"A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government." (Thomas Jefferson)
I agree there is a civil war coming between the common sense of Jeb Bush and the far right who want to go farther right. The far right has been allowed to take over the Republican Party and the Presidential election even supporting Romney because he had money? Whatever the reason the powers at be made sure that Romney got the nomination by changing rules, lost ballot boxes, and keeping people from voting in caucus states. Then there was the Convention where they basically told the Ron Paul people to take a hike. Romney thought he could win this by sitting back with all his money running negative ads against the President like he was going to fight back. Stupid strategy for a stupid campaign filled with white guys who seem to be angry all the time. Bob Shrum is correct about the GOP of today.
In an America where the party of angry white men increasingly speaks for and to a permanent minority, it could take another defeat and maybe another before the GOP comes to its senses.
Moreover, you can’t run on the economy if you don’t have specific economic proposals—or won’t answer basic questions about a 59-point plan that, in critical areas, offers zero details. In the latest New York Times/CBS numbers, the president now leads where Romney had for months: which candidate would “do a better job handling the economy and unemployment?” If Romney doesn’t have the economy, what can he run on? Banning contraception? Or bankrupting the auto industry?
Many of us with common sense told the RNC we would NEVER support Romney and in my case I was going to support the Libertarian Johnson until I saw he followed Ayn Rand -- did it for me as I finally decided to go all in and support President Obama. They didn't believe many of us as they had convinced themselves in the end that Bush/McCain people would hate Obama so much that we would vote for Romney. I would have voted for Jimmy Carter over Romney which speaks volumes. I cannot think of many I wouldn't support over Romney except people from the far right who with Romney drove me to support Obama who is not fighting a war against women, military, veterans, minorities, teachers, police, fire, and federal civil service.
After I decided to support Obama, began to pay attention to facts and learn how many lies Republicans had been telling about the President and the obstructionist tactics they had used that hurt the American people in order to keep Obama to one term. Now I understand how those same members of Congress could support a Mitt Romney and his win at any cost mentality as they have that same mentality putting Party over Country.
Since this family gets a retirement from Air Force Civil Service and now supporting Obama looks like I am now joining the 47%. This is a game changer and I do not believe the polls as I think Obama is winning in bigger numbers because pollsters are not factoring in the Republicans who will never vote for Romney. Our numbers are growing daily. Today Senator Scott Brown tossed Romney under the bus along with CT Senate candidate McMahon. How many more Republican candidates are going to throw Romney under the bus or face defeat.
John Heilemann, who knows a game change when he sees it, rendered a damning verdict in New York: “Romney … badly missed the mark.” Heilemann cited the array of GOP leaders, strategists, and commentators who declined to offer even faint support or instead outright rebuked their own candidate, on and off the record. He pointed to the broader narrative emerging in the media across the ideological spectrum: Romney is losing, knows he is losing, and is starting to panic.
What is going to happen to the Republican Party after November 6th? Throw a dart because most of us have no clue and frankly right now unless Jeb Bush takes the Party back more to the center, I have no intention of supporting Republicans as long as Cantor/Ryan/Santorum faction run the party -- they are way too far right for me. The big question is whether Jeb will even stay in the Republican Party if it goes more to the right. My money is on him and Jon Huntsman thinking 3rd party because neither are going to be at home in an anti-immigration, anti-woman, anti-everything religious right party where party is put over Country and if you don't do as they say they want you out.
GOP Civil War Is Coming as Mitt Romney Campaign Flails in Video’s Wake by Robert Shrum
The video carping about government moochers may well have sealed it. Mitt Romney is going down, and the fight already is on for the future of the Republican Party. The battle will be bitter—and prolonged, says Robert Shrum.
There is a civil war gathering in the Republican Party. It looks more and more like a dispirited and disappointed collection of factions, preparing to lay blame for a lost presidential election and to do battle to shape a new direction for the Grand Old Party.
Last week the view hardened that the Republican nominee was in close to terminal trouble. Having lost the summer as he let the Obama campaign define him, having lost the conventions when he let Clint Eastwood step all over his acceptance speech, Mitt Romney spectacularly lost his head on Sept. 11 during the mob attack on U.S. diplomats in Egypt and Libya. He came across as a low-life opportunist rushing to exploit a national tragedy in order to score political points and then doubling down on this venal dumbness with a smirking and contentious press conference. This week he may well have finished the job, with a video leaking of him referring to 47 percent of the electorate as government moochers.
Romney’s advisers have taken to bashing the press for covering the bad news, a near-certain sign of a losing campaign, as is the simultaneous effort to quarrel with the methodology of polls showing him trailing in the battleground states with almost no way of reaching 270 electoral votes. The surveys were largely in the field before Romney’s graceless and craven charge that the Obama administration sympathized with those who murdered the nation’s ambassador to Libya and three other Americans. More polls are on the way, and for Mitt the Knife, with his self-inflicted wounds, most of the numbers won’t be pretty.
(snip)
There are the ritual caveats. The Republican standard-bearer could transform the race during the debates. Despite the Obama enterprise’s predictable and tactically savvy efforts to pump up the deflated expectations for his performance, Romney seems unlikely to morph into a latter day John F. Kennedy. It’s far more likely that he will be on the defensive about his false claims and his Medicare-shredding, Social Security–threatening, education-slashing, middle-class tax-raising policies, all designed to shower more money on those who already have the most.
(snip)
Or maybe exogenous events will ride to the rescue. But one of them, last week’s Federal Reserve decision to launch an open-ended third round of “quantitative easing,” helps the stock market and Obama in the short run and the unemployed over a longer term. The decision strengthens perceptions that the nation is on the right track, a sentiment already on the rise in the wake of Bill Clinton’s and President Obama’s convention speeches. Chasing another news cycle and the tale of his own flagging campaign, Romney promptly and predictably condemned the Fed for doing its statutory job, which is not only to control inflation but also to promote job creation and full employment. It was a transparent tic from a candidate who’s been rooting for a slowdown all along.
What else is left, another foreign crisis? First, that’s when Americans tend to rally around a president, especially one who’s demonstrated coolness, judgment, and a sure sense of command, which is exactly what Obama has done. He’s in an extraordinary position for a Democrat of holding a decided advantage on foreign policy, national security, and fighting terrorism. In contrast, Romney instinctively says the wrong thing, which frequently makes him look not only out of touch but out of his depth, unready for a job that demands the capacity to cope with unanticipated and potentially mortal dangers.
And Romney won’t make up lost ground by pursuing a makeover on daytime TV. Last week he told Kelly Ripa that he’s a “fan” of Snooki from Jersey Shore and likes to sleep wearing “as little as possible.” The latter elicits an image we didn’t need. The show was taped as the Middle East upheaval escalated. It wasn’t humanizing, but cringe-inducing. “Jersey Shore canceled—and Romney soon will be,” was the reaction of one Republican pro.
