Free candy! (Please take one.)

"It's the law!!!"

Wasn't that what the Democrats kept screeching during 2012? Apparently they were just trolling us:

"Piece of mind?"

These people are running your government and taking over your health care. *shudder*

From the official White House twitter feed:

Clarence Thomas: "This country isn't perfect, but it’s perfectible"

Photo: @JusticeWillett

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas spoke last night at a dinner during the Federalist Society's annual conference in Washington, D.C., and attendee David Lat has a great write-up at the Above the Law blog:

#Shutdown doesn't stop WWII veterans from visiting their memorial [UPDATED]

Visiting WWII veterans were confronted with
barricades at the WWII Memorial...but not for long.

There's plenty of room for debate on the merits of this government shutdown, but I'm glad to see that reasonable people are agreeing that our active duty military and veterans shouldn't be harmed. The House unanimously passed a bill to protect military pay that President Obama signed yesterday, Veterans Administration health care functions will continue, among other measures.

Then there's this delightful story...

A group of WWII veterans from Mississippi visiting the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C. as part of an Honor Flight trip decided they were going to visit their memorial, government shutdown or no. From the Twitter feed of Stars and Stripes reporter Leo Shane:

Looks like Jim DeMint and I have something in common

He's got his eye on us.

...neither one of us should try traveling in Russia any time soon.

Late Wednesday evening, I posted a snarky little tweet in response to Vladimir Putin's New York Times op-ed...

Hey Putin, next time you wanna write a letter to convince America about something, how about you skip saying we're not exceptional? #rude
— Sarah Rumpf (@rumpfshaker) September 12, 2013

In Texas, even the Governor's pocket tweets are awesome

Engaging in social media can be a double-edged sword for politicians (Exhibit A: Former Senator Scott Brown's infamous "bqwhatevr" tweets).

Texas Governor Rick Perry sent out a very concise one-character tweet this afternoon...

Greg Abbott's goal: "A Texas where any child of any background" can succeed

Earlier today, the Greg Abbott campaign sent out an email thanking everyone who attended his campaign kickoff in San Antonio. The email ended with this paragraph:

Together we will build a Texas that attracts jobs, promotes opportunity and rewards ingenuity – a Texas where any child of any background has a chance to smile, to hope, to dream and to succeed.

Most. Optimistic. Local. News. Station. EVER.

Apparently Central Florida didn't get being the center of a media circus out of its system during the Casey Anthony trial, because here we are again with George Zimmerman.

[Note: I'm not going to comment on the specifics of the trial because 1) I haven't been following it closely enough to feel informed, 2) I'm pretty sure the internet isn't suffering from a lack of people offering commentary; and 3) there's approximately eleventy bazillion things I'd rather write about.]

Anyway! From what I've seen on social media the past few days, the trial has been quite...entertaining. (A witness testified she could hear grass? Huh? Yeah, I'm OK not watching every minute of this.) And then WFTV tweeted this:

Even Frankie Muniz gets it - Promoting Susan Rice is an #ObamaFail

Susan Rice has been a disaster as UN Ambassador, so of course Obama is rewarding her with a promotion; she will be Obama's new National Security Adviser.

Burger King Twitter meltdown

This is why companies need to take their social media seriously, both in terms of having professionals handle their online presence and making sure they take steps to protect the security of the accounts.

Burger King's official Twitter account (@BurgerKing) right now:

My plans for world domination are proceeding nicely

Forgive me this little bit of bragging, but I can't help but think this is pretty cool:

SocialSphere | The #MAPoli Top 25 of 2012

High Five to Texas, Part II

When I visited Austin in November, I wrote a post about how Texas was great about its dedication to Tenth Amendment principles. It should come as no surprise that the Lone Star State is also strong on the Second Amendment.

Greg Abbott, the current Texas Attorney General, posted a tweet last night that will put a smile on the face of every Second Amendment fan:

Here's what your smaller paychecks get you, America!

I present the bang-your-head-on-the-wall news of the day...

Yawn. The news we all knew was coming.

Democrats, you can have him.

It's official. Our former governor and World's Tallest Oompa Loompa, Charlie Crist, became a Democrat today. 

Anyone who posted this news on Twitter as "BREAKING" as anything other than tongue-in-cheek should be thoroughly mocked, as this was one of the most predictable moves in politics since dinosaurs crawled the earth.

As the Tampa Bay Times reported earlier tonight:

#BusybodyBloomberg meddles in FL elections while NYC drowns

Rep. and Mrs. Webster

Congressman Dan Webster is one of the nicest people you might ever hope to meet, anywhere. In the cutthroat world of politics, he really stands out. I haven't confirmed it, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't even step on ants on the sidewalk.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why he always seems to attract the most unhinged and crazy attacks during his campaigns.

What we can learn from Sen. Menendez's Dominican hookers (Yes, really.)

In case you missed all the excitement last night, the Drudge Report spent several hours teasing a story that eventually showed up at The Daily Caller, about how Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) apparently availed himself of the services of two prostitutes when he visited the Dominican Republic earlier this year.

Last #FreePAC event in Chicago today! Watch the livestream here!

I had the privilege of attending the last two FreePAC events in Phoenix and Orlando, and can't say enough great things about these excellent FreedomWorks programs. The Chicago FreePAC is today, and you can watch the livestream (for free!) here:

Live-Blogging Tonight's Debate

Well, tonight started with an earthquake (yes, really)...it remains to be seen whether tonight's presidential debate will be as earth-shattering as the last one. Here's all the links to follow along the action tonight:

Live-Blogging Tonight's VP Debate

Last week's presidential debate was an amazing, incredible evisceration of Barack Obama's campaign, and I am really looking forward to tonight's contest between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan.

Once again, I'll be live-blogging tonight from my Sulia account. You can follow the posts on the Sunshine State Sarah Facebook page or on Twitter at @rumpfshaker.

The Romney campaign has a widget for following the Twitter feeds of their staffers. I've embedded it below:

Unbelievable: @AmbassadorRice's Actual Twitter Account

I was scrolling through Twitter earlier tonight, and came across a tweet by @SooperMexican that I thought had to be a parody:

You're a joke. RT @ambassadorrice: So proud to defend #humanrights and ensure #LGBT voices are heard at the #UN. @global_equality
— el SOOPer (@SooperMexican) October 11, 2012