In this the season of their discontent, Republican leaders are pointing the finger of blame, all the while positioning themselves to take over their battered and bruised party in 2012. So it is with Mike Huckabee. In his new book, the former Arkansas Governor, Baptist minister and Fox News host skewers presidential rival Mitt Romney and castigates leaders of the religious right who cast their lot with someone else. But while Huckabee looks forward to the future battle for the soul of the Republican Party in his latest book, it is worth remembering the culture war he advocated in past ones. And apparently, he will have soon have company in author Sarah Palin.

As Time describes, Huckabee's tome (Do The Right Thing: Inside the Movement That's Bringing Common Sense Back to America) is part political memoir, part policy prescription - and part payback. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, his rival in courting the GOP's religious right base during the primaries, is mocked as "anything but conservative until he changed the light bulbs in his chandelier in time to run for president." Aggravating matters still, Huckabee "took as a sign of total disrespect" Mitt's refusal to call and congratulate him on his victory in the Iowa caucus which ultimately derailed Romney's campaign.

According to Time, much of Huckabee's venom is directed at his ersatz Christian conservative allies who backed other candidates during the Republican primaries. He blasts Pat Robertson and Bob Jones for backing Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, respectively. Huckabee pans Gary Bauer for his "ever-changing reason to deny me his support." Lamenting "that so many people of faith had moved from being prophetic voices," Governor Huckabee unleashed his fury at the End Times Pastor John Hagee who ultimately backed McCain:

"I asked if he had prayed about this and believed this was what the Lord wanted him to do," Huckabee writes of his conversation with Hagee. "I didn't get a straight answer."

Huckabee's evident feelings of betrayal towards his fellow culture warriors on display in this new book are understandable. After all, among the first of his six books was everything they could have asked for.

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  In a disturbing expose Sunday, the McClatchy papers joined the growing list of press, pundits and politicians raising a red flag about John McCain's out-of-control temper. Following on the heels of the devastating revelations from the Washington Post in April, McClatchy documents many of the tantrums, outbursts and eruptions that continue to call McCain's presidential temperament into question. And as Mitt Romney's campaign revealed in January, those McCain tirades are directed at friend and foe alike.

Starting with an f-bomb hurled at GOP colleague John Cornyn, McClatchy details McCain's long history of explosions, a record which led Mississippi Republican Thad Cochran to conclude "the thought of (McCain) being president sends a cold chill down my spine":

There's a lengthy list of similar outbursts through the years: McCain pushing a woman in a wheelchair, trying to get an Arizona Republican aide fired from three different jobs, berating a young GOP activist on the night of his own 1986 Senate election and many more.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to John McCain's white hot temper.

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In the latest chapter of their campaign of contrasts, Barack Obama and John McCain are set to mark two very different milestones this week. On Thursday, Obama will accept his party's nomination on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s' "I Have a Dream" speech. But in an altogether different act of symbolism the next morning, John McCain will announce his running mate on his 72nd birthday. That date also just happens to be three years to the day President Bush presented McCain with a birthday cake in Arizona even as Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore in New Orleans.

In Denver, an estimated crowd of 75,000 people will fill Invesco Field on Thursday to hear Obama accept the Democratic presidential nomination. The symbolism of Obama, the first African-American nominee of a major American political party, harkening back to Dr. King's "fierce urgency of now" won't be lost on the convention delegates, some of whom saw King deliver his speech in Washington, DC on August 28th, 1963. (No doubt, that symbolism is lost on the National Review, which proclaimed "quite probable that King, were he alive today, would not vote for Barack Obama." John McCain's country club economics, dismal record on civil rights and consistent opposition to the creation of the Martin Luther King holiday itself suggest otherwise.)

That debate aside, McCain's image management problems begin in earnest the next day with his scheduled VP announcement in Dayton. McCain's decision to highlight his birth in 1936 can only resurrect the age issue, one which he has tried to laugh off by joking, "I am older than dirt, with more scars than Frankenstein." Whoever McCain picks - Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Rob Portman, Tom Ridge, Joe Lieberman or even Colin Powell - the timing is not without risks, to say the least.

And it only gets worse.

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Mark Halperin does it again:

Two Republicans close to the situation say McCain has apparently settled on Mitt Romney as his running mate. [..]

