Auto Industry to Mitt Romney: “Lying Cocksucker, Shut the Fuck Up”

That wasn’t the exact wording, but it’s the general drift.  In his frantic last-ditch effort to win in Ohio, Mitt Romney has brought lying to a whole new level.  The name Romney might become synonymous with “beyond lying.”  Generations from now, people will be saying:

“He wasn’t just lying; he told a Romney.”

Romney has started blitzing Ohio with a series of ads that are so full of shit, people’s TV sets and radios are brown.  These ads are saying that Jeep is planning to eliminate jobs here and outsource them to China.

This is a blatant lie, and some auto executives are not too happy about it.

Chrysler — Jeep’s parent company — has condemned these ads, and their website says they have “no intention of shifting production of its Jeep models out of North America to China.”  Not only that, their Toledo factory will be ADDING over a thousand new jobs.

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said Romney’s claims were “inaccurate” and said:

“Jeep is one of our truly global brands with uniquely American roots. This will never change. So much so that we committed that the iconic Wrangler nameplate, currently produced in our Toledo, Ohio plant, will never see full production outside the United States.  Jeep assembly lines will remain in operation in the United States and will constitute the backbone of the brand.”

General Motors spokesman Greg Martin said:

“We’ve clearly entered some parallel universe during these last few days.  No amount of campaign politics at its cynical worst will diminish our record of creating jobs in the U.S. and repatriating profits back to this country.”

Another GM spokesperson said:

“At this stage, we’re looking at Hubble telescope-length distances between campaign ads and reality….GM’s creating jobs in the US and repatriating profits back to this country should be a source of bipartisan pride.”

Bipartisan?  That’s sooo last century.

It’s long past time for somebody to ask Mitt Romney:  “At long last, have you not a shred of decency?  Have you no shame?”

Obama’s Quick Response to Hurricane Sandy: It’s a Conspiracy!!!!!!

The name Michael Brown might not ring a bell.  You probably remember him as Brownie, as in “Brownie you’re doing a heckuva job.”  Yup, the disgraced FEMA director from 2005 who stood around with his thumbs up his ass while New Orleans drowned — he’s Baaaack.

Regarding President Obama’s response to the Hurricane Sandy devastation, Brownie said “Why was this so quick?”

WTF???  This dumbfuck would probably look at a passing car and say “Wow!  That carriage doesn’t even have a horse pulling it, and yet it, it’s MOVING!”

Heckuvajob Brownie has been spending the last few weeks poring over details of the 9/11/12 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, hoping and praying that he’ll find something to pin on Obama.  He took time out from his busy schedule for an interview yesterday.  He objected to the “premature” decision to shut down New York City’s transportation infrastructure.

“I don’t object…they should be doing all of that.  But in the meantime, various news commentators…[and others] in New York are shrugging their shoulders, saying, ‘What’s this all about?’ It’s premature [when] the brunt of the storm won’t happen until later this afternoon.”

He also objected to Obama giving a press conference on the previous day:

“My guess is, he wants to get ahead of it — he doesn’t want anybody to accuse him of not being on top of it or not paying attention or playing politics in the middle of it. He probably figured Sunday was a good day to do a press conference.  Obama probably could’ve had a little more impact doing it today…One thing he’s gonna be asked is, why did he jump on this so quickly and go back to D.C. so quickly when in…Benghazi, he went to Las Vegas?  Why was this so quick?… At some point, somebody’s going to ask that question.”

[sigh]

Mitt Romney on Hurricane Sandy: “We Cannot Afford Federal Disaster Relief”

OK, so Romney wasn’t talking about Hurricane Sandy when he said this last year.  Nevertheless, this is a chilling portrait of how President Romney would respond to a natural disaster.

(H./T to okjimm where I learned about this story.)

During a debate last June, CNN’s John King was talking about recent floods and tornadoes, including the devastation in Joplin, MO.  King said:  “FEMA is about to run out of money, and there are some people who say do it on a case-by-case basis and some people who say, you know, maybe we're learning a lesson here that the states should take on more of this role. How do you deal with something like that?”

