Rombo Ad May Miss the Mark

This is a great ad. But in a race for the conservative vote, would you rather be the cool assault weapon guy or the stiff cardboard cutout guy? OK, it's just a paintball gun, but where can I get one of those?

I think this ad may motivate some conservatives on the sly to vote for Rombo. Rombo, what a great nickname for Mitt Romney.

Be My Valentine, Little Debbie

Contains 10 creme-filled cakes.

Twin-wrapped, twin-unwrapped.

CNN Smacks the Ish Out of Roland Martin

Roland Martin has gotten himself suspended from CNN for some tweets he made during the Super Bowl:

"Ain't no real bruhs going to H&M to buy some damn David Beckham underwear!"

"If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham's H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him!"

Here's is the David Beckham ad that got Roland so agitated:



Now Martin claims was that he was dissing Beckham as a soccer player, a sport that he does not give any respect. And he could also have been dissing the tattoos. Or dissing that particular style of underwear, which looks uncomfortably restricting, for a real bruh, if you know what I mean.

Earlier in the day Martin had tweeted:

"Who the hell was that New England Patriot they just showed in a head to toe pink suit? Oh, he needs a visit from #teamwhipdatass."

Here's the picture of that sharp-dressed man:

Obviously Roland's remark is an offensive African-American pimp stereotype. Oh wait, Roland is African-American, that can't be it. Offensive to New England Patriots fans? Nothing wrong with that, outside of New England.

So who did take offense? Maybe we should cut to the obligatory CNN apology.

"Roland Martin's Tweets were regrettable and offensive. Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated. We have been giving careful consideration to this matter, and Roland will not be appearing on our air for the time being."

Well CNN is clearly apologizing to someone, we just don't know who. Maybe Roland Martin's apology will clear this up:

"To those who construed my comment as being anti-gay or homophobic or advancing violence, I'm truly sorry. I can certainly understand how someone could come to a different conclusion than the one I meant. I'm disheartened that my words would embolden prejudice. While public debate over social issues is healthy, no matter which side someone takes, there is no room for debate as to whether we need to be respectful of others."

I'm glad we settled that. We can't have anyone tweeting offensive remarks unless we know who is offended. Maybe the Gay and Lesbian Aliance Against Defamation thought "ish" was a homophoic slur. Actually it's hip-hop slang for "shit" as in "smack the shit out of him." Someone at GLAAD needs racial and cultural awareness training. The meeting between Roland Martin and GLAAD has already been scheduled.

Who is Roland Martin? He's a CNN political commentator who just a year ago was being talked about as anchor for a show on the competing network MSNBC.

I guess he won't be going anywhere any time soon in that shirt, except maybe to that meeting with GLAAD. Or he could wear his pinkish-organgish shirt that the Washington Post is flaunting.

The Hollywood Reporter also puts the pink on Roland:

I'm getting the strong impression from these photos that Roland Martin is a stylish dresser who likes to express his very strong opinions about fashion choices he disagrees with. He is not a man afraid to wear pink.

Nonetheless, the case against Roland Martin was judged open and shut by GLAAD's Communities of African Descent Media Field Strategist Kimberley McLeod:

"This brings me to my next point, gay men, lesbians, transgender folk, or any other oppressed minority, are NEVER wrong when they point out your privilege and/or hurtful words. I’ll say it again; THEY ARE ALWAYS RIGHT. As oppressed people, we dictate when what you’re saying is homophobic, transphobic, or generally problematic, you don’t. As a straight man, you do not get to define what homophobia looks like, sounds like, or feels like. Why? Because I said so. You have never and will never have to grapple with the harsh reality of negotiating your identity as a Black gay man, and that, in-and-of-itself, disqualifies any opinions you may have on delineating homophobic actions, statements, or stances. Capisce?"

Capisce? That's the phrase associated with implied threats of mafia violence. Italian-Americans will be offended.

Roland Martin's original sin is this post on his website from February 2006:

"My wife, an ordained Baptist minister for 20 years, has counseled many men and women to walk away from the gay lifestyle, and to live a chaste life. She has asked heterosexual men and women to abstain from sex until marriage. For her, the obligation is to her calling as a minister of the Word, rather than bowing to societal pressures. She loves gay and lesbian church members dearly, and prays with them, talks to them, and breaks bread with them. But what she cannot do is compromise the integrity of the teachings of Christ."

For that offense, as much as for the Super Bowl tweets, Roland Martin will be glaad-handed into bending it like Beckham. But let's remember, people come to Baptist ministers for counsel voluntarily. Can you condemn the minister without condemning the ministered? And when did we start condemning the minister’s spouse?

