Joe Scarborough Defends Bill O'Reilly: 'He Was In The Falklands!'

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sjoe-carborough-defends-oreilly-falklands

Joe Scarborough told his fellow co-hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Wednesday morning that he didn't "get" the questions surrounding Bill O'Reilly's war tales and appeared to suggest the Fox host was "in the Falklands."

"This Bill O'Reilly thing, I'll tell you the truth, I don't get it," he said.

Last week, Mother Jones magazine published an article that cast doubt on things O'Reilly has said about having covered the Falklands War for CBS News in the 1980s.

"Are we debating rubber bullets versus real bullets?" Scarborough said. "I don't know."

Woman involved in pet store arson sentenced, reveals pregnancy

http://www.jrn.com/ktnv/news/Woman-involved-in-pet-store-arson-to-be-sentenced-294039421.html

Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- The woman who admitted she tried to burn down her pet store with live animals trapped inside has learned her fate.

Gloria Lee was sentenced to 5-14 years in prison on arson and insurance fraud charges. She received probation on charges of animal cruelty.

She also revealed that she was 3 months pregnant with her husband's child. This is the same husband she told investigators was responsible for the pet shop fire as Lee was currently having an affair with her accomplice Kirk Bills. The judge accused Lee of using her pregnancy to manipulate the court into giving her a lesser sentence.

A dramatic surveillance video was released that police say shows Gloria Lee, and co-conspirator Kirk Bills lighting the store on fire with 27 puppies still in their cages.

Keith Olbermann off air after tweets

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/12375585/keith-olbermann-critical-penn-state-twitter-do-show-rest-week

Keith Olbermann will not host his show for the rest of the week, ESPN said Tuesday, because of tweets critical of Penn State and its annual THON fundraiser.

"We are aware of the exchange Keith Olbermann had on Twitter last night regarding Penn State," ESPN said in a statement. "It was completely inappropriate and does not reflect the views of ESPN.

"We have discussed it with Keith, who recognizes he was wrong. ESPN and Keith have agreed that he will not host his show for the remainder of this week and will return on Monday.

Olbermann apologized in a tweet Tuesday.

Readers respond to fact check on Rand Paul’s statements about college degree

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2015/02/16/readers-respond-to-fact-check-on-rand-pauls-statements-on-college-degree/

‘Reporting this was plainly irresponsible’

Misstating your academic credentials is a serious offense when it’s done for reasons of self-aggrandizement; it cost the CEO of Yahoo his job, for instance. Rand Paul didn’t do that.

He colloquially understated, not overstated, his academic credentials. And he clearly did so to make the point that he was talking about a subject in which he had no academic training.

There was absolutely no news here. Period.

Reporting this was plainly irresponsible, and pretending to show balance by adding a statement from his spokesperson doesn’t change that fact. Both you and the editors of The Washington Post have shown exceptionally poor judgment with this article.

–P.J.

Sofía Vergara’s ex-fiancé Nick Loeb is throwing his hat back in the political ring.

The one-time candidate, who reinvented himself as the aspiring condiment king of Onion Crunch, has joined new political action committee Leadership Matters for America with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as honorary chairman.

He’ll work to bring awareness of and raise money for Christie, but “This has nothing to do with a presidential run. This is just a PAC to support him.”

“He’s a normal guy who you can have a beer with.”

http://pagesix.com/2015/02/16/nick-loeb-joins-chris-christies-political-action-committee/

http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/la-na-gop-congress-assessment-20150215-story.html#page=1

When Republicans swept into power last November, they promised a new era of productivity and discipline that would break four years of gridlock. "America's New Congress," they called it.

But far from striking a bold contrast with the last two terms of stalemate, congressional Republicans have quickly run into familiar obstacles, including partisan paralysis and party infighting.

Only two bills have become law — one a leftover from last year that funds a terrorism insurance program important to real estate developers, the other a noncontroversial measure to address mental health problems among veterans.

That compares with six new laws at this point in 2007, when Democrats came to power in both chambers for the final two years of President George W. Bush's tenure.

Jeb Bush Won't Talk About Wars His Brother Started
The Huffington Post | By Igor Bobic

Posted: 02/14/2015 11:52 am EST Updated: 02/14/2015 11:59 am EST

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/14/jeb-bush-iraq-afghanistan_n_6683970.html

At his Friday press conference, Bush suggested that he would address current threats to America, such as the rise of the Islamic State, during his speech next week.

“We have some big, hairy, complicated things we need to fix and one of those is what the role of America is in the world to protect our safety and security, but also to promote security and peace around the world, and I think we can be a force for good," he said.