After the first debate, see if the doubts become a rout. One measure will be the conduct of the Republican super PACs. The corpulent moneybags of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson probably will continue to flow into the presidential ad wars; after all, Adelson stuck with Newt Gingrich as Gingrich struck out in the Republican primaries. But hardheaded operatives like Karl Rove could shift their resources to Senate and House contests. They’ll deny it even if they do it. And it wouldn’t be good news for Democrats; the possibility—or probability—is already worrying party officials.
Such a scenario also would set the stage for the GOP’s post-Romney civil war. The Tea Party Republicans who detest, or more accurately hate, this president will be maddened by his reelection. They will rage against it as illegitimate, stolen, un-American. You name it, they’ll say it. And they will tear at the GOP’s 2012 nominee as insufficiently conservative and insist that Republicans in the Senate and House block a second-term Obama at every turn.
A prudent party might venture at least a measure of cooperation and compromise, to prevent the standing of Republicans from collapsing as the economy moves back to prosperity. This is what smart GOP strategists will recommend. And it’s precisely what John Boehner will fear to do lest he lose his House speakership—or with hope, his minority leadership—to the lean and hungry Eric Cantor.
So with Romney consigned in 2013 to his four-car elevator mansion in La Jolla, Calif., the president may face daunting challenges to governing even as he once again reaches across the aisle. His mandate could prove momentary, which is what happened to Harry Truman, who achieved almost nothing domestically in the four years after his upset win in 1948. At least this time, the Supreme Court will be saved from a right-wing coup and health-care reform won’t be dispatched to extremist defenestration. And Democrats could hold the high ground for elections to come.
This outcome—in an Obama second term, in 2016, and campaigns beyond—will be magnified or modulated by the course of the irrepressible conflict between the Jeb Bush Republicans and the Paul Ryan Republicans. The two men represent very different paths. Bush stands for a tempered conservatism; he understands the impending demographic doom of a reactionary, anti-Hispanic Republican Party. He’s writing a book on immigration; as he said this summer:
“Don’t just ... say immediately we must have controlled borders. Change the tone ... think we need a broader approach.” Ryan, on the other hand, champions a hardline approach on immigration, along with virtual repeal of the New Deal and the social progress of the 1960s.Bush’s attitude—I’ll borrow from his father and call it “a kinder, gentler” conservatism—could be broadly acceptable in the country, even if his brother George was all but anathema at the 2012 Republican convention.
Ryan is out of step with the majority of Americans not only on immigration but on his budget plans and across a wide range of domestic policy. If Romney goes down, then Bush, the practical choice, and Ryan, likely to be lionized on the right, will be the 2016 front-runners for each faction of the GOP. Meanwhile, Republicans on Capitol Hill will have to determine whether to be modestly practical—or relentlessly ideological.
Which way will this civil war go?
Undoubtedly it will be bitter. The true believers will fulminate that they were tricked by the establishment into accepting Romney, John McCain, and free-spending, big-government fellow traveler George W. Bush. The Tea Partiers are a minority in America but almost certainly a majority in what could become a smaller and smaller Republican Party. And the GOP’s experience in California suggests that one beating, or even several, may not yield a GOP self-correction but a dug-in revanchism. The state party’s response has been to lurch rightward. The result, as McCain’s chief 2008 strategist Steve Schmidt predicts, is that Republicans could soon become “the third party” in the nation’s largest state—behind Democrats and independents.
In an America where the party of angry white men increasingly speaks for and to a permanent minority, it could take another defeat and maybe another before the GOP comes to its senses. Surely Romney himself would have been better off in the general election if he had defended his Massachusetts health-care reform and sounded occasional notes of pragmatism and compassion. But then, of course, he never would have been the nominee. He could even have let us assume he wore pajamas to bed. Now hovering over his apparently desperate march toward a concession speech is the specter of Republicans fighting their protracted civil war.
Someday, somehow, someone will do for the conservative side of our politics what Bill Clinton did as the progressive who brought Democrats back to the mainstream. But post-2012, maybe even Ryan won’t be pure enough; it could be full-Santorum ahead.
Republicans in the House can now be called 'hypocrites' with the last session of Congress almost in the books. They will go down in history as being obstructionists for two years whose primary purpose was to make the President look bad so he would be a one-term President. All we heard out of Republicans in 2010 was elect us -- we will work for the people unlike the Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi which we now know was a very large pile of Bravo Sierra.
Four years ago, Republicans objected when then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) adjourned Congress for a five-week August recess without bringing up their energy legislation. Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) shouted “Madame Speaker, where art thou? Where oh where has Congress gone?” Now, they plan a two month vacation, even if it means allowing vital programs to expire and working families to suffer.
These group of House Republicans just came back from their 5-week vacation and now are set to take the next two months off leaving a lot of bills on the table as they go back to their districts to try and save their seats. They would have a better chance of saving their seats if they actually stayed in DC to get their work done. For their vacation in August they never officially adjourned because they couldn't get the votes but left anyway.
Republicans promised if we elected them in the Majority in the House in 2010 they would run things the right way with transparency, inclusiveness, and plenty of notice about bills that were going to be brought to the floor. That didn't last long as they became as bad as the previous two years of Democrat rule and in some cases worse. With voting 33 times to repeal ObamaCare, the House cost the taxpayers almost $50M and yet they want us to re-elect them?
There are a lot members of the House who refuse to work with any Democrats on bills which means they never learned that once elected they represent all people in their district just not Republicans. I still have not gotten over the 3rd bill of this new House led by Republicans (HR3 -No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act) co-sponsored by 227 Republicans which tried to define rape and to have no exceptions for abortion:
Paul Ryan And Todd Akin Co-Sponsored And Voted For The “No Taxpayer Funding For Abortion Act,” Which Redefined “Rape” As “Forcible Rape” In Order To Limit Federal Funding Of Abortion Procedures. In 2011, Ryan and Akin co-sponsored the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act. According to the Washing Post, “[a] Republican bill seeking to permanently cut off federal funding for abortions has angered women's groups that say it alters the definition of rape, permitting coverage for the procedure only in cases in which the rape is considered ‘forcible.’
Social issues along with making Obama a one-term President became the most important thing to this group of Republican House members, not the Country.
Nancy Pelosi was reminiscing about working with President Bush and how they didn't agree on a lot of things but did work together for two years unlike today's Republican obstructionists. The Reagan/Tip O'Neill disagreements are legendary but they did find common ground on what was best for the Country. Until this group of Republicans took control in the House in January 2011, the opposition party in the House was able to find some type of common ground with the President over the years not only on large issues but on smaller issues.
Not this group of Republicans whose sole intent was to oppose the President at all costs to the American people including not wanting to pass bills that would help the economy grow along with jobs. These Republicans sacrificed what was good for all Americans by putting Party over Country. They don't deserve to be in leadership after what we have been witnessing for the last two years.