Romney said:

“Absolutely. Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that's the right direction. And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that's even better.  Instead of thinking in the federal budget, what we should cut — we should ask ourselves the opposite question. What should we keep? We should take all of what we're doing at the federal level and say, what are the things we're doing that we don't have to do? And those things we've got to stop doing, because we're borrowing $1.6 trillion more this year than we're taking in. We cannot —”

King: “Including disaster relief, though?”

Romney:

“We cannot — we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we'll all be dead and gone before it's paid off. It makes no sense at all.”

It doesn’t get any more crystal clear than this, people — straight from the horse’s ass’s mouth.  If you live in a region that’s prone to floods, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes — you’ll be on your own next year.

President Romney says Suck It Up.

Republicans: You Don’t Need to go to the Polling Booth. You Can Vote HERE on THIS website

Sorry, normals — this special offer is only for Republicans.  If you’re planning to vote Republican, all you have to do is go to the Comment Section at this post.  Type in your name, address, phone number, Facebook password and the name of your candidate.  The candidate’s name will be forwarded to your voting precinct and — Presto! — you’ve already voted.

Isn’t this great?!?

And there are other ways you can skip that bothersome trip to the voting booth.  For example:  somebody from our headquarters can call you at home, and you can vote over the phone.

It just doesn’t get any easier than that, does it.

Of course, lots of people still prefer the timeless tradition of going to your local precinct and voting in person.  If that’s the case, be sure you remember to vote on Election Day — Friday, November 9th.

YES, Mitt Romney DID say “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt”

Contrary to Mitt Romney’s lame protests of “I never said that” and “you’re mischaracterizing what I said,” Romney DID indeed write a New York Times editorial in November 2008 titled “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.”

This editorial has gone viral.  It’s crucial that EVERYONE — especially in Ohio and Wisconsin — sees this editorial.  Mitt Romney’s own words, straight from the horse’s ass’s mouth.

Mitt Romney can go ahead and reinvent himself every time he talks, but fortunately — for the rest of us — we have written words, recorded transcripts, the Internet.  No matter what he said last night, last week or five minutes ago, Mitt Romney is still Gordon Gekko, NOT a warm fuzzy combination of Ozzie Nelson and Ward Cleaver.

In his 2008 editorial, Romney blames the usual suspects for Detroit’s financial problems:  greedy labor unions and whiny retirees:  “Waaaaaahhh, I want my pension that I earned.”

Voters must NOT let Mitt Romney get away with pretending he’s not who he is.  If Barack Obama tried to win over the Christian Right by thundering “the Homosexual Agenda is the gravest threat America has ever known!” he’d get laughed off the stage.  Same thing if the president of Greenpeace told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce “we need to get rid of these cumbersome environmental regulations and put America back to work!”

So why in the fuck is Mitt Romney able to pull this off?  Are American voters really that gullible?

It was a rhetorical question.

Mitt Romney: “We Need More Horses and Bayonets”

Tonight’s debate was less volatile than last week’s debate.  The best zinger of the evening was when Mitt Romney said the U.S. Navy has fewer ships than at any time since 1916, and therefore our military is under-funded and ill-prepared for the 21st century.  President Obama responded that we also have fewer horses and bayonets than we did in 1916.

And then he explained to Mittens that we have these new thingies called airplanes, and great big ships called aircraft carriers that can transport these airplanes to any place they’re needed.

Obama also took several opportunities to remind viewers of Romney’s constant flipflopping and shape shifting on every issue.

Romney kept repeating the Right’s favorite talking points — “We’re four years closer to a nuclear Iran,” “Obama’s apology tour” — even though Obama corrected him each time.  Repeating the same lie over and over gives it more power, but in this case it made Romney look like a slow third grader who had to keep getting corrected by the teacher.

Romney also kept putting on that “I’m a confident executive” demeanor by saying “when I’m President” instead of “if.”  This method of “acting as if” you already have what you want, “as if” you’ve already achieved your highest goals and aspirations, goes back at least to the 1940s; probably earlier.  It’s a good approach when you’re talking to a group of junior executives or aspiring entrepreneurs.  But is it a good idea when you’re talking to millions of TV viewers who are deciding whether or not to vote for you?

Did Romney come across as confident and in control, or just an arrogant gasbag?

