Our guest columnist is Tim Thomas, who plays a professional sport beloved by Canadians, and who refused to visit the White House with his team yesterday to celebrate winning a trophy named for Lord Stanley of Preston, the 1892 Governor General of Canada.

I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People.

This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government.

Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.

This is the only public statement I will be making on this topic.

Tim Thomas [Facebook]

On a day for team, Thomas left them shorthanded [Boston Globe]

“Newt Gingrich says he won’t ‘allow’ the moderators of future GOP presidential debates to keep the crowd out of it.” [The Hill] You’re welcome!

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]