This two-month vacation is just another slap in the face to the American people when you look at the bills they are leaving on the table. If the House Republican Conference had worked with this President like Speaker Boehner was trying, we wouldn't be worrying about a Sequester bill outcome. Every time Boehner thought he had an agreement, the far right House members would undermine the agreement he had made with the President. Cantor's sole purpose seemed to be to get the Tea Party Republicans in the House to line up against any agreement with Obama. Now this group of Republicans is going on a two-month vacation to try and convince voters they should remain in charge while leaving key bills awaiting action:
House Republican Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) announced Friday that after next week, the House will stand in recess until November 13. His plan for a nearly two month vacation will undoubtedly allow more time for campaigning, but will leave several vital bills awaiting action.\
Among the important legislation the House will likely not address before the November elections:
1. Violence Against Women Act re-authorization. Though a bipartisan Senate majority passed the a strong re-authorization bill in April, the Republican House leadership refused to allow a vote on the Senate version of the bill. The House passed a watered down version on a mostly-party lines vote, leaving victims to wait for House action.
2. The American Jobs Act. Republicans have been blocking President Obama’s jobs legislation for more than a year. Though House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) promised in 2010 that a GOP Congress would focus on job creation, he has blocked this bill’s immediate infrastructure investments, tax credits for working Americans and employers, and aid to state and local governments to prevent further layoffs of teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public safety officials.
3. Tax cuts for working families. In July, the Senate passed a bill extending tax-cuts for the first $250,000 in annual income. The Republican House leadership has refused to consider the bill, holding it hostage to their demands for a full extension of Bush-era tax cuts for millionaires.
4. Veterans Job Corps Act. The Senate is currently considering bipartisan legislation to help America’s veterans find jobs. The Air Force Times reports that the Republican House has “shown no interest” in the legislation to support those who served the country.
6. Farm Bill. Despite strong support for a 5-year farm bill from even conservative groups like the Farm Bureau Association — the House leadership has not scheduled a vote on the bill. The current law expires September 30. Without passage, 90 percent of the work of the Department of Agriculture could be defunded.
These, in addition to drought assistance, postal service reform, addressing the Estate Tax, cybersecurity legislation, fixes for Medicare reimbursement rates and the Alternative Minimum Tax, and all 12 of the FY 2013 Appropriations Bills remain unaddressed.
Some of you might ask why a Republican would use Think Progress for a source but frankly most conservative sites are unwilling to state the truth because it shows Conservatives and Republicans do not have the best interest of the Country in mind. They prefer to be cheerleaders like Fox News, Rush, Hannity, and others for Republicans no matter the cost to the Country and the American people. All you have to do is take this one bill that is being obstructed by Republicans in the House that could lead to defunding 90% of the Department of Agriculture to know all they care about is the Party and electing Romney/Ryan. They do not seem to care about the people of America who would be affected by their obstructionists tactics:
The 2012 Farm Bill is still languishing in the House, with GOP leadership in the chamber intentionally preventing action on the legislation for political reasons. According to the New York Times, “House leaders declined to take up either [the Senate or the House] version of the legislation. They are not eager to force their members to take a vote that would be difficult for some of them, nor would they wish to pass a measure largely with Democrats’ votes right before an election.”
But without a new five-year Farm Bill or at least a temporary extension of current legislation, the Department of Agriculture may be forced to shutter almost all of its operations.
The Farm Bill serves as a mass funding mechanism for the USDA — it provides funding for roughly 90 percent of the Department’s operations, meaning those operations may have to shut down if the Farm Bill isn’t renewed. According to the National Sustainable Agriculture Commission, the effect of even a temporary shutdown could be long-lasting:
USDA would be forced to occupy a multiple-month holding pattern, temporarily stopping many services and programs. Program administration involves a certain amount of planning and preparation, stakeholder input, rulemaking, and outreach. Even if program opportunities aren’t announced until later in the year, the preparation work that leads up to announcements takes time and certainty. Programs can’t simply be “turned off” and then “turned on” again with the expectation that program delivery and administration will not suffer.
The programs that the NSAC believe would be affected include “all the major programs for beginning and minority farmers, farmers markets, organic agriculture, renewable energy, and rural economic development” and new enrollment in the “the Wetland Reserve, Grassland Reserve, and Conservation Reserve Programs.” USDA programs funded by the Farm Bill are critical to addressing the crippling drought that has spread over four-fifths of the United States. The USDA also takes a lead role in shutting down brutal factory farms and administers the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), a cost-effective food assistance program for needy families.
This isn’t to say that the House bill is necessarily worth passing in its current form — the House version contains, among other things, deep cuts to critical food stamp programs. But failure to pass at least a stopgap necessary to keep USDA could have dangerous consequences.
In some ways this is sad to me as I have been a lifelong Republican going back to knocking doors for Republican candidates as a charter member of the Ohio Teenage Republican Club. For years I have worked campaigns and defended Republican candidates including in 2010, but this Congress and the nomination of Romney/Ryan has taken off my blinders on the Republican Party. This is not the party of my parents or myself as I do not condone the actions of the House, the Senate with all their filibusters to keep bills from passing that would help the American people and economy, the RNC who made sure Romney was the candidate, and Romney/Ryan who have a problem with the truth preferring to lie and spin in most cases.
Then you have the so-called Republican/conservative pundits defending Romney/Ryan and Congressional Republicans like Fox News, Rove, Rush, Hannity, Beck, Medved, and others who will spin and lie to get Romney elected along with Republicans in Congress. Rush has made some of the nastiest remarks against a sitting President I have ever heard. His comments and those of others are pure trash and show a group of people who hate has become their most important weapon.
We will start to cover Congressional races leading up to Nov 6th in the days ahead. We need new Congressional leadership in both parties IMHO no matter who takes control. Tired of the far right and the far left in Congress trying to dictate their views which are outside the mainstream to the rest of us who believe in common sense and what is good for all Americans just not a few.
Jointed VoteVets.org to support veterans running for office. The way that Romney and the Republican Party ignored Active Duty and Veterans during their Convention lost them a lot of votes. Romney calling them a laundry list has not gone over well. I now support veterans running no matter the party because they have more integrity then a lot of today's members of Congress especially from the Republican Party who want to cut $12B from Veterans in the budget while wanting more dollars for their fat cat DoD contractors.
Thanks to Joshua Bunce for his service to our Country and for being willing to stand up against Mitt Romney!
Just maybe these comments by Santorum are the missing puzzle piece to explain this election and how some Republicans who I thought had better sense jumped on the Romney bandwagon. Others of us could see right through the Romney facade in 2008, but have to admit he has taken it to a new low in 2012. This could explain some of the outrageous remarks I see on various websites defending Romney not only on Libya but now his attacks on China which is really dumb since they own a lot of our debt. Romney attacking China is beyond stupid, it is dangerous to our economy. These comments by Santorum make me so happy at the last minute I could not cast my vote for him in the primary and threw it away voting for Governor Perry:
Speaking Saturday at the Values Voters Summit, Rick Santorum said that “smart people” would never side with conservatives. Watch it, via RWW.
