Mitt Rescues Detroit! (Of COURSE he does!)

If Mitt Romney is a liar (and he is!), so is his campaign. Today Eric Rehrnstrom (Yes, he of Mitt-is-an-Etch-A-Sketch Fame) claimed Mitt, and not President Barack Obama, is the true savior of Detroit.

“His position on the bailout was exactly what President Obama followed... The only economic success that President Obama has had is because he followed Mitt Romney's advice."

Erm...

The problem with Rehrnstrom's claim is that Romney has repeatedly criticized Obama for his bailout of the auto industry.

Back in 2008, Romney had this to say about the matter-- in the New York Times:

If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.

Romney called for firing the auto companies' top executives, cutting salaries of blue collar workers, reducing the benefits of retirees, and, arguably, cutting the features and quality of American cars.

Romney called for increased government funding of  basic energy research from $4 billion per year to $20 billion (unsurprisingly, government funding of research is something he is now against)

At the close, Romney called for a managed bankruptcy of the auto companies-- and this is just what Fehrnstrom latched onto.

Managed bankruptcy. You know... the White Hats at Bain Capitol step in, fire everyone, offshore jobs, sell off the machinery and the plants, then walk away with their pockets lined.

With his bailout of Detroit, Obama did just what Romney had said, but it was a kinder, gentler bailout than any Romney might have devised. Yes, there was renegotiation of wages, but in exchange workers got a share of the company. This of course enraged the right wing, who screamed "socialist takeover." But, you know, it all worked out for the better, didn't it? 

Today, American auto makers are flourishing. But if Mitt Romney had been elected President in 2008 there would no longer be an American automotive industry.

Sources

Gentilviso, Chris. (2012, 28 April). Eric Fehrnstrom: Auto bailout was Mitt Romney's idea. Huffington Post.

Romney, Mitt. (2008, 11 November). Let Detroit go bankrupt. New York Times.

Sarlin, Benjy. (2012, 15 February). Romney's closer to Obama than either lets on. TPM.

Stein, Sam. (2012, 21 March). Mitt Romney platform "Like an Etch A Sketch," top spokesman says. Huffington Post.

Image from Choe, Jaywon; Teicher, Jordan; and Naik, Richa. (2012, 10 March). Shameless: The worst panderers of the 2012 Presidential race. Business Insider.

What War on Women?

“Now, we‘re going to have a fight about women’s health. Give me a break. This the latest plank in the so-called ‘war on women,’ entirely created by my colleagues across the aisle for political gain.

-- House Speaker John Boener (R), cited in Santorelli, 2012 

My friends, this supposed 'War on Women' or the use of similarly outlandish rhetoric by partisan operatives has two purposes, and both are purely political in their purpose and effect: The first is to distract citizens from real issues that really matter and the second is to give talking heads something to sputter about when they appear on cable television

-- Senator John McCain (R, Arizona), cited in Bassett, 2012

THIS war on women, you jerkwads!

Chart by Guttmacher Institute

Sources

Bassett, Laura. (2012, 26 April). John McCain. "War on Women" is "Imaginary," "Conjured by Democrats. Huffington Post.


Santarelli, Christopher. (2012, 27 April). Boehner addresses "war on women" in fiery floor speech. "Give me a break." "This is beneath us." The Blaze.


States enact record number of of abortion restrictions in 2011. (2012, 5 January). Guttmacher Institute Media Center.

Note to Parents of Teens Who Killed Themselves Because of Bullying: It's Your Fault

Tennessee State Representative Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby), notable to date only for opposing new restrictions on the hunting of wild hogs, said this in the legislature:

We can’t continue to legislate everything. We’ve had some horrible things happen in America and in our state, and there’s children that have actually committed suicide, but I will submit to you today that they did not commit suicide because of somebody bullying them. They committed suicide because they were not instilled the proper principles of where their self-esteem came from at home.

In other words, parents, if your kids commit suicide because of bullying, it's your own damn fault. You should have gone hog-hunting with them and taught them to be strong and proud.

This is crazy talk, even from a hillbilly. 

Jeremy Faison, you should be ashamed. Ashamed, ashamed, ashamed!

Have You No Decency, Sir, At Last?

What does sit mean when one of the top 50 state executives in the United States says something like this:

[Democrats'] one mission in life is to abort children, is to kill children in the womb.

