Mitt Romney Makes the Death of our Ambassador and Three Others in Libya Political

Mitt Romney is out of line with his comments last night and again this morning with the press conference.  Romney held a news conference knowing full well the President was to speak at this time.  Classless once again.  As usual Romney is all about politics with zero comments on what he would specifically do differently -- just attack is all he knows.  The nerve of him to come out this morning after releasing his statement last night saying that President Obama was sympathizing with the attackers is beyond pale.   Romney with his harsh statements has no integrity, no sense of foreign policy, and anything else I might say would be over the top.  Conservative pundits called for Romney to take a tougher stand against Obama yesterday and today he does what he is told.  Despicable!

Romney released a statement last night before the details were all in and now this morning has double downed.  Less than an hour ago Romney released a blistering attack on Obama and the Administration on the morning that President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton are in shock over the lose of their Ambassador in Libya who was also a friend.   Romney's attempts to score political points last night shows he is not ready to lead anyone and this morning with his press conference he made it worse.  Throw in the similar comments by GOP Chair Priebus and you have a Party that is out of control.  If this had happened to President Bush, Republicans would be up in arms but the Romney supporters are on the attack this morning against anyone who dares to say Romney was way out of line.  A few Republicans are now criticizing Romney for using this morning to launch an attack on the President without saying what he would do.

Violence in Libya kills U.S. Envoy (Email)

American ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three of his staff members were killed after an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. The New York Times reports it's the first death of an American envoy abroad in more than two decades. 

Mitt Romney has launched a political attack against the president over the attacks in Libya and Egypt that killed an American ambassador.

Romney and his people are trying to exploit this tragedy pure and simple.  Political reporters this morning are shocked that Romney has delved so deeply into politics at this time.  Four Americans are dead including our Ambassador and Romney makes it political?  How can anyone support Romney after this?  Romney said that Obama should stand for American principles this morning which is totally reprehensible.  Romney also came out forcefully this morning backing the filmmaker as free speech.  Knowing the tinder box of the Middle East should have been a warning to put a lid on stoking the fires which this video accomplished.  

First Thoughts: Over the top 

Romney issues over-the-top attack on embassy attacks… And his statement looks worse and worse as new information comes out, including the death of the U.S. ambassador to Libya… Romney camp stands by its attack saying embassy statement came after the u nrest began… More tensions between Obama and Netanyahu… Focusing on Florida… Obama camp goes on the air in Wisconsin… Team Romney again outspending Team Obama on the airwaves this week… And this week’s 10 hottest TV markets. 

By Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Brooke Brower

*** Over the top : Yesterday we noted that Mitt Romney, down in the polls after the convention, was throwing the kitchen sink at President Obama. Little did we know the kitchen sink would include -- on the anniversary of 9/11 -- one of the most over-the-top and (it turns out) incorrect attacks of the general-election campaign . Last night after 10:00 pm ET, Romney released a statement on the attacks on the U.S. embassies in Egypt and Libya. After saying he was “outraged” by these attacks and the death of an American consulate worker, Romney said, “It's disgraceful that the Obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.” Yet after learning every piece of new information about those attacks, the Romney statement looks worse and worse -- and simply off-key. First, Romney was referring to a statement that the U.S. embassy in Egypt issued condemning the “efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims.” But that embassy statement, which the White House has distanced itself from, was in reference to an anti-Islam movie and anti-Islam pastor Terry Jones, and it came out BEFORE the embassy attacks began. Then this morning, we learned that the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and others died in one of the attacks.

*** When news-cycle campaigning goes awry: Bottom line: This was news-cycle campaigning by the Romney campaign gone awry. Why didn’t the Romney campaign wait until it had all the facts? On his overseas trip in the summer, Romney was so careful not to criticize Obama while on foreign soil. But how much time do you give an administration to work through a diplomatic and international crisis before trying to score immediate political points? You’d expect the Sarah Palins of the world to quickly pounce on something like this, and she predictably did. But a presidential nominee running for the highest office in the land? After the facts have come out, last night’s Romney statement only feeds the narrative that his campaign is desperate. And given that the Romney camp has already moved on to other subjects this morning -- issuing a press release on debt and not the embassy attacks -- it appears the campaign realizes it, too. Right before our publication time, the Romney camp responds to us that it stands by its statement from last night. The controversial embassy statement, the Romney camp argues, had occurred AFTER the unrest in Egypt and Libya had already begun (citing this CBS report) and that the statement had served as the administration’s sole response until about 10:00 pm ET.

*** More tensions between Obama and Netanyahu: In another sign that foreign affairs and national security have jumped to the top of the issues in the past day, there’s renewed tension between Israel PM Netanyahu and the Obama White House over Iran. The New York Times: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel inserted himself into the most contentious foreign policy issue of the American presidential campaign on Tuesday, criticizing the Obama administration for refusing to set clear ‘red lines’ on Iran’s nuclear progress that would prompt the United States to undertake a military strike.” Then came a dispute over whether or not Obama was snubbing Netanyahu by not meeting with him when he comes to the U.S. later this month. In the evening, the White House released a statement saying that Obama and Netanyahu had talked by phone for an hour and adding: “Contrary to reports in the press, there was never a request for Prime Minister Netanyahu to meet with President Obama in Washington, nor was a request for a meeting ever denied.” The Israelis have another version of this phone call and still believe they have been snubbed by not getting that invite. By the way, don’t think Israeli political leaders are united on this. Check out the headline over lead story in the Jerusalem Post: “Mofaz to PM: Are you trying to oust Obama or Ahmadinejad? 

Excerpt:  Read More at First Read, NBC News

I will never support Romney and will spend the next seven weeks helping to defeat him and those obstructionist members of the House and Senate.  When I started this blog it was to go after after Democrats who sold out for dollars but over the last two years have learned that it is the Republicans who sold out to the Tea Party, Koch Brothers, Adelson, and other big donors to give as Mitt Romney as our candidate.

I will join Charlie Crist and others in saying the Republican Party has left me in 2012.  Last night when first Romney and then the RNC Chair Priebus went out to make statements that said Obama was sympathizing with the mobs who attacked our embassies, the statements made my blood boil.  In this morning's press conference, Romney is not only still on the attack but doubling down on his comments with lies about the embassy in Egypt and when they released their statement.  A liar even today.  Despicable candidate.

September 11, 2012 -- Eleven Years Have Passed

• A cruise ship passes the World Trade Center in New York and the Statue of Liberty, left, on Monday, Sept. 10, 2012 in this photo taken from Bayonne, N.J. The tallest tower is 1 World Trade Center, now up to 104 floors, and in the center is 4 World Trade Center, also under construction. The tallest tower, Freedom Tower, will be 1,776 feet tall, including its spire, a reference to the year of American independence.
  Photo: Mark Lennihan / Associated Press

As the World Trade Center continues to rise until it reaches 1,776 feet, we are reminded of that horrible day 11 years ago when Al Qaeda declared war on America by attacking the World Trade Center Buildings, Pentagon, and Flight 93 in Pennsylvania went down.  This is the first year since 2001, we can finally say Bin Laden sleeps with the sharks in the ocean.  Don't care how they got him except the fact he is dead and can plot no more attacks against any Country in the world.