Santorum also claimed “the media” and “colleges and universities” would not be “on our side” because “they want to tell you what to do.”
Rather, according to Santorum, the conservative movement will be supported by “the church and the family.” This summer, however, a group of Catholic nuns have launched a bus tour “to shed light on the effects the House Republican budget would have on the people.
Did Santorum just say that if you are smart, you will never be conservative? Guess he includes himself in that and after some of his dumb statements in the primary, I would tend to agree. This makes me even happier that I no longer consider myself a part of today's conservative movement because they are so far right if you don't think and talk like them, then you are considered a 'socialist,' a 'communist,' or even 'un-American.' They have become and the judge and jury of freedom of speech which only applies to what they and other conservatives have to say.
Over the many years I have been around politics I have seen dumb and dumber from both sides but this just might take the cake this week with Romney -- first on Libya and Egypt and now taking on China. First of all it is a long standing tradition that Presidential candidates don't involve themselves in foreign affairs when the Country is in the middle of a crises. Not only did Romney involve himself in the Libyan crises but he got it wrong while trying to score political facts. Now the man who while at Bain made millions of dollars from outsourcing jobs to China is attacking China. If that is not dumb then I don't know the meaning of the word dumb.
You shake your head at the abject stupidity of a man running for President and will also throw in some of the Republicans members of Congress who cannot quit bashing China. Did the Romney Republican members honestly think they could bash China and sooner or later they wouldn't strike back?
Xinhua said such China-bashing had been "a cancer in U.S. electoral politics, seriously plaguing the relations between the two countries.
"It has also become a handy tool for U.S. politicians who try to court the votes and support of ill-informed voters by ratcheting up antagonistic sentiment towards China, while truly serious social and economic woes within the United States have been left unfixed."
Liked the fact that the China News Agency threw it back at Romney that he had made millions from sending jobs to China after Bain closed American plants outsourcing the work to China. We are dealing with a candidate who not only doesn't believe rules apply to him, but we are supposed to believe everything he says as facts don't matter. Romney supporters obviously do not deal with reality or they would not be bashing the rest of us for telling the truth. Hard to believe that any thinking person could support Romney after this last week.
BEIJING, Sept 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's attacks on China and promise to name the country a currency manipulator if elected are foolish and hypocritical, China's official Xinhua news agency said on Friday.
In a strongly worded English-language commentary, Xinhua said Romney's anti-China rhetoric, if converted into policy upon him assuming office, would trigger a catastrophic trade war and damage the already weak global economic recovery.
"It is rather ironic that a considerable portion of this China-battering politician's wealth was actually obtained by doing business with Chinese companies before he entered politics," Xinhua wrote.
"Such blaming-China-on-everything remarks are as false as they are foolish, for it has never been a myth that pushing up the value of China's currency would be of little use to boost the chronically slack job market of the world's sole superpower, not to mention to magically turn the poor U.S. economic performance around."
Romney has repeatedly pledged to get tougher with China on its trade and currency practices, including pledging to quickly declare China a currency manipulator if elected.
His opponent, President Barack Obama, has accused Romney, who founded and led private equity firm Bain Capital, of outsourcing jobs to both India and China.
China says the yuan's exchange rate is essentially set by market forces, and that the currency has appreciated about 30 percent against the dollar since a landmark revaluation in 2005.
The Chinese government has generally been silent in the run-up to the November presidential poll due to a policy of non-interference in the affairs of other countries.
But state media has waded into the debate to lambaste what it sees as attempts to play the "China card", in a reflection of official thinking and concern the country's name is being unfairly dragged through the mud overseas.
(snip)
The United States should "put its own fiscal house back in order, substantially slash its tremendous military expenditure, and optimise its economic structure", it added.
"It is advisable that politicians, including Romney, should abandon ... short-sighted China-bashing tricks and adopt at least a little bit of statesmanship on China-U.S. ties." (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Ron Popeski)
Is Romney trying to start a Cold War with China like he wants to do with Russia? This recent chain of events starting with Romney's ill timed lies to score political points even before all the details. He blamed the President and then Secretary of State for the uprisings in Libya and Eygpt which led to Al Qaeda using the demonstrations for cover to attack and kill four people including the Ambassador at the Libyan consulate. Santorum, the Romney mouthpiece, is also blaming Obama for the deaths. The Romney camp including the candidate would not admit for several days the demonstrations were set off by a radical trashy film against Islam which he originally refused to condemn until he saw the tide had turned against him and his comments. How many Republicans who say they support him are actually going to vote for him on November 6th?
Romney's attacks on Obama and SoS Clinton have now been compounded with his attacks on China as he panders to the far right. These attacks on China are making his big donors and some fellow Republicans nervous who are now saying behind the scenes that they don't believe he would follow through what he says he would do against China if elected. Get that -- HE WOULDN'T FOLLOW THROUGH WHAT HE IS SAYS HE WOULD DO AGAINST CHINA IF ELECTED. This is an admission by the people who know him that you cannot believe what he says. Imagine that -- been saying that for over a year and in 2008. What if they are wrong and he does follow through?
And if he did, many analysts say, he’d likely spark a disastrous and counter-productive trade war that would hurt both American consumers and the workers he says he’s trying to protect. But Romney advisers say voters shouldn’t expect him to back off the tough talk if he gets elected, and other experts say fears of a “trade war” are overblown since the Chinese need the American market just as much consumers like cheap Chinese imports.
If the rest of his advisers are as out of touch with the real world as Williamson was about his comments blaming Obama for Libya and Egypt not the film, the Romney camp is in trouble on foreign policy. It started with the Romney attack calling Russia our #1 geopolitical foe and now these China attacks show a Cold War mentality from not only his advisers but the candidate himself. Then there are Rush's comments which the conservative sites along with Fox News picked up saying Al Qaeda gave up Bin Laden to help Obama. Noted that Rush says something and the next day the Romney campaign takes up the same mantra.
Romney and his campaign need to be so thoroughly defeated that they can never rise from the ashes again with these former Bush/Reagan advisers now working for Romney sent to the trash heap of history with comments like Williamson and others made this week. Then you have the Rush comments siding with the lies Romney told about Libya and Egypt. My favorite was Fox News where Sen McCain got in a dust-up with Hannity. Seems that Hannity, the foreign policy expert (sarcasm), couldn't believe McCain wouldn't agree with him. Any candidate who hires these foreign policy advisers who work for Romney or follows instructions of the foreign policy experts Rush, Hannity, Beck and Fox News deserves to lose big.
Now some donors and Republicans have doubts about Romney on China. Maybe it is because they are finally seeing Romney releasing what he would do if elected, and it is not what they expected. Shame on them for believing anyone who says you have to elect me to see my plans. That should be an automatic disqualification for any candidate.
