• Not a joke: Donald Trump endorses Mitt Romney, and Romney shows up to the announcement
• Superbowl Sunday: Giants v Patriots in Indianapolis
• Komen seeing the error of its ways

Guests

• Democratic Strategist Chad Clanton joins Peter live in studio to co-host the show!
• Daniella Leger, Vice President for the New American Communities Initiative at the Center for American Progress, will discuss the Susan G Komen / Planned Parenthood decision
• Huffington Post Political Reporter Laura Bassett joins us live in studio to discuss the fallout after the Susan G Komen’s mistake of pulling funding for breast cancert treatments from Planned Parenthood
• Boston Conservative Talk Radio Host Michael Graham joins the show to discuss why Mitt Romney should not be the GOP nominee, and will preview the Super Bowl

Don’t Miss

• Order the updated paperback version of TOXIC TALK: How The Radical Right Has Poisoned America’s Airwaves
• Stay warm this winter, with a fashionable scarf hand-woven by Carol Press!
• Purchase a podcast subscription and listen to the show anytime you want, on your computer, iPod, or .mp3 player!
• Follow the show on Twitter. Bill tweets live from the White House press briefings!

In an interview on CNN, Romney told Soledad O’Brien: “I’m not concerned about the very poor.” Quote, unquote. What a disaster. What was he thinking?

Now, to be fair, in context, Romney was trying to say: I don’t care about the very poor, or the very rich, I’m concerned about all Americans – and, especially, middle-class Americans.

But that’s not what he said. Again, what he said was: “I’m not concerned about the very poor.” And that was a huge gaffe.

In itself, it might not be so serious. But, for Romney, it ranks right up there with other monumental gaffes, like: “I like firing people.” And: “Wanna bet $10,000.” And “I made a little bit of money giving speeches, not so much.” Which turned out to be $375,00. And “the banks aren’t bad people.”

Taken together, they portray Romney just as he is: a man hopelessly out of touch with average Americans. A man who has no idea what it’s like, after busting your butt, to struggle to pay your bills at the end of the month.

But, at least, Romney is speaking the truth. He, in fact, does not care about the very poor. Or the middle class.

That’s my parting shot for today.

• The Susan G Komen For the Cure pulls funding for breast cancer screenings from Planned Parenthood
• Mitt Romney again shows how out of touch he is
• US Military changing its strategy in Afghanistan

Guests

• Feminist Majority President Eleanor Smeal will discuss the Susan G Komen decision to pull its funding for breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood
• Ploughshares Fund President Joe Cirincione joins Bill live in studio to talk about the changing US military strategy in Afghanistan, and the increased use of drones. Also, the latest on the situation in Syria
• Former Governor Jennifer Granholm (D-MI), Host of The War Room on Current TV, will talk about her new show, and the latest on the 2012 presidential race

Don’t Miss

• Order the updated paperback version of TOXIC TALK: How The Radical Right Has Poisoned America’s Airwaves
• Stay warm this winter, with a fashionable scarf hand-woven by Carol Press!
• Purchase a podcast subscription and listen to the show anytime you want, on your computer, iPod, or .mp3 player!
• Follow the show on Twitter. Bill tweets live from the White House press briefings!

• Mitt Romney wins the FL GOP primary
• 2012: Romney v. Obama – what do you think?
• A new NASA report shows global warming is man-made

Guests

• Politico Executive Editor Jim VandeHei
• University of Virginia Center for Politics Director Dr. Larry Sabato analyzes last night’s FL primary results
• US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar joins the show

Don’t Miss

• Cain throws ‘the people’ under the bus – Bill’s Latest Parting Shot
• Must Read: Raucous Republican Primary Debates Seem More Made for TV (NY Times)
• Order the updated paperback version of TOXIC TALK: How The Radical Right Has Poisoned America’s Airwaves
• Stay warm this winter, with a fashionable scarf hand-woven by Carol Press!
• Purchase a podcast subscription and listen to the show anytime you want, on your computer, iPod, or .mp3 player!
• Follow the show on Twitter. Bill tweets live from the White House press briefings!

Don’t Miss

• Cain throws ‘the people’ under the bus – Bill’s Latest Parting Shot
• Must Read: Raucous Republican Primary Debates Seem More Made for TV (NY Times)
• Order the updated paperback version of TOXIC TALK: How The Radical Right Has Poisoned America’s Airwaves
• Stay warm this winter, with a fashionable scarf hand-woven by Carol Press!
• Purchase a podcast subscription and listen to the show anytime you want, on your computer, iPod, or .mp3 player!
• Follow the show on Twitter. Bill tweets live from the White House press briefings!

