According to his Twitter account, Ross will be meeting with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson today, one-on-one. Jackson has been criticized for her role as the head of the agency now often deemed a “job killer” and has been especially scrutinized for her role in a set of numeric nutrient criteria that are mandated for the state of Florida. The criteria would place more stringent limitations on nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, which are often found in industry effluent and are largely responsible for the growth of harmful algal blooms and fish kills.

The numeric nutrient criteria were actually mandated under the Bush administration and came about as a result of Florida’s failure to meet requirements of the Clean Water Act. Critics of the criteria often mistakenly argue that they are a result of the Obama administration, and that they are based on “bad science.”

During a January subcommittee meeting, Ross said that the regulatory risk that exists is “almost not manageable” and would cost millions to the phosphate, property and agriculture industries. Ross failed to mention the cost that water pollution poses to the fishing, tourism or waterfront real estate.

In a June press release, Ross said that the EPA needed to “take the plunge and end numeric nutrient nonsense” and that Floridians can take care of their own water. “Water is Florida’s lifeblood and no one knows how to take care of that lifeblood better than Floridians,” said Ross. “We welcome anyone from EPA to Florida – as a tourist.”

“I hear your mom is asking about evolution and, you know, it’s a theory that’s out there, and its got some gaps in it,” Perry said. “In Texas we teach both creationism and evolution in our public schools.”

A woman, presumably the mother, is then overheard telling the boy to “ask him why he doesn’t believe in science.”

Perry continues, “Because I figure you’re smart enough to figure out which one is right.”

Watch the exchange in this video clip:

Shortly after clips of the Portsmouth, N.H. meeting began making the Internet rounds, Huntsman became in involved by tweeting, “To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.”

Roughly 3,000 people re-tweeted Huntsman’s statement and, roughly an hour after his original tweet, he added, “Lots of new followers … If you want to learn more about or support our campaign of serious solutions go to jon2012.us/pmWG6D”

One hour later Huntman took to the twitter once again to proclaim his like of an American musician fans knew as Captain Beefheart, who died in December 2010.

“I wonder if a tweet where I admit how much I like Captain Beefheart will make the followers skyrocket even more!” tweeted Huntsman, linking to a YouTube video of the Captain and his Magic Band playing their song “Electricity” on a beach. It likely did, since hundreds more of his followers re-tweeted the missive.

Here’s Limbaugh’s review of Bachmann:

I don’t mind telling you that I’m a great admirer of Michele Bachmann’s. Far from being the fringe outlier depicted by the mainstream media — and all too often by some on the right — she is a strong spokeswoman for unapologetic conservatism. She is neither extreme nor unreasonable, which is why her philosophy has resonated with grass-roots conservatives. She is unafraid to speak out against the crushing debt crisis we face. She is energized, rather than deterred, by the caustic criticism she constantly endures.

Michele, 55, had ambition from the get-go. A stay-at-home mom of five children and 23 foster kids, she ultimately became a tax attorney, small-business owner with her husband and political firebrand who runs rings around her opponents. If she were liberal, she’d be celebrated from the mountaintops. But she’s conservative. So because she is smart, talented and accomplished and a natural leader — not to mention attractive — the left brands her as a flame-throwing lightweight. They underestimate her at their own risk.

Bachmann may have pushed for inclusion, but in a statement she said she’s “humbled to learn of my selection and grateful to be named among such a variety of notable people affecting our world.”

“My inclusion on this list is a reflection of the growing voice of everyday Americans who desire to preserve and further the liberty on which our great country was founded,” she added.

In a Facebook message on Thursday morning she was more pointed.

“While Democrats may call us extreme, we know our Tea Party values reflect the best of America — being included on TIME’s list is a welcome affirmation,” Bachmann wrote. “Click ‘like’ if you agree with Rush Limbaugh that the Left underestimates us at their own risk.

Bachmann campaigned hard on Facebook and Twitter to get included on the list. TIME ran a contest among readers who could vote from a list just shy of 200 figures. Over the last few weeks, she send out reminders urging her supporters to vote her up the list.

“Today is the last day to take a stand in the 2011 Time 100 Most Influential Poll,” she wrote earlier this week. “Show liberals & the mainstream media that constitutional conservatives are influential. “Like” this if you’ll consider supporting me.”

And on Twitter her campaign team wrote, “Michele is an American leader. Tell Time’s editors she belongs on their 100 list http://ti.me/gWwngy #TIME100?

Bachmann finished 45th on the list with 12,889 votes.

“Social Justice Begins in the Womb!”

That’s one of several Twitter/Facebook status updates available for use from a brand-new anti-abortion rights website called Abolish Abortion, whose aim is to mobilize young citizens to demonstrate their support for House Republicans’ measure to block federal funds from Planned Parenthood.

The site is run by Students for Life of America and sponsored by the same coalition of student-led anti-abortion rights groups responsible for the website Expose Planned Parenthood. Among the groups involved include: Live Action, Human Life Alliance, Susan B. Anthony List, 40 Days for Life, Americans United for Life, Stand True, Abort 73, National Right to Life, Pro-Life Action League, National Right to Life, the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform and EMC Frontline Pregnancy Centers.

On the Abolish Abortion site, many of these organizations advertise job openings, but most of these are internships that are either unpaid or offer a minimal stipend.

