and we are going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.”

PHOTOS: Trayvon Martin “Million Hoodie March” in New York City Draws Thousands of Supporters + Feds Are Investigating His Shooting Death

“Obviously, this is a tragedy,” he said. “I can only imagine what these parents are going through, and when I think about this, I think about my own kids, and I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this and everybody aspect of this, and that everybody pulls together — federal, state and local — to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened.”

President Obama continued, “I think all of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how does something like this happen. And that means we examine the laws and the context for what happened, as well as the specifics of the incident.”

Watch President Obama speak out about Trayvon Martin below:

A group of about a dozen or so protesters — including actor George Clooney — were arrested early Friday (Mar 16) during an illegal protest at the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, D.C.

According to CNN, the arrested protestors included congressmen, human rights activists and faith leaders.

Clooney, along with his dad Nick and the other demonstrators, were peacefully arrested by the uniformed division of the U.S. Secret Service at around 11:45 am for crossing police lines, a misdemeanor offense.

Clooney was booked into a D.C. police station and he bailed out for a measly $100 (pocket change for this guy) a couple of hours later.

Sources close to the actor say that he feels good about the arrest because it puts an ever bigger spotlight on the crisis.

The other notable protestors who were arrested included United to End Genocide President Tom Andrews; Democratic Reps. Jim McGovern, Al Green, Jim Moran and John Olver; Martin Luther King III; and NAACP President Ben Jealous.

Moments before his arrest, Clooney, who was leading the protest, explained why he and the other protestors were demonstrating outside the Sudanese Embassy:

“We are here really to ask two very simple questions. The first question is something immediate — and immediately, we need humanitarian aid to be allowed into the Sudan before it becomes the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

“[The second] is for the government in Khartoum to stop randomly killing its own innocent men, women and children. Stop raping them and stop starving them. That’s all we ask.”

Watch the video footage from the arrest (and check out the pics) below:

Your thoughts?

President Barack Obama‘s accomplishments in his first term as POTUS are highlighted in a new 17-minute documentary released this week by the Obama Campaign.

As campaign manager Jim Messina put it, the documentary will “put into perspective the enormous challenges that the nation faced when the president took office and the strides we’ve made together.”

Check it out below:

As of this very moment, Joseph Kony is arguably the most hated man on earth.

But why? How can one person spark so much hate and disgust on a global scale?

Keep on reading and you’ll find out…

Joseph Kony is an evil, EVIL man from Uganda who heads an infamous guerilla group called the Lord’s Resistance Army, or “LRA” for short.

The LRA is a militant group of people who, with an extreme religious ideology, use violence in an effort to establish a theocratic government based on the Ten Commandments throughout various African countries, including Uganda.

Directed by Kony, the LRA has abducted and forced an estimated 66,000 children to fight for them, and has forced the internal displacement of over 2 million people since its rebellious campaign began back in the 1980′s, earning the violent army one hell of a reputation worldwide.

In the past decade alone, the LRA — which mainly operates northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic — has spent the majority of its time and energy not only attacking, but also enslaving and killing unarmed Acholi people from its own tribe, many of them being women and children.

Joseph Kony — who calls himself the official “spokesperson” of God, and even goes as far to consider himself the Holy Spirit — was indicted in 2005 for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, and has spent the past 7 years evading capture.

Now, social media has taken upon itself to create a massive campaign called “Stop Kony,” in an extreme and global effort to make the indicted war criminal “famous” (or “infamous” — depending on who you ask) so that he can finally be captured and punished for his heinous crimes against humanity.

A California-based non-profit charity organization called “Invisible Children” is at the helm of the campaign, which says it wants to harness the power of the Internet to raise awareness and finally bring Joseph Kony to justice.

A documentary video, entitled “The KONY 2012 Documentary” has now become an Internet sensation after going viral this week, reaching over 40 million views in just 3 days.

The Washington Times reported:

Less than two days after its initial release, the video on YouTube and Vimeo had garnered almost 20 Million views. Most viewers have been referred from Facebook and are between 13 and 24 years of age.

The KONY 2012 Documentary was created by Invisible Children, whose mission is not to celebrate him, but to “raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice,” as stated in the video’s description on YouTube.

The documentary calls for a massive event on April 20th called “Cover the Night,” culminating in the form of hundreds of thousands of supporters placing posters and stickers in every city across America. These materials seek to make the name of Joseph Kony famous and eventually bring him to justice via awareness.

Instantly, “Cover the Night” events on Facebook were started and grew to many hundreds of members who each committed to take part in this effort on the night of April 20th.

The video states that when Kony is a household name, the US Government will have to keep American soldiers in Central Africa, on their mission to find Kony.

“In order for Kony to be arrested this year, the Ugandan military has to find him. In order for them to find him, they need the technology and training to find him in the vast jungle. That’s where the American advisors come in. But in order for the American advisors to be there, the US government has to deploy them. They’ve done that, but if the government doesn’t believe that the people care about arresting Kony, the mission will be canceled. In order for people to care, they have to know, and they will only know if Kony’s name is everywhere.”

What are your thoughts on the “Stop Kony 2012″ campaign? Do you support it?

During his first formal White House press conference of the year, President Obama had to “get real” with a Fox News reporter who asked him a ridiculous question about raising gas prices, which some political analysts have warned will increase if a war with Iran were to break out.

“Your critics will say on Capitol Hill that you want gas prices to go higher, because you have said before that will wean the American people off fossil fuels onto renewable fuels. How do you respond to that?” Fox News correspondent Ed Henry said.

A clearly annoyed President Obama replied:

“Ed, just from a political perspective, do you think the President of the United States, going into reelection, wants gas prices to go up even higher?” he said. Turning to the room at large, he added, “Is there anybody here who thinks that makes a lot of sense?”

[HuffPo]

Peep the footage below:

Your thoughts? Do you agree with President Obama?

Somebody needs to punch Rush Limbaugh right in that big ol’ mouth of his!

The Conservative radio host declared Georgetown Law School’s Sandra Fluke “a slut” for arguing that birth control should be covered by health insurance at religious institutions.

The shock jock mocked Sandra Fluke for arguing that her fellow students shell out $1,000 a year in out of pocket expenses. Georgetown University, a Catholic institution, does not cover birth control as part of its health insurance plan.

Limbaugh dismissed Fluke’s assertion that women may be prescribed the pill for medical reasons and accused her of merely promoting promiscuity.

“What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute,” he said. “She wants to be paid to have sex. She’s having so much sex she can’t afford the contraception.”

Limbaugh went on to insult Fluke’s family for raising a daughter with loose attitudes.

“Can you imagine if you’re her parents how proud of Sandra Fluke you would be?” he said. “Your daughter goes up to a congressional hearing conducted by the Botox-filled Nancy Pelosi and testifies she’s having so much sex she can’t afford her own birth control pills and she agrees that Obama should provide them, or the Pope.”

In order to accentuate his point, he played the 1970s soul song “Troglodyte (Cave Man)” by the Jimmy Castor Bunch. He shouted “get pregnant!” over the lyrics about clubbing and grabbing women.

Even the top-ranked Georgetown Law School, a Catholic institution, did not escape Limbaugh’s sexist wrath.

“Well, I guess now we know why Bill Clinton went to Georgetown and why Hillary went to Wellesley,” he said. “Well, all the sex going on at Georgetown.”

In a statement, Fluke thanked her supporters and admonished Limbaugh for the “egregious” personal attack.

“His language is an attack on all women, and has been used throughout history to silence our voices,” she said. “The millions of American women who continue to speak out in support of women’s health care and access to contraception prove that we will not be silenced.”

[NYDN]

Your thoughts?

Controversial blogger Andrew Breitbart died early Thursday morning (Mar 1) of a heart attack at the age of 43.

According to various confirmed reports, Breitbart — who founded a popular news website called Breitbart.com, and was famously behind the big Anthony Weiner penis pic scandal — died “unexpected from natural causes” shortly after midnight in Los Angeles.

Breitbart, a political blogger, was also very influential in creating The Huffington Post, one of the most visited news sites in the world. He also played a big role in the success of another popular news website, The Drudge Report.

Breitbart later launched his own sites, including BigJournalism.com, BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com and the aforementioned Breitbart.com.

A statement on his website reads, “We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior.”

Breitbart is survived by his four children and his wife Susannah.

President Barack Obama has once again showed us why he’s the coolest president ever!

In the final moments of a “Blues Festival,” hosted at the White House last night, after a little urging from performers Buddy Guy and Mick Jagger, President O broke out into song (for the second time in the past month), this time, singing a few lines from “Sweet Home Chicago” with blues legend B.B. King.

“We were trying to get you to sing that,” Buddy Guy is overheard saying. “Because I heard you had sung Al Green, so you started something so you gotta keep it up!”

Afterwards, Obama joked with the crowd, “Some nights when you want to go out and just take a walk, clear your head, or jump into a car just to take a drive, you can’t do it. Secret Service won’t let you. And that’s frustrating.But then there are other nights where B.B. King and Mick Jagger come over to your house to play for a concert. So I guess things even out a little bit.”

This isn’t the first time our President has used his voice to please a crowd either.

A little over a month ago, while speaking on stage at a fundraiser at the world-famous Apollo Theater in New York, President Obama sang a line from Al Green‘s classic hit “Let’s Stay Together” after thanking the music legend for attending the charity event.