There were so many brave people that day who risked their lives to save others and in the case of some of New York City's finest ended up giving their own lives in the Towers when they fell.  We will never forget those whose lives were taken or injured and their families on September 11, 2001.

Time for political leaders to think twice before sending American troops into harm's way into places like Iran or Syria.  We are still in Korea after all these years and expect to have advisers in Afghanistan for years to come but at least the main part of our troops will be coming home in 2014.  Saber rattling needs to stop and the people who want to keep sending our troops into new wars defeated on November 6, 2012.

Over the years the Baby Boomer Generation  has lost Dads, Moms, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and friends to wars since I was a young teenager.  Some who survived their wounds came home to a VA systems that has been inadequate in so many ways.  There are not enough facilities and medical personnel to take of all of our veterans today.  Those who are disabled need to be first in line and deserve the best treatment money can buy.

On the 11th Anniversary of the foreign terrorists attacks on America, time for all of us to give thanks to those men and women who serving around the world today to preserve our freedoms.

Will Romney/Ryan Turn Nasty for the Last Seven Weeks?

You can bet on that and win a lot of money of Vegas would give you odds.

Romney's "God" campaign yesterday was sickening and disgusting.  The Republican Party and Mitt Romney do NOT own "God" and to invoke the word "God" into a partisan campaign shows how desperate Romney has become to win.  To infer that Obama is anti-God and going to take God off the coins, out of the pledge, and the Government shows a very flawed man that should be no where near the Presidency.

The very nerve of Romney to use "God" in a political way goes against everything I have been taught.  When one of the Romney supporters, Gary Bauer said, "God doesn't want to be mentioned in the Democratic Party platform ," I lost it.

He’s going to campaign with at Robertson. He’s going to work “Obama-Is-Anti-God” motifs into his stump speech, as he did yesterday. He’s going to keep running with the lies about welfare. 

Does Romney want us to believe he is the only candidate who believes in "God?" I thought Romney couldn't get any more despicable then he was in the primaries, but he managed to do it yesterday.

If Tomasky is correct, which I believe he is, then Romney/Ryan are going to get worse.  We already know how low Romney can go from the primary when he went after fellow Republicans with lies and innuendos.  Already his attacks on President Obama have sunk to a new lows which seem to go lower almost on a daily basis.

The fact checkers on welfare have called Romney/Ryan ads completely false and on social security mostly false which also included some of the Obama/Biden comments as well, but the Romney/Ryan answer?  Ignore the fact checkers unless it is against their opponent and keep right on lying about welfare.  Fact Checkers have been used by both sides for years but now Republicans want to ignore them to keep spouting lies?  Is that how far the GOP has sunk today?

Now Ryan says he didn't vote for defense cuts which he did as part of the agreement that was reached to keep the Government from defaulting.  Just like Ryan criticizes Obama on not following Simpson Bowles when his vote is the one that killed it.  Guess you should figure out when a person lies about their times in a marathon, they will will lie about everything else.

Battleground States are going to see some of the nastiest ads every out of Romney and his Super PACs but I don't think they will work as we already saw what a nasty person Romney was in the primary in 2008 and worse in 2012.  IMHO Romney will say and do anything to get elected because he seems to believe the end justifies the means.  That is one reason even Republicans are pulling away from Romney and the Republican Party who have left a lot of us in the dust.

It felt good to join Republicans for Obama even though philosophically there are a lot of issues I  disagree with Democrats but frankly I agree with them more than the far right social conservatives and the neanderthal  GOP Platform.  The Democrats have taken over supporting our military, veterans, foreign policy, and many other issues that were Republican at one time like Civil Rights and One Man, One Vote.  Now Republicans want to suppress voting to elect Romney and don't mind saying that in public while tossing President GW Bush under the bus like he didn't exist. It is like there is a seismic shift going on between the parties -- don't recognize this Republican Party.

How about making Independents a political party?  At least there would be some common sense unlike what we are seeing out of the far right Republican Party that has been taken over by the Koch Brothers and Tea Party movement.

It is going to be a wild and nasty seven weeks with the Romney camp going after Obama with lies, mistruths, and innuendos to make the President look bad.  I don't think it is going to work because Romney and now his wife are not likable people as they are condescending and come across that they think they are better than everyone else.  We are supposed to trust them -- no details why -- just trust what they say to which I reply Bravo Sierra!  When your whole campaign is based on being anti against your opponent, your chance of winning is slim to none IMHO

Michael Tomasky on What Will Happen When Romney Gets Desperate

by Michael Tomasky  Sep 11, 2012 4:45 AM EDT
Sep 11, 2012 4:45 AM EDT

Obama’s lead is growing, and Romney can’t seem to catch a break. If the trend continues, get ready for things to turn very ugly very fast. 

I don’t know if team Romney should be panicking just yet. Convention bounces have been known to fade; it’s not every week that Barack Obama is going to get Bill Clinton to give a barn-burner of a speech on his behalf that outdraws the NFL game on the other channel. In my view it’s not so much that the fundamental nature of the race has shifted as that it has solidified. Obama spent months being mostly just a little ahead, and now he’s a little more ahead than that. Lots of people have been writing in the last couple days about the larger Obama lead. But no one has yet turned attention to the consequences of that change: that Romney and Paul Ryan are likely to run the dirtiest campaign we’ve seen in a long, long time.

Go back in time a few months. The Romney theory, bruited by his aides and accepted by much of the media, was that all he had to do was talk about the economy and he’d win. There was no way an incumbent president sitting on these kinds of economic figures could possibly be reelected. Unemployed, underemployed, not even looking anymore, wrong direction … no question that they are all bleak figures. All Romney had to do was keep talking about them, and as they say in the East End, Robert’s your father’s brother. 

This job was supposed to get even easier when Romney tapped Paul Ryan for veep. Ryan was the man with the plan, the Republican Brain, the guy who actually knew budgets and fiscal policy, the Republican who could slice right through all the Democratic pettifoggery and actually beat the Democrats at their own game of talking all those numbers. Ryan’s presence on the ticket made the economic choice that much more stark, the argument went, and he’d win over the serious-minded moderates.

Well. It’s exactly one month after Ryan’s selection was announced, and his reputation has gone nowhere but down. He’s a liar and his famous “numbers” actually make no sense at all because they’re intentionally misleading. So now he looks less like a serious budget person than a drunken back-bencher who has to be elbowed awake to cast a vote. 

Then there are the past few days. We got a crappy jobs report Friday morning. Romney trotted out and said the kinds of things he was supposed to say. And lo and behold—it hasn’t hurt Obama a whit. In the days since the report—days, I should note, when media coverage has made it abundantly clear that the jobless rate fell only because more people quit looking for work—Obama has gained ground. 