Today’s Hot Topics

• FL primary election today
• RNC Chair Reince Priebus does not back off comparing the President to the Captain of the downed Italian Cruise Ship
• Is it OK for a company not to hire you if you smoke?

Guests

• Current TV’s David Shuster joins the show live from Florida, to discuss today’s Republican Presidential Primary
• Democratic National Committee Chair, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-20) joins the show to discuss today’s primary in her home state
• John Nichols, Washington Correspondent for The Nation will detail the influence of Super PACs on this Presidential election cycle so far

Don’t Miss

• Cain throws ‘the people’ under the bus – Bill’s Latest Parting Shot
• Must Read: Raucous Republican Primary Debates Seem More Made for TV (NY Times)
• Order the updated paperback version of TOXIC TALK: How The Radical Right Has Poisoned America’s Airwaves
• Stay warm this winter, with a fashionable scarf hand-woven by Carol Press!
• Purchase a podcast subscription and listen to the show anytime you want, on your computer, iPod, or .mp3 player!
• Follow the show on Twitter. Bill tweets live from the White House press briefings!

You must admit, it’s had its memorable moments. Like Donald Trump, making a big issue out of President Obama’s birth certificate – and then getting destroyed at the White House Correspondents Association.

Or, like Michele Bachmann, saying how happy she was to be in the state that gave us Lexington and Concord – even though she was standing in New Hampshire, not Massachusetts.

But, by far, the best moment happened this weekend: when Herman Cain endorsed Newt Gingrich for president.

Now, first of all, this is Cain’s second endorsement. I was there, in Charleston, South Carolina, when – on stage with Stephen Colbert – he endorsed “we, the people” for president. Why did he throw us overboard? What are we? Chicken soup?

But, the more I think about it, the more I realize this makes sense. Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich? The serial sexual harasser joins forces with the serial adulterer. What a perfect team!

Do you think Newt gave Herman some tips on how to succeed in marriage? Or was it the other way around?

One thing for sure: With these two cats, you can no longer call the Republican Party the party of family values.

That’s my parting shot for today.

• FLORIDA: Republican Primary tomorrow – Newt Gingrich takes a big hit in the polls.
• APPLE: Will you think twice about buying their products, with their Chinese factory working conditions coming to light?
• OCCUPY: Nearly 400 arrested in Oakland, plus DC Occupiers get kicked out today – is the movement over?

Guests

• Huffington Post Senior Political Reporter Jon Ward joins the show live from Florida, ahead of tomorrow’s primary
  
• Politico White House Reporter Glenn Thrush joins Bill live in studio
  
• Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Host of The War Room, debuting tonight on Current TV at 9 PM ET
  

Don’t Miss

• Must Read: Raucous Republican Primary Debates Seem More Made for TV (NY Times)
• Order the updated paperback version of TOXIC TALK: How The Radical Right Has Poisoned America’s Airwaves
• Stay warm this winter, with a fashionable scarf hand-woven by Carol Press!
• Purchase a podcast subscription and listen to the show anytime you want, on your computer, iPod, or .mp3 player!
• Follow the show on Twitter. Bill tweets live from the White House press briefings!

Tribune Media Services

Political junkies like me have never seen anything like it: Running 20 points behind, just a week before the South Carolina primary, Newt Gingrich catapulted to the top of the pile and ended up defeating Mitt Romney by 12 points. It’s almost enough to make a believer out of you.

Indeed, his 32-point tour-de-force in just seven days is stunning, given that Gingrich, whose entire campaign staff walked out on him last summer, ran an embarrassing fourth in Iowa and New Hampshire. It’s all the more remarkable when you realize that his entire campaign is based on three big lies: he’s a Washington outsider; he’s not a lobbyist; and he’s a small-government conservative. Liar, liar, pants on fire!

Only if you define “outsider” as someone born outside of Washington could Gingrich be considered not part of the Washington establishment. He was elected to Congress in 1979, and hasn’t left Washington since. He served in Congress for 20 years, four of them as speaker of the House, just two heartbeats away from the presidency. Since resigning in disgrace from Congress, he’s operated inside the Beltway while serving on several boards and commissions, advising Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, founding and leading several for-profit consulting companies, and appearing as a paid commentator on Fox News. He and his third wife Callista live in McLean, Va., one of Washington’s most elite, and most expensive, suburbs.