The YouTube video became an instant Internet hit, and has since been viewed over 5 million times.

Celebrating the second anniversary of her ”Let’s Move!” fitness and healthy eating initiative, First Lady Michelle Obama stopped by “The Ellen DeGeneres” show and flexed off her athletic skills in a push-up contest with show host Ellen DeGeneres.

“I was just wondering if you could do more push-ups than I could do,” Ellen said to the First Lady, who took up Ellen’s challenge without hesitation.

Find out who won the contest by watching the clip below:

Between the President singing Al Green at the Apollo and the First Lady doing push ups live on daytime TV, we don’t know which one out of the two is cooler!

What do you think?

This is NOT a joke!

Roseanne Barr has filed official paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run as a Green Party nominee for President of the United States, according to various confirmed reports.

The actress/comedian revealed the news on Twitter Thursday:

I am running for Green Party nominee for POTUS. I am an official candidate. I am4 the Greening of America&the world. Green=peace/justice

— Roseanne Barr (@TheRealRoseanne) February 2, 2012

Barr joins current Green Party nominees Kent Mesplay, Jill Stein and Harley Mikkelson, with the official candidate set to be announced at the Green Party Presidential Nominating Convention in July.

Roseanne says she’s sick of the Democrats and Republicans not working in the best interests of the American people, and she wants to bring some serious change to how things are done in the White House.

In a campaign-announcement speech she delivered in May 2010, Barr outlined a very ambitious three-step platform: First, to make war illegal and legalize hemp (including marijuana). Second, change the demographics of government to include more women. And third, outlaw “bull.”

“After the passage of this one law, the Patriarchy will inevitably begin to crumble, as will the concept of War itself, which is largely a large load of, well, bull,” Barr said in her speech last year.

In a more recent statement posted to the Green party Watch website this week, Barr says, “Both the Democratic and Republican parties are bought and paid for by corporate America and cater to the needs of the highest bidder as opposed to the people they claim to represent. I cannot be bought.”

Would you vote for Roseanne Barr for President?

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton was selected to cover the February 2012 issue of Esquire Magazine, where he talks about political topics such as the potential Republican candidates, the Clinton Global Initiative and why he thinks President Barack Obama has the upcoming 2012 election in the bag.

Check out the highlights from the interview below!

On GOP candidates Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney:
“With someone like Newt Gingrich, it’s a different kettle of fish. Because as a private citizen he was for certain important health-care reforms and believed in climate change and believed there had to be a strong reaction to it. And now he’s just like Romney. Neither one of them can say what they believe to be true and get nominated. Romney’s still trying to figure out what he did as governor of Massachusetts and still appeal to this driving vituperative energy.”

On why he thinks President Obama will win the election:
“I think Barack Obama will be the next president. I think he will win. Because I think that whatever feelings the American people have about their own conditions and however much they may wish he had moved more quickly, I think that they will conclude that it takes a long time to get out of the kind of economic distress we were in and that his direction and policies are more likely to move us out of that than if they give the White House and the Congress to a party that will give them more of what they just had.”

On his ‘Clinton Global Initiative’ (CGI), which helps bring jobs to America that would otherwise be sent overseas:
“I just kept feeling that there was more possibility to create jobs in America without some huge government initiative. That if we could get businesses that are doing well together with people with good ideas, and with people that are doing training, and with banks that are willing to loan money under certain circumstances, then we could do some good. That’s what led to CGI America. And the commitments we’ve gotten will create or fill existing vacancies that haven’t been filled in months for more than 150,000 jobs and give more than twice that many people more-relevant job training. We also got another $265 million in direct commitments for investments of low-interest loans to small entrepreneurs, which is a big deal because the small-business loan rate in many areas has been going down even as the demand for the loans has recovered and, according to Pepperdine University, about 40 percent of American small businesses surveyed said they would hire more people if they could get the financing to do it.”

Click Here for more from Bill Clinton’s interview with Esquire!

President Barack Obama delivered his annual “State of the Union” address Tuesday night (Jan 24), outlining a handful of economic proposals, as well as an “economic blueprint” for the country that he says will attempt to give all Americans a “fair shot.”

In the third and last address of his first term, an upbeat President Obama gave his speech in the chamber of the House of Representatives, an arena that has been ruled by the Republican party, who makes up the majority of the House and continues to block much of his agenda.

Among the highlights of Obama’s address to the nation included several proposals, including making changes to the tax code that would not only limit deductions for companies that move jobs overseas, but also reward companies that create jobs here in the U.S. and increase taxes on wealthy Americans.

President Obama called for Congress to institute his new “Buffet Rule” — named after Berkshire Hathaway’s billionaire chairman Warren E. Buffett — which would force people who make over $1 million a year to pay a minimum effective tax rate of at least 30 percent in income taxes.

While Obama placed heavy emphasis on the economy, his speech was relatively short on national security, an area where political analysts and his own aides say his performance has been much stronger, compared to his performance with the economy.

He ended his speech by reflecting on the American assault last year that finally killed Osama bin Laden after 10 long years, recalling that fateful May 2011 day when he monitored the attack from the White House.

In addition his economic proposals, Obama also talked about putting in place new immigration laws, increasing student aid and making it so that students aren’t allowed to drop out of high school until they are at least 18 years old.

President Obama also announced the Defense Department’s brand new clean energy initiative, which he said “will make one of the largest commitments to clean energy in history” and has the potential to “power a quarter of a million homes a year.”

Watch Obama deliver his 2012 State of the Union address below:

TRANSCRIPT:

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:

Last month, I went to Andrews Air Force Base and welcomed home some of our last troops to serve in Iraq. Together, we offered a final, proud salute to the colors under which more than a million of our fellow citizens fought – and several thousand gave their lives.

We gather tonight knowing that this generation of heroes has made the United States safer and more respected around the world. For the first time in nine years, there are no Americans fighting in Iraq. For the first time in two decades, Osama bin Laden is not a threat to this country. Most of al Qaeda’s top lieutenants have been defeated. The Taliban’s momentum has been broken, and some troops in Afghanistan have begun to come home.

These achievements are a testament to the courage, selflessness, and teamwork of America’s Armed Forces. At a time when too many of our institutions have let us down, they exceed all expectations. They’re not consumed with personal ambition. They don’t obsess over their differences. They focus on the mission at hand. They work together.

Imagine what we could accomplish if we followed their example. Think about the America within our reach: A country that leads the world in educating its people. An America that attracts a new generation of high-tech manufacturing and high-paying jobs. A future where we’re in control of our own energy, and our security and prosperity aren’t so tied to unstable parts of the world. An economy built to last, where hard work pays off, and responsibility is rewarded.

We can do this. I know we can, because we’ve done it before. At the end of World War II, when another generation of heroes returned home from combat, they built the strongest economy and middle class the world has ever known. My grandfather, a veteran of Patton’s Army, got the chance to go to college on the GI Bill. My grandmother, who worked on a bomber assembly line, was part of a workforce that turned out the best products on Earth.

The two of them shared the optimism of a Nation that had triumphed over a depression and fascism. They understood they were part of something larger; that they were contributing to a story of success that every American had a chance to share – the basic American promise that if you worked hard, you could do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college, and put a little away for retirement.

The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive. No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important. We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by. Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. What’s at stake aren’t Democratic values or Republican values, but American values. We have to reclaim them.

Let’s remember how we got here. Long before the recession, jobs and manufacturing began leaving our shores. Technology made businesses more efficient, but also made some jobs obsolete. Folks at the top saw their incomes rise like never before, but most hardworking Americans struggled with costs that were growing, paychecks that weren’t, and personal debt that kept piling up.

In 2008, the house of cards collapsed. We learned that mortgages had been sold to people who couldn’t afford or understand them. Banks had made huge bets and bonuses with other people’s money. Regulators had looked the other way, or didn’t have the authority to stop the bad behavior.

It was wrong. It was irresponsible. And it plunged our economy into a crisis that put millions out of work, saddled us with more debt, and left innocent, hard-working Americans holding the bag. In the six months before I took office, we lost nearly four million jobs. And we lost another four million before our policies were in full effect.

Those are the facts. But so are these. In the last 22 months, businesses have created more than three million jobs. Last year, they created the most jobs since 2005. American manufacturers are hiring again, creating jobs for the first time since the late 1990s. Together, we’ve agreed to cut the deficit by more than $2 trillion. And we’ve put in place new rules to hold Wall Street accountable, so a crisis like this never happens again.

The state of our Union is getting stronger. And we’ve come too far to turn back now. As long as I’m President, I will work with anyone in this chamber to build on this momentum. But I intend to fight obstruction with action, and I will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place.

No, we will not go back to an economy weakened by outsourcing, bad debt, and phony financial profits. Tonight, I want to speak about how we move forward, and lay out a blueprint for an economy that’s built to last – an economy built on American manufacturing, American energy, skills for American workers, and a renewal of American values.

This blueprint begins with American manufacturing.

On the day I took office, our auto industry was on the verge of collapse. Some even said we should let it die. With a million jobs at stake, I refused to let that happen. In exchange for help, we demanded responsibility. We got workers and automakers to settle their differences. We got the industry to retool and restructure. Today, General Motors is back on top as the world’s number one automaker. Chrysler has grown faster in the U.S. than any major car company. Ford is investing billions in U.S. plants and factories. And together, the entire industry added nearly 160,000 jobs.

