In the rumor/controversy that just won't die, President Obama's campaign team has asserted that the president will, indeed, be on Arizona's general election ballot, despite Secretary of State, Ken Bennet, stating that he would disqualify Obama if he could not prove he was, in fact, born in Hawaii. Though given some of the other injustices happening in Arizona, this seems totally unsurprising.

[dailyintel]

Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health & Human Services, gave the commencement speech at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute on Friday, only to be heckled as she was addressing the graduates, then met with anti-contraceptive protesters outside the building. In terms of the public disagreement over birth control, Sebelius offered the following:

These debates can be contentious. But this is a strength of our country, not a weakness. In some countries around the world, it is much easier to make policy. The leader delivers an edict and it goes into effect. There's no debate, no press, no criticism, no second-guessing.

She was probably called a "commie" for trying to say that it's easier for other countries to write and pass policies. Still, bravo for politely calling people out on ruining a graduation ceremony because they have a problem with common sense.

[death+taxes]

A few days ago, the GOP-led House passed a military budget with a hefty $642 billion price tag -- $8 billion more than what President Obama and the Pentagon had agreed on with Congress. With the defense budget skyrocketing, cuts are coming from other programs, most notably government-subsidized food stamps.

Chat Allen, a mother of three who works only part-time, offered this insight:

They have so much money that maybe they can tighten their belts and not live as luxuriously as they live. They've earned it, but there are people who are hungry and who dig in the trash every day just to get something to eat.

This certainly isn't polishing the GOP's image. The budget has been met with less-than-enthusiastic responses in the Democrat-led Senate, which likely will try to reallocate those funds back to public works.

[bothsidesofthegun]

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ken), scion of presidential hopeful and idealistic college student darling, Ron Paul, was quoted as saying that he didn't think President Obama's views on same-sex marriage "could get any gayer."

Paul said this during an event sponsored by Iowa's Faith and Freedom Collation to laughs, because nothing says "freedom" in America than to smack talk someone's opinion about gay marriage.

[politicalticker]

Yesterday, Mitt Romney spoke at the Christian college, Liberty University, where he tried breaking through his Mormon image to become the Evangelical Christian candidate to beat. Pandering to the crowd, he made a couple interesting statements about gay marriage and the state of Christian values in America. To wit:

Marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman.

But in the same speech, Romney also said:

Whether the cause is justice for the persecuted, compassion for the needy and the sick, or mercy for the child waiting to be born, there is no greater force for good in the nation than Christian conscience in action.

Of course the "persecuted" in question, sadly, does not include same-sex couples who were denied legal unions in North Carolina, but rather the downtrodden wealthy white males who bully and assault gay teens.

[buzzfeed]

Betty White got a nice little tribute from President Obama for her 90th birthday, so it's no surprise that she's publicly endorsing him, though it's hard to think that America's Sweetheart (other than Justin Bieber) would give her vote to a guy whose name is the same as a baseball glove. Hopefully, this isn't just some well-orchestrated joke for her prank show.

[gawker]

Russell Brand's, um, brand of comedy isn't everyone's cup of tea, but, if anything, he's pretty good at being on his toes when it comes to making light of a dull situation. As such, when Brand was testifying about the UK's drug policy to Parliament, he made quite the show out of it, which also happened to be better than his stand-up.

[boingboing]