Darrell Issa: Guilty of High Treason

Darrell Issa has certainly been moving up the ladder.  Starting off with arson and Grand Theft Auto, Issa has hit the Big Time now:  Treason against the United States government.

Issa and his fellow plutocrats have been champing at the bit to find something — anything! — that they can pin on Obama over the Libya tragedy.  They got so carried away, Darrell Issa ended up revealing the names of Libyan civilians who have been helping the U.S. government.  Thanks to Darrell Issa, these Libyans’ and their families’ lives are in danger.

Way to go Cocksucker.

Dick Durbin talked about this today on Fox News.  Or tried to, that is.  Host Chris Wallace and the other guest, Lindsey Graham, pretty much talked over him so they could focus on the main priority:  smearing President Obama.

Dick Durbin said:

“Let’s ask the honest questions, let’s gather the evidence, let’s make sure we understand actually what did occur.  But jumping to conclusions — I mean, Darrel Issa does a documentary dump on his website of sensitive information about those in Libya who are helping to keep America safe. It shows the lengths many will go to try to politicize this tragic situation…it‘s always easier to say the day after how you could have won that football game…This idea of Chairman Issa, saying that he’s going to dump the names in public of Libyans who are risking their lives to support America and keep us safe in an effort to get a political toehold in this election is unconscionable, it is unacceptable.”

Instead of acknowledging Durbin‘s statement, or replying, a squirming Chris Wallace said:

“Well, let’s move on to the shifting story after the attack.”

Salt Lake Tribune Endorses President Obama for Second Term

“Too Many Mitts” is the title of the Salt Lake Tribune editorial endorsing Obama’s re-election.

The editorial starts off praising Romney for his organization of the 2002 Olympics:

“In short, this is the Mitt Romney we knew, or thought we knew, as one of us.  Sadly, it is not the only Romney, as his campaign for the White House has made abundantly clear, first in his servile courtship of the tea party in order to win the nomination, and now as the party’s shape-shifting nominee.

From his embrace of the party’s radical right wing, to subsequent portrayals of himself as a moderate champion of the middle class, Romney has raised the most frequently asked question of the campaign:  ‘Who is this guy, really, and what in the world does he truly believe?’

The evidence suggests no clear answer, or at least one that would survive Romney’s next speech or sound bite. Politicians routinely tailor their words to suit an audience. Romney, though, is shameless, lavishing vastly diverse audiences with words, any words, they would trade their votes to hear.

More troubling, Romney has repeatedly refused to share specifics of his radical plan to simultaneously reduce the debt, get rid of Obamacare (or, as he now says, only part of it), make a voucher program of Medicare, slash taxes and spending, and thereby create millions of new jobs. To claim, as Romney does, that he would offset his tax and spending cuts (except for billions more for the military) by doing away with tax deductions and exemptions is utterly meaningless without identifying which and how many would get the ax. Absent those specifics, his promise of a balanced budget simply does not pencil out…

Where, we ask, is the pragmatic, inclusive Romney, the Massachusetts governor who left the state with a model health care plan in place, the Romney who led Utah to Olympic glory? That Romney skedaddled and is nowhere to be found.”

Bravo!

Listen up people.

Ann Romney: “Military Service, Mormon Missionary Service — Tomato, Tomahto”

Neither Mitt Romney nor any of the five mini-Mitts have ever served in the military.  But all six of them have performed missionary service for the Mormon Church.  And Ann Romney says that’s the same thing.  Enlisting in the Armed Forces and possibly getting killed or maimed in Iraq or Afghanistan, and being a Mormon missionary in Paris:  Ann Romney says these are just “different ways of serving.”

Ann Romney said this yesterday on ABC’s “The View.”  Ann and Mitt were originally scheduled to appear together on the show, but Mittens chickened out at the last minute.  Er, I mean, he had a “scheduling conflict.”

As Howard Kurtz said:  “How is he [Romney] going to negotiate with Vladimir Putin if he’s afraid of sitting down with Whoopi Goldberg?”

Good question.  Anyway, regarding the similarities between military and missionary service, Ann Romney told Whoopi Goldberg:

“Mitt was serving his mission, and my five sons have also served missions. None served in the military…So, you know, we find different ways of serving.”