We bet on American workers. We bet on American ingenuity. And tonight, the American auto industry is back.

What’s happening in Detroit can happen in other industries. It can happen in Cleveland and Pittsburgh and Raleigh. We can’t bring every job back that’s left our shores. But right now, it’s getting more expensive to do business in places like China. Meanwhile, America is more productive. A few weeks ago, the CEO of Master Lock told me that it now makes business sense for him to bring jobs back home. Today, for the first time in fifteen years, Master Lock’s unionized plant in Milwaukee is running at full capacity.

So we have a huge opportunity, at this moment, to bring manufacturing back. But we have to seize it. Tonight, my message to business leaders is simple: Ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to your country, and your country will do everything we can to help you succeed.

We should start with our tax code. Right now, companies get tax breaks for moving jobs and profits overseas. Meanwhile, companies that choose to stay in America get hit with one of the highest tax rates in the world. It makes no sense, and everyone knows it.

So let’s change it. First, if you’re a business that wants to outsource jobs, you shouldn’t get a tax deduction for doing it. That money should be used to cover moving expenses for companies like Master Lock that decide to bring jobs home.

Second, no American company should be able to avoid paying its fair share of taxes by moving jobs and profits overseas. From now on, every multinational company should have to pay a basic minimum tax. And every penny should go towards lowering taxes for companies that choose to stay here and hire here – in America.

Third, if you’re an American manufacturer, you should get a bigger tax cut. If you’re a high-tech manufacturer, we should double the tax deduction you get for making your products here. And if you want to relocate in a community that was hit hard when a factory left town, you should get help financing a new plant, equipment, or training for new workers.

So, my message, my message is simple. It’s time to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas, and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in America. Send me these tax reforms, and I will sign them right away.

We’re also making it easier for American businesses to sell products all over the world. Two years ago, I set a goal of doubling U.S. exports over five years. With the bipartisan trade agreements we signed into law, we are on track to meet that goal – ahead of schedule. Soon, there will be millions of new customers for American goods in Panama, Colombia, and South Korea. Soon, there will be new cars on the streets of Seoul imported from Detroit, and Toledo, and Chicago.

Now, I will go anywhere in the world to open new markets for American products. And I will not stand by when our competitors don’t play by the rules. We’ve brought trade cases against China at nearly twice the rate as the last administration – and it’s made a difference. Over a thousand Americans are working today because we stopped a surge in Chinese tires. But we need to do more. It’s not right when another country lets our movies, music, and software be pirated. It’s not fair when foreign manufacturers have a leg up on ours only because they’re heavily subsidized.

Tonight, I’m announcing the creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit that will be charged with investigating unfair trading practices in countries like China. There will be more inspections, more inspections to prevent counterfeit or unsafe goods from crossing our borders. And this Congress should make sure that no foreign company has an advantage over American manufacturing when it comes to accessing financing or new markets like Russia. Our workers are the most productive on Earth, and if the playing field is level, I promise you – America will always win.

I also hear from many business leaders who want to hire in the United States but can’t find workers with the right skills. Growing industries in science and technology have twice as many openings as we have workers who can do the job. Think about that – openings at a time when millions of Americans are looking for work.

It’s inexcusable. And we know how to fix it.

Jackie Bray is a single mom from North Carolina who was laid off from her job as a mechanic. Then Siemens opened a gas turbine factory in Charlotte, and formed a partnership with Central Piedmont Community College. The company helped the college design courses in laser and robotics training. It paid Jackie’s tuition, then hired her to help operate their plant.

I want every American looking for work to have the same opportunity as Jackie did. Join me in a national commitment to train two million Americans with skills that will lead directly to a job. My Administration has already lined up more companies that want to help. Model partnerships between businesses like Siemens and community colleges in places like Charlotte, Orlando, and Louisville are up and running. Now you need to give more community colleges the resources they need to become community career centers – places that teach people skills local businesses are looking for right now, from data management to high-tech manufacturing.

And I want to cut through the maze of confusing training programs, so that from now on, people like Jackie have one program, one website, and one place to go for all the information and help they need. It is time to turn our unemployment system into a reemployment system that puts people to work.

These reforms will help people get jobs that are open today. But to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow, our commitment to skills and education has to start earlier.

For less than one percent of what our Nation spends on education each year, we’ve convinced nearly every State in the country to raise their standards for teaching and learning – the first time that’s happened in a generation.

But challenges remain. And we know how to solve them.

At a time when other countries are doubling down on education, tight budgets have forced States to lay off thousands of teachers. We know a good teacher can increase the lifetime income of a classroom by over $250,000. A great teacher can offer an escape from poverty to the child who dreams beyond his circumstance. Every person in this chamber can point to a teacher who changed the trajectory of their lives. Most teachers work tirelessly, with modest pay, sometimes digging into their own pocket for school supplies – just to make a difference.

Teachers matter. So instead of bashing them, or defending the status quo, let’s offer schools a deal. Give them the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best ones. And in return, grant schools flexibility: To teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn. That’s a bargain worth making.

We also know that when students don’t walk away from their education, more of them walk the stage to get their diploma. When students are not allowed to drop out, they do better. So tonight, I call on every State to require that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn eighteen.

When kids do graduate, the most daunting challenge can be the cost of college. At a time when Americans owe more in tuition debt than credit card debt, this Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling in July. Extend the tuition tax credit we started that saves millions of middle-class families thousands of dollars. And give more young people the chance to earn their way through college by doubling the number of work-study jobs in the next five years.

Of course, it’s not enough for us to increase student aid. We can’t just keep subsidizing skyrocketing tuition; we’ll run out of money. States also need to do their part, by making higher education a higher priority in their budgets. And colleges and universities have to do their part by working to keep costs down. Now, Recently, I spoke with a group of college presidents who’ve done just that. Some schools re-design courses to help students finish more quickly. Some use better technology. The point is, it’s possible. So let me put colleges and universities on notice: If you can’t stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down. Higher education can’t be a luxury – it is an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.

Let’s also remember that hundreds of thousands of talented, hardworking students in this country face another challenge: The fact that they aren’t yet American citizens. Many were brought here as small children, are American through and through, yet they live every day with the threat of deportation. Others came more recently, to study business and science and engineering, but as soon as they get their degree, we send them home to invent new products and create new jobs somewhere else.

That doesn’t make sense.

I believe as strongly as ever that we should take on illegal immigration. That’s why my Administration has put more boots on the border than ever before. That’s why there are fewer illegal crossings than when I took office.

The opponents of action are out of excuses. We should be working on comprehensive immigration reform right now. But if election-year politics keeps Congress from acting on a comprehensive plan, let’s at least agree to stop expelling responsible young people who want to staff our labs, start new businesses, and defend this country. Send me a law that gives them the chance to earn their citizenship. I will sign it right away.

You see, an economy built to last is one where we encourage the talent and ingenuity of every person in this country. That means women should earn equal pay for equal work. It means we should support everyone who’s willing to work; and every risk-taker and entrepreneur who aspires to become the next Steve Jobs.

After all, innovation is what America has always been about. Most new jobs are created in start-ups and small businesses. So let’s pass an agenda that helps them succeed. Tear down regulations that prevent aspiring entrepreneurs from getting the financing to grow. Expand tax relief to small businesses that are raising wages and creating good jobs. Both parties agree on these ideas. So put them in a bill, and get it on my desk this year.

Innovation also demands basic research. Today, the discoveries taking place in our federally-financed labs and universities could lead to new treatments that kill cancer cells but leave healthy ones untouched. New lightweight vests for cops and soldiers that can stop any bullet. Don’t gut these investments in our budget. Don’t let other countries win the race for the future. Support the same kind of research and innovation that led to the computer chip and the Internet; to new American jobs and new American industries.

Nowhere is the promise of innovation greater than in American-made energy. Over the last three years, we’ve opened millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration, and tonight, I’m directing my Administration to open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources. Right now, right now American oil production is the highest that it’s been in eight years. That’s right – eight years. Not only that – last year, we relied less on foreign oil than in any of the past sixteen years.

But with only 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves, oil isn’t enough. This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy – a strategy that’s cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs.

We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly one hundred years, and my Administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy. Experts believe this will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade. And I’m requiring all companies that drill for gas on public lands to disclose the chemicals they use. America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk.

The development of natural gas will create jobs and power trucks and factories that are cleaner and cheaper, proving that we don’t have to choose between our environment and our economy. And by the way, it was public research dollars, over the course of thirty years, that helped develop the technologies to extract all this natural gas out of shale rock – reminding us that Government support is critical in helping businesses get new energy ideas off the ground.

Now, what’s true for natural gas is just as true for clean energy. In three years, our partnership with the private sector has already positioned America to be the world’s leading manufacturer of high-tech batteries. Because of federal investments, renewable energy use has nearly doubled. And thousands of Americans have jobs because of it.

When Bryan Ritterby was laid off from his job making furniture, he said he worried that at 55, no one would give him a second chance. But he found work at Energetx, a wind turbine manufacturer in Michigan. Before the recession, the factory only made luxury yachts. Today, it’s hiring workers like Bryan, who said, “I’m proud to be working in the industry of the future.”

