GOP Plans Ron Paul Tribute, Romney Goes Birther, and More

Getting the Nod Early:

Bucking tradition, the roll call to formally nominate Mitt Romney will take place Monday at the Republican National Convention. Normally, the vote would happen Wednesday. Of course, that’s also assuming Isaac, which is still a tropical storm but could become a hurricane, isn’t in town on the convention’s first day. (Read more)

Paying Homage: The Republican National Convention will feature a tribute to Texas Rep. Ron Paul (perhaps as an olive branch to the Paul faction?). According to a Romney adviser, the Paul camp approached Romney’s team and asked for the video tribute, to which the Romney campaign “absolutely” agreed. The event is scheduled for Tuesday night. (Read more)

Laugh It Off: Is Mitt Romney going “full birther”? That’s the question after he attempted to make a joke about his own birth certificate, a clear dig at President Obama, who has been hounded by the conspiracy theory (which has been debunked numerous times by now) that he was not born in the United States. “No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate,” Romney said at a campaign stop in his home state of Michigan. “They know that this is the place where we were born and raised.” Donald Trump, a Romney supporter and arguable King of the Birthers, must be proud. (Read more)

Sex Scandal: Minnesota state Rep. Kerry Gauthier, a Democrat, has dropped his re-election bid after admitting to police that he had oral sex with a 17-year old boy. But Gauthier, whom some have called a child molester, could be out of the state Legislature sooner, as Minnesota lawmakers are looking to expel him immediately so he cannot finish out his first term. (Read more)

Listen Up, Akin: “Real Time” host Bill Maher has a new rule for Republican Todd Akin, the Missouri Senate candidate who has faced a firestorm of criticism from Democrats and his own party over his comment that women rarely get pregnant from “legitimate rape.” Maher, never one to shy away from addressing a controversial situation, added his voice to the chorus of critics: “New Rule: If your entire party tries to get rid of you, and you stay in, you can’t talk about how easy it is for a woman to push a stupid prick out of her body.” That’s a good rule that Akin would do well to heed. (Read more)

Video of the Day: Much to the chagrin of some conservatives (surely), Bill Nye (the Science Guy) has a new video out advocating against the teaching of creationism to children in American schools. He said: “And I say to the grown-ups, if you want to deny evolution and live in your world, in your world that’s completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that’s fine, but don’t make your kids do it because we need them.” And as one commenter put it, “what Bill Nye says, goes.”