Discover GOP Opprobrium

[teapeebubbles]

Campaigns aren’t the only thing going on in the political world today. But they’re the main thing:

* Ron Paul is attracting enough Mormon support to justify a special Facebook page.

* Newt Gingrich is truly getting apocalyptic in Florida, warning evangelicals of “Second Holocaust” in Middle East.

* Meanwhile, Newt’s angel, Casino Sheldon Adelson, has arranged for his own semi-private caucus in Nevada.

* Signaling a return to normalcy after brief period of GOP angst about “electability,” Hugh Hewitt says 2012 like 1952, 1980 (you know, guaranteed Republican landslides).

* Yet again, The Donald said to be exploring third-party presidential bid.

In non-campaign news:

* Digby shows how our 1% is bigger and badder than any other country’s 1%.

* A psychiatrist charts 108 years of data on violent death rates in U.S. (including suicides), and concludes Republican presidents mean 23,000 more deaths per four-year term.

* Economist Diana Carew examines reliance of local governments on those pesky excise taxes.