Ah yes, just different ways of serving.  Let’s play a little guessing game, shall we?  Click on this picture of flag-draped coffins.

Now:  How many of these people were soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan; and how many of them were Mormon missionaries killed in Paris?

Tagg Romney Swings his Purse at Obama, Hits Secret Service Agent by Mistake, Wakes Up in ICU

Tagg Palin Romney wanted to take a swing at President Obama for calling Tagg’s father a liar?!?!?  Guess what — your father IS a lying sack of shit; more slippery than the ten sleaziest used car salesmen put together.

Needless to say, if Tagg Romney had assaulted Obama, he wouldn’t be tangling with the President.  He’d be grappling with a Secret Service agent who — in order to become a Secret Service agent — was required to do a one-arm overhead press with a kettlebell of half his bodyweight, and do ten minutes of nonstop one-arm kettlebell snatches.  Good luck.  They don’t teach that in prep school.

Funny how bluebloods and trailer trash both give the same wacky first names to their kids.  Why is that?

These smug sheltered born-on-third-base types always think they’re above any sort of accountability; above the rules that everyone else has to follow.  A perfect example is Tagg Romney’s offense at hearing his lying pusbucket father being called a liar.

Ann Romney’s “You People” comment is another example.

And now we have another glimpse of the Real Mitt Romney, the Mitt Romney we get when the public — supposedly — isn’t listening, so he can take off his Ward Cleaver mask:  Last June, Mitt Romney was in a conference call with the National Federation of Independent Business.  Assuming that no members of the lowly public would ever hear it, Romney told these business owners to make sure their employees vote to protect “your enterprise and therefore their job.”

He told these entrepreneurs to “make it very clear” to their employees that President Obama is “hostile to small business, and to business overall.”

This article has a link to the audio of Romney’s conference call with the National Federation of Independent Business.

Romney probably didn’t break any laws with these “suggestions” to employers.  After all it’s not illegal to be an asshole.

But according to somebody quoted in the linked article, Romney was practicing “voter intimidation.”

But hey, Mitt Romney was born on third base, so it’s OK.

Mitt Romney — Horndog: “Gimme a Binder Full of Women!”

And what the fuck, you ask, is “a binder full of women?”  Got me.  You’ll have to ask Mitt Romney himself.  But first, ask Ann to leave the room for a moment.

Actually, he used this term when he was describing something magnanimous he had done as governor of “my state” (is he unable to pronounce the word “Massachusetts”?) that enabled “a binder full of women” to apply for jobs they previously weren’t qualified for.  Or something.

And speaking of pronunciations, a certain word is pronounced “legislation,” not “lettuce-lation.”

And now, on to the implosion — collapse! — of Mitt Romney’s over-used talking points about the terrorist attacks in Benghazi.  You know the drill:  Obama was so busy apologizing for America, his administration let its guard down and allowed four Americans to be killed at the American Embassy in Benghazi, Libya.  And the Obama Administration was so oblivious and unaware, it took them two weeks to find out it was a terrorist attack and not a spontaneous demonstration.

And in tonight’s debate, Obama pulled the rug out from under Romney.  President Obama did in fact — the day AFTER the attacks in Benghazi — describe the attacks as a terrorist attack.

Actually, it’s a bit more of a he-said she-said kind of thing.  Here are some links.

One liberal site says “President Obama DID call it a terrorist attack the day after Benghazi,” but no link is provided.  A rightwing site admits that Obama DID use the word “terror” in his speech at the Rose Garden the day after the Benghazi attack, but claims “terror” isn’t the same as “terrorist” or “act of terrorism,” or it didn’t count because it was Wednesday and he wasn’t wearing a blue shirt, or something.

In any case, when Obama said he HAD used the word “terrorist” in the Rose Garden press conference the day after the Benghazi attack, and said to Candy Crowly “check the transcript” — Mitt Romney’s reaction was panic bordering on Meltdown.  Jaw quivering uncontrollably, “but but B- badeea badeea hummina hummina,” and that panic-stricken expression that said “but that’s what they told me to say!”