Here's the statement in context:

Even if you believe in abortion, the hypocrisy of the left that now tried to kill this bill, that says that I should have never signed it, the true hypocrisy is that their one mission in life is to abort children, is to kill children in the womb," he said. "It doesn't really matter, they don't care if the mother's life is in jeopardy, that if something goes wrong that a doctor can't admit them to a local hospital, that he's not even board certified.

I'll tell you what it means. It mean the speaker and the many others who are ilike him live in a post-rational, post-logical, post-sane state of mind. They say any nasty, crazy, untrue thing that comes to mind. And most of them, and definitely the ones driving the unfortunate phenomenon, carry an (R) after their name.

The words above are those of Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, responding to criticism of House Bill 1390, which requires all abortion doctors in the state to be board certified at the hospital in which the procedure is performed and be board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology.


At first glance the bill seems to make sense, but consider--Mississippi has only one clinic that performs abortions and all its physicians are board certified in OB/GYN. Only one, however, has privileges at the clinic. The others are unable to get privileges because they live out of state. And so the true purpose of the bill is revealed-- use any means necessary end abortion in Mississippi.

No wonder Bryant signed the bill! It will in fact end all abortion in Mississippi, since the clinic can't afford to continue to operate with only one physician doing procedures.

And so HB 1390 is a sneaky-ass piece of legislation, and no wonder Democrats oppose it-- but Bryant's inflammatory statement is prima facie evidence of a man with no decency.

And he's the governor of one of our states, for god's sake. Yes, we're talking about Mississippi, to be sure, but it's still technically a state.

Phil Bryant, you are a hypocritical, impolite ass.

Source

Bassett, Laura. (2012, 25 April). Phil Bryant, Mississippi Governor: "Democrats' 'one mission in life is to abort children.'" Huffington Post.

How Reprehensible Is It to Attack Barack Obama For What He Ate As a 10-Year-Old?

With Lolo [Soetoro], I learned how to eat small green chili peppers raw with dinner (plenty of rice), and, away from the dinner table, I was introduced to dog meat (tough), snake meat (tougher), and roasted grasshopper (crunchy).


-- Barrack Obama, Dreams From My Father, 1995

Say what you want about Romney, but at least he only put a dog on the roof of his car, not the roof of his mouth. And whenever you bring up the one, we’re going to bring up the other. 

-- Jim Treacher, DC Trawler Blog, 17 April, 2012

On Thursday, Sarah Palin reacted to the revelation that a Secret Service agent, who was caught up in the Colombia prostitution scandal, had been in her security detail during the 2008 presidential campaign. He also posted photographs of them together on his Facebook page, and commented that he was "checking her out." 

"Well check this out, bodyguard, you're fired," Palin said during an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren. "I hope his wife ... sends him to the doghouse -- as long as he's not eating the dog, along with his former boss." 

Palin's joke was in reference to the recent push by Mitt Romney's presidential campaign to attack President Barack Obama for eating dog meat as a child. 

-- TheGrio, 20 April, 2012

"Ramona, send one of my minions in here! Helmsley, if he's available."

"Yes, Karl?"

"No first names, dammit, Helmsley! You know that! It helps us maintain deniability."

"Sorry, Mr. Rove. What do you want?"

"No, no, use my code name! The one George W. gave me."

"Yes sir, Mr. Turd Blossom."

"No, no! the other one! The other one!

"What do you need me to do, Mr. Boy Genius?"

"This thing with Mitt strapping his dog to the family car is killing us. We have to come up with a way to distract the public from his astonishingly stupid behavior. I want you to go out and find something we can use against Obama. Anything to do with dogs."

We Hate Women, and We Know You Know It, But Let's Blame it on the Democrats Anyway

The Republicans keep trying to slight-of-hand the war on women label to the Democrats, but it won't work. Not as long as they keep comparing women to insects, or cows, pigs, and chickens, and saying and doing random sexist things.

Jon Huntsman... had the potential to be the “smart” candidate on the Republican side until he called Herman Cain’s latest scandals “bimbo eruptions.” Gee, perhaps Mr. Huntsman would feel differently if his own daughters were called bimbos? Or maybe this is just Huntsman showing his true colors, because this is not his first sexist comment. In the past he’s claimed that the media only covers Michelle Bachmann because she’s pretty. 