Users are encouraged to spend the next 10 days — leading up to when the Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government expires and Congress will be forced to agree on a spending bill or shut the government down until a compromise is reached — constantly updating their Twitter and Facebook feeds with anti-Planned Parenthood messages using their own creativity or samples provided by the organization.

Examples of social media status updates gathered on the Abolish Abortion site*:

“Today is International Women’s Day. What are you doing to expose the truth about genercide [sic] and targeting of women for abortion worldwide?”

“Planned Parenthood commits 300,000+ abortions every year. That’s 40% of their clinic income. 300,000 innocent lives taken.”

Users are also encouraged to donate their Facebook pages — allowing the group to update for them.

Last week, Students for Life of America announced a YouTube video contest, calling on high school- and college-age students to create YouTube videos that describe why Planned Parenthood should be defunded. The contest was supposed to end on Monday at midnight but was extended through Thursday at midnight. The advertised grand prize is $1,000. The contest description on studentsforlife.org does not specify any restrictions on what is depicted in the video entries.

View entering videos on YouTube by searching for the tag “2011 Expose Planned Parenthood Video Contest”.

And for the more luddite young anti-abortion rights activists, Students for Life Executive Director Kristan Hawkins, who announced the media campaign at a teleconference Monday, suggested calling or e-mailing lawmakers, while 40 Days for Life director David Bereit told supporters they should consider fasting for the 40-day duration of Lent, which begins Wednesday.

*Correction: We previously referred to these status messages as samples offered by Students for Life of America and ExposePlannedParenthood.com. Instead they are examples of people’s individual posts.

Kim Lehman, one of three Iowans on the Republican National Committee, said first on her Twitter account and then in several media interviews that she believed President Barack Obama has admitted he is a Muslim. The statement garnered national attention, as Lehman was the first member of the RNC to publicly support the conspiracy theory.

As to whether they supported Lehman’s views, top Iowa Republicans were split down the middle:

Ted Sporer, a former chair of the Republican Party of Polk County and veteran political strategist, wrote on his blog Tuesday that Lehman “continues to fill the biggest of gaps in the Republican Party leadership.” Part of leadership is addressing problems, Sporer said, and “Barack Obama’s cultural and religious heritage is among the biggest of problems endangering the American people.”

Not everyone was so supportive of Lehman.

“After the most recent distraction, many Iowa Republicans think Kim Lehman is a Democratic Manchurian candidate intent on damaging the Republican Party from the inside,” said Jeff Patch, a long time Iowa GOP strategist who now works in Washington, D.C. “The role of a Republican National Committeewoman is to help grow the party at the grassroots, not to Tweet nonsense about Barack Obama’s Muslim roots.”

Lehman’s doubts about Obama’s faith reflect a growing trend not just among the fringe, but among RNC officials. Politico’s Ben Smith noted yesterday that the RNC’s new-media director, Todd Herman, insinuated the same in a tweet that said, “Is @BarackObama amongst the 20% who think he’s Muslim?”

The tweet was quickly downed, however, and RNC spokesman Doug Heye argued, “An errant, or sarcastically-intended tweet aside, the RNC has never spoken about the President’s Christianity because it is both crystal clear and a non-issue.” It’s clearly still not kosher among GOP pols to call the president a secret Muslim, but it’s becoming frightening common.

1. Actually engage people. “This blog is for you, and we hope you will take a moment to join the conversation,” Petraeus writes. And that’s just the right spirit! Now it’s time to make it meaningful. Delve down into the comment threads to address the concerns, criticisms and questions that people will pose to you as a public figure. Remember, they’re going to take you up on your “join the conversation” challenge, and so they’ll expect a reasonable degree of interactivity. You’ll be able to tell really quickly who’s being genuine and who’s trolling — that is, being deliberately and unconstructively provocative.

2. Actually write what goes under your name. A corollary of the first point. It’s always disheartening to learn that people pawn their blogging chores off on faceless assistants — I won’t name names — when the stated virtue of the medium is interactivity. View your time engaging with your readers as an investment for their support in your endeavors. Your colleague Adm. James Stavridis once made a point of remarking how he personally responds to messages left on his Facebook wall. If you don’t have the time, just post less. Being genuine is more important than being prolific.

3. Actually engage the debate. If people want to read CENTCOM press releases, they can sign up to have them emailed or subscribe to the RSS feed. (I do!) So if the blog is going to be worth everyone’s time, don’t just make it a repository for your talking points. You have a platform for making your case on the issues you face, and that means you can be parochial, but no one’s going to respond to your posts if they exist in a vacuum. Did you read something interesting in the paper or on Small Wars Journal or Abu Muqawama or Wings Over Iraq? Sure you did. Why not tie what you’ve got to say to that ongoing conversation? Remember: Just noting something exists by writing “This is interesting” isn’t the same thing as engaging the debate. (Twitter is good for the first task, blogging is good for the second.)

I recognize that this is really hard for someone whose every utterance is scrutinized by people trying to discern A Hidden Meaning for U.S. strategy. But as a wise man once said, hard is not hopeless.

*I know, I know, no other regional command’s website is being this interactive. But in the blogosphere, snark is just how we say hello.

Here’s a press release about the poll — not usually the sort of things politicians brag about.

After he was told that image didn’t work, Herman tried again.

The obvious difference between the Couric photos and the ones that “belittle” Palin — I’m thinking of the recent Newsweek cover — is that Palin posed for her photos, whereas these are tabloid party snaps of Couric.