Our experience with shale gas, our experience with natural gas shows us that the payoffs on these public investments don’t always come right away. Some technologies don’t pan out; some companies fail. But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy. I will not walk away from workers like Bryan. I will not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same commitment here. We have subsidized oil companies for a century. That’s long enough. It’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that’s rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that’s never been more promising. Pass clean energy tax credits and create these jobs.

We can also spur energy innovation with new incentives. The differences in this chamber may be too deep right now to pass a comprehensive plan to fight climate change. But there’s no reason why Congress shouldn’t at least set a clean energy standard that creates a market for innovation. So far, you haven’t acted. Well tonight, I will. I’m directing my Administration to allow the development of clean energy on enough public land to power three million homes. And I’m proud to announce that the Department of Defense, working with us, the world’s largest consumer of energy, will make one of the largest commitments to clean energy in history – with the Navy purchasing enough capacity to power a quarter of a million homes a year.

Of course, the easiest way to save money is to waste less energy. So here’s a proposal: Help manufacturers eliminate energy waste in their factories and give businesses incentives to upgrade their buildings. Their energy bills will be $100 billion lower over the next decade, and America will have less pollution, more manufacturing, more jobs for construction workers who need them. Send me a bill that creates these jobs.

Building this new energy future should be just one part of a broader agenda to repair America’s infrastructure. So much of America needs to be rebuilt. We’ve got crumbling roads and bridges. A power grid that wastes too much energy. An incomplete high-speed broadband network that prevents a small business owner in rural America from selling her products all over the world.

During the Great Depression, America built the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge. After World War II, we connected our States with a system of highways. Democratic and Republican administrations invested in great projects that benefited everybody, from the workers who built them to the businesses that still use them today.

In the next few weeks, I will sign an Executive Order clearing away the red tape that slows down too many construction projects. But you need to fund these projects. Take the money we’re no longer spending at war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building right here at home.

There’s never been a better time to build, especially since the construction industry was one of the hardest-hit when the housing bubble burst. Of course, construction workers weren’t the only ones who were hurt. So were millions of innocent Americans who’ve seen their home values decline. And while Government can’t fix the problem on its own, responsible homeowners shouldn’t have to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom to get some relief.

And that’s why I’m sending this Congress a plan that gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage, by refinancing at historically low interest rates. No more red tape. No more runaround from the banks. A small fee on the largest financial institutions will ensure that it won’t add to the deficit, and will give those banks that were rescued by taxpayers a chance to repay a deficit of trust.

Let’s never forget: Millions of Americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a Government and a financial system that do the same. It’s time to apply the same rules from top to bottom: No bailouts, no handouts, and no copouts. An America built to last insists on responsibility from everybody.

We’ve all paid the price for lenders who sold mortgages to people who couldn’t afford them, and buyers who knew they couldn’t afford them. That’s why we need smart regulations to prevent irresponsible behavior. Rules to prevent financial fraud, or toxic dumping, or faulty medical devices, these don’t destroy the free market. They make the free market work better.

Now, there is no question that some regulations are outdated, unnecessary, or too costly. In fact, I’ve approved fewer regulations in the first three years of my presidency than my Republican predecessor did in his. I’ve ordered every federal agency to eliminate rules that don’t make sense. We’ve already announced over 500 reforms, and just a fraction of them will save business and citizens more than $10 billion over the next five years. We got rid of one rule from 40 years ago that could have forced some dairy farmers to spend $10,000 a year proving that they could contain a spill – because milk was somehow classified as an oil. With a rule like that, I guess it was worth crying over spilled milk.

I’m confident a farmer can contain a milk spill without a federal agency looking over his shoulder. But I will not back down from making sure an oil company can contain the kind of oil spill we saw in the Gulf two years ago. We will not back down from protecting our kids from mercury pollution, or making sure that our food is safe and our water is clean. I will not go back to the days when health insurance companies had unchecked power to cancel your policy, deny you coverage, or charge women differently than men.

And I will not go back to the days when Wall Street was allowed to play by its own set of rules. The new rules we passed restore what should be any financial system’s core purpose: Getting funding to entrepreneurs with the best ideas, and getting loans to responsible families who want to buy a home, or start a business, or send a kid to college.

So if you’re a big bank or financial institution, you are no longer allowed to make risky bets with your customers’ deposits. You’re required to write out a “living will” that details exactly how you’ll pay the bills if you fail – because the rest of us are not bailing you out ever again. And if you’re a mortgage lender or a payday lender or a credit card company, the days of signing people up for products they can’t afford with confusing forms and deceptive practices. Those days are over. Today, American consumers finally have a watchdog in Richard Cordray with one job: To look out for them.

We’ll also establish a Financial Crimes Unit of highly trained investigators to crack down on large-scale fraud and protect people’s investments. Some financial firms violate major anti-fraud laws because there’s no real penalty for being a repeat offender. That’s bad for consumers, and it’s bad for the vast majority of bankers and financial service professionals who do the right thing. So pass legislation that makes the penalties for fraud count.

And tonight, I am asking my Attorney General to create a special unit of federal prosecutors and leading state attorneys general to expand our investigations into the abusive lending and packaging of risky mortgages that led to the housing crisis. This new unit will hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners, and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans.

A return to the American values of fair play and shared responsibility will help us protect our people and our economy. But it should also guide as we look to pay down our debt and invest in our future.

Right now, our most immediate priority is stopping a tax hike on 160 million working Americans while the recovery is still fragile. People cannot afford losing $40 out of each paycheck this year. There are plenty of ways to get this done. So let’s agree right here, right now: No side issues. No drama. Pass the payroll tax cut without delay. Let’s get it done.

When it comes to the deficit, we’ve already agreed to more than $2 trillion in cuts and savings. But we need to do more, and that means making choices. Right now, we’re poised to spend nearly $1 trillion more on what was supposed to be a temporary tax break for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans. Right now, because of loopholes and shelters in the tax code, a quarter of all millionaires pay lower tax rates than millions of middle-class households. Right now, Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.

Do we want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans? Or do we want to keep our investments in everything else – like education and medical research; a strong military and care for our veterans? Because if we’re serious about paying down our debt, we can’t do both.

The American people know what the right choice is. So do I. As I told the Speaker this summer, I’m prepared to make more reforms that rein in the long term costs of Medicare and Medicaid, and strengthen Social Security, so long as those programs remain a guarantee of security for seniors.

But in return, we need to change our tax code so that people like me, and an awful lot of Members of Congress, pay our fair share of taxes. Tax reform should follow the Buffett rule: If you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes. And my Republican friend Tom Coburn is right: Washington should stop subsidizing millionaires. In fact, if you’re earning a million dollars a year, you shouldn’t get special tax subsidies or deductions. On the other hand, if you make under $250,000 a year, like 98 percent of American families, your taxes shouldn’t go up. You’re the ones struggling with rising costs and stagnant wages. You’re the ones who need relief.

Now, you can call this class warfare all you want. But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense.

We don’t begrudge financial success in this country. We admire it. When Americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it’s not because they envy the rich. It’s because they understand that when I get a tax break I don’t need and the country can’t afford, it either adds to the deficit, or somebody else has to make up the difference – like a senior on a fixed income; or a student trying to get through school; or a family trying to make ends meet. That’s not right. Americans know that’s not right. They know that this generation’s success is only possible because past generations felt a responsibility to each other, and to the future of their country, and they know our way of life will only endure if we feel that same sense of shared responsibility. That’s how we’ll reduce our deficit. That’s an America built to last.

I recognize that people watching tonight have differing views about taxes, debt; energy and health care. But no matter what party they belong to, I bet most Americans are thinking the same thing right about now: Nothing will get done this year, or next year, or maybe even the year after that, because Washington is broken.

Can you blame them for feeling a little cynical?

The greatest blow to our confidence in our economy last year didn’t come from events beyond our control. It came from a debate in Washington over whether the United States would pay its bills or not. Who benefited from that fiasco?

I’ve talked tonight about the deficit of trust between Main Street and Wall Street. But the divide between this city and the rest of the country is at least as bad – and it seems to get worse every year.

Some of this has to do with the corrosive influence of money in politics. So together, let’s take some steps to fix that. Send me a bill that bans insider trading by Members of Congress, I will sign it tomorrow. Let’s limit any elected official from owning stocks in industries they impact. Let’s make sure people who bundle campaign contributions for Congress can’t lobby Congress, and vice versa – an idea that has bipartisan support, at least outside of Washington.

Some of what’s broken has to do with the way Congress does its business these days. A simple majority is no longer enough to get anything – even routine business – passed through the Senate. Neither party has been blameless in these tactics. Now both parties should put an end to it. For starters, I ask the Senate to pass a simple rule that all judicial and public service nominations receive a simple up or down vote within 90 days.

The executive branch also needs to change. Too often, it’s inefficient, outdated and remote. That’s why I’ve asked this Congress to grant me the authority to consolidate the federal bureaucracy so that our Government is leaner, quicker, and more responsive to the needs of the American people.

Finally, none of this can happen unless we also lower the temperature in this town. We need to end the notion that the two parties must be locked in a perpetual campaign of mutual destruction; that politics is about clinging to rigid ideologies instead of building consensus around common sense ideas.

I’m a Democrat. But I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: That Government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more. That’s why my education reform offers more competition, and more control for schools and States. That’s why we’re getting rid of regulations that don’t work. That’s why our health care law relies on a reformed private market, not a Government program.

On the other hand, even my Republican friends who complain the most about Government spending have supported federally-financed roads, and clean energy projects, and federal offices for the folks back home.

The point is, we should all want a smarter, more effective Government. And while we may not be able to bridge our biggest philosophical differences this year, we can make real progress. With or without this Congress, I will keep taking actions that help the economy grow. But I can do a whole lot more with your help. Because when we act together, there is nothing the United States of America can’t achieve.

That is the lesson we’ve learned from our actions abroad over the last few years.

Ending the Iraq war has allowed us to strike decisive blows against our enemies. From Pakistan to Yemen, the al Qaeda operatives who remain are scrambling, knowing that they can’t escape the reach of the United States of America.

From this position of strength, we’ve begun to wind down the war in Afghanistan. Ten thousand of our troops have come home. Twenty-three thousand more will leave by the end of this summer. This transition to Afghan lead will continue, and we will build an enduring partnership with Afghanistan, so that it is never again a source of attacks against America.

As the tide of war recedes, a wave of change has washed across the Middle East and North Africa, from Tunis to Cairo; from Sana’a to Tripoli. A year ago, Qadhafi was one of the world’s longest-serving dictators – a murderer with American blood on his hands. Today, he is gone. And in Syria, I have no doubt that the Assad regime will soon discover that the forces of change can’t be reversed, and that human dignity cannot be denied.

How this incredible transformation will end remains uncertain. But we have a huge stake in the outcome. And while it is ultimately up to the people of the region to decide their fate, we will advocate for those values that have served our own country so well. We will stand against violence and intimidation. We will stand for the rights and dignity of all human beings – men and women; Christians, Muslims, and Jews. We will support policies that lead to strong and stable democracies and open markets, because tyranny is no match for liberty.

And we will safeguard America’s own security against those who threaten our citizens, our friends, and our interests. Look at Iran. Through the power of our diplomacy, a world that was once divided about how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program now stands as one. The regime is more isolated than ever before; its leaders are faced with crippling sanctions, and as long as they shirk their responsibilities, this pressure will not relent. Let there be no doubt: America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal. But a peaceful resolution of this issue is still possible, and far better, and if Iran changes course and meets its obligations, it can rejoin the community of nations.

The renewal of American leadership can be felt across the globe. Our oldest alliances in Europe and Asia are stronger than ever. Our ties to the Americas are deeper. Our iron-clad commitment – and I mean iron-clad — to Israel’s security has meant the closest military cooperation between our two countries in history. We’ve made it clear that America is a Pacific power, and a new beginning in Burma has lit a new hope. From the coalitions we’ve built to secure nuclear materials, to the missions we’ve led against hunger and disease; from the blows we’ve dealt to our enemies; to the enduring power of our moral example, America is back.

Anyone who tells you otherwise, anyone who tells you that America is in decline or that our influence has waned, doesn’t know what they’re talking about. That’s not the message we get from leaders around the world, who are eager to work with us. That’s not how people feel from Tokyo to Berlin; from Cape Town to Rio; where opinions of America are higher than they’ve been in years. Yes, the world is changing; no, we can’t control every event. But America remains the one indispensable nation in world affairs – and as long as I’m President, I intend to keep it that way.

That’s why, working with our military leaders, I have proposed a new defense strategy that ensures we maintain the finest military in the world, while saving nearly half a trillion dollars in our budget. To stay one step ahead of our adversaries, I have already sent this Congress legislation that will secure our country from the growing danger of cyber-threats.

Above all, our freedom endures because of the men and women in uniform who defend it. As they come home, we must serve them as well as they’ve served us. That includes giving them the care and benefits they have earned – which is why we’ve increased annual VA spending every year I’ve been President. And it means enlisting our veterans in the work of rebuilding our Nation.

With the bipartisan support of this Congress, we are providing new tax credits to companies that hire vets. Michelle and Jill Biden have worked with American businesses to secure a pledge of 135,000 jobs for veterans and their families. And tonight, I’m proposing a Veterans Jobs Corps that will help our communities hire veterans as cops and firefighters, so that America is as strong as those who defend her.

Which brings me back to where I began. Those of us who’ve been sent here to serve can learn a thing or two from the service of our troops. When you put on that uniform, it doesn’t matter if you’re black or white; Asian or Latino; Native American; conservative, liberal; rich, poor; gay, straight. When you’re marching into battle, you look out for the person next to you, or the mission fails. Or when you’re in the thick of the fight, you rise or fall as one unit, serving one Nation, leaving no one behind.

One of my proudest possessions is the flag that the SEAL Team took with them on the mission to get bin Laden. On it are each of their names. Some may be Democrats. Some may be Republicans. But that doesn’t matter. Just like it didn’t matter that day in the Situation Room, when I sat next to Bob Gates – a man who was George Bush’s defense secretary; and Hillary Clinton, a woman who ran against me for president.

All that mattered that day was the mission. No one thought about politics. No one thought about themselves. One of the young men involved in the raid later told me that he didn’t deserve credit for the mission. It only succeeded, he said, because every single member of that unit did their job – the pilot who landed the helicopter that spun out of control; the translator who kept others from entering the compound; the troops who separated the women and children from the fight; the SEALs who charged up the stairs. More than that, the mission only succeeded because every member of that unit trusted each other – because you can’t charge up those stairs, into darkness and danger, unless you know that there’s someone behind you, watching your back.

So it is with America. Each time I look at that flag, I’m reminded that our destiny is stitched together like those fifty stars and those thirteen stripes. No one built this country on their own. This Nation is great because we built it together. This Nation is great because we worked as a team. This Nation is great because we get each other’s backs. And if we hold fast to that truth, in this moment of trial, there is no challenge too great; no mission too hard. As long as we’re joined in common purpose, as long as we maintain our common resolve, our journey moves forward, and our future is hopeful, and the state of our Union will always be strong.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

President Barack Obama is officially THE COOLEST president to ever take office in the history of the United States of America!

While speaking on stage Thursday (Jan 19) at a fundraiser at the world-famous Apollo Theater in New York, President O broke out into song, and sang a line from Al Green‘s classic hit “Let’s Stay Together” after thanking the music legend for attending the charity event.

“Don’t worry Rev I can not sing like you, but I just wanted to show my appreciation,” President Obama said afterwards, adding that his staff didn’t believe he would actually go through with it.

Watch below:

Meghan McCain, the 27-year-old daughter of Mr. Senile himself aka John McCain, recently failed miserably after she attempted to use an almost big word on live TV.

Meghan recently scored a gig as a contributor on MSNBC, and during a recent television appearance, she did that thing where you stupidly accidentally say the wrong word in place of what you really mean. (For example: Some people tend to say “Napoleon Ice Cream” when they really mean “Neapolitan.”)

MSNBC contributor Meghan McCain appeared on Alex Wagner’s show “Now” on Monday, and used a bizarre word to describe what she believed was the President and Mrs. Obama’s right to privacy.

The panel was discussing “The Obamas,” a new book by The New York Times’ Jodi Kantor, which details the apparent friction between Mrs. Obama and members of the President’s cabinet, including former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

McCain seemed to be defending the Obamas right to privacy, and took issue with the fact that the book was published while the Obamas were still in the White House. “I have no problem with this type of thing being written if they were out of office,” McCain said. She then said not once, but twice, that the Obamas deserved “a small emoticon of privacy.”

Though she did say the word twice, it’s unclear if McCain meant to say “emoticon” to describe a small amount of privacy to which the Obamas are entitled.

[HuffPo]

We’re almost 100% positive she meant to say a “modicum” (small amount) instead of “emoticon,” but whatever. She gets points for at least staying on topic and referring to the right person/people. Unlike her old, decrepit father who doesn’t even know who he’s campaigning for in the upcoming election.

[Video Source]

During what was supposed to be a campaign speech in support of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney Thursday afternoon (Jan 5) in Charleston, South Carolina, Senator John McCain slipped up with his wording, and accidentally endorsed President Barack Obama.

“I am confident with the leadership and the backing of the American people, President Obama will turn this country around,” Senator McCain said confidently.

“We believe in America. We believe that our best days are ahead of us…” old man McCain continued, not even realizing that he hadn’t said ‘Mitt Romney.’

SC governor Nikki Haley and Mitt Romney noticed the error though, and quickly moved in to take the mic away from the geriatric senator, who finally corrected himself, saying, “President Romney. Excuse me! President Romney. President Romney will turn this around…”

So just to clear things up, the crazy old man is endorsing Mitt Romney … and not President Obama, which would have been pretty epic though, right?

[Fox 11]

Sarah Palin hinted in a recent interview with Fox Business Network’s “Follow the Money” that she still might jump into the 2012 race for presidency.

Asked by Fox Business Network’s “Follow the Money” about the likelihood that she’d become a candidate, the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee said it’s not too late for “folks” to jump in. Said Palin: “Who knows what will happen in the future.”

Palin told Fox News Channel over the weekend that she felt no enthusiasm for anyone in the current GOP field and that she needed to feel something before she would offer an endorsement.

Palin said in October that she wouldn’t seek the GOP nomination. She said she could be more effective helping others get elected.

[AP]

If Sarah Palin runs for president … we can almost guarantee a second term for President Obama, considering how influential she was in helping him secure his first win back in 2008!

