Politics

In HBO's new film Game Change, Sarah Palin is portrayed by Julianne Moore as unstable, unprepared and ill-informed on world affairs and basic world history.

The former GOP V.P. candidate is none too pleased about all this, even though the film is based on John Heilemann and Mark Halperin’s page-turning bestseller.

A non-fiction bestseller.

Of course, Palin will never actually see it, but dag gone it, “Hollywood lies are Hollywood lies,” she says of Game Change and its window into the 2008 election.

Palin accuses Jay Roach, the director, and his collaborator, Danny Strong, of trying “[To] drum up their money and their machine and their machine happens to be very pro-leftist, pro-Barack Obama ... there at HBO.”

The one-time Alaska Governor lambasted its “false narrative” also noted that any of the campaign staffers who contributed to revealing behind-the-scenes information for Game Change should feel “shame and… embarrassment.”

Palin’s PAC slammed the film, debuting tomorrow night, as “historical fiction.”

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Under fire for his anti-gay comments on Piers Morgan Tonight, former Growing Pains star Kirk Cameron defended himself in a Facebook post Tuesday.

His tone was less combative and his comments much better-worded, but Kirk did not apologize for his beliefs, or the manner in which he voiced them.

In fact, Cameron criticized the media and those contributing to the backlash, defending principles he stands for and the right to express them publicly.

The actor defended his appearance on CNN (below) this way:

Kirk Cameron on Gay Marriage

"During the CNN interview, I was asked to express my views about homosexuality, gay marriage, and abortion. While that was not the agreed-upon purpose of the interview, I was pleased to answer Piers' questions as honestly as I could.

"To some, my responses were not sufficiently 'loving' toward the gay community. I can only say that it is my life's mission to love all people, and I expressed the same views clearly and emphatically expressed throughout Judeo-Christian scriptures."

"As a Bible believing Christian, I could not have answered any other way."

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Sandra Fluke Slutgate continues to torment Rush Limbaugh.

The talk show host - who apologized this week for referring to a Georgetown student as a prostitute because she wants contraception to be covered by health care providers - has received a cease-and-desist letter from the band Rush because they just discovered Limbaugh has been using their songs during his program.

"The public performance of Rush’s music is not licensed for political purposes and any such use is in breach of public performance licenses and constitutes copyright infringement," the group wrote, specifically bringing up the playing of "The Spirit of Radio" during Limbaugh's bashing of Fluke.

"Accordingly, we hereby demand that you immediately stop all use of Rush’s music and confirm that you will do so," the band concluded.

Earlier in the week, Peter Gabriel made a similar demand regarding his licensed music after the conservative blowhard played "Sledgehammer" in the background of a rant.

Former Alaska governor and 2008 Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin threw her weight behind Newt Gingrich as Republican presidential nominee Tuesday.

At the same time, she coyly left open the door for her own White House run.

The GOP firebrand said she voted for Newt in the caucus/primary in Alaska, one of 10 states to cast ballots yesterday (see THG's full Super Tuesday results).

"I will tell you who I voted for... the cheerful one, it's Newt Gingrich," Palin said, referring to the one-word description Newt gave himself in a recent date.

Sarah Palin on Voting For Newt Gingrich

"I have appreciated what he has stood for, stood boldly for," she said. "He has been the underdog in many of these primary races and these caucuses."

"I've respected what he has stood for."

She spoke as as longtime frontrunner Mitt Romney tightened his grip on the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, but failed to deliver a knockout blow.

Romney won six states, including Alaska, with a whole 33 percent of the vote, while Rick Santorum won three and Gingrich cruised in his native Georgia.

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President Obama invoked his daughters, Malia and Sasha, as he described reaching out to now-famous Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke over the phone.

Fluke and Rush Limbaugh have been ensnared in a war of words after Limbaugh called the contraception activist a slut for her testimony before Congress.

Obama elevated the issue even further when he called Fluke personally and the White House condemned Limbaugh's controversial remarks on the subject.

Since then, sponsors have been fleeing the Limbaugh show despite Rush's apology to Fluke and even GOP presidential candidates are distancing themselves.

President Obama on Sandra Fluke, Rush Limbaugh

At a press conference yesterday, Obama said:

"The reason I called Ms. Fluke is because I thought about Malia and Sasha and one of the things that I want them to do as they get older is to engage in issues they care about, including ones that I may not agree with the on."

"And I don't want them attacked or called horrible names just because they're being good citizens. One thing that all decent folks can agree that the remarks that were made don't have any place in the public discourse."

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Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney appeared to pull off a narrow win in Ohio on Super Tuesday but lost several other states to challenger Rick Santorum.

The day of 10 primaries and caucuses produced no knockout punch, rather another split verdict that overshadowed Romney’s claim of collecting the most delegates.

Romney remains ahead in the delegate count, and thus the race for the nomination, but any hopes of asserting himself as the inevitable nominee fell short again.

Far from bringing more clarity to the GOP presidential race as some in the party had hoped, Tuesday’s elections gave every candidate cause to keep driving forward.