Melt down gracefully, Mitt.  Buh bye now.

Obama also called attention to Romney’s behind-closed-doors comments about 47% of Americans being moochers who think of themselves as victims, and Romney’s flipflops on immigration and taxes, among other issues.

I can’t pretend to be objective, but I think Obama won this debate.

Your take?

Second Presidential Debate: President Obama Comes Roaring Back, Wipes Up the Floor with Mitt Romney

Two days before the first presidential debate, I did this tongue-in-cheek post about Obama getting trounced by Mitt Romney.  Mostly, it was supposed to be a sick joke; and partially, it was a warning against the growing complacency and Hubris among liberal pundits.

In any case, it was NOT supposed to be a prediction.  Unfortunately…

But now, I’ve become aware of this newfound power to shape the future just by writing about it.  Therefore:


Wednesday, October 17, 2012


YES!!!!!!

We were all hoping that President Obama would come back swinging, and Did He Ever.

Was Obama really going to let Romney get away with his constant morphing and shape-shifting on taxes, coverage for pre-existing conditions, banning abortion, eliminating all regulations so we can unshackle the “Job Creators?”  Was Mitt Romney really going to pull off this magical transformation from Gordon Gekko to Ward Cleaver?

In a word:  Fuck NO.

Last night we saw President Barack Obama at his best:  Not feisty or confrontational, but very articulate, quick-witted, and ready and able to raise a red flag every time Romney contradicted himself.

Again and again, Mitt Romney squirmed and writhed under the spotlight.  His claims of energy independence, based on a house-of-cards “study,” his five trillion dollar tax cut that he pretended not to know about:  Step by step, Mitt Romney was Melting Down.

Everybody’s favorite Romney meltdown occurred when Romney was asked to explain what he meant by his infamous “47%” comment, especially the part about “it’s not my job to worry about those people.”

It wasn’t pretty.  “R2D2 with a dead battery” was how somebody at NBC described Romney’s reaction.

In other words, President Obama came back swinging, and saved his career — and the country.  Obama has surged ahead in the polls, and it looks like the Senate will increase its Democratic majority.

But remember now — Don’t get complacent.

Mitt Romney was Assertive; Joe Biden was Rude

I’m persistent; you’re stubborn.  The guerrilla warriors whom I agree with are brave freedom fighters; the ones I disagree with are bloodthirsty terrorists.

When Mitt Romney barged and plowed and bulled right through last week’s debate moderator — yes, there actually was a moderator, believe it or not — Republicans loved it.  Nobody could even count the times Romney talked right over President Obama and Jim Lehrer.  This meant, of course, that Romney was forceful and articulate.

Joe Biden did maybe half that much interrupting of Paul Ryan last night.  Joe Biden was rude, boorish, immature.

Republican “logic” — don’t even go there.

And in the ongoing question of “Are you better off now than you were four years ago,” consumer sentiment is now at its highest level in five years.  Sounds like another leftwing conspiracy for Darrell Issa (R—Car Thief) to investigate.

Mitt Romney: “We Don’t Have People Who Die Because They Don’t Have Health Insurance”

Yes, he really did say this.  Yesterday Mitt Romney told the Columbus Dispatch:

“We don’t have a setting across this country where if you don’t have insurance, we just say to you, ‘Tough luck, you’re going to die when you have your heart attack.’  No, you go to the hospital, you get treated, you get care, and it’s paid for, either by charity, the government or by the hospital.  We don’t have people that become ill, who die in their apartment because they don’t have insurance.”

When he says the word “people,” maybe he means fellow executives and yacht club members.  Nobody else counts, right?

The actual number of people who die every year from lack of health coverage — we’re now leaving RomneyWorld and returning to physical reality — is anywhere from 26,000 to 45,000.  Google it.

This should be the last straw.  Does ANYBODY seriously want this sheltered bubble-dwelling Idiot Savant to be the next President of the United States???

Governor Rick Scott: “Suffering from Fungal Meningitis? Dial 866- H-O-T S-E-X”

What does Florida Governor Rick Scott know that the rest of us don’t know?  While doctors and scientists are pulling their hair out over a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak,  Governor Rick Scott already knows the cure:

Calling a sex hotline.