Doubts grow on Mitt Romney’s China threats By BEN WHITE | 9/15/12 4:07 PM EDT
Mitt Romney is hoping his tough talk on China policy will win him votes — but few of his big business donors or fellow Republicans support what he’s saying or believe he’d follow through if elected.
The Republican nominee has renewed his sharp line of attack on President Barack Obama’s China policy, arguing in a new ad, on the stump and in a fundraising pitch to supporters that he would take a much brawnier approach to the abusive Chinese trade practices. He’s repeatedly said one of his first acts as president would be to formally label China a currency manipulator and slap punitive tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S.
“I want to make sure that if a nation cheats like China has cheated, we call them on the carpet and don’t let it continue,” Romney said this week in Virginia, returning to what’s been a recurring theme of his campaign.
That may play well in the Rust Belt, where automobile and other manufacturers are especially vulnerable to China’s trade policies and there’s wariness of Obama’s less confrontational approach.
But there’s fear that Romney’s threat — if actually carried out — could damage the U.S. economy. The Chinese could retaliate by slashing purchases of U.S. debt, driving up our interest rates. Any new tariffs on Chinese exports would also increase prices for U.S. consumers, who have grown accustomed to cheap Chinese goods filling U.S. store shelves.
Branding China a currency manipulator also could stop cooperation in other areas of dispute and force all disagreements to go before the WTO, which could take years to reach a ruling of uncertain consequences.
“What would happen is we would badly damage our relations with the Chinese while also raising the question of consistency regarding other nations that also manage their currency,” said Tony Fratto, a former Bush administration economic adviser and spokesman.
(snip)
“It is unclear what China’s initial reaction would be [to Romney’s proposed actions]. But none of the scenarios are positive,” the executive added. “Will they ban some of our exports? Maybe. Will there be crippling tariffs? Maybe. It would set into motion a very unpredictable and possibly very damaging series of events.”
Daniel H. Rosen, a partner at the Rhodium Group and an expert on the Chinese economy, said there would be a wide-ranging effect to the policies the Republican nominee is championing. “If a Romney presidency starts with aggressive new unilateral tariffs for China, then American firms from General Motors to General Electric and Microsoft should all plan ahead for retaliatory treatment,” Rosen explained.
Maybe Santorum is right that Romney needs the far right that basically is not very smart behind him because those of us who think can see through the con man. That is one reason why many of us have joined Republicans for Obama to support the President against this 'severely' conservative flawed candidate, Romney.
This video comes from MoveOn.org, but before anyone says you cannot believe what they say, the facts in this video checks out. Many of their facts have been reported and sourced on this site and others. This is a strange election where sites I thought I could believe don't think twice about lying today if it will get Romney votes. When you fact check those sites, you discover, they are stretching the truth or outright lying for Romney and Congressional Republicans/Candidates. Yet when you go to more progressive sites, you find sourced truth about what is happening.
Anyone who thinks the Republican Party is not trying to do voter suppression is not paying attention.
When I watched this video, was taken back about the facts from an organization I have been led to believe over the years never told the truth. Looks like that is another one of those lies Republicans have been fed over the years. Facts speak for themselves.
Someday I am going to have to do a post apologizing for having my head buried in the sand of Republican Party lies. Karl Rove IMHO may be the worst thing to ever happen to the Republican Party with his win at any cost mantra. What I want to know is why people I thought were honest are so dishonest in the Congress to obstruct bills that would help the American people so they can help make Obama a one term President.
Blinders are off -- I detest what I am seeing out of the Republican Party where in Ohio the Secretary of State at one time this summer was going to give longer voting hours in a Republican County then a Democrat County. In Ohio, the State GOP is admitting voter suppression is aimed at minorities. Judges in four states are rejecting GOP plans for voter suppression including Ohio, Florida, Texas, and Wisconsin. Then you have Pennsylvania where their Supreme Court heard the case this week on the difficulty of obtaining a photo ID card. Most telling was a justice holding up the ID that is used to get into secure areas of the court house by justices with a picture that cannot be used because it doesn't have an expiration date. The PA actions are even worse because the Republican Leader, as you see on this video, declares this new law would elect Mitt Romney. How stupid was that?
Time for common sense and honest Republicans to make our voices heard that we are NOT going to put up with what we are seeing out of Republican elected members of the Congress who put Party and desire to make Obama a one-term President over America and what was in the best interest of the American people. I can say shame on them, but then it would take a conscience to feel shame. Looks like many of them have also thrown their conscience out the window in order to support Mitt Romney who decided the night of the election in 2008 that he was running for President. He then went to the task of lining up the usual people like Karl Rove because they share the 'win at any cost' mentality and are more then willing to step out and accuse the opponent of what they are doing. Then to top it off on Inauguration night for President Obama, a group of Congressional Republicans along with the Gingrich and Luntz met to plot the best strategy for making Obama a one-term President. The man had just been inaugurated and their were plotting how to obstruct his plans.
Is this the new Republican Party dedicated to electing Mitt Romney devoid of integrity and honesty? Have always thought if the fringe right of social conservatives and now Tea Party ever took over, the Republican Party as most of us knew it was going change drastically tracking to the far right. That looks to have happened in 2012, but in reality it has been building over the years looking back. The far right in the party has never been known for being the truth tellers of the Party. Now men and women in the Congress we thought stood for something play to this fringe element like they are afraid to take them on. I call that being a 'coward' who goes along to get along! Is Koch Brothers and other big donor money the driving force? If that is the case, the word 'sellout' comes to mind along with 'coward.'
Senator Snowe (R-ME) has had enough of the far right and their demands as she is retiring at the end of her term in January from the train wreck which is the far right Republicans in the Senate. Today's Republicans are now tracking to the far right becoming obstructionists to any cooperation with the Democrats or Independents in the Senate. When a Republican Senator works across the aisle for the benefit of all Americans, they get called names and castigated by the conservative pundits and far right Republicans of today.
We need more citizen legislators like Freshman Cong Lankford from the Oklahoma 5th District who was willing to work with other House Members of both parties to get the road and bridge bill passed in the House that Senators Infofe (R-OK) and Boxer (D-CA) had spent so much time working on in the Senate. Took a long time to pass the House, but Cong Lankford never quit on the bill. It brought needed road/bridge construction funds to the states along with jobs. Shows what happens when both sides work together for all Americans.
Now you know the GOP playbook -- win at any cost no matter who it hurts. The Congressional Republicans for Mitt Romney's election have tanked the economy by not passing the bills that would help so now time to tank them on November 6th and vote for honest candidates no matter the party who will put America's interest over their Party.
After reading this article, I am struck at the low class actions of Mitt Romney during this crises in the Middle East. It reinforces the decision that a lot of Republicans are making to support President Obama not Mitt Romney. Know we have been criticized from a lot of areas on line, but after watching Romney this week, I am more committed to supporting President Obama then ever before.