So two facts are now clear. One, Romney is on the ropes. The memo from his pollster makes a few plausible points about why it’s too early to head for the exits. But Romney has some serious problems in some key states, notably Ohio. If he can’t win there, he basically has to win all of the following swing states to hit 273 electoral votes: Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, and New Hampshire. 

And the second fact that’s clear is that the economic argument is not working. Turns out that it’s not enough just to repeat the dour news when you keep dodging questions about your own plan. And taken together, these two facts mean: Romney isn’t going to desert the economic argument, of course, but he is going to try to win this thing in other ways. 

(snip)

As I’ve said many times, the ongoing debate about whether Romney is really conservative or really moderate has wasted lots of airtime and killed many innocent trees. He’s neither. He’s nothing. He’ll say or do whatever he needs to do, whatever the Koch brothers or whoever tell him to do. He’s been dreaming of the presidency since 1968, and as he sees it slipping through his fingers, he’ll be capable of anything. It’s going to be a nasty seven weeks. 

Excerpt:  Read More at The Daily Beast

Tomasky makes some very good points in this video -- in fact he has nailed it in my book!

Michael Tomasky: 'They Can't Possibly Win an Election if They Say It'

As the scrutiny increases on the lack of specifics in the Romney-Ryan proposals, Michael Tomasky joins Tamron Hall on MSNBC's News Nation to discuss why the Republican ticket cannot get particular about which loopholes will be closed.

Romney is Losing -- It is Bush's Fault

Sorry couldn't resist with the headline.  Many of Romney's advisors come from the two Bush Presidencies, but now you are starting to hear without a George W. Bush Presidency, Romney would be winning.  That cracked me up because Romney is losing because of Romney as he has zero core issues or values with all the flip flopping he has been doing to pander for votes.

How could anyone tell where the man stands when he couldn't even go 24 hours without flip flopping yesterday on Obamacare -- first he has been saying for weeks that he would repeal Obamacare on Day One after the inauguration.  Then yesterday morning on Meet the Press Romney said he would keep some of the parts of Obamacare like pre-existing conditions, and less than eight hours later a spokesman for Romney said it wasn't true and then another update after that to clarify what had been clarified -- all in the same day!  How can you keep track of where he stands on issues?   Thought this comment from Salon summed it up nicely:

So Romney tried to sound like he supports it, when in fact, he doesn’t. I’m hoping David Gregory gets a chance to follow up, but that’s not likely.

Romney may be the most dishonest person running for President I can remember.  If he is trying to play the game like he is moving to the middle, it is obvious that he is a failure because as soon as his comments about Obamacare hit, the far right got up in arms, and he had to back track once and then twice but the damage was done.  Once again we saw Mitt Romney with no backbone and have no idea where he stands on issues.

When I read this article this morning, I couldn't quit chuckling.

September 10, 2012
Why George W. Bush Will Decide the Election 

Peter Beinart: "Mitt Romney is not a great candidate; Barack Obama is a better one. But without the Bush legacy, Romney would be leading this race. His problem is that except among staunch conservatives, Bush has so hurt the GOP's brand that Romney doesn't look like the fresh economic fix-it man that Republicans want to portray him as. Instead, it's all too easy for Democrats to paint him as George W. Bush the 3rd, just as they painted John McCain as George W. Bush the 2nd."

"Romney has tried to handle the Bush legacy the same way McCain did: by ignoring it. When Republicans convened in late August in Tampa, as in Minneapolis in 2008, Bush was not there. But in campaigns, ignoring your weaknesses rarely makes them go away. While at their convention Republicans tried to pretend that the Bush presidency never happened, the Obama campaign handed Bill Clinton the microphone and allowed him to define the race as Obama-Clinton versus Romney-Bush. The GOP, in Clinton's narrative, creates economic messes. Democrats clean them up."

Romney ignored the Bush Legacy so much he didn't deem it important to remember our troops in Afghanistan when he spoke at the GOP Convention and thinks Russia is our biggest geopolitical foe which has left him wide open for attacks from all sides.  Thanks to Romney, the Dems now own support of our military and foreign policy and took full advantage at the DNC Convention.  Strange election and getting stranger.  Knew Romney was a horrible candidate in 2008, but didn't realize how bad until this year when he is the nominee.

Thought I would add some comments from the posters who replied to the article to show what people think of the Bush's Fault angle:

Perhaps someone could explain to me how Bush's policies differ in any material way from the stated "GOP brand"? There isn't any. The GOP's biggest problem is they got everything they wanted from 2000-2008: lowest taxes in a century, rolled back regulations, continually more restrictive social policies, conservative judges everywhere, energy policy that starts and ends with OIL, denial of global warming, massive pay outs to the military-industrial complex, erosion of workers rights. And those policies so clearly led to the economic meltdown in 2008. 

So now they want to keep their policies and somehow blame Bush's "personal qualities" as the reason he failed? No. Huh uh. It is a failure of their policies, their party and the people who voted for them. It's time for them to stop their denial and seek help. (Big Guy Don)

Not true. Romney wouldn't be leading because most Americans see through him. Obama is the best politician in my lifetime while Romney is one of the worst GOP candidates in American History. (Maddy) 

I disagree with this point on many levels. One of which is that, the current Republican brand is more defined by the Tea Party, anti-ACA, and War on Women than the Bush presidency. (Bret Wask) 

Romney is explicitly advocating a doubling down on Bush policies across the board. He might even be worse than Bush's third term, since Bush probably learned more from his mistakes. (molosky)

These are just a few of the comments I have seen today about the undercurrent of "It's Bush's Fault" for Romney doing poorly.  Guess it is Bush's Fault that McCain chose Palin who turned out to be not ready for prime time or it is Bush's Fault for how poorly the Congress is rated or ______ fill in the blank.  All the while Bush 43 goes along minding his own business organizing aid to help out AIDS and health issues in Africa.

The Romney camp must have flipped out when they saw Obama had raised more then they did in August as they have been making snide remarks about Obama must not have raised much as he had not reported.  Then it hit he raised more.   Following the DNC Convention, Obama has raised money from over 800,000 donors which sets an all-time record.  Unlike the Romney camp, they look for small donations from a lot of people which translates into a lot of votes.  Romney looks to big donors with only one vote a piece.

What a way to start off the week with the conservative community blaming Bush!  Rush is saying the polls are wrong and Romney is doing better.  Based on the crowds for the two, I would agree the polls are probably off but it is in Obama's favor.  A campaign doesn't act like Romney's along with the excuses of the conservative pundits when a candidate is winning.  The GOP is stuck on stupid to have nominated a candidate that 2/3's of the GOP didn't like.

Their campaign to demonize Obama is not working either as more and more Republicans I talk with have had it with the RNC and the Republicans in Congress who are nothing but a group of obstructionists out to make Obama a one term President.  That seems to be the goal of Republicans in Congress rather then helping the American people with passing bills that would help the economy.  Looks like Republicans are willing to let Americans without jobs continue to suffer so they can make Obama look bad.  Voters need to remember that on November 6th and throw them out!