So it comes around that Acting GLAAD President Mike Thompson has had to issue his own form of apology:

"GLAAD is aware that several members of the LGBT community have used racial epithets and race-based insults toward Roland Martin, his family and broader African American community. We unequivocally condemn the use of racial slurs when addressing issues of homophobia and strongly discourage the use of hate speech in any context. We look forward to a healthy and productive dialogue with Roland Martin and members of the community."

That is truly bending it like Beckham.

Nancy Pelosi Going Viral "Tomorrow" with Attack on Stephen Colbert

I can't decide whether this ad is coordinated or uncoordinated. Nancy Pelosi ends it with "Americans deserve a better tomorrow, today." The slogan for Stephen Colbert's Super PAC is "making a better tomorrow, tomorrow."

Only 304 views at the end of the day Thursday. Well, Nancy, you can always go viral tomorrow.

Update: 157,716 views as of 4pm EST Friday. Maybe this could go viral after all.

Republican Delegates Are Harder to Count Than Cattle

A herd of cattle can be hard to count in the field. A small cow may be hard to spot walking behind a larger cow. A cow may mess up your count by turning back after she has gone by you, while other cows rush past. But usually you can at least get a rough count.

Candidate	NYT	WSJ	CNN	FOX
Mitt Romney	94	112	115	107
Rick Santorum	71	72	34	45
Newt Gingrich	29	32	38	32
Ron Paul	8	9	20	9
Jon Huntsman	2	2	0	0
Total	204	227	207	193

We may not get a true count on those Republican delegates until the August roundup in the arena at the national convention in Tampa.

Rick Santorum Proves Nice Guys Finish First in Middle America

The Republican race has a new frontrunner, with Rick Santorum sweeping the field in 3 states with 40% and more of the vote.

With Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich duking it out with negative ads and snarky comments, and Ron Paul calling everyone unconstitutional, Republican voters issued the ultimate rebuke by voting for the nice guy Rick Santorum.

That means Santorum has one half of the states that have voted too date:

Rick Santorum: Iowa, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri

Mitt Romney: New Hampshire, Florida, Nevada

Newt Gingrich: South Carolina

Ron Paul: None

In Missouri the rebuke was especially severe with Santorum winning every county and racking up 55% statewide with Newt Gingrich not even on the ballot. It may be all over but the shouting for Newt. He needs to prove he can win outside the South or his campaign has no place to go. The nail in the coffin would be if he loses his home state of Georgia on March 6.

The Romney campaign will have its own problems if Santorum keeps winning Midwestern states Mitt Romney had expected to win. Mitt faces the acid test in his birth state of Michigan on February 28. All bets are off if Romney loses Michigan to Santorum.

Actually, it appears that the effort of evangelicals to coalesce behind Rick Santorum is beginning to show results. That may not bode well for Rick in the voting in Maine which is ongoing or in retiree-heavy Arizona which votes alongside Michigan on February 28. But it could bode well for the Washington caucus on March 3. That could set Rick up for the big prize on Super Tuesday, March 6.

Clint Eastwood for President

I think I've found my candidate for President:



This is a Chrysler ad. And if "thanks for the bailout" is one of its messages, I can only respond "you're welcome." That's not to say that I supported the bailout, but I appreciate the thank you nonetheless.

As to Karl Rove and certain other windbags who think this is some sort of subliminal Obama reelection ad, I have this thought to offer:



Now it happens I drive a Chrysler, a Jeep Cherokee that I bought in December 1992. It has been such a high-quality American-made product that I haven't needed another in these last 19 years. No airbags or electric door locks. You want to open the window, you turn the hand crank. They don't make them like they used to.

Here is the Super Bowl ad Chrysler ran a year ago with Eminem largely expounding on the same themes:



YouTube shows 4,404,648 views so far on this year's Eastwood ad and 14,354,069 views for Eminem. The bad news for Chrysler is that the GM Silverado ad at this year's Super Bowl did better at 5,745,841 views so far:



GM, you can keep your new Silverado, in the event of apocalypse I'll take my Jeep with its limited electronics.

By the way, the Bush administration authorized the $17.4 billion bailout for GM and Chrysler in December 2008. The incoming Obama administration was left to the task of administering the bailout. I do respect Ford, which didn't take a bailout. Maybe my next vehicle will be a Ford.

The problem the auto industry faced in 2008 and 2009 was not of their creation. Most people can't buy a car without a loan. And the banks stopped lending, not because credit risks on auto loans went south, but because the banks went south themselves by losing so much money in the housing market collapse.

Update: As usual, Iowahawk kicks it between the goalposts with A Fistful of Rebates.