Obama was very cool under pressure this week reminding me of President Reagan. Romney opened his mouth very quickly and continued to trash the President the next morning. Presidential candidate Reagan and then Vice Presidential candidate George HW Bush stood with President Carter when the rescue of the hostages failed as all Americans being on the same page. That was class of Reagan/Bush versus no class of Romney/Ryan.
Here’s how
the fact checkers at the
Associated Press assessed Romney’s claims: “The
gunfire at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, had barely ceased when
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney seriously mischaracterized what
had happened in a statement accusing President Barack Obama of “disgraceful”
handling of violence there and at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. [...]
“In fact,
neither a statement by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo earlier in the day nor a later
statement from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton offered sympathy for
attackers. The statement from the Cairo Embassy had condemned anti-Muslim
religious incitement before the embassy walls were breached. In her statement,
issued minutes before Romney’s, Clinton had offered the administration’s first
response to the violence in Libya, explicitly condemning the attack there and
confirming the death of a State Department official.”
In a widely circulated photo, Romney was seen
walking away from the podium at his press conference, which was ostensibly about
the murder of four Americans, with
a smirk on his face.
Romney
Roundly Criticized
The
criticism of Romney was swift and severe.
Members of
the media were not shy about underscoring the seriousness of what they viewed as
a major misstep. NBC News political director Chuck Todd called it a “bad
mistake.” Former Reagan speechwriter and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy
Noonan said, “I don’t feel that Mr. Romney has been doing himself any favors.”
Time’s Mark Halperin called Romney’s actions “the most craven and ill-advised
move of 2012.” Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter said politicizing a national tragedy
was “not just dumb but a sign of desperation.”
But it
wasn’t just the media who were attacking Romney for injecting politics into a
crisis. Republicanforeign
policy experts got in on the action, variously saying Romney was an “utter
disaster,” “not presidential,” and “not ready for primetime.” One even referred
to the blowup as Romney’s “Lehman moment,” a reference to the moment in
September 2008 when Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign went off the rails
after McCain declared that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong”
following the collapse of Lehman Brothers and ensuing market crash.
Editorial
boards across the country have also been savaging Romney:
Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette: “That baseless criticism calls into question not only his
judgment but also his sensitivity, sense of decency and even his
humanity.”
The
Virginian-Pilot: “Romney’s vile assertion…is so far beyond
the pale, so far beyond the bounds of American civil discourse that the
Republican candidate should be ashamed of himself.”
Reno
Gazette-Journal: “Romney’s statement was ill-considered, ill-timed and
politically opportunistic.”
Kansas
City Star: “Romney’s inflammatory foreign policy accusations — reiterated on
Wednesday — serve no one, especially in light of the tragic deaths.”
Raleigh
News & Observer: “criticism of the president so hasty and poorly
informed that it reeks of political opportunism amidst a deadly crisis”
Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel: “Yes, it was sad and pathetic to see such callous and
uninformed statements from politicians who couldn’t wait until they had the
facts to use an international incident for political gain.”
Even one of Romney’s own top advisers told
the New York Times that Romney “had forgotten the first rule in a crisis:
don’t start talking before you understand what’s happening.”
BOTTOM LINE: Rather than follow the
example of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush who refused to politicize the
Iran hostage crisis during the 1980 campaign, Romney has instead chosen to
inject politics into a national tragedy and ongoing crisis.
It’s probably not a surprise. But can I just say that if Mitt Romney wins in November, he is going to have a very chilly reception from his employees every time he goes abroad? I don’t think I can quite state the rage we’re all feeling towards him.
Josh Marshall
Today Romney finally got around to condemning the anti-Muslim film or as Josh Marshall put it Apologizing to the Muslim Rioters which is what he accused President Obama of doing:
Finally someone took on Sean Hannity who thinks he is a foreign policy expert -- he couldn't even carry McCain's briefcase IMHO. Hannity, Rush, Levin and others should have used some common sense and lowered the rhetoric in the middle of an ongoing crises in the Middle East but they piled on the President treating him like he had no policy. The one without a policy is their candidate Romney. Finding the conservative media for the most part disgusting, unethical, and refuse to acknowledge the truth just like Hannity did with Senator McCain:
McCain to Hannity: Fox 'wrong about Libya' By MACKENZIE WEINGER | 9/14/12 3:23 PM EDT
Sen. John McCain on Thursday night clashed with Sean Hannity, telling the Fox News host that he and others on the network “were wrong about Libya.”
McCain's remarks came after Hannity claimed he had accurately predicted that the Muslim Brotherhood would take control of Egypt, and pressed the Arizona Republican on why the Obama administration was not able to foresee this week's attacks on U.S. diplomats in North Africa.
“How is it that Sean Hannity and a few others of us out here predicted with pinpoint accuracy that the Muslim Brotherhood would be in charge in Egypt? Their first task when they took over the Parliament was to declare Israel, our closest ally, an enemy. First, their number one enemy,” Hannity said. “How is it that the administration with all their intelligence and all the money we spend to help them and the CIA — how is it that they didn’t see this coming? And they kept telling the American people, this is democracy. Democracy. I don’t view the Muslim Brotherhood as democracy. They want Sharia law implemented now in Egypt.”
McCain pushed back, telling Hannity that “that’s not clear that that’s true” and that he and Fox News were wrong with their take on the elections in Libya.
“But also it was you and people on Fox that said in Libya, ‘we didn’t know who they were and let’s not help these people.’ They had an election and they elected moderates. They rejected Islamists,” McCain said. “And yes, there are Al Qaeda factors and there are extremists in Libya today, but the Libyan people are friends of ours, and they support us, and they support democracy. So you were wrong about Libya.”
“I don’t think I was wrong about Libya at all,” Hannity replied.
McCain jumped in, telling Hannity, “Yes I do, I know you were.”
“No, I was not,” the Fox News host said.
“I know you were. They had a free and fair election, and a democratic non-Islamic government was elected. So you were wrong,” McCain said.
Hannity then said he was surprised McCain wasn’t siding with him.
“They didn’t think the Muslim Brotherhood would take over? This is a known terror organization. We say we’re fighting a war on terror, we’re apologizing, our government, to Egypt after they raid our embassy and rip our flag down?” Hannity said. “Frankly, Senator, I would think you are with me on this.”
The interview wrapped after McCain replied, “I am not taking the side of the administration. I am saying that the largest nation in the Arab world is something we have to carefully calibrate our actions with.”
The arrogance of Hannity that McCain should agree with him is more then disgusting, it is despicable. Then you have Sarah Palin accusing the President of palling around with terrorists who made a fool of herself last night attacking President Obama. Why is Fox News even interviewing Palin? Her comments are always strange and show a lack of comprehension about the issues.