-- What's a Republican Girl to Do?

That thing is a nuisance. It shouldn’t be the law,” 

-- Pete Hoekstra on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. 

In 2008, Haley Barbour pardoned eight men, all of whom had been convicted of murdering either their wives, ex wives or ex girlfriends. These men included Michael Davie Graham, who stalked his ex wife for 3 years before shooting her to death with a 12-guage shotgun while she waited at a traffic light, Clarence Jones, whose ex girlfriend had filed multiple assault and trespassing charges against him. Jones waited for her in her apartment and stabbed her 22 times, and Jimmy Lee Avera, who shot and killed his estranged girlfriend while she was pregnant and in front of her two children.

-- Nanasi, 2012

WASHINGTON -- A Republican state legislator in Georgia doesn't like the term rape "victim." In fact, he has introduced a bill mandating that state criminal codes refer to these people as, simply, "accusers" -- until there's a conviction in the matter. 

The legislation introduced by state Rep. Bobby Franklin (R-Marietta) would cover a number of crimes including rape, stalking and domestic violence. 

-- Terkel, 2012

“You could argue that money is more important for men.”

--  Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, on signing repeal of state law requiring equal pay for equal work for men and women.

Unfortunately, this is but a small sample.

Sources

Clawson, Laura. (13 April, 2012). Pete Hoekstra calls Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act "a nuisance." Daily Kos.

Long, Bryan. Rep. Terry England compares women to cows, pigs, and chickens.

Mott, Ronni. (2008, 4 August). Barbour gives relief to 4 "domestic killers," of 5 total. Jackson Free Press.

Nanasi, Erin. (18 April, 2012). Why Haley Barbour pardoned men who murdered women. MadMike'sAmerica.

Republican War on Women headlines for 3/16/2012. All Things Democrat.

Terkel, Amanda. (4 February, 2011). Georgia State Lawmaker seeks to redefine rape victims as "accusers." Huffington Post.

"Why's Everybody Always Pickin' On Me?"

"There will be an effort by the quote vast left wing conspiracy to work together to put out their message and to attack me," Romney said. "They're going to do everything they can to divert from the message people care about, which is a growing economy that creates more jobs and rising incomes."

That's what Mitt recently said to Larry O'Connor yesterday on Breitbart Television.

Mitt was making light of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who used the term in 1998 in an interview with Matt Lauer. She was referring to her husband's affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Here's what Hillary said:

"The great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president."

And you know what? There WAS a vast right-wing conspiracy against Bill Clinton.

Before I even knew who he was I watched FAX after FAX come into my friend's print shop; each was a vicious cartoon about the Clintons. I figured from the FAXES that whoever Bill Clinton was, he had powerful enemies who would do anything to destroy him. And what do you know, I was right.

Some on the right were convinced the Clintons had been up to no good with their involvement in a the Whitewater Development Corporation. Perhaps they were, but despite the best efforts of the right to hang them they were certainly never charged with a crime.

With the anything-but-impartial Kenneth Starr in charge of the Whitewater investigation, suddenly it became all about the President's love life, and in particular his consensual affair with aide Monica Lewinsky.

To his shame, Clinton lied about the affair, and that's what got him impeached. But you know what? It was nobody's damn business who Clinton had sex with, except of course Hillary's.

I remember thinking, "What good is to be leader of the Free World if you can't even get laid?"

So yes, there was a vast right-wing conspiracy. It started before Clinton took office and wound up in his bedroom-- or more accurately, the Oval Office. And yes, that desk was government property, but it was the only place on earth where Clinton could get some privacy.

Mitt, however, is the victim of no conspiracy. He's the victim of his own bad behavior-- his repetitive lying and ongoing demonstrations of lack of character. Many people, including more than a few Republicans, know what a tool he is, and they're not keeping their opinions secret.

So Mitt, you fool, people are just talking about your idiocy. There's no conspiracy. Chill.

Source:

Mirkinson, Jack. (18 April, 2012). Mitt Romney: "Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy" Against Me in the Media. Huffington Post. 

Pants on Fire!

Would You Buy a Used Country From This Man?

Mitt Romney's inability to tell the truth isn't a recent development. Imagine:

"Don't be alarmed because Bain has acquired your company. Your jobs are safe."

Yeah. Right.