Just remember when Romney loses -- it is Bush's Fault.  I have received emails from several friends who are basically saying that is another reason to support GW -- he is tanking Romney!  I would agree with them it is another reason to like President Bush!

GOP and Romney/Ryan Dishonor Our Military and Veterans

When I read this article while looking up articles for Memorial Day this past May, I said it couldn't be true as the Republican Party I know would NEVER let this happen to dishonor Veterans.  Let me say right here and now that I was wrong.  I now believe the article is correct and that this Romney Republican Party puts defense department donors and social issues over the men and women in our military and our veterans.  Romney chose Paul Ryan to be his Vice President and supports his budget on the Department of Defense which is devastating to our veterans.  I have excerpted the article which details the facts:

GOP Dishonors Veterans Excerpts:

When most Americans today are honoring veterans’ sacrifice, Romney is six months into promoting giving veterans vouchers for their healthcare benefits to enrich the health care industry, and it informs where his true loyalties lie. Instead of increasing funding to care for the men and women who served in the military, Romney hopes to cheat them out of the benefits they earned. Romney’s hero and Republican’s courageous fiscal guru’s budget that passed in the Republican House of Representatives cuts $11 billion from veteran’s spending, or 13% less than President Obama proposes in his budget. In fact, in the nearly 100-page Ryan Path to Prosperity budget, the word veteran is not mentioned one time. Romney’s privatization scam would “be inadequate, and become more so over time, so that veterans who don’t make enough money to top them up would fail to receive essential care” according to noted economist Paul Krugman.

Republicans are warmongers who love sending America’s soldiers into harm’s way, but are ill-inclined to care for them after their service is over. Bush underfunded the Department of Veterans Affairs by approximately a billion dollars in 2005, and it took Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs, Jim Nicholson, begging Congress to pass emergency supplemental spending until they finally acted just to keep the doors open.

On this Memorial Day, it is important to remember our service members’ sacrifice by more than flying the American flag or saying “support our troops.” America promised its veterans to provide health care after their sacrifice and service, and the GOP dishonors them by cutting their benefits and promoting privatizing their health care. However, more than anything, a leader, or potential leader must think long and hard before sending them in harm’s way and it should only be as a last resort and not because a Mormon thinks he is a latter day American Israeli defending god’s chosen people or to secure oil. It is telling the Republicans will increase defense spending to start wars and kill Muslims, but when it comes time to care for the brave soldiers who fight their wars, they claim fiscal responsibility and slash their benefits and propose giving them vouchers that are insufficient to fund their health care.

President Obama is a staunch supporter of our military and especially veterans, and his reluctance to send them in harm’s way for no apparent reason has garnered condemnation from Romney and Republican warmongers who dishonor their commitment by slashing benefits and pushing for more wars. America owes it to its service members to support them during and after their service, and to employ them only to defend our nation; not to enrich the oil industry, Haliburton, or the defense industry. It is incumbent on all Americans to thank the brave men and women who defend our liberty every day by ensuring that we choose leaders who use their service prudently, and that after they have served, to fulfill the promise of providing the care they need; anything less dishonors their service and commitment. Republicans have shown they have as much contempt for veterans as they do for every other American, and it demonstrates they do not support the troops before, during, or after they send them to another needless war.

All you had to do was watch the GOP Convention to know that the military and our veterans didn't count.  Big freaking deal that Romney went to speak at Veteran's organizations busing in 200 people to be cheerleaders.  Did he tell those veterans he agreed with Paul Ryan's budget in cutting $11 billion from veteran's spending or 13% less than Obama proposed in his budget?  Bet not or they would have run him out of the hall.

Right after the GOP Convention, Bill Kristol went after Romney and the GOP for ignoring our troops fighting the war in Afghanistan.  He was right to go after them.  Wonder what he thinks now with Romney's comments to Fox yesterday:

September 07, 2012
Bonus Quote of the Day

"I only regret you're repeating it day in and day out. When you give a speech you don't go through a laundry list, you talk about the things that you think are important and I described in my speech, my commitment to a strong military unlike the president's decision to cut our military."

-- Mitt Romney, in an interview on Fox News, on why he didn't mention Afghanistan or praise U.S. troops in his convention speech last week. 

My guess is that Bill Kristol is going through the roof about now with what has happened to the Republican Party he once knew because it no longer exists as we witnessed at the GOP Convention that was about white America when you looked at the delegates.  That Convention didn't reflect America of today with less than 2% of the delegates being minorities.  Then your discover that the Romney outreach is now to white voters to attract their voters.  I am Anglo as you can get, but I find that campaign outreach reprehensible and disgusting.  We all Americans no matter where you came from and for Romney/Ryan to single out ONLY whites for votes has my blood boiling almost as much as their ignoring our military.


Can imagine that Senator McCain is rethinking his support of Romney after the GOP/Romney/Ryan Convention ignored our men and women fighting in Afghanistan along with our veterans.  Is this ignoring our military and the quote above what brought out the full opposition research on Romney given to Buzz Feed?  Read the details and you will discover that Romney has no core values but comes down on the side of where he thinks he can get the most votes.  Romney has been doing that since 1994 when he ran against Ted Kennedy for Senate and was all over the place about where he stood on issues.  He had a problem in 1994 answering questions with direct answers that has continued until today.  The Republican Party has nominated Romney to be President who has problems with the truth preferring to lie if it benefits him while dissing fact checking.

Romney, the GOP candidate,  IMHO is someone with 'zero' core values on issues as he is all over the place when asked questions that is, if he gives a straight answer.  Why did Romney get shoved at the GOP primary voters with rules changed, etc.?  Was it so he could self fund his campaign with all the donors he knew?  Then Romney adds Ryan as his sidekick and it goes from bad to worse as Ryan wants to cut $11B from veterans spending when we have more veterans today then ever who need those benefits.  Romney not only agrees with Ryan on the veteran's cuts but wants to add dollars to the DoD which they don't want.   Seems Romney/Ryan and the Congressional Republicans think the DoD needs more tanks which the DoD does not want but why stand in the way of what a big donor wants?

When a GOP Convention, which has always stood in modern times for our military, cannot even mention our troops serving in Afghanistan in dangerous conditions and then nominates a candidate who said that getting Bin Laden is a waste of money, you are going to lose the support of the military, veterans, and their families.  Did the GOP Convention even mention that Bin Laden was dead?

Don't know when the Republican Party turned on the military and the veterans but this is the same Romney and his group who wanted to use our military in Iran to take out the nuclear power plants sending our pilots into harm's way without thinking twice.  That mission would have been a suicide mission.  This group of saber rattlers like Romney consider Russia our biggest geopolitical threat.  Romney and his advisers are scary about how they would use our military.

Been around the military most of my adult life as I have stated on here many times. We have veterans in our immediate family including my daughter and her husband who is a retired disabled veteran -- both were in the Navy, my Dad was in WWII, my grandfather died from mustard gas from WWI, we have letters from family members who fought in the Civil War, and records of ancestors fighting in the Revolutionary War.  My Grandfather died when Dad was five years so he never really knew him.  It left a hole that never completely healed.