Then we have this article which words fail me that this man is involved in a Presidential campaign and is someone who Romney relies on -- these words by and adviser are beyond reprehensible. Mitt Romney is despicable to keep people like this on his staff. It shows Romney has no integrity at all left as he panders to the Tea Party and far right fringe by keeping someone like this on his staff:
The Romney campaign has escalated their attacks on President Obama following the murder of four Americans, including the ambassador, in Libya. In an interview with the Washington Post, Mitt Romney’s top foreign policy adviser pinned the blame for the attacks squarely on Obama and flatly claimed they would not have happened if Romney had been president: Advisers to Mitt Romney on Thursday defended his sharp criticism of President Obama and said that the deadly protests sweeping the Middle East would not have happened if the Republican nominee were president.
“There’s a pretty compelling story that if you had a President Romney, you’d be in a different situation,” Richard Williamson, a top Romney foreign policy adviser, said in an interview. “For the first time since Jimmy Carter, we’ve had an American ambassador assassinated.”
Mitt Romney has no core so he has adopted the core of the Tea Party and far right fringe it seems by following the "Southern strategy" which he seems to be doing to get elected:
This Romney/Tea Party Republican Party is going to lose a lot of Republicans with this Southern strategy which has moved into the north with voter suppression. When Republicans take their blinders off and see them for what they are -- a group of bigoted people, they are going to vote against this group. I didn't like Palin in 2008 when she ran with McCain -- thought her comments were over the top time and time again. I voted for McCain not Palin.
I am so happy I took my blinders completely off this time. Thanks to Mitt Romney I am seeing today's Republican Party for what it is -- no core, no ethics, and bigoted. Senator McCain called out the fringe elements in 2008 while Romney embraces them in 2012.
Ron Reagan said it best: Romney does not look Presidential -- he has a lack of character and judgement!
Yesterday was a horrible day for our diplomatic corps as the stark reality of what they face on a daily basis came home with the murder of two of their fellow members including the Ambassador in Yemen along with two private security guards. Libyans were standing side by side with Americans defending the consulate where these murders took place.
As Americans were mourning the loss of the lives of members of our diplomatic corps and praying for their families and friends, Romney goes on the attack against the President not once but twice when he doubled down in his press conference. Once again he didn't have the facts but that doesn't seem to bother Romney even a little. Today he is doubling down once more at a small rally in Virginia as he continues to play to the right wing fringe of the Republican Party.
Bad day for Romney but a worse day for America yesterday when a Presidential candidate for the first time any of us can remember attacks a sitting President when four Americans, including the Ambassador to Libya, had just been killed in an attack on the consulate in Libya. Romney has zero class and should pay dearly at the polls on November 6th for his actions.
J.CHRISTOPHER STEVENS, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, was a skilled and courageous diplomat who repeatedly placed himself at risk in order to support the cause of a democratic Libya. His death, along with those of three other Americans, during an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday is a tragedy that should prompt bipartisan support for renewed U.S. aid to Libyans who are struggling to stabilize the country. That it instead provoked a series of crude political attacks on President Obama by GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney is a discredit to his campaign.
Mr. Romney’s first rhetorical assault came Tuesday night in response to a statement by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, which was also besieged by demonstrators Tuesday. His statement claimed that the administration’s first response was “to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.” In fact the embassy statement was issued before the protests began; referring to an ugly anti-Islam film that was the focus of demonstrators, it condemned “those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious belief of others.”
Mr. Romney did not then know the extent of the Benghazi incident — his statement referred only to “the death of an American consulate worker.” So it was stunning to see the GOP nominee renew his verbal offensive Wednesday morning, when the country was still absorbing the news of the first death in service of a U.S. ambassador since 1988, as well as the loss of three other Americans. Though reports were still sketchy, it appeared that a militant jihadist group, Ansar al-Sharia, took advantage of the Benghazi protest to stage an armed assault that overwhelmed the Libyan security force at the consulate.
At a news conference, Mr. Romney claimed that the administration had delivered “an apology for America’s values.” In fact, it had done no such thing: Religious tolerance, as much as freedom of speech, is a core American value. The movie that provoked the protests, which mocks the prophet Mohammed and portrays Muslims as immoral and violent, is a despicable piece of bigotry; it was striking that Mr. Romney had nothing to say about such hatred directed at a major religious faith.
Mr. Obama struck the right tone on Wednesday, saying that “we reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others” but that “there is absolutely no justification for this type of senseless violence.” Lauding Mr. Stevens’s service, the president promised “justice” for “this terrible act” while also committing the administration to continue cooperating with Libya’s democratic government — which apologized for the attack.
Some websites reported that the Libyans were dragging the Ambassador's body through the streets when in fact Libyans were carrying him to the hospital. Like Romney, some members of the news media especially Fox News ran with the story rather then waiting for details. Yesterday there were signs around the consulate being carried by Libyans apologizing for what happened. Ambassador Stevens was a hero to many Libyans who helped them throw off the repressive Gaddafi regime.
We have learned with every passing hour that these attacks were probably in retaliation for the killing of an Al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan from Libya. It seems an Al Qaeda group used the protesters to cover for their attack on the consulate which killed four Americans -- two diplomats and two security personnel.
What were these Libyans protesting? An anti-Islam film that showed Mohammad in a very bad light that excerpts were shown on You Tube picked up around the world. It was also promoted by the Minister Jones in Gainesville who burned the Quran which sparked the demonstrations in the Middle East ending in the deaths of people. Romney calls the film, 'freedom of speech' -- I call the film 'hate speech.' Yet Romney attacked the Embassy in Egypt for exercising their free speech to put out the memo trying to diffuse the situation. Seems like it is only freedom of speech for Romney and Republicans and what they choose to support but everyone else is not entitled to free speech if it conflicts with the Romney/Republican narrative. That is how it is coming across even to longtime Republicans who don't recognize this version of the Republican Party.
The producer of the poor quality film turns out not to exist under the name that was used and his saying he was Israeli American is also suspect. The people in the video didn't know what they were filming and were used by a film maker as part of over 150 people who thought they were helping stage or were in the film 'Desert Warrior.' Steven Klein from So California is the spokesman for the anti-Islam film. Two of the people in the film have released the script that did not show the hate speech which was dubbed in later according to what I just watched on MSNBC News. From reports, this film's spokesman Steve Klein and the movie are linked to Christian extremists in the US which would include Jones from Gainesville, FL.
Hard for me to believe anyone could defend Jones and his burning of the Quran along with this hate film but the far right extremist fringe is doing just that with their comments on various websites. In some cases they are scary -- refuse to repeat the comments on here. They hit Huffington Post, The Hill, Politico and others with their support of Romney and the film as 'free speech' along with vicious attacks on President Obama. Their defense of this film shows how low this part of the Romney Republican Party has sunk including the standard bearer himself with his attacks on Obama not being American or understanding America. It has carried over with some of the nastiest comments I have witnessed to date.