Developing...

Nice Drudgian touch at the end, Mark.  Of course, Halperin pulled down the page saying that the Veep was going to be Dick Lugar just a little bit before, which appeared to be based on nothing more Lugar endorsing McCain.  Brilliant.  Obviously, still wishing to not blow his "MSM Maker of Conventional Wisdom" title, Halperin updated with this weasel: 

And/but:

NY Times: "People close to the [McCain] campaign also floated a wild-card choice, Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq."

Give me a break.  Either report the news as it happens or start calling yourself Miss Cleo.  This wild guessing is insulting to our intelligence.

  Heather writes:

Tom Daschle manages to get in a dig after George Stephanopoulos mis-speaks and confuses Poland for Czechoslovakia and gets in a shot at McCain for not remembering that the country does not exist any more in response to Romney touting McCain's worldly experience with his response to the Russia/Georgia conflict.

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It really is a shame that Mitt's $35 million investment for President didn't pan out; it's pretty obvious that he would have been the weakest candidate of the bunch. And his "experience = judgment" argument re: McCain is laughable. Just as is true with Rumsfeld and Cheney, so-called "experience" is worthless when 30+ years of it leads you to believe that, say, a war with Iraq will be a cakewalk with no negative repercussions. For all his naivete and "inexperience," Barack Obama predicted rather accurately what an invasion would entail.

With Blitzer:

BLITZER: All right, a serious charge. Can you cite one legislative accomplishment that Senator McCain produced during those 26 years in Washington, in order to achieve energy independence?

ROMNEY: Well, I'm not a historian that goes through all of the pieces of legislation John McCain has worked on.

Mitt's not a historian. Gotcha!  Hey Mitt---did you miss the talking points memo?

Now the high comedy begins:

But let's talk about one piece of legislation that's pretty relevant, and that's the Bush energy plan, which Barack Obama voted in favor of. And John McCain looked at and it said, it's so larded-up with tax breaks and special incentives to oil companies and gas companies, John McCain voted no on that piece of legislation.

Romney throws George Bush under the bus. That is too much. It's a calculated move that McCain will take because he's backed almost everything Bush has done. 

Update:  Democrats.org:

And speaking of not being a historian, don't ask him for his opinion on anything because Mitt Romney ain't a lot of things.

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As developments on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to undermine his campaign, Republican John McCain tried to play the Bin Laden card on Friday. Repeating his claim "I know how to win wars," McCain told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that "I know how" to capture Osama Bin Laden. Apparently, the McCain strategy, as he never tires of telling voters, is to follow Bin Laden to "the gates of hell."

Appearing on the Situation Room, John McCain suggested that his record on Iraq and expertise on the geography of the Iraq-Pakistan border region would allow him to succeed where George W. Bush failed in capturing the Al Qaeda chieftain:

"I'm not going to telegraph a lot of the things that I'm going to do because then it might compromise our ability to do so. But, look, I know the area, I have been there, I know wars, I know how to win wars, and I know how to improve our capabilities so that we will capture Osama bin Laden -- or put it this way, bring him to justice…We will do it, I know how to do it."

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No doubt, McCain hasn't been shy when it comes to explaining how he'll bag Bin Laden.

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Certain policy issues become associated with an ideology or political party by virtue of emphasis. The left talks about healthcare, the right thinks the status quo is acceptable, so healthcare becomes a “liberal” issue. The right wants to change immigration laws, so it’s perceived as a “conservative” issue.

Now, both sides sometimes want to call an issue their own, but face resistance. It’s rare when a leading Republican, for example, simply gives up two of the biggest issues on the international landscape, and labels them, prima facie, “liberal” issues.

But that’s precisely what Mitt Romney did on national television yesterday, announcing that counter-proliferation and fuel efficiency are necessarily “liberal” issues.

Now, I know — from personal experience — that it’s easy to slip up on television and say something stupid. Your mouth gets ahead of your mind, and you end up in a bad place.

But that’s what made this especially amusing. CNN’s John Roberts offers Romney a way out: “Wait a minute. Aren’t Republicans pushing for nonproliferation too?”

I expected Romney to realize his error, and clarify what he meant, maybe with something like, “Of course Republicans care about nonproliferation.” But not this guy; he just went with it.