Today there are many families across America whose sons, daughters, husbands, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters did not come home from various wars we have fought.  There are others of our veterans who came home severely wounded who will need help the rest of their lives while others are partially disabled who need the help of the Veterans Administration.  Then there was the Vietnam Veterans who were treated badly when they came home and only in recent years have been recognized the same as our other veterans.  I had two high school friends who were killed in Vietnam and know countless others who had major problems.

This year on Memorial Day, President and Mrs. Obama honored those who served in Vietnam:

Published: May 28, 2012 at 6:34 PM 

WASHINGTON, May 28 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama called on Americans Monday to "truly honor and support" Vietnam War veterans on Memorial Day. 

This year's Memorial Day coincides with the 50th anniversary of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, Obama wrote in an op-ed column in Stars and Stripes. 

"After Vietnam, our veterans didn't always receive the respect and thanks they deserved. At times they were neglected and even shunned, which was a national shame," Obama said. "We've pledged many times since Vietnam that we would never let that happen again, and that we would give our veterans, especially our Vietnam Veterans, the respect and honor they deserve. This 50th anniversary is our opportunity to do it right." 

Obama visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington Monday to meet with "Vietnam veterans and their families for a ceremony to begin this 50th anniversary." 

"As this anniversary proceeds we will also continue working to ensure that our Vietnam Veterans -- and all veterans -- receive the services, respect, and support they have earned. 

Our efforts on behalf of Vietnam veterans are part of our larger effort to make sure our nation is serving all our veterans as well as they served us," Obama said. "And because no veteran who fights for our nation overseas should have to fight for a job when they come home, this country has made it a priority for businesses to hire veterans and provided resources that make it easier for veterans to find a job. 

"This Memorial Day, let's remember all those who've put on the uniform, served far from home, and laid down their lives so we can live ours in security and freedom," Obama said. "And let's take this opportunity to truly honor and support all those who served and sacrificed in Vietnam. That's what we'll be doing when we gather today at The Wall, and that's what we can all do together in the months and years ahead."

Read more at  UPI 

As someone who lived through the Vietnam War years, I can truthfully say it was about time that Vietnam War Veterans were recognized with the Wall that contains the names of those who gave their lives that was dedicated on November 13, 1982 by President Ronald Reagan, an American President who always honored our men and women who served along with our veterans.  Now on the 50th Anniversary of that War, President Obama chose to go to the Vietnam War Memorial to honor those men and women and meet with Vietnam Veterans and their families.

President Barack Obama has earned my respect along with his wife, Michelle, for their continued outreach to our military, veterans, and their families.  Didn't realize until this week about the outreach of Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, into the military and veterans communities.  All four as I have discovered have been honoring men and women with visits and encouragement that are not detailed by the news media unless you search for the details.

On November 6, 2012, this wife of a veteran will be casting her vote for Barack Obama who supports our military and our veterans.  It will be my first time voting for a Democrat for President but Obama has earned my vote and my respect.

Democrat Convention Honors Our Military and Veterans; Republican Convention Ignored Them

UPDATE from Mitt Romney on why he didn't mention the military in Afghanistan or foreign policy on his Fox interview with Bret Baier:

September 07, 2012
Bonus Quote of the Day 

"I only regret you're repeating it day in and day out. When you give a speech you don't go through a laundry list, you talk about the things that you think are important and I described in my speech, my commitment to a strong military unlike the president's decision to cut our military." 

-- Mitt Romney, in an interview on Fox News, on why he didn't mention Afghanistan or praise U.S. troops in his convention speech last week. 

Romney says in a speech you talk about things that are important -- guess our troops in Afghanistan are not important or our veterans to Romney.  The words I would love to use against Romney should not be used on a website.

******


This has been a strange two weeks for Republicans who have close ties to members of the military and veterans.  We sat through watching the Republican Convention expecting to hear thanks to our military now serving along with the veterans.  Basically nothing was said even by former Secretary of State Condi Rice.  It was disgusting and something that made me tune into the Democrat Convention to see if they were willing to support our troops and veterans.

I was blown away by the Democrats with their honoring our veterans starting on the first night.  First Lady Michelle Obama talked about meeting with the military and their families who have suffered through all of the deployments.  So many of the military and veterans you hear talk have tremendous respect for her continual outreach to the military, veterans, and their families so I wanted to watch her speech.  I was blown away at how much I enjoyed her speech compared to Ann Romney's who seemed condescending.

The comments coming from those at Fort Bliss where Obama made a visit last Friday to announce more mental health benefits and the draw down in Afghanistan was continuing on schedule made a huge impact on my view of President Obama.  They waited four hours in the heat to be able to see and hear the President speak not to mention the people waiting outside.  Can vouch for how hot it was as we were there for the OU/UTEP game which even at 10:00 p.m. it was still warm.

Last night veterans were on stage at the Democrat Convention along with a video honoring our active duty military and those veterans who served which brought tears to my eyes.  When the video of Vice President Joe Biden aired it showed when he was talking to those families who had lost loved ones, it came from the heart.  He lost his first wife and young daughter years ago in a car accident when they were hit by a truck.  His son has been deployed to the Middle East so he knows what it is like to be a parent with a son or daughter who is deployed.  Know what it is like to have a daughter deployed -- it seems like forever until they return.  The worst part of her deployment was the flight over and back in a plane that should have been sent to the boneyard.

A lot of the military had doubts about the President and First Lady but in four years the Obama's have shown how much they care for our men and women in uniform along with the veterans by their actions not just words.  Can truthfully say this is one issue that has swayed me to the side of Barack Obama.  He was willing to make the call on the mission to take out Bin Laden when Romney thought it was a waste of time.  Obama was right and Bin Laden sleeps with the sharks in the Indian Ocean.  Romney believes that Russia is our greatest geopolitical threat while Obama still thinks it is Al Qaeda and the terrorists.  Obama wins that one hands down as well.  Whoever is advising Romney is living in the Cold War days which ended in the early 90's.  Maybe Romney forgets he is running in 2012 not 1994.

What kind of Republican Party fails to honor our military at their Convention?  The Romney Republican Party has lost any chance I would ever vote for Romney/Ryan after watching the Democrat Convention and their showcasing the military and foreign policy.  Listening to their speeches this week, it felt more at home then the GOP which were more about I, I, I.  Jeb Bush is right that Ronald Reagan would never be elected by today's Republican Party.  This Republican Party with their lurch to the far right has basically told the rest of us to take a hike.  After November 6, 2012, a lot of us may take them up on it and walk out the door.

A Changing of the Guard
The Democratic Party is now the dominant foreign-policy party.
By Fred Kaplan|Posted Friday, Sept. 7, 2012, at 1:27 AM ET

The conventions these past two weeks—and particularly the final speeches Thursday night—have cemented the fact that the Democratic party is now the party of national-security policy; not just a wise or thoughtful foreign and military policy, but any kind of thinking whatsoever about matters beyond the water’s edge. 