What are your thoughts on the possibility of Sarah Palin running for president?

President Barack Obama poses with his family — First Lady Michelle and their daughters Malia and Sasha Obama — in a brand new White House Family Portrait, revealed just in time for the upcoming Holidays!

The Obama family in their 2009 family portrait.

The last time the First Family posed for a family portrait was back in 2009, so the White House thought it was time for an update, especially since now 13-year-old Malia and 10-year-old Sasha have grown so much in the past 2 years.

The photo, taken by Pete Souza last Sunday, shows the First Family smiling and sitting in the Oval Office.

A portrait of perfection, if you ask us!

Your thoughts on the picture?

The Obamas were joined by a host of celebs — including Jennifer Hudson, Justin Bieber, Cee-Lo Green, Conan O’Brien, Nickelodeon star Victoria Justice and The Band Perry — as they all got into the festive spirit Sunday (Dec 11) in Washington D.C. at the annual Christmas in Washington ceremony.

“This is the season to celebrate the story of how, more than two thousand years ago, a child was born to two faithful travelers who could find rest only in a stable, among cattle and sheep,” President Barack Obama, who was accompanied by First Lady Michelle and the First Daughters Sasha and Malia, said near the close of the concert, which was hosted by Conan O’Brien.

“He was no ordinary child,” Obama said. “He was the manifestation of God’s love. And every year we celebrate His birth because the story of Jesus Christ changed the world.”

Singers Jennifer Hudson, Justin Bieber, Cee-Lo Green, Conan O’Brien and Victoria Justice took turns singing classic holiday tunes like “This Christmas,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “Let It Snow,” “Do You Hear What I Hear,” “Away In a Manger,” “Silent Night” and several others during the concert, which is set to air on TV this Friday (Dec 16) on TNT.

Check out 20+ pics below:

GOP candidate Herman Cain announced today that he will be “suspending” his Presidential campaign for the upcoming 2012 election. (In other words, Cain is dropping out of the race, effective immediately!)

The Republican hopeful made the expected announcement after several women came forward with allegations of an extramarital affair and sexual harassment charges against Cain, who continues to deny the accusations.

“Becoming president was Plan A. Before you get discouraged, today I want to describe Plan B,” Cain said in a press conference early Saturday. “As of today, with a lot of prayer and soul searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distraction, the continued hurt caused on me and my family, not because I’m not a fighter.”

He continued: “My wife, my family and I, we know that those false and unproven allegations are untrue so one of the first declarations that I want to make to you today is that I am at peace with my god. I am at peace with my wife and she is at peace with me.

“The pundits would like for me to shut up, drop out and go away but as my grandmother who lived to be 104 years old used to say, ‘When somebody was dead wrong, bless their little hearts,’” he said. “I am not going to be silenced and I am not going away.”

Your thoughts?

President Barack Obama officially pardoned the National Turkey outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday (Nov 23).

Obama, grinning, raised his hand over the lucky bird named “Liberty,” and pronounced it safe from slaughter.

President Obama brought his two daughters Sasha and Malia along as he performed the annual Thanksgiving tradition that dates back to the Harry Truman administration.

The Obama family later went to a local food bank where they donated two not-so lucky turkeys. “Later today, Michelle, Malia and I will also be taking two unnamed turkeys, who weren’t so lucky, to a local food bank here in D.C. that helps those in need,” the President said.

Check out the photos below:

Herman Cain‘s attempt to run for President is becoming more of a joke everyday.

In addition to the loads of woman accusing him of sexual harassment, Boxing legend Mike Tyson has impersonated the 65 year-old republican candidate in a hilariously put together video uploaded to FunnyOrDie.com.

Watch below:

During a recent interview with a Washington radio station, Justin Bieber said that he believes that Senator Amy Klobuchar should be “locked up” because of her bill that would make it a felony to illegally stream copyrighted content on sites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

“Whoever she is, she needs to know that I’m saying she needs to be locked up — put away in cuffs,” Bieber told Hot 99.5 host Kane. “I just think that’s ridiculous.”

Klobuchar’s bill, known as the “Bieber Bill” or S.978, the Commercial Felony Streaming Act, states:

Makes unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted content a felony with a possible penalty of up to 5 years in prison. Illegal streaming of copyrighted content is defined in the bill as an offense that “consists of 10 or more public performances by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works” and has a total economic value, either to the copyright holder or the infringer, of at least $2,500.

Justin Bieber’s mainstream success today stems from his fame via YouTube years ago when he became well known after videos of him singing covers of R&B songs went viral, which explains why the young Pop star has clearly taken offense to the Bieber Bill.

Also taking offense to the bill is a group called “Fight the Future,” who have launched a website (FreeBieber.org) that shows dramatized photos of Justin Beiber behind bars along with the words “Justin faces 5 brutal years in prison.”

But Sen. Klobuchar’s spokeswoman says Bieber fans have nothing to worry about. The Biebs won’t be going to jail, even if the bill miraculously gets passed.

She sent USA Today the following statement:

“Justin Bieber must have been misled about the content of this bill. It’s not about people posting their personal work on the Web. This is common sense legislation that passed through the Judiciary Committee with no objection from either party. The bill only covers the intentional commercial theft of things like books, commercial music, and movies, including foreign piracy.”

Sounds like that still applies to Justin Bieber to us. Most of the videos are of him singing OTHER people’s songs, not his own. He didn’t even get his “own” music until he got signed.

Regardless of the fact, the bill is stupid and is completely unnecessary, and therefore should not be passed.

Your thoughts?

Occupy Oakland turned into a war-zone yesterday after riot police fired tear gas at least 5 times and also shot off rubber bullets (hitting one guy in the face) at the crowd of protestors in an attempt to retake the area outside Oakland City Hall.

City officials recently warned the protestors, who had been camped out since October 10th, that their impromptu residency in the Frank H. Ogawa Plaza was illegal, and they could be arrested

After each tear-gassing, the protesters regrouped, with some throwing paint, bottles and other missiles at police decked out in riot gear.

A police spokesman says they had no choice but to use extreme measures (such as tear gas) to protect officers, two of whom were injured by the paint and chemicals protestors hurled at them.

“We had to deploy gas to stop people from throwing rocks and bottles at police,” Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan said, adding that he wasn’t sure about the other crowd-control methods that were used by outside police agencies.

Authorities also denied reports claiming they used flash-bang canisters to break up the crowds, saying the loud noises came from large firecrackers.

Occupy Wall Street is a movement about ending corporate greed and flushing money out of politics that started in New York a little over a month ago. Since then, protestors have been setting up camp to demonstrate in various public venues all over the country.

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said in a statement that many Oaklanders are in support of the goals of Occupy Wall Street, and that the city of Oakland would make the plaza available for “peaceful protest” during park hours.

However, conditions had recently become unsafe and unsanitary, and the protestors were asked to leave. After they didn’t comply, police descended on their camp, overturning tents and stalls, and ripping up cardboard signs.

Initial police reports indicate that the raids went quickly and smoothly, however, one officer claims more protestors attacked them with bottles, skillets and plates, while changing “Police go home! Cops go home!”

Inside Bay Area reports that another smaller Oakland camp nearby was similarly dismantled, and seven protestors were also arrested in San Jose.

Carlos Villarreal, a spokesman for the National Lawyers Guild, which represents the protesters, told ABC News Bay Area affiliate station KGO that two protestors suffered broken hands when they were forcefully arrested, and one protestor was taken to a nearby hospital with head injuries.

Notorious Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who ruled Libya for over 40 years with an iron fist until he was ousted by his own people earlier this year, was killed early today in a surprise attack by insurgents in the town of Sirte, Libya.

69-year-old Gadhafi — one of the world’s most notorious tyrants, right along with Osama bin Laden — had been on the run for several weeks and was reportedly found hiding in a drain outside Sirte, where he and others had taken shelter after their convoy was hit by a NATO airstrike following an escape attempt.

Gaddafi 69, was reportedly found hiding in a drain outside Sirte, where he and and others had taken shelter after their convoy was hit by a Nato airstrike as it attempted to escape. Reports state that Gaddafi was alive when he was captured, but he died in an ambulance on the way to hospital.

According to The Telegraph, the soldier who claims to have found Gadhafi says the fallen leader cried, “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!” just before he was killed.

“He was also hit in his head,” official said. “There was a lot of firing against his group and he died.”

Proof that Gadhafi is officially dead was shown all over the media with graphic photos and video footage of his body, which was paraded through the streets of the nearby city of Misrata on top of a vehicle surrounded by a large crowd chanting.

We’ve posted the EXTREMELY GRAPHIC photo of Gadhafi’s body taken immediately after he was killed, as well as the video footage of his dead body being kicked around in the streets. View at your own discretion:

The first family — President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle, the first daughters Sasha and Malia, as well as Grandma Marion –  attended the official unveiling of the brand new Dr. Martin Luther King  National Memorial in Washington, D.C. Sunday (Oct 16).

The dedication ceremony, held at the Washington Mall, was also attended by notable figures like Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Cicely Tyson, Diahann Carroll, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and others.

The ceremony was originally scheduled to take place on August 28th, but was postponed due to Hurricane Irene.

“Nearly 50 years after the March on Washington, our work — Dr. King’s work — is not yet complete,” President Barack Obama noted in his speach. “Progress was purchased through enduring the smack of billy clubs and the blast of fire hoses. It was bought with days in jail cells and nights of bomb threats.”

