NO! NO! NO!

Sarah Palin has said that she "would be willing" to challenge President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election:

"I would be willing to if I believe that it's right for the country…I won't close the door that perhaps could be open for me in the future."

That effing door better be shut and padlocked!

Since leaving her position as governor of Alaska, Palin has formed a political action committee, began endorsing candidates in Republican primaries, and as we know published a tome of BS book.

Sexy Sarah delivered the keynote address this past Saturday at the tea party convention which resulted in a question during the Q&A portion about a President Palin in the future. The crowd began to chant, "Run, Sarah, Run!"

Are these people insane?!

Apparently they are as voters in a Republican poll by 4-1 margin believe Sarah could run the country better than Obama. Sarah even still stands by that result saying:

"In the campaign, we tried to bring attention to the fact that Obama had really not a lot of experience. And I do say that my executive experience, as an administrator, as a team manager if you will was…and that hasn't changed.

"I think that President Obama with all due respect, his lack of experience is really made manifest in the way that decisions are made in the White House today. I sure wish that the present tool being used to reform health care would die…What they're working on today there in Congress and the White House, it needs to die."

Whatever, Sarah. She could never actually WIN the presidential election!

Right?

It's a terrifying thought!

[Image via AP Images.]

The New York Times' David Kirkpatrick delivers the shocking and troubling news that Wall Street bankers are so disappointed in Barack Obama that they've started giving money to Republicans. Bankers! To Republicans!

Apparently Wall Street has long been a bastion of support for Democratic political candidates, but now that Obama has launched a campaign — unprecedented for a Democrat — to enact policies that may cut into corporate profits, some bankers are holding their noses and cutting checks to Republicans:

But this year Chase's political action committee is sending the Democrats a pointed message. While it has contributed to some individual Democrats and state organizations, it has rebuffed solicitations from the national Democratic House and Senate campaign committees. Instead, it gave $30,000 to their Republican counterparts.

The shift reflects the hard political edge to the industry's campaign to thwart Mr. Obama's proposals for tighter financial regulations.

Here's a chart illustrating that "shift" in giving, from the Center for Responsive Politics. It shows political giving from political action committees and individuals associated with commercial banking, going back to 1990. In every year since 1994, Republicans got more money than Democrats.

To make his case, Kirkpatrick cites CRP figures showing that individuals and PACs from the securities and investment business gave $89 million to Democrats in 2008, a 57% to 43% edge over Republicans. That's true. It's also true that, according to the CRP, the securities and investment sector favored Republicans over Democrats in the 2006, 2004, 2002, 2000, 1998, and 1996 election cycles. It's also true that, overall, the wider finance, insurance, and real estate industry has favored Republicans 55% to 45% since 1990. This is because people who care about money want Republicans to win elections, and always have.

But what about Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase and Obama's Chicago pal? Kirkpatrick makes much of the fact that JPMorgan Chase's PAC has "rebuffed solicitations from the national Democratic House and Senate campaign committees" and given "$30,000 to their Republican counterparts."

He calls this a "shift." JPMorgan Chase has two PACs. One of them, it is true, gave 58% of its $130,427 in disbursements in 2008 to Democrats. But the other one, which handed out $797,977 in 2008, gave 53% of it to Republicans. In fact, both PACs have favored Republicans in all but two of the last six election cycles—one being the aforementioned 2008 cycle, and the other being 2002, when one of the PACs split its money 50-50. So Chase's shift to the GOP is more of a return to the way it's always behaved and should always be expected to behave, since "Wealthy Bankers Give Money to Republicans" is sort of axiomatic.

Senators and Federal employees are taking a snow day, with three-foot snowfall blanketing the Atlantic seaboard from New Jersey to Virginia. As America braces for an "encore storm," one major dilemma remains: Which cute nickname won the weather system?

Snowmageddon, hands down. From an etymological standpoint, neither makes sense so we must go to colloquial usage, where Snowmageddon is winning the race due to a late-breaking endorsement from the president.

Snowmageddon: 59,469 blog mentions, 4,064 news according to Google
"Snowmageddon" surged to the fore when President Obama used it on Saturday when he thanked Democrats for "willing to brave a blizzard, Snowmageddon." What's more, SnowmageddonDC.com is categorically superior to SnowpocalypseDC.com. Whereas both host the same brilliant red PANIC!!! banner, the former contains a Twitter feed and useful links about emergency snow routes and which bars are staying open. Though SnowpocalypseDC's minimalism could be read as an homage to pristine white blankets of snow, in a moment of crisis, what you really want to know is where the best snowball fights are, and whether "coolest possibility: thundersnow" will happen.

Snowpocalypse: 55,857 blog mentions, 1,265 news
"Snowmageddon" may roll off the tongue, but "Snowpocalypse" is more fun to type, on account of an unusual consonant cluster and letter 'y.' It also has a bit more of that histrionic je ne sais quoi that the blogosphere loves. (Which is why it's kept up with Snowmageddon in blog mentions, even as news mentions wane.) Witness The Huffington Post: "Weatherman Freaks Out at Snowpocalypse (VIDEO)" and a documented preference here.

Alternates: Snowbliteration, SnOMGasm (I don't totally understand this one but DCist likes it), SNOMFG, Universal Snowcare, Snowper Bowl, Goddamn Groundhog Was Right

Obama's "Aunti Zeituni," Zeituni Onyango, will stand before a federal judge after living illegally in America ever since her asylum request was rejected in 2004. The president says he won't intervene for Onyango, who could be deported to Kenya. [CNN]

The nation's top defense officials declared yesterday that they are moving forward with the plan to repeal the US military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy that would mean gay men and women to serve their country openly. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen have requested a year to study the impact of such a decision before Congress would lift the policy.