For anyone who’s followed American politics the past 40 years, since the election between George McGovern and Richard Nixon, this is a staggering shift. 

It was the Democrats who talked Thursday night of their president’s “backbone” and “courage,” of the clear message he sent—as Vice President Joe Biden put it when talking about the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound—that “if you attack innocent Americans, we will follow you to the ends of the world.” By contrast, Biden recalled, Republican challenger Mitt Romney once said that it wasn’t worth “moving heaven and earth, and spending billions of dollars, just to catch one person.” 

More extraordinary still, it was the Democrats who saluted, mourned, and celebrated the “fallen angels” and “wounded warriors” of the U.S. military. Romney observed no such ritual, leaving Sen. John Kerry to note, in his speech Thursday night, never before had a wartime nominee for president, of either party, “failed to pay tribute to our troops overseas in his acceptance speech.” 

Not even the Republican convention’s foreign-policy surrogate, Condoleezza Rice, said much about the veterans—or anything at all about the Iraq or Afghanistan war, even though she had been George W. Bush’s most trusted foreign policy adviser for all eight years of his presidency and had thus played a big role in starting those wars. 

The clearest sign of the change in party dynamics was this: The Democrats feel so assured in their new role as guardians of national defense that they also talked openly about seeking peace, negotiating arms-reduction treaties with the Russians (which Romney opposes on the flimsiest of grounds), withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, and shifting money that was once spent on fighting wars to revitalizing our own cities—as Obama put it, “to do some nation-building right here at home.” 

Excerpt:  Read More at Slate

Ted Kennedy DNC Tribute Video with Clips from 1994 Debate with Romney

Some things never change.  Mitt Romney in 1994 did not want to show his plans if he was elected Senator and was called on it by Ted Kennedy.  Then there was the issue of Romney talking about his pro-choice stance -- Kennedy's comeback sounded like he could have been in the Republicans debate.  The clincher was when Ted Kennedy said that Romney had taken all his stances for his own which Ted Kennedy said if you give Romney two more weeks he would vote for him.   Like Senator Kennedy or not, you cannot dispute the video evidence from the 1992 debate for MA Senate which is at the front of the video. Now we know why that the RNC Chair Priebus was so livid at this archived video from the Kennedy/Romney debate.  His hero and benefactor got shown for what he was even in 1992 -- a flip flopper who will say what he thinks will get him votes.  

Cong John Lewis on Civil Rights and Voter Suppression

Cong John Lewis' powerful speech given a few moments ago:


This speech should make everyone stop and think about what is happening with the voting rights of everyone after what has been happening in states across America who are attacking minority voting and in the case of PA, the Republican Speaker of the House said that their new rules were going to elect Mitt Romney.
In Ohio at one time the length of voting hours were more in Republican counties then Democrat counties per the Republican Secretary of State.  Now a judge wants the Sec of State to appear to answer why the hours were changed to less hours then in the past.
Those are two examples of bringing back voting rules that hurt minorities which is so wrong that I have to ask once again, "What is wrong with today's Republican Party?"  Time for Republicans who do not agree with the direction of the GOP to stand up and be counted by speaking out against voter suppression in any state.

Republicans Plot Night of Pres Obama's Inauguration to Plot Making Him a One-Term President

Did they also cut a deal to make Romney the next candidate because of his money and donor ties?  They needed the money for 2010 so was Romney was the conduit?  How many Republicans have they lost who refuse to vote for Romney/Ryan over their shenanigans?  Betting the number is going up by the day with all the lies coming out of Republicans each and every day.

Last night when I heard Former President Bill Clinton talk about a meeting the night of the Inauguration of President Obama, I was shocked and decided this morning to find out what this was all about.  Remember these names of the people who had the audacity to meet on the night of President Obama's Inauguration to lay down the plans to make him a one-term President.  These people had no intention of working with the new President or for the American people:

According to Draper, the guest list that night (which was just over 15 people in total) included Republican Reps. Eric Cantor (Va.), Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), Paul Ryan (Wis.), Pete Sessions (Texas), Jeb Hensarling (Texas), Pete Hoekstra (Mich.) and Dan Lungren (Calif.), along with Republican Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.), Jon Kyl (Ariz.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), John Ensign (Nev.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.). The non-lawmakers present included Newt Gingrich, several years removed from his presidential campaign, and Frank Luntz, the long-time Republican wordsmith. Notably absent were Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) -- who, Draper writes, had an acrimonious relationship with Luntz. 

I can guarantee you that as a Republican for over 40 years, I would have quit the Republican Party in 2009 if I knew about this.  Instead I helped elect some of the worst candidates ever in other states in 2010 and swallowed the koolaid on the Ryan budget since his wife was from Oklahoma -- he seemed like a stand-up guy.  He was not a stand-up guy but someone from the far right that I used to get in arguments with on Free Republic as an active poster under the name "PhiKapMom."

In 2007, it came out in a Washington paper that I was part of the purge on Free Republic because I wasn't posting but I was in FL for my granddaughter's birthday and then going to Chicago for a visit with my new grandson.  Now that I look back with what I know now, it is beginning to make sense.  The purge showed how more common sense conservatives were already being destroyed by the far right.  Learned when I got back about the purge and the new websites that had formed.  Didn't understand it then, but do today -- the leadership of the Republican Party did not want voices of reason speaking out on websites.  Do I believe they sent out their minions to do the job?  Absolutely!

I was not part of the purge but never felt the same about a site that I had trusted for years and it culminated in my not posting much after 2008 since I had supported Rudy and didn't feel welcome so they might as well have purged me.  I would support Rudy all over again because he had some very good ideas and could care less about the social issues.  The 'my way or no way' crowd finally made me stop and realize they were too far right for me.  I don't remember the last time I even read the site but I am sure their posters would agree with this article from April which I missed because of being gone.

Cannot even tell you the contempt I have for this group since I helped get some of them elected.  Was told several years ago that Senator Jim Inhofe was one of the few honest people in the Congress -- like him or detest him -- he says what he thinks.  Knew something was wrong earlier this summer when he was talking about working with Senator Barbara Boxer on the Transportation bill to bring jobs to states and start to fix the infrastructure and had some harsh words for House Republicans.  I never thought I would see him working with Boxer or her with him.  Both put their partisanship aside for the good of Americans -- what a novel idea in this partisan Congress.  (sarcasm)

Senators Inhofe (R-OK) and Boxer (D-CA) along with Cong Lankford (R-OK) and other House members from both parties of the House Transportation Committee worked to get the bill passed in the House where the bill was being stalled.  The House was failing to act on the Transportation Bill that would bring jobs and help fix our infrastructure.  Can remember the frustration here in Oklahoma from these two members of Congress at how slow this bill was progressing when it should have been a slam dunk.   Finally on 28 June the House got a clue they had better act on the Transportation bill to help America by passing the bill with 55 Republicans and 108 Democrats in the House voting against the bill which was signed into law by the President the end of June.  With all the road construction going on in the states, would say between the stimulus and this House bill anyone who wants a job in road construction can find one.