Romney with his rhetoric and lies is also responsible for encouraging more of the hate that is coming out today against this black President IMHO. That said the people most responsible for the spread of the hate are the Conservative radio pundits led by Rush Limbaugh. His comments against Obama are so far over the top with anger that I suspect a heart attack in the making. The clips you see of Limbaugh are shocking.
Yesterday Sen McCain gave a speech on the floor of the Senate praising Ambassador Stevens as he knew him personally but today he is back on the attack against President Obama for his actions in Libya sounding like that bitter person who lost the election in 2008. Also sounds just like he did after losing the primary to George W. Bush in 2000 and his attacks on Pres Bush in years to follow.
The video that touched off the riots in Libya and Egypt has led to riots today in Yemen where protesters were trying to attack the embassy but were repelled by Yemeni forces. The Yemen President apologized this morning and has troops guarding the embassy now. This was all precipitated by a video by a racist, not very good film producer, who staged the film and then someone dubbed in the rest. Who payed for this film and its release? Was Jones responsible for the You Tube version being promoted? He says no but can you believe him?
Terry Jones, the Florida pastor whose burning of Qurans previously sparked deadly riots in Pakistan and other Muslim nations, had tried to promote the film on Tuesday as part of a series of 9/11 anniversary events at his Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla. Jones told NBC News on Wednesday that he aired the trailer once previously in his makeshift church but that efforts to screen it on Tuesday were thwarted by technical difficulties.
"I have not met him. Sam Bacile, that is not his real name," Jones told the AP. "I just talked to him on the phone. He is definitely in hiding and does not reveal his identity. He was quite honestly fairly shook up concerning the events and what is happening. A lot of people are not supporting him."
Secretary of State Clinton once again this morning said that the United States had nothing to do with this video:
Secretary of State HillaryRodhamClinton is sharpening her criticism of an anti-Islam video that provoked protests in the Arab world.
Clinton says the film is "disgusting and reprehensible." She calls it a cynical attempt to offend people for their religious beliefs.
But Clinton says the U.S. would never stop Americans from expressing their views, no matter how distasteful. And she says the film is no justification for violence or attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities and personnel.
In reality the protesters refuse to listen that the United States had nothing to do with this video as they look for any excuse to take to the streets to protest the United States. IMHO Romney attacks on Obama saying Obama is a terrorist sympathizer and the film 'freedom of speech' to has not helped but inflamed the far right hate speech in this Country.
Republicans as a whole yesterday behaved in a reasonable manner but this morning have taken back up the attacks against Obama with this crisis still on-going. Romney's numbers must be in the tank the way Romney and Republicans are acting.
Romney and Priebus are a discredit not only to the campaign but the Republican Party of days gone by. Their rush to get a press release out before the facts IMHO was an extension of Romney being told he was not tough enough by Rush and others led to him running out to show his toughness the night this happened and yesterday morning. It is obvious when Rush says jump, Romney says how high?
This Romney rhetoric was doubled down on yesterday as he plays to the far right once again. Romney is not only losing Independents over his actions but Republicans with common sense are also jumping ship in bigger numbers this week as Romney plays to the far right fringe elements of the Party. Even Fox News is saying Obama is up in the polls.
The numbers of Republicans fed up is not showing in registration changes, but is showing up in polling and in the number of people willing to speak out they, as Republicans, are supporting Obama. The numbers are growing almost daily now as blinders are coming off from a lot of Republicans who realize that we don't want a flawed candidate like Romney in the White House. They also discovering what many of us have learned that we were lied to about Obama starting in 2004 when he ran for the Senate. Should have guessed then as the lies and hate was coming from Alan Keyes who opposed him were over the top. Learned in 2000 not to trust Keyes on anything and should have remembered that. His hate, rhetoric, and lies against Obama in 2004 seemed to have been picked up by people like Rove who have expanded on that narrative over the years and believe the end justifies the means.
After what we are witnessing with Romney and his attacks which have increased in volume but have stayed consistent on not providing facts and lying, there are a few questions that deserve answers which only time will answer:
When did the Republican Party Leadership as a whole go so far right?
Was this shift to the far right planned all along starting in 2006?
Why alienate a group of Republicans who have been out helping campaigns for years to pander to the far right extremes of the Republican Party.
Is this a hostile takeover of the GOP by the Romney/Koch/Rove driven Tea Party where some racists seem to have found a home? The hate spewed from some members of the Tea Party is so far over the top, it is scary.
Whose money is behind all this hate? Romney, Koch Brothers, Big Donors to Crossroads, Adelson?
Already puzzle pieces are fitting into place as this election beginning to make sense. More research to be done but it is starting to come together.
Check out the Pink Flamingo blog for more details on this election and what is happening. Some very good research and analysis. As we have talked, we have discovered we are arriving at the same conclusions from different paths. Today's article "What Did Romney Know & When Did He Know It" is asking the tough questions because the timeline and Romney's press release calls into question "What did Romney know?"
Arrogance of NRA is simply stunning - for an organization who used to be about gun safety now the bottom line for gun/ammo manufacturers trumps all as the NRA lobbies for them.
According to Think Progress, “NRA: Practice Range” is billed as a “network of news, laws, facts, knowledge, safety tips, educational materials and online resource” for the organization.The National Rifle Association released a new app on Sunday that includes a gun range equipped with coffin-shaped targets, and the option for players to simulate using a military-grade sniper rifle.
The app includes what it calls “9 true to life firearms,” and allows players to download an MK-11 sniper rifle setting for 99 cents. The rifle can shoot 750 rounds per minute.
Dems/GOP Fighting -- Will they Finally Work Together for the Country? Will replace this image when they do. (11/07/2012)
Quotes
"We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. No single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society, but that can’t be an excuse for inaction. Surely we can do better than this." President Barack Obama, Newtown, CT, 12/16/2012
******
"I don't think that the way to correct a spin from the left is to try to impart a spin from the right.... [A]n information flow distorted from the right would be just as much a disservice as distortion from the left. What we really should be after... is accurate information. And I don't see what any conservative or anybody else for that matter has to fear from accurate information." M. Stanton Evans
******
Former Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY)
“For heaven’s sake, you have Grover Norquist wandering the earth in his white robes saying that if you raise taxes one penny, he’ll defeat you,” he told CNN back in May. “He can’t murder you. He can’t burn your house. The only thing he can do to you, as an elected official, is defeat you for reelection. And if that means more to you than your country when we need patriots to come out in a situation when we’re in extremity, you shouldn’t even be in Congress.”
******
"We are are an American family and we rise or fall together as one nation.
John Stuart Mill was a 19th century political philosopher:
"I never meant to say that the Conservatives are generally stupid. I meant to say that stupid people are generally Conservative. I believe that is so obviously and universally admitted a principle that I hardly think any gentleman will deny it." John Stuart Mill.
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