Scott Walker Jumps The Gun

Scott Walker isn't due to formally announce his candidacy until Monday, but yesterday afternoon his team fired out the above tweet. The tweet was deleted after brief firestorm of questions across Twitter.

CNN Yanks Story After Reporter Claims ISIS Flag Was Seen At London Pride

Via Raw Story:

A man trolling the violently homophobic Islamic State at a London gay pride event got extra troll points Saturday for duping CNN. CNN reporter Lucy Pawle was at the event when she stumbled upon that man, who to her bewilderment, everyone seemed to be ignoring. Turns out his fake “ISIS flag” was made up of images of dildos, Mediaite discovered. Pawle tells CNN anchors that she was leaving work when she happened upon the annual London Gay Pride festival. She was shocked to see a man dressed in black and white carrying what she called “a very bad mimicry” but a “very clear attempt to mimic the ISIS flag.” Taking a closer look, she could tell the writing was not Arabic. No one else seemed to be concerned about it, so she went to the event organizer and the police, both of whom seemed to brush her off.

CNN quietly removed the story from its site but the below mirror of the clip has gained over 700K views since last night.

Meanwhile In Winnipeg...

(Via Mashable)

Rachel Maddow Mocks Franklin Graham

"I love this story so much I want to take it to Franklin Graham's new bank and marry it. If it's a lady."

Rick Perry To Announce On June 4th

Via the Dallas Morning News:

Former Gov. Rick Perry has chosen Dallas to officially declare his second run for the Republican presidential nomination in three weeks. For months Perry has said that he would announce his decision in May or June. But his constant travel to the early contest states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida has left little doubt of his intentions. Perry joins a burgeoning field of contenders, including fellow Texan Sen. Ted Cruz. The announcement was made via the Twitter account of his wife, Anita. Unlike four years ago, when he rushed into the contest after seeing he could raise quick money and was leading in polls, Perry enters this contest as an underdog. He is polling in single digits, but again unlike his last run, he has spent more than a year in preparation.

Things are wide open now that John Bolton isn't running! (Tipped by JMG reader Adam)

Jeb Bush Makes An Oopsie

"I’m running for president in 2016, and the focus is gonna be about how we—if I run—how do you create high, sustained economic growth, where more people have a chance at earned success? And I will apply my record and the ideas that are relevant going forward to all of this. Of course I have differences with every president, previous president." - Jeb Bush, accidentally declaring his candidacy yesterday. A formal announcement date has not yet been revealed.

The First Oops Of CPAC 2015

Carson and Scott are the only African-Americans listed as featured speakers.

UPDATE: CPAC is claiming that the Washington Post photoshopped the image.

Ross Hemminger, a spokesman for CPAC, told The Hill that the photo is “not a real thing” and that it is a “Photoshopped” image. He forwarded technical emails that claim that there’s distortion around the sides of the Scott picture that stems from the alteration, but did not specifically blame Terris. Terris pushed back on the assertion in an email to The Hill. "This morning I wanted to see what time Dr. Carson was speaking so I went to the CPAC site on my phone. I saw that his bio was accompanied by a photo of Tim Scott. So I took a screen shot of it and tweeted it out," he said. "I can't claim to have any idea how or why his photo was there, but I can tell you I have literally no idea how I would even go about photoshopping that."

Sen. Jeff Sessions Has The Alabama Sadz

"I think it’s an unhealthy trend that judges feel that they’re somehow reflecting popular opinion when first of all, it’s not popular opinion, and secondly, who are they to be ruling on cases based on how they feel. The attorney general of the state of Alabama has appealed, which I support. And while a number of courts have held the way [the] Alabama court has, others have not, and to me this line of cases represents an activist judiciary. No Congress has ever passed a law or a constitutional amendment that would ever would ever have been thought to have this result. So, I think the proper role of the federal courts is to follow the law as it is, not as they wish it, might wish it to be." - Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), slamming the very judge that he enthusiastically endorsed during her nomination process. (Tipped by JMG reader David)

IRELAND: Hater Flubs Anti-Gay Rant

Via the Independent:

A man's participation in an equal marriage debate on TV3 has gone viral online – after his outburst left host Vincent Browne struggling to compose himself. The debate was part of Vincent Browne’s ‘People’s debate’, which was visiting Cork last night. The man involved in the debate got his words slightly confused when expressing his opposition to the upcoming same sex marriage referendum. At the end of his impassioned speech, he said: "We want family values, and we don’t want to see men and women getting married. And that’s the holy all of it." The audience began to giggle – and soon the laughter spread to the host.

Today In Knowing Your Internet Acronyms

Details. (Tipped by JMG reader Mick)

Tweet Of The Day

Headline Of The Day

Ted Cruz' attempt to stop the budget bill has given the Democrats a window to force through the judicial nominations that the GOP has been blocking. Via Talking Points Memo:

Cruz, along with Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), blindsided Republican leaders by objecting and dragging out the process as they demanded a vote to defund Obama's executive actions on immigration. What Cruz didn't count on was Reid instead seizing on the occasion — which forced the Senate to stay in session for procedural votes — to move forward with starting the confirmation vote clock on a whopping 24 Obama nominations that otherwise might have been jettisoned. The Texan's tactic angered numerous Republican colleagues.