Mullen spoke about the controversial policy at the Senate hearing.

"No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me, it comes down to integrity – theirs as individuals and ours as an institution."

Beautifully spoken!! And so right on all counts!!

Although President Barack Obama has endorsed the 11 month review of how to lift the ban, there is no deadline to end the policy. Gates, however, plans to to loosen the enforcement of the rule in the meantime. If the policy is repealed, it would be the largest change to the military since President Truman integrated the services in 1948!!!

However, as to be expected, many Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee were strongly against the proposition for change, including Senator John McCain, who claimed to be "deeply disappointed" and claiming the assesment to be "clearly biased" in presuming the law should be changed.

Well, we're 'deeply disappointed' that that your 'clearly biased' bigotry is affecting your ability to reason rationally! Not that we're surprised!!

We think that Colorado Senator Mark Udall, who quoted Senator Barry Goldwater, said it best:

"You don't have to be straight to shoot straight."

AGREED! We're thrilled that there are so many officials - including some Republicans!! - fighting the good fight in Washington, DC!! It's time to end this silly, hate-fueled policy!!

What do U think?? Should 'don't ask, don't tell' be repealed??

[Image via AP Images.]

Today at Gawker.TV, Fox anchors play with a Scott Brown doll, Conan O'Brien's NBC opinions circa 2006, Today airs a live C-section, Jon Stewart calls out Fox News, and Jim Nantz & Nick Swisher help Barney achieve a "Perfect Week."

Fox & Friends Hosts Play with Scott Brown
The doll, that is! Yes, the Scott Brown Action Figure exists and comes in three varieties: the Executive, the Presidential, and the Cosmopolitan. It sure seems to make Gretchen a little uncomfortable.

Barney Achieves 'The Perfect Week' with Help from Jim Nantz and Yankee Nick Swisher
How I Met Your Mother focused around Barney's Perfect Week: going home with a girl seven nights in a row. Sportscaster Jim Nantz helped narrate the story, while Yankee Nick Swisher stands in Barney's way of clinching his number seven.

Jon Stewart Piles It On Fox News for Obama Cutaway
Depending on your views, last Friday, President Obama hectored the House Republicans or calmly (smugly?) explained to them that everybody needs to grow up and act their age, not their shoe size, if they wanted to actually get anything done.

Conan Explains Why He Didn't Leave NBC in 2004 on Charlie Rose
And the old clips portending doom continue to emerge. Conan sits down with Charlie Rose and some water in 2006 to discuss the arc of his career thus far. Turns out Conan wanted his legacy to be with NBC...badly.

The Today Show Gives its Viewers What They Want at 8 AM: A Live Cesarian Birth
Wake up, make some coffee, turn on the TV to start your day, and what are you greeted with? A mother's abdominal wound being sliced open while amniotic fluid is being sucked out of her stomach. Enjoy your Cheerios!

At a town hall in Nashua, New Hampshire, Barack Obama said, of health care reform, "we've had to go into overtime, but now we're in the red zone." Oh man, we were at the 2 before. Now it's anywhere between goal and the 20? And is this regular season or post-season overtime? (Or college?)

Giant, killer Asian carp are going to take over the Great Lakes, because of the Supreme Court and Chicago. The carp can jump ten feet in the air when agitated, they breed like crazy, and basically they will destroy the earth in 2012. They are 100 times more dangerous than the killer bees! [Isthmus]

President Obama is on a roll lately. He gave a sassy State of the Union and then he embarrassed House Republicans on TV and now he is agreeing with us that Space is Not Worth it.

Sort of! In Orszag's budget, NASA still gets $100 billion over the next five years, but the budget eliminates the Constellation program, which was supposed to replace the broken old Space Shuttles and send more men to the moon in 2020 (for NO REASON) as part of Bush's "let us live on Mars once I have destroyed this planet" space initiative.

In fact, the budget basically destroys NASA as a "sending dudes to space" organization and instead proposes that they make fancy technology and send astronauts to space on private ships and through international collaboration. People who love space, like Senators from Florida, hate this idea, so Congress will probably make sure NASA remains exactly the same: a tremendous waste of taxpayer money. (I bet you could buy a lot of health care for $100 billion!)

President Barack Obama's had a feisty week on video! First he kicked around Republicans so badly, Fox News cut out early. Now we've got his weekly address, where he more or less tells a few Republicans to go get fucked.

The key phrases come about four minutes in, when he's talking about the bipartisan fiscal planning commission idea that failed.

This past week, 53 Democrats and Republicans voted for this commission in the Senate. But it failed when seven Republicans who had co-sponsored this idea in the first place suddenly decided to vote against it. Now, it's one thing to have an honest difference of opinion about something. I will always respect those who take a principled stand for what they believe, even if I disagree with them.

But what I won't accept is changing positions because it's good politics. What I won't accept is opposition for opposition's sake. We cannot have a serious discussion and take meaningful action to create jobs and control our deficits if politicians just do what's necessary to win the next election instead of what's best for the next generation.

I'm ready and eager to work with anyone who's serious about solving the real problems facing our people and our country. I welcome anyone who comes to the table in good faith to help get our economy moving again and fulfill this country's promise. In the mean time, those seven Republicans can go stick a rake up their ass handle-side down until they figure out how to extract the farthest part of their anus from behind their faces which may or may not but be but probably are causing the noises to come out of their mouths as they do. Traitorous fuckfaces.

Bolding and italicized emphasis mine. And that's why only certain people get to write White House Weekly Addresses: restraint. Related, Obama will continue to be pissed for another three years.