Newt Gingrich won a definitive victory in Georgia. Santorum won in Tennessee, North Dakota and Oklahoma. Ron Paul even posted several second-place finishes.

Romney won Massachusetts, where he served as governor; Virginia, where neither Gingrich nor Santorum qualified for the ballot; and Vermont, Idaho and Alaska.

In Ohio, The Associated Press named Romney the winner early this morning, though some news outlets have not called it yet, and Santorum has not conceded.

Regardless of that outcome, Ohio's tight race and his defeats elsewhere show continuing vulnerabilities for Romney on both geographic and ideological grounds.

Even with most people operating under the assumption that he remains the most likely GOP nominee, he has nonetheless lost states across several regions.

Just the same, he's winning. With 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination, Romney has 332 delegates to Santorum’s 139, Gingrich's 73 and Paul's 35.

Super Tuesday results by state after the jump ...

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A racial slur against President Barack Obama is just one of the many explosive allegations in a bombshell lawsuit against Paula Deen and her brother, Bubba Hiers.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in Georgia on behalf of Lisa Jackson, a past employee of Paula Deen Enterprises. Among the stunning allegations in the lawsuit:

"In the presence of Ms. Jackson and a vendor, Bubba Hiers stated they should dispatch President Obama to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico so he could n***er-rig it."

The lawsuit also claims that Deen herself used the word in front of employees:

According to the court documents, Jackson was appointed by Deen to handle catering for Bubba's wedding in 2007, and asked Deen what servers should wear.

Paula's alleged response?

"Well what I would really like is a bunch of little n***ers to wear long-sleeve white shirts, black shorts and black bow ties, you know in the Shirley Temple days."

"They used to tap dance around. Now, that would be a true Southern wedding wouldn't it? But we can't do that because the media would be on me about that."

The documents state that Jackson became GM of Bubba’s Oyster and Seafood House in Savannah, Ga., which is co-owned by Deen and Bubba, after the previous GM (a male) apparently got fired for having sexual relations with the servers.

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Rush Limbaugh has apologized to Sandra Fluke for referring to the Georgetown Law School student as a "slut" and a "prostitute" because she believes her health insurance plan should pay for female contraception.

But might the conservative talk show host still be in major trouble for those remarks?

Rush Limbaugh Goes Off on Birth Control, Sandra Fluke

Fluke told The Daily Beast that legal experts have informed her she "might have a case" against Limbaugh for slander, but bringing a lawsuit against the blowhard is "not something I've made any decisions about at this point."

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York, seems far more committed to this goal than Fluke, as she claimed on Friday that “we will be filing a slander suit against Rush Limbaugh. What he’s really trying to do is silence a young woman. It’s unfair, it’s un-American.”

To come out on top in any slander suit, a victim must prove that the accused made a false statement, "published" it to at least one other party and also that said statement caused injury. This does seem like it could apply to both Limbaugh and actress Patricia Heaton for her comments.

But should Fluke go through with such an action? You tell us:

She may star on The Middle, but when it comes to politics, Patricia Heaton is one of the few outspoken celebrities who is far to the right.

How far to the right? Rush Limbaugh far.

Just like that conservative talk show host, this actress went off on Sandra Fluke not long after the Georgetown Law School student appeared at a press conference last week and pleaded her case for why contraception should be covered by health insurance companies.

As you can see in the sample Tweets below, Heaton continually, condescendingly mocked Fluke's supposed reliance on others:

But then also like Limbaugh, Heaton issued an apology via Twitter, writing: Mea culpa Sandra! Wasn't being respectful 2 u re my tweets as I hope people wd b w/me. Don't like you being dissed -so sorry."

Perhaps realizing that a Mea Culpa written like a second grader was equally disrespectful, Heaton gave it another try and finally struck the right tone:

I apologized to Ms Fluke last week. I may not agree with her views but I didn't treat her with respect and I'm sorry. I was wrong. Mea Culpa.

Here we go again.

Stirring up "birther" controversy yet again, Maricopa County (Ariz.) Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he suspects the President Obama's birth certificate released last year is fake.

Armed with a 10-page report he personally commissioned, Arpaio said he suspects Obama's long form birth certificate is merely a “computer-generated forgery.”

Arpaio also raised questions about the authenticity of the president’s selective service registration card. He said he would like Congress to investigate the matter.

Joe Arpaio Unveils Obama Birth Probe

“Based on all of the evidence presented and investigated, I cannot in good faith report to you that these documents are authentic,” Sheriff Arpaio said last week.

“My investigators believe the long-form birth certificate was manufactured electronically and that it did not originate in paper format as claimed by the White House.”

Arpaio repeatedly said he is not questioning Obama's legal status under the Constitution nor alleging fraud on Obama’s part, but did say there is evidence of crimes.

The controversial lawman believes someone close to the president has tampered with or forged documents and he is required to investigate under Arizona law.

Fact-checking groups have concluded the certificates are authentic, of course, and Obama has even joked about the sideshow that has followed his presidency.

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