John McCain

It's amazing to think that when Rick Perry entered the GOP presidential race last summer, he did so as the frontrunner, only to sink like a stone in the ensuing months.

On second thought, maybe it's not that amazing.

The Texas Governor defended the Marines urinating on dead bodies in Afghanistan, while accusing Barack Obama's administration of "disdain for the military."

"Obviously, 18 and 19-year-old kids make stupid mistakes all too often. And that's what's occurred here," the Republican candidate told CNN's State of the Union.

Saying the Marines should be reprimanded but not prosecuted, Perry railed against the "over-the-top rhetoric from this administration and their disdain for the military."

Marines Urinating on Dead Bodies

A military criminal investigation is ongoing after the video, which purportedly shows four Marines urinating on corpses of slain Taliban soldiers, went viral last week.

Perry's comments put him at odds with ... well, pretty much every other political leader, including those in his own party such as Sen. John McCain, who said:

"The Marine Corps prides itself that we don't lower ourselves to the level of the enemy. So it makes me sad more than anything else, because ... I can't tell you how wonderful these people (Marines) are. And it hurts their reputation and their image."

"We're trying to win the hearts and minds" of the Afghan population, McCain added. "And when something like that comes up, it obviously harms that ability."

Well put ... and pretty much what Obama has said as well.

No one has been charged in the case, but U.S. and foreign officials have called for swift punishment of the four Marines for their actions in the video (above).

Honest mistake or Freudian slip?

Sen. John McCain mixed up Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney, who he endorsed this week, in a campaign appearance on the latter's behalf.

Speaking on Romney's behalf in South Carolina, the 2008 GOP nominee opined that he has little doubt President Obama will get the country going again.

Pretty funny.

McCain Mixes Up Obama, Romney

"If he had endorsed Santorum, I mean, I would be like slitting my wrists on the table right now." - Meghan McCain on John McCain's endorsement of Mitt Romney

Like her dad, Meghan McCain does not mince words.

In the wake of Tuesday's Iowa caucus, she didn't hold back on her feelings about surprise second-place finisher and frequent McCain critic, Rick Santorum.

“My father did not become the nominee having anything to do with the Iowa caucus. I find it completely irrelevant," she said. "If Rick Santorum becomes the nominee of this party, I mean, it is going to be bedlam and hysteria like you have never seen.”

Meghan McCain on Santorum, Romney

As for whether a McCain endorsement will help Romney in next week's primary, the 27-year-old said it certainly couldn't hurt, given his popularity in the state.

"I think in New Hampshire the McCain name is very strong. If my father could run for Governor of New Hampshire right now, he'd probably still win," she added.

Romney leads N.H. and national polls in the Republican presidential race.

The GOP is coalescing around its perceived frontrunner in the presidential race.

John McCain, who battled bitterly with Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination four years ago, is endorsing him in advance of the 2012 New Hampshire primary.

Romney flew to New Hampshire Wednesday after his narrow Iowa caucus win to begin campaigning in the New England state, where he holds sizable leads in polls.

He was joined on stage today by McCain, who he called one of America's heroes and a great friend. McCain won the N.H. primary in 2000 and again in 2008.

Will McCain's endorsement help him lock up the nomination early?

Can the two-time candidate help Mitt fend off challengers Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum in the coming days and beyond? Does he even need it?

It can't hurt in New Hampshire, where he's clearly the man to beat, for better or worse. Here's Romney's speech to supporters last night in Iowa:

Mitt Romney Iowa Caucus Speech

Julianne Moore’s transformation into Sarah Palin in the HBO film Game Change, set to premiere in March, is striking. Guess that's how you earn four Oscar nominations.

The 51-year-old actress stars opposite Ed Harris (as John McCain) and Woody Harrelson (adviser Steve Schmidt) in the film based on the 2010 book of the same name.

Game Change centers around the '08 presidential elections, following the U.S. Senator’s run and decision to select Palin, then governor of Alaska, as his running mate:

Game Change Teaser Trailer

“In terms of research I did on the way campaigns are conducted, so much is about how do you get on the air, how do you get the most media attention," Moore said.

"How do you make the most noise. When in fact, what we’re all looking for is leadership, we don’t want noise. We want people who are going to take care of us.”

Wow. That's way too intelligent to come from an actual political figure.

The book Game Change chronicled the actions of both parties during the 2008 race, but based on the cast, the film looks to be centered primarily on the Republican side.

Jennifer Lopez is reportedly still getting it on with Marc Anthony on occasion, but numerous sources confirm there's definitely something going on with backup dancer Casper Smart.

"It's pretty serious," an insider tells E! News. "They're together a lot. She couldn't be happier."