Rick Scott announced the phone number at a cabinet meeting.  Local radio stations broadcast the announcement, and then a caller notified them that he had given the wrong number.

People who called the number seeking information on fungal meningitis were greeted by a sexy voice saying:

“Hello boys, thank you for calling me on my anniversary.”

The correct number for the Florida Fungal Meningitis Hotline is:  866-523-7339.

Rick Scott’s significant other — if he has one — might be a little curious about what he was doing with that other phone number.

True The Vote being Harassed by Democrats

True The Vote is a group of dedicated volunteers whose mission is to preserve the integrity of the voting process.  And this group of devoted patriots is being harassed by Congressional Democrats, namely Elijah Cummings.

As you know, voter fraud is one of the most urgent problems facing America today.  Negroes, Meskins, old people, college whippersnappers — God never intended to give these lowly cretins the right to vote.  True The Vote is continuing the work of Sheriff Bull Connor, Strom Thurmond and other Great Americans who fought tirelessly for the integrity of the voting process.

The liberal media has been slandering and tarnishing True The Vote and other similar organizations who are fighting against voter fraud.  But here, take a look at this warm and fuzzy group photo of True The Vote.

Here’s another photo.

And this one is the cutest of all.

Now why on Earth would anyone want to harass this nice group of hardworking volunteers?

If you would like to volunteer your services to preserving the integrity of the voting process, you can contact True The Vote at their website.

Mitt Romney: Foreign Policy Expert

As the saying goes — the less you know about a problem, the easier the solution is.

This explains why Mitt Romney is suddenly the world’s greatest living authority on America’s foreign policy, and why he’s able to pinpoint everything Obama has done wrong.

Spending one’s entire life in the sheltered world of Ivy League business schools, stocks, derivatives, mergers and acquisitions, private fundraising events — yup, that teaches you everything you need to know about America’s role in the ever more complex, more interdependent world of international relations.

After taking a quick glimpse at Foreign Policy For Dummies (the Cliff Notes version), Romney said:

“Hope is not a strategy…The attacks on America last month should not be seen as random acts. They are expressions of a larger struggle that is playing out across the broader Middle East — a region that is now in the midst of the most profound upheaval in a century. And the fault lines of this struggle can be seen clearly in Benghazi itself.”

And:

“…It is the responsibility of our president to use America's great power to shape history—not to lead from behind, leaving our destiny at the mercy of events. Unfortunately, that is exactly where we find ourselves in the Middle East under President Obama.”

Pretty ironic, coming from the same dildo whose only foreign policy experience is a pomp and circumstance visit to London during the Olympics, which he managed to screw up by alienating England with his clueless comments.

Or as White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said:

“We're not going to be lectured by someone who has been an unmitigated disaster on foreign policy every time he's dipped his toe in the foreign policy waters.”

If you like Mitt Romney’s foreign policy expertise, stay tuned for the encore:  “The Complete History and Meaning of Stonehenge” by Clark Griswold.

“The Press Just Doesn’t Know How to Handle Flat-Out Untruths”

That’s what Paul Krugman said today on ABC’s “This Week.”  That pretty well sums it up.

Over sixty million people saw Mitt Romney portraying himself as a big warm fuzzy bear who loves everybody.  And this warm fuzzy Mitt was just dumbfounded by all these vicious rumors about him.

“A five trillion dollar tax cut for the highest income earners?  I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Getting a tax deduction for moving jobs overseas?  Hmmm, I should’ve hired a better accountant, heh heh.”

“We NEED regulations.”

And WTF is up with Romney’s imaginary “woman who came up and grabbed my arm and said ‘please help me.’”  Riiight.  If that had actually happened, this person would have been body-slammed and tased by Romney’s bodyguards.

Sixty million people heard these blatant lies; saw the fraudulent “New” touchy-feely Mitt Romney who wants to help everybody and promises to keep the regulations that ensure safe working conditions, breathable air and drinkable water.

A tiny fraction of that number will see follow-up news reports saying Yes, Mitt Romney HAS been pushing for a five trillion dollar tax cut for the wealthiest Americans; Yes, Romney IS planning to eliminate the regulations that protect workers’ safety and public health.