Senators Inhofe and Boxer showed what can happen when you do put political partisanship aside and work for the good of all Americans.  Shame more members of Congress don't share their willingness to work together across the aisle putting partisan gamesmanship aside for the good of the American people. This article from April gives the reasons why this has become an obstructionist Congress:

Robert Draper Book: GOP's Anti-Obama Campaign Started Night Of Inauguration Posted: 04/25/2012 2:53 pm Updated: 04/26/2012 10:09 am 

WASHINGTON -- As President Barack Obama was celebrating his inauguration at various balls, top Republican lawmakers and strategists were conjuring up ways to submarine his presidency at a private dinner in Washington. 

The event -- which provides a telling revelation for how quickly the post-election climate soured -- serves as the prologue of Robert Draper's much-discussed and heavily-reported new book, "Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives." 

According to Draper, the guest list that night (which was just over 15 people in total) included Republican Reps. Eric Cantor (Va.), Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), Paul Ryan (Wis.), Pete Sessions (Texas), Jeb Hensarling (Texas), Pete Hoekstra (Mich.) and Dan Lungren (Calif.), along with Republican Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.), Jon Kyl (Ariz.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), John Ensign (Nev.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.). The non-lawmakers present included Newt Gingrich, several years removed from his presidential campaign, and Frank Luntz, the long-time Republican wordsmith. Notably absent were Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) -- who, Draper writes, had an acrimonious relationship with Luntz. 

For several hours in the Caucus Room (a high-end D.C. establishment), the book says they plotted out ways to not just win back political power, but to also put the brakes on Obama's legislative platform. 

"If you act like you're the minority, you're going to stay in the minority," Draper quotes McCarthy as saying. "We've gotta challenge them on every single bill and challenge them on every single campaign." 

The conversation got only more specific from there, Draper reports. Kyl suggested going after incoming Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for failing to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes while at the International Monetary Fund. Gingrich noted that House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) had a similar tax problem. McCarthy chimed in to declare "there's a web" before arguing that Republicans could put pressure on any Democrat who accepted campaign money from Rangel to give it back. 

The dinner lasted nearly four hours. They parted company almost giddily. The Republicans had agreed on a way forward: 

Go after Geithner. (And indeed Kyl did, the next day: ‘Would you answer my question rather than dancing around it—please?’) 

Show united and unyielding opposition to the president’s economic policies. (Eight days later, Minority Whip Cantor would hold the House Republicans to a unanimous No against Obama’s economic stimulus plan.) 

Begin attacking vulnerable Democrats on the airwaves. (The first National Republican Congressional Committee attack ads would run in less than two months.) 

Win the spear point of the House in 2010. Jab Obama relentlessly in 2011. Win the White House and the Senate in 2012. 

"You will remember this day," Draper reports Newt Gingrich as saying on the way out. "You’ll remember this as the day the seeds of 2012 were sown." 

Draper's timeline is correct. On Jan. 21, 2009, Kyl aggressively questioned Geithner during his confirmation hearings. On Jan. 28, 2009, House GOP leadership held the line against the stimulus package (Senate GOP leadership would prove less successful in stopping defections).
The votes, of course, can be attributed to legitimate philosophical objection to the idea of stimulus spending as well as sincere concern that the secretary of the Treasury should personally have a clean tax-paying record. But what Draper's book makes clear is that blunt electoral-minded ambitions were the animating force.

Whether or not that's shocking depends on the degree to which one's view of politics has been jaded. What's certainly noteworthy is the timing. When Mitch McConnell said in October 2010 that his party's primary goal in the next Congress was to make Obama a one-term president, it was treated as remarkably candid and deeply cynical. Had he said it publicly in January 2009, it would likely have caused an uproar.  

By extension, however, the Draper anecdote also negatively reflects on the Obama administration for failing to appreciate how quickly congressional Republicans would oppose the president's agenda. 

Source:  Sam Stein, Huffington Post

The nerve of these Republican members of Congress to meet on the night of President Obama's Inauguration to plot on how to make him a one term President is shocking not to mention disgusting.  What has happened to today's members of the Republican Party who will put politics and the Party ahead of what is good for America?  Their stalling tactics are causing the recession to last longer then it should.  Hope they are very proud of themselves for what they have done to this Country.  If anyone has any doubts about why many of us are refusing to support Republicans in 2012, read the above story and see just how dishonest the leadership of the Republican Party has become.

Thanks to Clinton, I went back and dug up this story to showcase just how the obstruction in the House and Senate was planned from Day One.  No wonder Olympia Snowe is not running for reelection as she was known for working across the aisle for all Americans.  The hostile takeover of the Republican Party by the far right and Romney is making a lot of us stop and think about staying in a party that is so far right they have lost their moral compass on what is best for all Americans.

Their racist attacks on the President and others have not gone unnoticed.  The bigotry of the Republican Party today is on display for all to see as leaders made their comments and innuendos toward the President and then run out to apologize not understanding how anyone could think the comment was racist.  That is pure Bravo Sierra on the part of the Republican Party leadership and the conservative pundits like Rush who has gone so far over the top in this election only someone who wants to be a follower not a thinker could stand to listen to his rhetoric which now we learn was planned from Day One.

Think twice and then think again before voting for national Republicans in this election unless you know them personally because frankly this group in the House need to be defeated along with some Senators.  Hope in 2014 that Kentucky Republicans get a clue and retire Mitch McConnell for the use of the filibuster leading to a record number to stop bills that would have helped the economy.  Looks like this group of House and Senate leadership care more about the big donors then the middle class many of who are Republicans.

Is this all about keeping the tax cuts for the rich along with the loopholes so they can continue to take deductions for expenses for their offshore business adventures off their income tax but don't have to claim any income?  Waiting for the other shoe to drop on that one!

Michelle Obama Sealed the Deal -- This Republican is Voting for Barack Obama!

