Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA)

Fitzpatrick was listing the reasons why voters should not support the President, and for reason number three, he told the audience that President Obama would have no qualms auctioning off state secrets to foreign countries.

The Huffington Post flagged Fitzpatrick’s comments, which were distributed by the progressive advocacy group Credo SuperPAC:

“When he left the microphone on in Russia, we all heard what he said … left unrestrained, without the inhibitions of the next election — he’d have flexibility, he said, flexibility to do what he wants to do. Whether it’s trade away … the secrets of our national intelligence, to, what he could do to the United States Supreme Court in the next four years.”

Watch it (the remarks begin at around the 4 minute mark):

Selling state secrets is treason — a capital offense, punishable by death. Accusing the president of conspiring to commit treason is a stretch, even by Tea Party standards. Fitzpatrick was extrapolating wildly from an off-the-cuff remark made by President Obama to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that was captured by a TV network’s microphone.

Ironically, it’s Fitzgerald who has run into some constitutional hot water. He and Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) failed to be sworn into office last January before casting votes on the house floor, a move that Republicans had to scramble to fix by passing a resolution.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) is preparing to run a flight of positive political ads in the commonwealth through his PAC. While this is no big deal for any politician ahead of an election, McDonnell is not facing an election and couldn’t run again for governor even if he wanted to because of term limits.

McDonnell is, however, a potential pick for the Republican vice presidential nominee, leading some to speculate that the ad campaign is an attempt to make him more appealing to likely presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

As the Washington Post noted, McDonnell, who has been popular most of his term, has been facing trouble lately, making the ads seem like a clear ploy to boost his favorability. His approval rating is down at least five points from February, thanks to the legislature’s inability to pass a budget and the state’s infamous bill requiring women who want an abortion to be vaginally probed first.

Obviously, most people don’t “run for” the vice presidency, so this would be a highly unusual move by McDonnell. But it looks like he’ll need all the help he can get, if he does hope to be VP, as a CNN poll out today found that just 1 percent of Republicans want him to be second name on the ticket.

A few weeks ago, the House GOP was up in arms over House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) $25,000 donation to anti-incumbent candidate Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), who ultimately defeated his opponent, incumbent Rep. Don Manzullo (R-IL). But the story got a little more fraught when it turned out that Manzullo once said Cantor would not be “saved” because he is Jewish.

Today, Cantor, the only Jewish House Republican, nearly affirmed that this was the reason he fought against Manzullo’s re-election, insinuating that anti-Semitism — and racism — are lingering problems among the House GOP generally. He speaking at a breakfast event organized by Politico.

Calling it the “darker side,” Cantor responded to Politico’s Mike Allen’s question of whether there is anti-semitism in Congress by trying to avoid commenting. But eventually he let up: “I think that all of us know that in this country, we’ve not always gotten it right in terms of racial matters, religious matters, whatever. We continue to strive to provide equal treatment to everybody.”

“We’re talking about the House Republican Caucus, not America,” Allen pushed.

Cantor then sat in silence, grimmacing for several seconds before Allen changed the topic.

Watch it:

Romney with the offending cookies

Unfortunately, for Romney, they came from Bethel Bakery — “a longtime South Hills staple,” according to a local ABC affiliate. Some loyal patrons were outraged by Romney’s put down of their local baked goods. “Maybe he’s just used to eating cookies with diamonds in them,” one customer said on Facebook, according to bakery owner John Walsh. Another suggested, “I think the Bethel Bakery should make a new cookie, called ‘The Romney’, and have the top be encrusted with something that resembles diamonds.”

Watch Romney’s remarks:

Walsh, a Republican whose parents opened the bakery in 1955, said, “Initially, we were incensed that he would think that Bethel Bakery is comparable to the 7-Eleven.” But then he saw an opportunity. Now, the bakery is offering a “CookieGate” special — “buy a dozen of our cookies, get a half dozen free all day today!” Not surprisingly, many people have turned out for free (if diamondless) cookies.

Tar Baby character from Disney's "Song of the South"

BACHMANN: This is just about waiving a tar baby in the air and saying that something else is a problem. I have never seen a more irresponsible President who is infantile in the way that he continually blames everyone else for his failure to first diagnose the problem and second to address the problem.

Watch it:

The term “tar baby” was popularized by the 19th-century Uncle Remus Br’er Fox stories, as a synonym for a sticky situation, but it’s always had a racial undertone. The Oxford English Dictionary says that tar baby is a derogatory term used for “a black or a Maori.” Famed poet Toni Morrison once said of the term, “Tar Baby is also a name, like ‘nigger,’ that white people call black children, black girls, as I recall.”

When Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) compared working with Obama to “touching a tar baby” last year, he was slammed by African-American leaders and quickly apologized to the president in a personal letter.

Presumed GOP nominee Mitt Romney had his own “tar baby” situation when he used the term in 2006 to describe Boston’s floundering “Big Dig” construction project. The then-head of the NAACP said Romney “made a bad choice” of words, and a Romney spokesperson promptly issued an apology.

John Raese, Sarah Palin, and Ted Nugent

Speaking at the Putnam County Lincoln Day dinner recently, Raese compared his county’s smoking regulations to when “Hitler used to put [a] Star of David” on Jews:

RAESE: I don’t want government telling me what I can do and what I can’t do because I’m an American. But in Monongalia County you can’t smoke a cigarette, you can’t smoke a cigar, you can’t do anything. And I oppose that. … I have to put a huge sticker on my buildings to say this is a smoke free environment. This is brought to you by the government of Monongalia County. OK?

Remember Hitler used to put Star of David on everybody’s lapel, remember that? Same thing.

Watch it:

In his last bid, Raese said the minimum wage was unconstitutional, said he wanted to take capitalism back to the days before child labor laws, blamed volcanoes for global warming, made fun of Chinese last names, and proudly proclaimed, “I made my money the old-fashioned way — I inherited it.” Perhaps most famously, one of Raese’s biggest ideas from 2010 was demanding “1,000 laser systems put in the sky” for missile defense. “And need it right now,” he added to demonstrate his seriousness. (HT: Politico’s Charlie Mahtesian)