Paul Krugman said:

“The press just doesn’t know how to handle flat-out untruths…I don’t know whether to blame [the debate moderator Jim] Lehrer or the president, but it was kind of amazing because Romney was not only saying things that are not true, he was saying things that his own campaign had previously said weren’t true.”

He also said Romney “showed contempt for us by thinking the news media will not cover on me as long as they say forcefully I won.”

And that’s the predicament we’re all facing.  I can’t think of a solution to this, but Paul Krugman has clearly defined the problem.

Chesapeake Energy Corp.: How to Use Eminent Domain WITHOUT Paying the Property Owners

When the government uses Eminent Domain to condemn your property, the one bright spot is that you get paid market value for your property that the government has “bought” from you.

But now, Chesapeake Energy Corp. has found a way to use the government’s power of Eminent Domain, but without that pesky little detail about paying the landowner whose property they’ve just seized.

Here is the exact scenario that’s been playing again and again in Texas:

Chesapeake Energy Corp. will offer money to a landowner for permission to drill for natural gas — i.e. hydraulic fracturing or fracking — underneath this person’s property.  The property owner refuses.  So Chesapeake Energy Corp. goes groveling to a Texas state agency for permission to drill on this person’s property.  Permission is granted.

And on top of that, Chesapeake doesn’t even have to pay the money that was originally offered to the property owner.

For some odd reason, the Far Right isn’t screaming in unison about “Property Rights!” and “Government Land Grab!”

The linked article is long and detailed, but it’s well worth reading and bookmarking.  Just what we all need — something else to seethe about.

Indecision 2012, First Presidential Debate: YAWN

Maybe it’s just me.  Either I’ve become much more jaded and easily bored than I ever was, or tonight’s Obama-Romney debate was the most excruciatingly boring bone-dry wonkish argument EVER.

Nobody will ever need Valium or Lunesta again.  Just play back your video or DVD of tonight’s debate and you’ll sleep like a baby for twelve hours.

I’m not blaming either candidate.  Whether it was the format itself, or the questions from the moderator  — Obama just needed to tread water, and Romney had this one and only chance to come from behind, swing hard and land a crushing left hook and devastate his opponent (according to the experts) — it was pretty much “Meh.”

President Obama and Mitt Romney each got off a few zingers.  Each individual zinger undoubtedly excited that candidate’s fans and induced an eye roll out of the candidate’s opponents.

Anyway, that’s just my take.

Here are three different versions of tonight’s snore-fest.

Here

Here, and

Here

Let’s hope the rest of the debates will be more interesting, or else the entire country will be Asleep At The Wheel.  (Unless it was just me.)

Your take?

Romney TROUNCES Obama in the Presidential Debate, Surges Ahead in the Polls

Thursday, October 4, 2012

 
Oh My God!  What happened last night?!?  This can’t be!  The Democrats got sucker punched.  Big Time.

Mitt Romney absolutely KILLED in last night’s TV debate.  WTF???

What happened to that wooden automaton who thinks the Soviet Union still exists?  Or the sheltered arrogant CEO who “connects” with working class Americans by telling folksy anecdotes about his car elevator and his latest trip to the Cayman Islands?

That’s the Mitt Romney we were all expecting in last night’s debate, and he was nowhere to be found.  The Mitt Romney we saw last night was lively, animated, upbeat and likeable.  He totally connected with the moderators and the audience.  And he was completely on top of everything.  He not only didn’t make any gaffes; he actually threw Obama off-message a few times with witty comebacks and carefully researched facts.

I still can’t believe what happened; or understand HOW it happened.

And this isn’t even the worst of it.  Not only has Romney skyrocketed to a double-digit lead over Obama; his incredible upset has given new momentum to Congressional Republicans.  The Senate is almost certain to flip to Republican control, and House Republicans are expected to increase their majority.

And that’s not all.  Sheldon Adelson and the Koch Brothers are ecstatic, and they’re planning to pour a few more billion dollars into Republican coffers.


It’s over.

Oh God.  How on Earth did this happen?  Why did we allow ourselves to get so complacent?


WHY?!?!?!?