The other night, the impossible happened: We learned something new about Mitt Romney.

It was near the end of Iowa Night, and Lawrence O’Donnell, discussing Rick Santorum’s Italian-grandfather anecdote, observed that in politics, you don’t say things like that by chance. In Santorum’s case, you say that to draw implicit contrast with somebody else’s grandfather. Or, in this case, great-grandfather.

The story, briefly, goes like this: Mitt’s great-grandfather Miles Romney was an old-school Mormon. A Big Love Mormon. A Mormon who bequeaths you not just a great-grandfather and great-grandmother, but a lot of step-great-grandmothers, whatever you call them.

(And what do you call them? Love Grannies?)

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Parents of third graders at a Norcross, Georgia elementary school are demanding an apology after their children were given word problems in math class that used images of slavery and beating slaves.

Among the questions:

“Each tree had 56 oranges. If eight slaves pick them equally, then how much would each slave pick?”

“If Frederick got two beatings per day, how many beatings did he get in one week?”

“Frederick had six baskets filled with cotton.  If each basket held five pounds, how many pounds did he have altogether?”

The response from the school shows a need for increased training in Media Crisis Relations 101.  The spokesperson for Gwinnett County school district described the questions as “cross-curricular activity” attempting to incorporate social studies into math.  Stinquer RptrCub, we worry about you living in this state.

[ABC News]

Last night:

Title: “The Harbinger: The ancient mystery that holds the secret of America’s future”

Author: Jonathan Cahn

Rank: 14

Blurb: “Is it possible… That there exists an ancient mystery that holds the secret of America’s future? That this mystery lies behind everything from 9/11 to the collapse of the global economy? That ancient harbingers of judgment are now manifesting in America? That God is sending America a prophetic message of what is yet to come?”

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Newt hates Mitt. Ron hates Jon. Rick hates everyone who has joy in their life. Sounds like the premise for a zany Armageddon sitcom, or our GOP Debate Open Thread/Pie Fight. Or both.

Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary that Jared Lochner killed six people, including a 9-year-old girl and federal judge, and injured 13, at a “Meet the Congresswoman” event hosted by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson.

Today, Rep. Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly joined in a hike at the Gabe Zimmerman Memorial Trailhead at Davidson Canyon park outside of Tucson.  Zimmerman was one of her staffers murdered in the attack.

[Photo: Giffords’ Book of Faces page]

Our guest columnist is Joe Klein, who argues that Jon Huntsman is a credible candidate because Joe Klein said so.

But Huntsman’s real sin is deeper than that: his is a vitriol-free candidacy. There is no gratuitous sliming of Barack Obama or his fellow Republican candidates. There is no spurious talk of “socialism.” He pays not the slightest heed to the various licks and chops that Rush Limbaugh has made into stations of the cross for Republican candidates. He is out-of-step with the anger that has overwhelmed his party and puts it at odds with the vast, sensible mainstream of this country. Because he has refused to engage in such carnival tactics — because he hasn’t had any oops! moments, extramarital affairs, lobbying deals with Freddie Mac or flip-flops — the media have largely ignored him. That makes us complicit in a national political calamity. But Republican voters have been complicit, too: a conservative party that doesn’t take Huntsman seriously as a candidate has truly lost its way.

Next week: Joe Klein on why it’s a crying shame that America doesn’t elect position papers.

Two Candidacies, Two Planets [Time, via Sully]