President Obama continued, “Let us not be trapped by what is. We can’t be discouraged by what is. We’ve got to keep pushing for what ought to be. [Dr. King] will stand for all time, among monuments to those who fathered this nation and those who defended it. A black preacher, no official rank or title, somehow gave voice to our deepest dreams and our most lasting ideas.[...]I know we will overcome. I know there are better days ahead. I know this because of the man towering over us.”

Singer and activist Harry Belafonte, who once marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has called black Republican Party candidate Herman Cain a “bad apple” who does not represent the African-American community.

Belafonte recently made an appearance on Joy Behar‘s talk show, and told her that Cain, a wealthy businessman who grew up in poverity, is not an “authority on the plight of people of color.”

Behar told Belafonte: “[Cain] doesn’t believe that racism holds anyone back, in any way now. What do you think about that statement?”

Belafonte replied: “It’s very hard to comment on somebody who is so denied intelligence – and certainly who is denied a view of history, such as he reveals. He knows very little. Because he happened to have good fortune, because he happened to have had a moment when he broke through – the moment someone blinked – does not make him the authority on the plight of people of color.”

Belafonte, who in 2002 compared then Secretary of State Colin Powell to a house slave, attacked Powell once again, in addition to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other black Republicans.

“The Republican Party, the Tea Party, all those forces to the extreme right, have consistently tried to come up with representation for what they call black, for what they call the real Negroes and try to push these images as the kinds of voices that Americans should be listening to,” Belafonte said.

“So we have Condoleezza Rice, we’ve got Colin Powell – they’re heroes for some people. But for a lot of us, they’re not,” he said. “And Herman Cain is the latest incarnation of what is totally false to the needs of our community, and the needs of our nation. I think he’s a bad apple, and people should look at his whole card. He’s not what he says he is.”

Cain caught wind of Belafonte’s statement and wrote a response to The Hill newspaper, saying that calling him names isn’t going to silence his message.

“As far as Harry Belafonte’s comment, look, I left the Democratic plantation a long time ago. And all that they try to do when someone like me — and I’m not the only black person out there that shares these conservative views – the only tactic that they have to try and intimidate me and shut me up is to call me names, and this sort of thing. It just simply won’t work,” Cain said.

Herman Cain, the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, is currently in second place in the national GOP polls.

Whew …. that was a close one!

Sarah Palin has finally decided to not run for President of the United States. (What took so long?)

The former Alaskan governor made the announcement to conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin.

“After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for President of the United States. In the coming weeks, I will help coordinate the strategies to assist in replacing the President, re-taking the Senate, and maintaining the House.”

Or in other words … “I finally accepted America is more interested in me getting banged by professional basketball players than politics.” :)

Amanda Knox has got to be the happiest woman on earth right now!

An Italian court overturned her murder convictions in the 2007 slaying of her roommate Meredith Kercher.

Knox had originally been sentenced to 26 years in prison after being convicted in 2009, but Italian authorities allowed her a final appeal to state her case.

Speaking in fluent Italian, Knox told the court, “I did not kill, I did not rape, I did not steal, I was not there.”

As the court threw out Knox’s 2009 murder conviction, today Knox collapsed into tears and was immediately consoled by her team of attorneys and her family.

After the court proceedings, Knox’s sister Deanna read a brief statement on behalf of the family.

“We are thankful that Amanda’s nightmare is over,” she said, also thanking her lawyers: “Not only did they defend her brilliantly, they also loved her.”

She also asked that Amanda and the Knox family be left alone to recover from the “ordeal.”

Amanda Knox will reportedly leave tomorrow to return to her home in Seattle.

Does Sarah Palin love her some chocolate men and white lines???

Well … according to her husband Todd Palin’s former business partner Brad Hanson she does!

Sarah Palin has dabbled in cocaine use and carried on an extramarital affair with her husband Todd’s business partner, Brad Hanson, according to an explosive tell-all book.

The new issue of the National Enquirer, which goes on sale Thursday, has an exclusive sneak peek at Joe McGinniss’ highly anticipated book The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin, and RadarOnline.com has learned some of the shocking contents.

The book, which is due to be published on September 20, alleges that just one year before she eloped with Todd, Sarah enjoyed a steamy interracial one-night stand with 6-foot-8 basketball great, Glen Rice. Sarah is said to have met the sportsman in 1987 when he was playing a college basketball tournament in Alaska and she was working as a sports reporter for local station KTUU.

The book also charges that before she became Alaska Governor, both Sarah and Todd dabbled in cocaine use and claims she was once seen snorting the drug off an overturned 55-gallon oil drum while snowmobiling with friends.

It also details an extramarital affair between Sarah and Hanson, claiming Todd subsequently dissolved their snowmobile dealership after he learned about the tryst between his wife and business partner, which is alleged to have lasted six months.

To find out more of the shocking secrets that are bound to impact Palin’s decision to run in the 2012 presidential race, pick up the new issue of the National Enquirer, on newsstands Thursday.

SOURCE

For some odd reason…we strongly believe all of this has some validity to it. We wouldn’t put anything past ol’ Sarah Palin!

President Barack Obama recently hit the big 5-0 and celebrated the occasion at two fundraisers in Chicago, and with an exclusive, invite-only party at the White House with a few high profile names, like Jay-Z, Chris Rock, Tom Hanks and R&B singer Jennifer Hudson who reportedly sang “Happy Birthday” covered The Beatle’s “Let It Be.”

“I could not have a better early birthday present than spending tonight with all of you,” Obama told the crowd Wednesday night. “It is true that I turn 50 tomorrow, which means that by the time I wake up, I will have an email from AARP, asking me to call President Obama and tell him to protect Medicare,” he joked.

The Chicago fundraising events on Wednesday night (Aug 3) doubled as kick-off events for Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.

The President hosted a private celebration the next night (Thu. Aug 4) at the White House, where he invited close friends and family to a reception held in the Rose Garden. Attendees included Hip-Hop titan Jay-Z, comedian Chris Rock, actor Tom Hanks, Rev. Al Sharpton, Charles Barkley, Grant Hill, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and more.

Chris Rock tweeted late Thursday night:

“Just left the Presidents birthday party at the White House. Herbie Hancock played, Stevie Wonder sang and yes they did the electric slide. A great night!”

Check out a few pics below, as well as the video footage of Jennifer Hudson singing Happy Birthday” to President Obama:

Happy Birthday President Obama!

Rapper 50 Cent may ramble over some of the most ridiculous things on Twitter … but at times, he does speak the truth.

The G-Unit head honcho recently weighed in on Republican congressman Doug Lamborn‘s comments on President Barack Obama, calling him a “tar baby.”

“Republican congressman Doug Lamborn should be relieved of his duties after calling president Obama a tar baby. Tar baby is a synonym for n*gger, except it is only used in bigoted manners, were as n*gga can be a sign of respect. The term comes from a children’s story in witch they explain that slaves were”dark and dumb”due to the fact they were” baptized in TAR” #SK. I can’t find a more disrespectful or ignorant way to describe the race or depiction of our president”

We agree with Fif on this one. If Chris Brown can get hell for saying “Yal N**gas is Gay”…..then this definitely applies!

Fox News really needs to find a chair and have a seat for this one:

Steve Doocy and Gretchen Carlson aren’t big fans of “SpongeBob SquarePants.”

As Media Matters reports, the “Fox & Friends” co-hosts on Wednesday attacked Nickelodeon, the network on which the show airs, for “pushing a global warming agenda.”

“SpongeBob is talking a lot about global warming, and he’s only looking at it from one point of view,” Carlson said.

The criticism stems from a July 20 Department of Education event called “Let’s Read! Let’s Move!,”which featured author Maya Soetoro-Ng (also President Obama’s half sister), as well as NFL linebacker Chris Draft reading to students and encouraging them to exercise.

CNSNews.com, a conservative news site, reports that the students at the event received a book called “SpongeBob Goes Green! An Earth-Friendly Adventure.”

Justin Hamilton, press secretary at the U.S. Department of Education, told HuffPost that the Department of Eduction doesn’t generally provide the books, but rather corporate partners like Target, Nickelodeon and United Way make books available to kids.

“The kids get to pick whatever books they’re interested in,” he said. “We’re very happy that corporate sponsors have made good books available for kids to select and take home.”

Fox played a clip from what it said was a “SpongeBob SquarePants” cartoon shown to the students. The cartoon features the character Mr. Krabs saying, “Thanks to global warming, the temperature will soon go through the roof, and we’ll have an endless summer.”

Carlson said, “The government agency showed kids this cartoon and handed out books that blame man for global warming, but they did not tell kids that that is actually a disputed fact. Oops.”

Doocey, her co-host, said:

“Clearly Nickelodeon is pushing a global warming agenda, and while there’s no disputing the fact that the earth is getting a little warmer, the big question is, is it man made, or is it just one of those gigantic climactic phases that we’re going [through]? … For a while we’re cold and then we get warmer and then we get colder and warmer, which one is it? There’s science on both sides. There are a lot of scientists who say, ‘It’s this,’ others say, ‘It’s that.’”

The Huffington Post’s Tara Kelly recently reported on a study finding that conservative white men are most likely to “reject the scientific consensus on climate change.”

A report featured in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that 97% of scientists believe in anthropogenic (human originating) climate change.