His official strategy as a Presidential candidate is to tell as many lies as possible about Obama-- and to reveal nothing that isn't a lie-- not his finances, and especially not what he will and won't do if elected.

I'd like to say he keeps embarrassing himself, but clearly he's a man beyond embarrassment. He has no shame. He has no regrets about the lives he wrecked when he was running Bain Capitol. He isn't even sorry about strapping his dog to the top of his car.

Romney lives in a pretend world in which he didn't sign a health care bill much like Obama's when he was Governor of Massachusetts; didn't promise to require single mothers on assistance to take a job; didn't...

Well, just watch the ad below and read the sources.

Sources

Clash, Tom. (17 April, 2012). Mitt Romney's BIG LIE: Obama made the recession worse and last longer. Democratic Underground.

Cohen, Richard. (12 April, 2012). Mitt Romney, a man of falsehoods. The Washington Post. (and see the links to Cohen's other columns at the bottom of the page).


Dolan, Eric W. (21 March, 2012). Rachel Maddow chronicles the lies of "sketchy" Mitt Romney. The Raw Story.


Easley, Jason. (13 April, 2012). Mitt Romney lies his ass off to the NRA about Obama and guns. Politics USA.


Grantham, Jennifer M. (10 April, 2012). Mitt Romney is a hollow man. The Huffington Post.

Lewison, Jed. (12 April, 2012). The anatomy of a Mitt Romney lie. Daily Kos.

Waldman, Paul. (6 March, 2012). When to reporters start calling Mitt Romney a liar? The American Prospect.

Tailgunner Allen

It's not everyone who would take "Tailgunner Joe" McCarthy as a role model and idol.

But clearly Allen West (R, FL) does.

On 11 April, at a town hall meeting in Jensen Beach, FL, West claimed between 78 and 81 members of the House of Representatives are Communisrs. All Democrats, of course.

Responding to a question about Marxists, West replied, “I believe there is about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party that are members of the Communist Party.”

Calling someone a communist hearkens back to a simpler time, when men were Company Men, women wore aprons, white picket fences were still in vogue, ceilings were made of glass and you could hide under your desk in the event of nuclear attack. Joe McCarthy held sway, terrifying everyone with his paranoid ramblings and compulsive list-making.

 -- Petri, 2012

The Allen campaign managed to simultaneously deny and verify whether Allen meant what he said:

“One stupid reporter with a local publication misquoted the entire thing, and they all jumped on one press account without verifying,” said [West Campaign Manager Tim] Edson. ”It’s all typical west wing marching orders for their friends in the press.”

“Some people are going to quibble about semantics,” he added. “The real point is these people speak for themselves and if you listen to the words of the progressive caucus it’s clear that these people are opponents of capitalism — they oppose free markets, they oppose individual economic freedom — so you can call them whatever you want — whether they’re socialists or marxists or communists.”

-- Nelson, 2012

Here's the video. Sure sounds like he meant it to me.

Sources

Nelson, Steven. (2012, 11 April). Stupid reporter took "Communist" allegation out of context, says Allen campaign. The Daily Caller.

Petri, Alexandria. (2012, 11 April). Allen West hunts communists. The Washington Post.

Reince Priebus' War on Caterpillars

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus yesterday:

HUNT: Let me ask you this. The Democrats of course say you are waging, the GOP is waging a war on women. I know you don’t agree with that, but looking at the polls, you have a gender gap problem. Recent polls show a huge, huge margin for Democrats among women voters. How big a problem is it? How do you close it?

PRIEBUS: Well, for one thing, if the Democrats said we had a war on caterpillars, and mainstream media outlets talked about the fact that Republicans have a war on caterpillars, then we have problems with caterpillars. The fact of the matter is it’s a fiction and this started a war against the Vatican that this president pursued. He still hasn’t answered Archbishop Dolan’s issues with Obama world and Obamacare, so I think that’s the first issue.

 The exchange was, of course, about the dozens of state initiatives launched by Republicans to curtail women's rights. These initiatives range from limits on reproductive choice to the ability to earn wages equal to men.

Apparently Priebus didn't mind comparing women to insects.

Five Reasons Why Mitt Romney Shouldn't Be President

Mitt Romney would make a horrible President. Why? Because he's  a socipath and an empty suit. He believes in nothing in general, and in particular he doesn't believe in America.