"I think most Republicans think that Christmas came early for Democrats," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said, according to Roll Call, blaming Cruz. "I haven't seen Harry smile this much in years, and I didn't particularly like it." Twelve of the nominations are for federal districts courts, an unusually high number to confirm in a lame duck session and a big boost to Obama's judicial legacy. At least two prominent executive branch nominees face GOP opposition: Vivek Murthy for surgeon general (whom the National Rifle Association has been working to block) and Tony Blinken for deputy secretary of state. The confirmation votes will start Monday.

NEW YORK: State GOP Chair Smashes $70K Vase At Catholic Art Event

New York GOP chairman Sen. Ed Cox accidentally smashed a $70K antique vase yesterday at an event to raise money to preserve the artwork at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan hosted the breakfast for New York notables including Home Depot billionaire Ken Langone and Blackstone’s John Studzinski in the bank’s swanky, art-filled corporate offices at One Bryant Park on Sixth Avenue. The breakfast was organized to bring together New York business leaders with Cardinal Dolan to discuss restoring the landmarked Fifth Avenue cathedral’s treasure trove of art and artifacts. But, a witness reports, “the peace was shattered when Ed Cox accidentally knocked over a 4-foot-tall antique vase in the center of the room. It fell to the floor and shattered with a terrible, piercing, sound which stopped the entire room.” The source added, “Ed nervously tried to edge away from the wreckage while the event staff looked mortified. One exclaimed, ‘Oh my God, that was a $70,000 vase!’ ”

Cox is married to Tricia Nixon, daughter of the late former president. He will not be asked to pay for the vase. (Tipped by JMG reader Dean)

Megyn Kelly Intro's Mike "Fuckabee"

Via United Press International:

Fox News host Megyn Kelly slipped up in a pretty big way Monday night while introducing former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. "Joining me now, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is the host of Fucka-- ah, Huckabee right here on the Fox News channel..." Kelly pressed on, getting only a small smile from the governor. But the Huck-up got plenty of notice on social media, and Kelly addressed the gaffe later in the show.

(Tipped by JMG reader Mark)

Breitbart Headline Of The Day

According to Breitbart, US Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch should face tough questioning before the Senate over her role in the 1992 Whitewater hearings.

The prosecutor has a long career built of some high profile cases but there is one case Lynch was involved in that few are talking about. Lynch was a part of Bill Clinton's Whitewater probe defense team in 1992. In 1992, the Clintons came under fire for investing in a perennially failing Arkansas real estate company known as Whitewater Development, a venture heavily subsidized by Clinton friend Jim McDougal in an effort to soften the losses the Clintons were experiencing as investors. The probe was widened to look into the failure of the Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan to which it was connected. Eventually the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission won several convictions handing jail time to the McDougals as well as Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker. The Clintons escaped any convictions in the probe. A New York Times article from March of 1992 reported that Lynch was one of the Clintons' Whitewater defense attorneys as well as a "campaign aide."

Slight problem. As reported today by Media Matters, Breitbart is shrieking about the wrong Loretta Lynch. The Lynch that was part of the Whitewater team is on the left in the photo below. Breitbart's post remains up and the usual screaming from the commenters is taking place. Vote Tea Party!

Commemorating?

They followed up with an apology tweet.

Headline Of The Day

Remember NARTH's boob lady? Turns out she had no idea.

Frothy Mix: Sorry About That Judge

Former Sen. Rick Santorum has finally weighed in on having endorsed the judge that overturned Pennsylvania's ban on same-sex marriage.

When asked about Jones Friday by The Huffington Post, Santorum said, "We're all entitled to a mistake." His comments came after his speech at the Road to Majority Conference, a gathering of social conservatives sponsored by the Faith and Freedom Coalition. In March 2002, Santorum called Jones "highly qualified to assume the important role of Judge and the duty of protecting the Constitution and ensuring the effective operation of our judicial system." Santorum was significantly less generous toward the judiciary Friday. "The court has to stop being the judge and jury for the consciousness of America," he said. "That's not what the court's supposed to be. The court's supposed to uphold the Constitution, not change the Constitution based on what they think is the current mood of the day." Santorum didn't seem to have many more ideas Friday on how same-sex marriage opponents might stop the trend toward legalization, simply saying people should "go out there in the popular culture and go out there in the political system and continue to work."

RELATED: Santorum's speech at NOM's hate march was translated into Spanish by the same New York pastor who translated the call for executing homosexuals during NOM's 2011 hate march in the Bronx.

White House Mistakenly Reveals Identity Of Top CIA Official In Afghanistan

Teabagistan has having a field day.

Frothy Flashback

"Attorneys Jones and Conner are highly qualified to assume the important role of Judge and the duty of protecting the Constitution and ensuring the effective operation of our judicial system. Since the onset of the war against terrorism, our federal judiciary has taken on an even higher level of importance, and it is imperative that we provide our courts with the resources necessary to enforce the rule of law. These judgeships are vital to our national security goals, and I urge my colleagues to work with the President to fill these vacancies in a timely manner." -  Then Sen. Rick Santorum, in a 2002 press release which supported President Bush's nomination of the federal judge who today overturned the marriage ban in Santorum's home state.