So, who the heck is Casper Smart? He's a 24-year old whose real first name is Beau. He's good friends with Mark Salling and has made cameos on Glee. In 2008, meanwhile, he also played a role in a Barack Obama/John McCain dance-off video, one that has garnered over 12 million YouTube hits. Yes, that is McCain's head superimposed over Smart's body below. Watch now.

Casper Smart as John McCain

Ed Harris has been cast as John McCain in Game Change, HBO's retelling of the 2008 presidential campaign, based on the book by the same name,

Harris, a four-time Oscar nominee, will join Julianne Moore, who was already picked to play Sarah Palin, McCain's running mate in their 2008 bid.

The producers have not yet revealed who will play Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, three other big players in the historic campaign.

What do you think? Will Ed Harris make a good McCain?

While Harris, 60, is a bit younger than McCain, 74, he's definitely got the acting chops. We can see him embodying McCain's gritty, maverick persona quite easily.

Harris and Moore will be a talented pair to watch as the unsuccessful GOP running mates. It will be interesting to see who they're matched up against in the film.

Who do you think should play now-President Obama? If you asked Donald Trump, he'd probably recommend an actor who won't show his birth certificate.

This week, the U.S. Senate is taking about repealing the military's controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which prohibits gays from openly serving.

Senate Democrats have made repealing the discriminatory policy a condition of the $726 billion spending bill the play to pass for the coming fiscal year.

It's a bold move for a law already under siege. A federal judge in California ruled it unconstitutional and polls are showing increasing support for repeal.

Among the more vocal supporters? Lady Gaga. In a recent YouTube video, the pro-gay rights music star lobbied for the Senate to overturn the law:

Nicole Polizzi, a.k.a. Snooki from Jersey Shore, has found an unlikely ally in U.S. Sen. John McCain. Ally for what? Nothing really. But he's on Team Snooki!

In a radio interview yesterday, the former GOP Presidential candidate offered his opinion on the July 30 disorderly conduct arrest of the MTV reality star.

"I kind of think she might be too good looking to go to jail," said McCain, seeking reelection to the Senate this year at the age of 73, on Phoenix's KMLE.

Snooki, who spent a few hours behind bars for being drunk in broad daylight before posting bail, agrees. Monday, she told MTV succinctly, and humbly:

"I'm too pretty to be in jail... I'm not a criminal."

Start printing the McCain/Snooki 2012 presidential campaign signs now. She may actually be an intellectual step up from his previous choice of running mate.

Amazingly, this isn't the first McCain shout-out to the pint-sized party girl.

After the Oompa Loompa lodged a complaint about proposed taxes on tanning beds in the Jersey Shore premiere, the veteran politician Tweeted in kind.

McCain, or an intern who watches Jersey Shore and worked in a quality play on words, Tweeted at Ms. Polizzi: "@Sn00ki ur right, I would never tax ur tanning bed! O's tax policy is quite The Situation. but I do rec wearing sunscreen!"

EDITOR'S NOTE: In referencing this line - one of our favorite Jersey Shore quotes of the new season - we chided Snooki on the grounds that the law doesn't take effect for years. The law has, in fact, taken effect already. We regret the error!

Snook bashed President Obama for his "tax on tanning." Obama, too, referenced her in a recent interview, although somewhat less flatteringly. He claimed he didn't know who Snooki was during his controversial appearance on The View.

The 2008 U.S. presidential election is over and done with, but a new book called Game Change by New York Magazine's John Heilemann and Time's Mark Halperin has stirred up a lot of interesting gossip about the most recent White House race.

While not providing that much truly new or startling, the book has offered tremendous fodder for national political conversation. Some of the broached topics:

• That Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) referred to Barack Obama as “light-skinned” and having "no Negro dialect unless he wanted to.”
• That the affair between John Edwards and Rielle Hunter, his campaign videographer, was known about and kept quiet by three of his aides early.
• That John Edwards is a delusional egomaniac whose aides called his wife Elizabeth "an abusive, intrusive, paranoid, condescending crazy woman."

• That former President Bill Clinton was involved in an affair in 2006 that many thought would derail Hillary Clinton's 2008 run for the presidency. The woman is not named in the book, but it wouldn't be Bill's first cheating rumor.
• That Clinton offended Ted Kennedy deeply while trying to win his endorsement for his wife's campaign by saying the following about then-candidate Obama: "A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee."

• That John McCain's vetting of Sarah Palin was so woefully inadequate that no one from his campaign even interviewed her husband or opponents.
• That Sarah Palin believed Saddam Hussein to be behind the attacks on 9/11, and did not understand that North and South Korea were separate.
• That Palin is a mentally unstable person prone to wild mood swings, and was hopelessly lost in a "catatonic stupor" at one point in the campaign.

True? We may never know. But we certainly can debate - and agree that Edwards and Palin create the most entertaining reading material.