Monday night’s debate was, by most accounts, a bust. This was predictable within the first minute, when Brian Williams announced that, because he is a Network Anchor and not some cable lackey, the entire audience had been outfitted with Hannibal Lecter headgear.

The silence was deafening. And telling.

Without a ravenous crowd to rally him on, Newt Gingrich was boring. He’s a candidate who, more than most, needs a studio audience to score points. Turn off the hootin’ and hollerin’, and Newt’s just a pompous ass, not a rouser of rabble.

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Welcome to Florida, everybody! Speaker Gingrich, Governor Romney, Senator Santorum, Dr. Evol, please take your places. You’ll see we’ve laid out a swell spread of comestibles for tonight’s GOP Debate Open Thread/Pie Fight. Please, don’t be stingy. There’s much more where that came from.

Ron Paul Action Figures!

Super Paul: PAC Selling Ron Paul Action Figures [TPM]

[RedState, via @anamariecox]

“Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was blocked from boarding a flight Monday by the Transportation Security Administration in Nashville, Tenn., after refusing a full body pat-down, POLITICO has confirmed… Paul, a Republican, was traveling to Washington, when he was detained. He noted earlier on his Twitter that he was planning to speak at the March for Life.” [Politico]

The biggest box-office flop of 2011 — and perhaps all time — is Disney’s Mars Needs Moms. It cost $150 million to produce, perhaps half that to advertise (we can’t find a precise number, but half the production budget is typical) — and took in less than $7 million opening weekend.

It wasn’t for lack of trying.

The movie was produced by Robert Zemeckis, who has a pretty decent track record with these things. It was based on a Berkeley Breathed book. It came with the usual collection of EXCITED BLURBS!!! And hell, it was a Disney kids movie. Money in the bank, right?

Well, right up to the moment until people saw it. Your money is worthless against Bad Buzz.

That includes — you know where this is going — your Super PAC money.

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Went looking for a Bobby Short video, but came up with this: