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1. ) Osama bin Laden emerges from ocean alive and well — That would be the foreign policy equivalent for President Obama of Obamacare being overturned as unconstitutional. What once seemed like a remote possibility, now seems very plausible. Obamacare, President Obama’s signature domestic achievement, looks like it is going down in toto, says Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute, who has been following the Supreme Court hearings on the law for The Daily Caller. TheDC’s Paul Conner reports:
“If the individual mandate is struck down, would the rest of the law go down with it? More than likely, Shapiro said. ‘The most likely ruling on severability is that all of Obamacare will fall along with its fatally flawed individual mandate,’ Shapiro wrote to TheDC in an email. ‘While such a result would be legally correct, it would still be stunning.'”
We won’t know for a few months what the Supreme Court will rule. We do know that President Obama will be saying his prayers every night.
2.) Mitt is Marco’s man — The leading contender to be the Republican vice presidential candidate in 2012 has made his choice: Mitt Romney. TheDC’s Caroline May reports:
“Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Fox News’ ‘Hannity Show’ Wednesday night. ‘I am going to endorse Mitt Romney, and the reason why is not only because he is going to be the Republican nominee, but he offers, at this point, such a stark contrast to the president’s record,’ Rubio said.”
Of course, endorsing Romney at this point isn’t what one would call a “bold decision.” While Romney may not be exactly a shoe-in for the Republican nomination, he is once again looking more and more like the probable nominee. Maybe Rubio will endorse Shaquille O’Neal for the Basketball Hall of Fame tomorrow.
3.) Tom Hanks-y Panky — TheDC’s David Martosko reports that Tom Hanks may have recently told a fable:
“New video footage obtained by The Daily Caller indicates that movie star Tom Hanks was less than truthful when he claimed he was ‘blindsided’ for ‘an appalling few moments’ when a white man in blackface makeup joined him for part of a 2004 fundraising auction that benefited his children’s school. The man, investment banker Jamie Montgomery, also wore a costume including a giant Afro wig and a leopard-print toga … [A]dditional footage from the 2004 event, obtained exclusively by TheDC, shows Montgomery in full view of Hanks beginning approximately ten minutes before he joined Hanks at the microphone to introduce the auction’s final item: a giant stuffed gorilla holding a “dowry” of 5,000 shares in a pharmaceutical company.”
4.) Joan Rivers, a congressional candidate and a vial of blood — TheDC’s Alexis Levinson reports on a congressional candidate and his bizarre connection to comedian Joan Rivers:
“If you were given the opportunity to win a date with Joan Rivers — a prospect obviously too enticing to pass up — how would you woo her? The Daily Caller recommends sending her a vial of blood. Just ask Dr. George Flinn, now the Republican candidate in Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District: It worked for him.”
What!?!?! This is what we call in the business a dynamite lede. If you don’t want to read the rest of the story after that introduction, well, you’re boring.
5.) Poll of the day: Romney nipping at Santorum’s heals in Pennsylvania — Franklin & Marshall poll of Pennsylvania GOP presidential primary: Rick Santorum 30%, Mitt Romney 28%, Ron Paul 9%, Newt Gingrich 6%.
6.) Tweet of the Day — @iowahawkblog: President’s budget narrowly defeated in House squeaker, 414-0.