DDay added: "It is now considered liberal to want to reduce the potential of nuclear destruction. For context, four years ago George Bush and John Kerry agreed that nuclear proliferation was the greatest current threat to global security. Romney either doesn’t know what non-proliferation means, or thinks that anything with the word 'non' involves taking away the sweet sweet cash funnel to military contractors. Henry Frickin’ Kissinger believes in nonproliferation, fercryinoutloud."

Hahahahahahaha....The phony conservative comes out and endorses McCain. That's too much.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney will endorse John McCain's bid for the Republican presidential nomination this afternoon, a move that could well bring a formal end to the fight for the GOP nod.

Romney routinely portrayed McCain as insufficiently conservative and a creature of a broken system in Washington. McCain hit back that Romney had flip-flopped on nearly every issue of import to social conservative voters and that, as a result, he could not be trusted as the party's nominee.

After watching McCain attack him at the last Republican debate, this is rich. Romney is obviously playing the loyal republican soldier and throwing props to McCrazy so he'll look good to the GOP establishment if he wants to run again in the future. I don't think it'll matter too much to all those Limbaugh/Coulter/Dobson conservatives though. Their hatred runs deep and since Romney was their choice only because..well...they had no other option after 9iu11ani was 86th from the race.

I disagree with Cillizza though. I doubt Huckabee would ever have been the VP for McCain. The God Constitutionalist is staying in the race to hang around in the news and run up his 9iu11ani like speaking fees when he exits. And he's definitely the front runner to be the guest of honor at the next Justice Sunday.

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Stephen Colbert shows why so many political satirists were hoping that Mitt Romney would stay in the campaign as long as possible.

I don’t understand it, ladies and gentlemen. I don’t understand why this guy did not catch fire with the American people. He had everything; he had the looks, he had the charm, he had the money, he had the résumé. Just look at some of the things he had accomplished.

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[VIDEO] Romney: I’m going to run on my own record…my record for having helped turn around the Olympics.

He turned around the Olympics! I mean, if that does not prepare you to be the leader for the free world, I do not know what does.

Jon Stewart offers a touching eulogy for the late Mitt Romney.

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I'll admit: up until today I had a modicum of sympathy for Willard "Mitt" Romney. He went from the debonair moderate, pro-choice, pro-gun control, anti-Reagan Republican Governor from the bluest state in the union to a pandering, principle-less xenophobe that would say anything and do anything to become President. A classically tragic figure. But all the good will and pity I had for Mittens quickly evaporated today after his shameful, divisive and fear-mongering speech at CPAC. Are you really not above equating a Democratic victory with "surrender to The Terrorists"? Geez. I thought Rudy was out already.

The real tragedy is not that the man sold his soul to appeal to the lunatic fringe; it's that he dropped $35 million of his own cash in the process.

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With every syllable of his speech at this year's CPAC convention, Republican Mitt Romney proves why he was totally unfit to be the next U.S. president. He was speaking to the far right fringes so it's no surprise he'd be spewing red meat at them, but he really outdid himself with this one.

Romney says that if he stays in the race he will only be making it easier for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to win -- and since they both want to retreat from fighting terrorists, he cannot be a part of helping them win the White House so he's dropping out. Sorry Mitt, America isn't buying it anymore. Your party has made us less safe and the Republican Party is no longer seen as the strong party when it comes to national security or the military. So again, I say so long, Mittens. You never stood a chance, don't let the door hit ya' on the way out...

Romney: ''If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror."

*Update - Let's take a look at some of Mittens' greatest hits! 

Ingraham introduced Mitt Romney at CPAC today and wasted little time smacking McCain upside the head:

Ingraham: Of all the people introducing the three remaining candidates for President---I get to introduce the conservative. Mitt Romney is the conservative’s conservative. (cheers)

Oh, snap!

Update: Even FOX is reporting that Laura slammed McCain. It'll be interesting to see what type of reaction John gets later today from this crowd.

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CNN is now reporting that 3 GOP sources tell them that Republican Mitt Romney will suspend his presidential campaign. Romney underperformed on Super Tuesday and it now appears he has no chance of beating Senator John McCain for the GOP nod. Goodbye, Mittens....

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Sounds like the beginning of a good joke, no?