Newt Gingrich, in other words, is exactly what Washington is full of. You see them every day at The Palm, the Capitol Grille, or the Four Seasons Hotel: old, white men who used to be somebody. They came to Washington as a young man, held an important job until they quit or were fired, and never went home. They hang out here, in all the favorite watering holes, hoping somebody will recognize them. If Newt’s not part of the Washington establishment, there is no Washington establishment.

And if Newt’s no lobbyist, there are no lobbyists in Washington, either. It doesn’t matter whether he actually went up to Capitol Hill and “registered” as a lobbyist. He has an office on K Street. He meets with members of Congress and state legislators about legislation impacting companies who pay him handsomely — including $25,000 a month from the chief lobbyist of Freddie Mac — to represent them. In other words, he does what Bob Livingston, Larry Craig, Dick Gephardt, and Trent Lott do. He opens doors and peddles his influence all over town. Enough with silly word games. He’s a lobbyist.

Newt also tries to appeal to tea partiers by painting himself as an authentic Ron Paul, Ronald Reagan-like, small-government conservative — which, if claimed by anybody else, would be condemned by Newt as “pious baloney.” Throughout his career, Gingrich has always promoted big ideas for big government. He voted for creation of the Department of Education and supported Medicare Part D. He championed universal health care, with an individual mandate. Together with Nancy Pelosi, he called on Congress to take action against global warming. He’s advocated a new federal initiative on brain research. He calls himself a “Theodore Roosevelt Republican.”

Just this week, Newt told Florida voters that, if elected president, he would establish an American colony on the moon — and begin regular shuttle service to and from Mars — by 2020. At the same time, he says he’s prepared to declare war on Iran and Cuba. He’s offered no evidence of how much these new initiatives would cost, nor where the money would come from. Although, as a member of Congress, he did author the “Northwest Ordinance for Space,” allowing moon residents, once they numbered 13,000, to petition Congress to become our 51st state.

As for President Reagan, although Newt invokes Reagan often, he wasn’t always so full of praise. In Congress, he accused Reagan of “impotence and incompetence.” And he blasted Reagan’s summit meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as “the most dangerous summit for the West since Adolf Hitler met with Neville Chamberlain in 1938 in Munich.” For his part, President Reagan refers to Gingrich only once in his diaries, saying Newt’s ideas on a budget freeze would “cripple our defense program.”

As speaker, in fact, Gingrich received so much criticism from fellow Republicans that he once asked Senate Leader Bob Dole “Why do people take such an instant dislike to me?” Dole reportedly explained: “Because it saves time.” True then; true today.

© 2012 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

Today’s Hot Topics

• Punches thrown in the latest GOP debate: Newt v. Romney
• Should we build a lunar colony?
• President Obama continues his post-State of the Union tour

Guests

• Washington Post National Political Reporter Nia Malika Henderson will discuss the latest on the 2012 presidential race
• Wall Street Journal Politics Reporter Neil King joins the show live in studio to discuss last night’s CNN debate
• Politico Senior Writer Maggie Haberman breaks down the GOP Florida debate

Don’t Miss

• Must Read: Raucous Republican Primary Debates Seem More Made for TV (NY Times)
• Rand Paul can walk to Washington if he doesn’t like the TSA – Bill’s Latest Parting Shot
• PHOTOS: Behind the scenes in South Carolina
• Order the updated paperback version of TOXIC TALK: How The Radical Right Has Poisoned America’s Airwaves
• Stay warm this winter, with a fashionable scarf hand-woven by Carol Press!
• Purchase a podcast subscription and listen to the show anytime you want, on your computer, iPod, or .mp3 player!
• Follow the show on Twitter. Bill tweets live from the White House press briefings!

And Newt’s sudden rise in the polls is all the more astounding because it’s based on three big lies.

One, he’s an outsider. Talk about pious baloney. He came to Washington in 1979 as a newly-elected Congressman, served in Congress for 20 years, and he’s never gone home. If he’s not part of the Washington establishment, there is no Washington establishment.

Two, he’s not a lobbyist. More baloney. True, he may not have actually “registered” as a lobbyist. But he has an office on K St. He meets with members of Congress and state legislators about legislation impacting companies who pay him to represent them – pocketing $25,000 a month, for example, from Freddie Mac’s top lobbyist. That’s influence-peddling. That’s lobbying.

Three, he’s a limited-government conservative. Nonsense. He’s advocated colonies on Mars, full-scale federal initiative on brain research, an individual mandate on health care, and federal action against global warming. And he calls himself a “Teddy Roosevelt Republican.”

If conservatives knew the truth about Newt, they wouldn’t support him.

That’s my parting shot for today.