At this time last week, Rick Santorum appeared to be cruising to victory in Michigan—the home turf of former individual mandate proponent Mitt Romney.
Despite his repeated attacks on their rights, Rick actually seemed to be gaining favor among the easier sex.
But then, he was struck by a sudden onset of diarrhea of the mouth, which is no laughing matter.
His affliction quickly spread to the talk radio airwaves, where Rush Limbaugh was the first to transmit it.
And from there, it was all downhill.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA); House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA); DNC Chair/Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL); Roundtable: Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed (D), GOP Strategist Mike Murphy, Mark Halperin (TIME) and Savannah Guthrie (NBC News).
Face the Nation: Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R); Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA); Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX).
This Week: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA); Obama Campaign Senior Adviser David Axelrod; Roundtable: George Will (Washington Post), Christiane Amanpour (ABC News), Democratic Strategist Donna Brazile, GOP Strategist Matthew Dowd, Peggy Noonan (Wall Street Journal), Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D) and Jeffrey Goldberg (The Atlantic).
Fox News Sunday: Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA); Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT); Roundtable: Bill Kristol (Weekly Standard), Jeff Zeleny (New York Times), Kimberley Strassel (Wall Street Journal) and Juan Williams (Fox News).
State of the Union: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA); Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX); Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk; Former Under Secretary of State Nick Burns; Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD); Reliable Sources: Dana Milbank (Washington Post); David Frum (Daily Beast); Radio Host Julie Mason; Jeff Jarvis (Buzz Machine).
The Chris Matthews Show: Kathleen Parker (Washington Post); Bob Woodward (Washington Post); Major Garrett (National Journal); Becky Quick (CNBC).
Fareed Zakaria GPS: Ronen Bergman (Yedioth Ahronoth); Joe Klein (TIME); Katrina vanden Heuvel (The Nation); Chrystia Freeland (Reuters); Reihan Salam (National Review).
Up with Chris Hayes: Rev. Al Sharpton (MSNBC); Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN); Michelle Bernard (Bernard Center for Women, Politics and Public Policy); Goldie Taylor (MSNBC); Former Delaware Gov. Michael Castle (R); Columbia University Professor John McWhorter.
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: a report on Stuxnet, the sophisticated computer worm that sabotaged Iran's nuclear program (preview); a profile of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, one of the few bishops to criticize the Catholic Church(preview); and, a report on parents holding children back in school to give them an age advantage (preview).
Virtually Speaking Sundays on Blog Talk Radio will feature: Bloggers Avedon Carol and Culture of Truth discussing their own observations from the past week, compared to coverage from the corporate media's Sunday morning talk shows.
On Comedy Central:
Jon Stewart discovered that the US Senate is where comedy goes to die.
The Daily Show
Monday: Secretary of Housing & Urban Development Shaun Donovan
Tuesday: Actress Julianne Moore
Wednesday: President of Planned Parenthood Cecile Richards
Thursday: President of the National Iranian American Council Trita Parsi
And Stephen Colbert counted down the days until Republicans start loving Mitt Romney.
The Colbert Report
Monday: Actress Audra McDonald
Tuesday: Editor Jonathan Safran Foer
Wednesday: Actor Willem Dafoe
Thursday: Musicians Don Fleming & Emmylou Harris
Elsewhere...
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) selflessly argued that the efforts to recall him are a giant waste of money.
MSNBC’s Willie Geist asked Walker: "You find yourself in the middle of this, mired in a recall election. The latest Marquette poll has you 47 approve, 47 percent disapproves, split right down the middle in the state of Wisconsin. This could be a long fight for you — a special election scheduled to take place in June, a primary in May. How distracted are you from doing the business of Wisconsin by trying to essentially win re-election in the middle of your term?"
"Well, we’re focused," Walker responded, "but it's a huge distraction, not just for me, for the legislature. I mean, it’s $9 million of taxpayers’ money just to run this. Think about the number of kids we could help, think of the number of seniors we could help in our state with $9 million that we didn’t have to waste on this — this frivolous recall election."
Meanwhile...
Wisconsin State Sen. Glenn Grothman (R) is seeking to redefine child abuse.
A bill he's authored would add the the bolded portions to Wisconsin state law:
Section 1. 48.982 (2) (g) 2. of the statutes is amended to read: 48.982 (2) (g) 2. Promote statewide educational and public awareness campaigns and materials for the purpose of developing public awareness of the problems of child abuse and neglect. In promoting those campaigns and materials, the board shall emphasize nonmarital parenthood as a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect.
Section 2. 48.982 (2) (g) 4. of the statutes is amended to read: 48.982 (2) (g) 4. Disseminate information about the problems of and methods of preventing child abuse and neglect to the public and to organizations concerned with those problems. In disseminating that information, the board shall emphasize nonmarital parenthood as a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect.
And, in related news...
Bristol Palin's reality show, "Life With Tripp," has been picked up by Lifetime TV.
"From the first moment she was thrust into the public eye, Bristol and her son have been the subjects of a huge amount of curiosity and misunderstanding," Rob Sharenow, executive vice president of programming at Lifetime Networks, said in a statement. "This show will reveal the real Bristol Palin and her journey as a daughter, a mother and a young woman making her way in the world."
I've made a huge mistake.
- Trix