After getting home last from attending the OU/UTEP game in El Paso Saturday night and spending Labor Day shopping in the town square in Santa Fe, NM, I watched this speech on You Tube wanting to see what Michelle Obama had to say to me versus the Ann Romney speech.  Turns out that Michelle Obama hit this speech out of the park with people like me whose family struggled to give us a life that was better than theirs.   Ann Romney's speech left this Republican cold as I thought it was condescending for the most part. The Romney family doesn't understand what it is like to really struggle -- more power to them but when Mitt Romney says to ask your parents for money for college or to start a small business, then Romney is out of touch with a lot of Americans.  I know my parents didn't have the money to fund college or start a small business and neither do a lot of other families. Michelle Obama's speech hit home to me about the sacrifices of our parents and grandparents. My Grandfather was a farmer who had purchased some land and a big house in a small farming town in Ohio. Tragedy struck one night when their farmhouse burned to the ground with only a few items saved and five children to feed. My Mom remembers that right after the fire her Dad said they had had a lot to be grateful for  as no one was injured including the pets all getting out.  He said we will rebuild and he did -- it is still the family farm home.  Grandpa became a Republican because of FDR's New Deal and its farm policy where farmers were paid for not growing crops because he considered that wrong.  He fought the Government for years on what he could grow. He ended up buying property in town when he retired from farming with the money he saved by being frugal.  He bought a house in the small town I grew up in but my grandparents hated being surrounded by houses so they bought a 10 acre piece of property three houses down from where we lived. My grandmother went back to raising her chickens -- she hated store bought eggs and my Grandfather got to have his huge garden which Grandma canned.  They worked hard their whole life to make things better for their children and grandchildren. My Dad's Mom lost her husband (my grandfather) to mustard gas from WWI when my Dad was five years old.  They didn't have social security back then so my Dad quit school after eighth grade to make money to help his Mom and little sister.  When Pearl Harbor was bombed on Dec 7, 1941, he enlisted the next day and sent home all the money he could to my grandmother.  My parents were married in Houston before he was shipped to Europe.  The work ethic that started with my Dad when he was a teenager stayed with him his whole life.  Even when he had bad arthritis in his knees and hip, he kept going to work in a foundry so that he could provide for his family.   My Dad was President of his local union -- used to have heated discussions about Unions as I believed in Right to Work.  Dad was also a staunch Republican who gave a speech at his Union's Convention that they had no right to take hard earned money from union dues and spend it on someone's political campaign without a vote of the members.  I was never prouder of him then I was that he would stand at the podium and give that speech which got a standing ovation.  His fellow employees always knew "Corky" was on their side -- he work as hard or even harder then anyone else and was respected not only by his fellow employees, but by management.  When the National Union struck for higher wages, the owner asked my Dad to be the Union Rep to negotiations from his foundry even though he was no longer President because he knew he was a fair man.When Dad had to take a disability, the foundry made sure he received extra pay to get him through the six months that Social Security took to get him the benefits.  Fortunately my grandparents had left their five children enough money to buy their homes and have extra in the bank to survive if something happened.   My brother and I were so lucky to grow up in a household with our Father that put his family first.  I was in high school when it hit me how much my Dad cared.  Mom was in the hospital for gallbladder surgery and Dad took me to JC Penney to pick up her coat from layaway.  As we were walking through the coat section, he looked at a winter coat and said that looks like you, try it on.  I loved the coat -- perfect for walking back and forth to school in winter.  I knew he didn't have a lot of money but he said I am buying it for you.  He took the money he was saving up to buy a new shotgun to go hunting to buy my coat.   The first fall I was out of school, I worked at Sears to make some extra money.  I asked my Dad if he had a wish what tools would he like.  I took the list and bought every tool on it putting it in layaway until I could pay it off.  It was the best Christmas I ever had watching him open the tools one by one with a huge grin on his face and Mom with tears rolling down her cheeks.  I wanted to pay him back for everything he had done for me when I was growing up.   My first car was my Grandfather's that I paid $10 a week.  Used to be my Grandfather's sidekick everywhere he went when I was growing up -- would sit with him on the porch swing talking about everything including politics.  When I got my driver's license, I drove him everywhere.  We had the most interesting discussions on that front porch.  That's where I learned about gardening. He used to tell me how proud he was that I was taking after my Uncle Dave on politics, because he believed we had all had an obligation to get involved.  Will never forget that afternoon when he told me to "always vote for the man not the party."  He went on to tell me that parties change like the direction of the wind and be prepared to be part of that change.  Then he would relate what made him a Republican.  He encouraged me to go to work for Wright-Patterson AFB and leave the 'scum' law firm I worked for so that's what I did. Met my husband at Wright-Patt, married, and had three children -- two daughters and a son.  Can remember to this day when he said in the summer I want you to quit and stay home with our daughter who after visiting Disney World did not want to go back to day care.  I quit, my son was born the next year, my husband was transferred to  Norton AFB, CA, the next year and our youngest daughter was born several years later in California.  No matter the ups and downs, I will always be grateful that I was able to be that Stay-at-Home Mom with our three children who was involved in their school activities throughout the years.  We wanted our children and now our grandchildren to have more than we had growing up.     Most important thing in my life is my Family including my Brother who I just want to the OU Football in El Paso (we won!).  Michelle Obama's speech hit home with me big time.  She was speaking for me and millions across America.   Without the student loan program my son would not be getting his PhD next spring and my youngest daughter would not be a Journalist who learned the value of ethics in journalism from Gaylord Journalism College where she spent hours working for The Daily Oklahoman newspaper on campus.  Both are OU Graduates and my son will be graduating with his PhD in Medieval Literature in the spring from Loyola University in Chicago. My oldest daughter served in the Navy after several years of college and is now a Stay-at-Home Mom with her two daughters.  Couldn't be prouder of my three children and the adults they have become. As I watched her speech, I realized that today's Republican Party is not the Party I knew who cared about our military (they were never mentioned at the GOP Convention), our veterans, our seniors, minorities and people less fortunate.  Today's Republican Party as reflected at the Convention cares about doing anything they can to win, including lying, cheating, and stealing votes by voter suppression.  The Republican Party is now run by rich white males with no core values which leaves me cold. Have been asked how I can support President Obama over Romney and the answer is simple -- we have been lied to by so-called conservatives and Republicans on who Obama really is.  He is American who cares about this Country not some foreigner as Romney and others try to portray.  When you have to lie about a candidate to get people worked up to vote for your candidate, then you have lost your moral compass.  That is what I am seeing today.  The whoppers against Obama are so far over the top, that I cannot believe what I am hearing.  That doesn't even include the racial overtones to some of their comments which they then come out an apologize for which is disgusting as they should know better then say some of this crap.  Today's Republicans in Congress refuse to pass bills that would grow our economy in order to make Obama look bad which is frankly disgusting and shows how small these people are -- they can have all the money in the world but they have zero integrity -- you cannot buy integrity. I do support Obama's reelection over Mitt Romney who doesn't understand those of us in the middle class who have contributed to his millions and made him wealthier from his time at Bain Capital.  The middle class  buying power has shrunk, while the wealthy have gotten wealthier since 2000.  Now the GOP has nominated a candidate who first cannot tell the truth and secondly has the nerve to say that we should borrow the money for college and starting a business from our parents.  That doesn't even include his attacks on the Endowments for the Arts and Humanities and PBS.  Just look at it this way -- Romney is attacking Big Bird which many of our children grew up with over the years.  Yet he wants to add dollars to the Defense Department so they can award more contracts to his big donors.  That smells. When you add his attacks on veterans, minorities, women, police, fire, teachers and civil service workers, I look at myself in the mirror and remember what Grandpa said years ago "vote for the man not the party" and that is what I am going to be doing on November 6th.  Romney has lost my vote while Barack Obama has earned that vote.  His wife, Michelle, sealed the deal with her speech last night.