To be fair to the “Fox & Friends” hosts’ concern over “SpongeBob SquarePants,” Carlson admits that for her, the children’s cartoon is “hard to follow sometimes.”

MediaMatters spoke to Tim Tuten at the Department of Education who said that no “SpongeBob SqaurePants” cartoons were shown during the July 20 event.

“We’ve never shown any videos ever, so I have no idea where that is coming from,” he said. Tuten added that participants were permitted to choose one of dozens of diverse books to take home with them and the SpongeBob book was one of those options.

[The Huffington Post]

At the end of the day, Spongebob Squarepants is a frikkin cartoon, who lives in a pineapple under the sea for crying out loud! So what exactly is their point here?

SMH … And is it just us, or does it seem like Fox News is ran by a group of 3-year-olds?

And a congressman from Colorado has gone too far. (Too damn far…)

Colorado Congressman Doug Lamborn, a Republican, recently compared President Barack Obama to a “tar baby” — an offensive term for people of color — while discussing the President’s unpopular budget policies. He said:

“Even if some people say, well the Republicans should have done this or they should have done that, they will hold the President responsible. Now I don’t want to even have to be associated with him. It’s like touching a tar baby and you get, you get it, you know… you are stuck and you are part of the problem now and you can’t get away.”

[CNN]

Lamborn has since apologized for his idiotic “foot-in-the-mouth” remark:

“What I intended was that it be a reference to the economic quagmire that we get trapped in when all out policies are falling apart and nothing seems to be working and whatever you try seems to be making the problem worse unless you build better policies. I was not aware of that, no, and I certainly had no intentions of offending anybody and hopefully the President will not be offended, if he’s even aware of this.”

The Congressman’s spokeswoman Catherine Mortensen also apologized on his behalf, issuing the following statement:

“Lamborn was attempting to tell a radio audience last week that the president’s policies have created an economic quagmire for the nation and are responsible for the dismal economic conditions our country faces. He regrets that he chose the phrase ‘tar baby,’ rather than the word ‘quagmire.’ The congressman is confident that the president will accept his heartfelt apology.”

[NYDN]

The White House so far hasn’t responded to this nonsense yet … and probably won’t.

But what are your thoughts?

Betty Ford, an outspoken advocate for women’s rights, is also known as the founder of the Betty Ford Center for substance abuse, one of the premiere rehab facilities in the whole world.

Thanks to Betty Ford, who struggled with her own alcohol issues, folks like Lindsay Lohan, Kelsey Grammer, Chevy Chase, Elizabeth Taylor, Anna Nicole Smith, Ozzy Osbourne, Drew Barrymore, David Hasselhoff and more have all had a chance to redeem themselves and battle their alcohol addiction problems without having to serve serious jail time.

President Barack Obama said Ford distinguished herself through her courage and compassion. He also said that as the nation’s first lady … she was a powerful advocate for women’s health and women’s rights.

Betty Ford was 93 years old.

A Portland man has been detained by the Secret Service after threatening to kill President Barack Obama and his family.

Darryl James Swanson, from Portland, Oregon, has now been detained for a mental health evaluation after appearing in federal court yesterday on charges that he planned the horrific murder spree.

The Secret Service arrested Swanson, 45, on Friday after he made threats in numerous phone calls to government offices as well as to federal prosecutors’ offices in Oregon and Washington.

Swanson left 44 voicemail messages alone on June 19 with the U.S. attorney’s office in Portland and called the offices of the Associated Press bureau in Seattle on May 2, leaving a message that said he would seek weapons to shoot the president and his family.

‘I may have to get in touch with Al Qaeda and get a hold of at least one, possibly two good working machine guns and blast my way into the White House,’ he said.

After AP told the U.S. attorney’s office and the Secret Service about the call, Swanson was apprehended by authorities.

He told Secret Service agent Ronald Brown that he made the call because he was frustrated that the president has not sent him a check for $70 million, which he claims he is owed from a trust fund set up at his birth. Brown told him that no trust fund exists, court records show.

The Secret Service did not find weapons in Swanson’s apartment and warned him not to make threats against the president. But authorities say he continued leaving the angry and threatening messages at the government offices.

In court on Tuesday, Swanson consented through his public defender to a mental health evaluation after Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Peifer told a federal judge in Portland that he considered him a flight risk and a safety risk.

Swanson’s arraignment was set for next month, when he will enter a plea.

‘I do consider him to be a threat to the community,’ Peifer said after the hearing.

Mert Rockney Jr., a friend of Swanson’s family, said the defendant has struggled with his mental health for more than a decade.

‘Darryl’s harmless,’ he said. ‘He just needs to have someone to intervene with him so he takes the right medication.’

Secret Service spokesman Max Milien said the agency does not comment on threats made against the president.

SOURCE

First it was the bullsh*t with FOX Faux news…now this??? Damn….give Obama a break people.

First Lady Michelle Obama says that her husband’s job is so stressful that it’s taking a a toll on him.

Speaking a fundraiser in Massachusetts for the Democratic National Committee last week, Mrs. Obama gave insight into President Barack Obama‘s total dedication to his job and just how heavily the weight of the office rests on his shoulders.

She said: “I see the worry creasing his face. I hear the passion and determination in his voice,” she said. “‘You won’t believe what these folks are going through,’ he told me that last night. ‘Michelle, it is not right. We’ve got to fix this. We have to do more.’”

“Barack always reminds me that we are playing a long game,” she continued. “He reminds me, as I said to you, too, that change is slow. He reminds me that change doesn’t happen all at once, but that if we keep showing up, if we keep fighting the good fight, doing what we know is right, then eventually we will get there, because the truth is we always have in this country. We always have.”

Michelle Obama said that when her husband first told her he had plans to run for president she doubted how it would affect their young family.

“I was proud of the work that he was doing in the Senate. And I thought that he would make a phenomenal president,” she said. “That wasn’t the issue. But, like a lot of folks, I still had some cynicism about politics. And with two young daughters at home, I was worried about the toll that a presidential campaign would take on our family. So it took some convincing on Barack’s part. And by ‘some,’ I mean a lot. He’s still paying back.”

But Mrs. Obama had a change of heart once the Obama family went on the campaign trail to meet voters in 2008

She added: “It’s about meeting people one-on-one, hearing what’s going on in their lives.”

[Daily Mail]

Lupe Fiasco recently made an appearance on Fox’s “The O’Reilly Factor” Monday night (June 20) to defend his highly controversial comments about President Barack Obama.

To put it in simple words, in a recent interview with CBS, the rapper made a fool of himself as he claimed our president was “the biggest terrorist.” And when Bill O’Reilly caught wind of Lupe’s comments, he challenged the Hip-Hop artist to appear on his show to defend his comments (after calling him a “pinhead” of course).

Watch Lupe Fiasco make an even bigger fool of himself on “The O’Reilly Factor” below:

Ladies and gentleman…..meet the senator of the year.

An Idaho state senator was arrested Sunday morning for stealing a car from the home of a “complete stranger” and driving under the influence.

According to KTVB, John McGee was caught trying to back the stolen Ford Excursion and cargo trailer into a neighbor’s yard in the Boise area of Ada County.

The 38-year-old Republican caucus chairman was booked into the Ada County Jail at 4:27 a.m. after police found that he had a blood alcohol content of .15 – almost twice Idaho’s legal limit.

Lt. Kody Aldrich said that McGee did not know the owner of the vehicle and it was unclear why he was in the area in the first place.

“Nobody knows why he was there,” Aldrich said. “It doesn’t sound like he did either.”

Joe Carleton, the neighbor of the vehicle’s owner, said he became aware of McGee when the senator got stuck trying to turn the rig around.

“I was awakened by the sound of my kids screaming that there was somebody out in the backyard,” Carleton said.

The senator got out of the Excursion after it got stuck and began walking up and down the street. He later returned and fell asleep in the SUV’s backseat.

Carleton said that when he woke up McGee, the senator told him that “he was looking for the promised land.”

“I thought he was kidding when he told me his name,” Carleton added.

McGee is expected to be arraigned Monday afternoon.

SOURCE

Now this is the kind of guy you want representing your state………SIKE!

We’re not entirely sure why …. but John Edwards is all smiles in his newly released mug shot photo!

Edwards was recently indicted on 6 counts of conspiracy, issuing false statements and violating campaign contribution laws by using funds intended for his campaign to cover up an illicit affair — and an illegitimate “love child” — with another woman as his wife was dying from cancer.

The former U.S. Senator pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and campaign law violations after being booked earlier this month, and now his mugshot has been released. If convicted, John Edwards could face up to 5 years in prison.

[CNN]

Ever since U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner got caught sexting random women, he has been the butt of many jokes, especially from bloggers, news reporters and comedians. And on a recent episode of Bill Maher’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” show on HBO, the political funnyman got a little help from “Glee” actress Jane Lynch as the two read a dramatic reading of Anthony Weiner talking about his … “weiner” … among other things, in a series of text messages.

All of the dirty, profanity-filled messages were read VERBATIM (word-for-word), and a few highlights from Weiner’s sexting mate included “I want to bang the future mayor of New York City” and “You get your a** to work and save my country from these c**k sucking Republicans,” which was followed by this response from Weiner: “I like it when you talk about c— sucking.”

Funny stuff! Peep the (NSFW) video footage below: