;)
Thursday
Jul262012
The Commentariat -- July 27, 2012
“Deleveraging Shock.” Paul Krugman: what happens when "everyone is trying to pay down debt at the same time. Household borrowing has plunged; businesses are sitting on cash because there's no reason to expand capacity when the sales aren't there; and the result is that investors ... [have] no place to put their money. So they’re buying government debt, even at very low returns, for lack of alternatives.... They are in effect begging governments to issue more debt. And governments should be granting their wish, not obsessing over short-term deficits.... It's simply crazy to be laying off schoolteachers and canceling infrastructure projects at a time when investors are offering zero- or negative-interest financing."
... "... add The New York Times editorial page to the list of the converted [a/k/a A**HOLES -- see video above]. We forcefully advocated the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act. 'Few economic historians now find the logic behind Glass-Steagall persuasive,' one editorial said in 1988. Another, in 1990, said that the notion that 'banks and stocks were a dangerous mixture' 'makes little sense now.' ... Having seen the results of this sweeping deregulation, we now think we were wrong to have supported it."
Euripides, Banking Guru. Rob Urban & Sharon Smyth of Bloomberg News: "faced with mounting mortgage delinquencies are following the advice of 5th-century BC playwright Euripides: Time heals. Banks restructure loans rather than foreclose, extend terms to as long as 45 years, grant payment holidays of up to a year when borrowers are only required to make interest payments, or add guarantors to loans, often children who will eventually inherit the property." CW: Another argument for a classical education.
Conor Friedersdorf of the Atlantic: "An investigation undertaken by law clinics at NYU, Fordham, Harvard, and Stanford has concluded, after eight months of study, that the NYPD abused Occupy Wall Street protesters and violated their rights on numerous occasions during the 2011 protests that radiated out from Zuccotti Park. Their report ... focuses on transgressions against international law." Friedersdorf lists some of the incidents which -- because of independent documentation -- appears most credible.
Presidential Race
CW: for those of you who are discouraged that millions of Americans will vote for a guy who in 24 hours insults our "special" Anglo-Saxon friends, reveals their state secrets & spends the evening collecting bribes from the local fat cats, here's some better news from Nate Silver: "Mr. Obama's chances of winning the Electoral College rose in our model, to 66.4 percent from 65.0 percent, mostly because the stock market gain slightly bolstered the model's economic index." CW: these numbers are volatile, but they beat "Romney leads Obama."
England is just a small island. Its roads and houses are small. With few exceptions, it doesn't make things that the rest of the world wants to buy. And if it hadn't been separated from the continent by water, it almost certainly would have been lost to Hitler's ambition. -- Mitt Romney, from his book No Apology
WE Are Amused at our Veddy, Veddy Diplomatic GOP Presidential Candidate -- who has repeatedly stepped in it & pissed off our lovely Anglo-Saxon friends across the pond. Definitely not ready for primetime. Special relationship, my ass (or as Willard would say, "my backside"):
... Gaffe No. 1 begins a minute in:
... We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world. Of course it's easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere. -- David Cameron, British Prime Minister, responding to Romney's remark & alluding to the 2000 Olympics Romney ran in The Middle of Nowhere, Utah ...
... Adam Gabbatt of the Guardian: "From criticising the biggest sporting event Britain has held in over 40 years, to 'looking out of the backside of 10 Downing Street', Mitt Romney's first foreign trip of his presidential candidacy hasn't gone quite as well as he might have hoped. As the former Massachusetts governor continues to gaffe his way across London, [Gabbatt provides] a round-up of Romney's red-facers. So far." ...
... Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, comments before a crowd of thousand's on one of Romney's gaffes:
... "Worse than Sarah Palin." Sam Coates of the Times of London: "... senior figures in all three political parties suggested that they had not been overwhelmed by Mr Romney in person and were disappointed by his Olympics gaffe.... One diplomatic source said of the encounters: 'It is worse than Sarah Palin in terms of basic diplomacy.' Another said: 'There is none of the stardust of his opponent.'" ...
... Alex Spillius of the Telegraph: "His derisory comments questioning Britain's preparedness for the Olympics in an interview with NBC were a strange way to build bridges with a country that he says should be restored as the umbilical ally of the United States, and a strange way to demonstrate the persuasive qualities needed as leader of the free world.... His comments to NBC ... showed how poorly he understands the land of his forefathers.... A standard [Romney campaign] refrain is to run down Europe -- not a hard case to make at the moment -- and that includes us. Not once have I heard him praise Britain or extol the special relationship he now belatedly trumpets. He even reprised his dislike of the [British National Health Service] shortly before leaving for these shores...." ...
... Suzi Parker of the Washington Post: "Rule number one when visiting a foreign country: Don't insult it.... [Romney's visit] is such a stark contrast from when Obama visited London in July 2008. He was cheered in the streets with 'Yes We Can.' (So far, no reports of massive cheering for Romney can be found.)" ...
... Matt Yglesias proves that Mitt is right: "English" houses really are small. ...
... David Taintor of TPM has a bit more on the Brits' reactions to Romney's insults. ...
... Ditto Holly Bailey of Yahoo! News. ...
... A video recap from the Democratic National Committee:
... AND Alex Altman of Time has an excellent overview of Romney's rolling gaffes. "Romney's blunders have undercut the entire purpose of the trip, which was to prove he could adequately represent U.S. interests with international leaders despite his scant foreign policy experience. He hasn’t met that standard so far." ...
... CW: Okay, this "gaffe" isn't so funny. Steve Chaggaris of CBS News: Romney revealed that he met with the leader of MI6, the British intelligence agency, which he was supposed to "keep under wraps." MI6 would not acknowledge the meeting. Includes video of Romney giving reporters an apparently classified account. He's just not all that smart. ...
... The Upside: Romney dissed Americans in London, too. NBC Reporters: "... those of us that have traveled overseas and been involved in these VERY limited press avails have rarely seen heads of democracies TOTALLY ignore their own press corps but answer ANOTHER press corps' questions." ...
... AND There's This: Ashley Parker & Landon Thomas of the New York Times: "After a day made long by his remarks about London's readiness for the Olympic Games, Mitt Romney found a friendlier audience here on Thursday night at fund-raisers heavily populated with American financiers...." ...
... NOW, on to Israel where Romney will make friends with ordinary people by visiting a deli & ordering a ham sandwich before heading to Poland to regale the locals with hilariously offensive Polish jokes. ...
... AP: "Michelle Obama formally opened her stint as leader of the U.S. Olympics delegation on Friday morning, attending a breakfast with American Olympians and saying she was 'just in awe' of their company." Obama, who eschewed the new American practice of disparaging the host country and sharing its state secrets in public remarks, was rewarded with social invitations from Queen Elizabeth II and Britain's first lady Samantha Cameron.
Jonathan Chait of New York: "Last night, Brian Williams asked Romney [see video above] to distinguish his approach to economic growth from Bush's. The answer was a mere recapitulation of his plans.... Romney did not make the slightest attempt to distinguish his approach from Bush’s. Of course that is because it's the same thing! Every single idea Romney listed -- low taxes, free trade, less regulation, developing energy, etc. -- was part of Bush's program.... Conservative rhetoric almost uniformly fails to acknowledge that even pre-crash growth under Bush was absolutely miserable."
** NEW. A very good piece by Jonathan Alter on "You Didn't Build That": "Romney said the president's gaffes reflected his 'strange' views, and supporters such as former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu said such beliefs were 'un-American.' In fact, it's the DIY libertarians -- who deny our 223-year nexus between government and business -- who are out of sync with U.S. history.... Like it or not, our private sector has always operated with at least some indirect government help. And it's perfectly legitimate for the president to point that out."
PolitiFact on "You Didn't Build That": "In speeches and videos, the Romney campaign has repeatedly distorted Obama's words. By plucking two sentences out of context, Romney twists the president's remarks and ignores their real meaning.... Romney also conveniently ignores Obama's clear summary of his message, that 'the point is ... that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.'" ...
... More Proof that People Vote Republican Because They're Stupid or Delusional. Michael Van Sickler of the Tampa Bay Times: Mitt Romney's "We Did Build This" Farce put on another road-show event in Tampa featuring two local business people boasting about how they got no help at all from the government. One teensy problem: most of their work is on government projects. In addition, both get a leg up on government contracts because of their minority status, something they don't get in the private sector. CW: reading these people's rationalizations for their anti-government views just leaves you shaking your head -- or wanting to shake some sense into theirs. ...
... Aviva Shen of Think Progress runs down a list of Romney's stellar examples of totally "independent" businesspeople who "Did Build This" -- with a lot of help from the government.
... "It's a Weekday, So It's Time for Another Misleading Edit of an Obama Quote." Dave Weigel of Slate:
What He Said: I'll cut out government spending that's not working, that we can't afford, but I'm also going to ask anybody making over $250,000 a year to go back to the tax rates they were paying under Bill Clinton, back when our economy created 23 million new jobs, the biggest budget surplus in history and everybody did well. Just like we've tried their plan, we tried our plan -- and it worked. That's the difference. That's the choice in this election. That's why I'm running for a second term.
What the Romney Camp Says He Said: Just like we've tried their plan, we tried our plan -- and it worked. That's the difference. That's the choice in this election. That's why I'm running for a second term.
... "All out of Context, All the Time." Steve Benen: "Republicans aren't just occasionally taking Obama quotes out of context; they're actually building their entire 2012 campaign strategy around sentiments the president didn't actually say." Benen runs down a few of the more flagrant examples.
Maggie Haberman of Politico: "... the Priorities USA Action ad mocking Mitt Romney on the Olympics came down from YouTube [Thursday] morning, over copyright infringement warnings from the International Olympics Committee." Haberman thinks the whole purpose of the ad was to force both campaigns & their supporters to keep ads featuring the Olympics off the air so Willard can't so easily tout his role in the 2000 Winter Olympics.
The ultra-conservative New Hampshire Union-Leader on Romney's refusal to release his taxes: "How did Romney get himself into this position in the first place? He has been running for office for a long time. His presidential aspirations predate the tax returns in question. What could he possibly have been thinking when he failed to ensure that everything contained in those documents was above reproach? Or was he simply not thinking at all? Surely he could not have arrogantly believed that he could withstand any storm that developed by bluffing his way through it? If so, it hasn't worked."
News Ledes
President Obama signs the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012:
... Yahoo! News: "The president also announced he would speed another $70 million to Israel to advance the so-called 'Iron Dome' short-range missile defense system, a response to sustained rocket fire from Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."
Crime Still Pays. Telegraph of London: "Jerry del Missier, the former Barclays Bank executive at the centre of the interest-rate rigging scandal that cost the lender £290m, has walked away with a pay-off of almost £9m."
Washington Post: "The shooting suspect in the Colorado theater rampage was seeing a university psychiatrist specializing in schizophrenia in the weeks before the July 20 attack, according to court records released Friday."
Bloomberg News: "The U.S. economy expanded at a slower pace in the second quarter as a softening job market prompted Americans to curb spending. Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, rose at a 1.5 percent annual rate after a revised 2 percent gain in the prior quarter...."
The Hill: "Senior House and Senate leaders voiced optimism that they could reach agreement on a stopgap spending measure that would prevent a government shutdown shortly before the November election."
New York Times: "Syrian Army helicopters fired on neighborhoods in Aleppo on Friday morning, activists said, as the army readied assault troops and armored columns for a possible invasion of the city, Syria's densely populated commercial capital.... On Friday a member of the Syrian Parliament, [Iklhas Badawi,] had defected and crossed into Turkey." ...
... Reuters: President "Obama is moving cautiously toward greater support for Syrian rebels, as international diplomatic efforts that had been Obama's first preference falter.... The White House has crafted a presidential directive, called a 'finding,' that would authorize greater covert assistance for the rebels, while still stopping short of arming them. It is not clear whether Obama has signed the document...."
Washington Post: "Iran is rapidly gaining new capabilities to strike at U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf, amassing an arsenal of sophisticated anti-ship missiles while expanding its fleet of fast-attack boats and submarines, U.S. and Middle Eastern analysts say. The new systems, many of them developed with foreign assistance, are giving Iran's commanders new confidence that they could quickly damage or destroy U.S. ships if hostilities erupt...."
Cold War Redux. AP: "Russia is talking to Cuba, Vietnam and the Indian Ocean island country of Seychelles about housing Russian navy ships, the nation's navy chief said in remarks reported Friday.... [President Vladimir] Putin ... has grown increasingly eager to challenge Washington."
Reuters: "Barclays Plc revealed a new regulatory probe and more U.S. lawsuits on Friday, making it harder for the British lender to repair the damage to its reputation caused by its role in the interest rate-rigging scandal shaking banks. Despite these latest blows, Barclays beat forecasts with a profit of more than 4 billion pounds ($6.3 billion) in the first six months of the year."
Austerity, as Good an Idea as Ever. Bloomberg News: "Spanish unemployment rose to the highest on record after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy made it easier to fire workers while implementing the steepest budget cuts in the country's recent democratic history. Unemployment, already the highest in the European Union, rose to 24.6 percent in the second quarter."
New York Times: "Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon.com, and his wife, MacKenzie, have agreed to donate $2.5 million to help pass a same-sex marriage referendum in Washington State, instantly becoming among the largest financial backers of gay marriage rights in the country."
Haaretz: "A day before Romney is due to land in Israel, U.S. President Barack Obama will sign the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act, which is meant to approve and expand military cooperation between the two countries. The act, which Congress passed a week ago, will be signed by the U.S. president at a White House ceremony on Friday."
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Reader Comments (17)
David Cameron has Utah (and Romney) nailed...too funny for words.
But, honestly, could there be a more awkward twit than Romney? Bush was not Mr. Suave, but at least he tried: rubbing Angela Merkel's back, holding Prince Bandars hand.
Romney might get us into another war.....with the Britain.
The worst part of all this incredible crap is how is it possible that Nitt manages to get just one vote. Just one. I said it before and I will say it again, this idiot is seriously mentally ill. He is totally disconnected from any other human being.
Marvin: I agree with you completely. But I have the nagging feeling that I felt the same about Bush.
While I would not go so far as to say the Romney's gaffes are totally scripted, they certainly do not hurt him with his base. To them there is but one "exceptional" nation. (You guessed it.) The only thing exceptional about the US/Anglo relationship is how far the Anglos have there collective nose up the US ass. The British are about to extradite ONE OF THEIR OWN CITIZENS to the US to be prosecuted for setting up a Napster-like website.
No, Mr. Romney will not suffer with his base for using Britain as an example of what happens if you don't take draconian steps to severely limit legal immigration, stop illegal immigration and break the back of organized labor. Oh, and if you can be just a little demeaning and insulting and put the twits in their place while doing it -- all the better.
(No, I'm not a Romney supporter--only afraid, very afraid.)
I can't imagine that any of this is fun for Willard. What on earth possessed him to think he was a man of the people, someone who should seek public office? As Charles Pierce has pointed out, when Willard ran Mass. he seemed interested for a couple of years and then began plotting his exit. At that point, one would think that he would realize that while getting to be President would be really cool (as Moral Hazard would think, licking his privates), having to be President probably would be day after day of Hell. Every task Mitt has performed so pathetically badly during the campaign will be his to keep for four years should the nation (or the 5% of "schwing" voters who matter) lose its collective mind and elect him President. I can just see Ann in the background yelling, "You will do this for me, Mitt! I WILL be First Lady!" Mitt, looking at the floor, mumbles, "Yes dear." When he finally looks up, his smile is eerily inconsistent with eyes as empty as Orphan Annie's.
Jack: What a great line and how true. "eyes as empty as Orphan Annie's".
@Victoria D. Bush was not the same as Nitt. Bush was just the youngest POTUS, you know, about 15 years old playing with his older friends. Nitt is another story. His Olympic comment was just him telling the world that the only person on the planet who is capable of running the games is him. The idea that the Britts or anyone else knows how is absurd. This delusional thinking is a serious concern. When you insult your friends it can go away. When you do your enemies it's another story. The Nitt is truly dangerous. Bush's problem was that he followed his dangerous buddies. The Nitt is running for POTUS to save America, because when America elects the Nitt, then and only then we will really be exceptional.
@David Feldman, the Nitts base consists of two parts, the racists who would vote for Hitler rather than Obama and the 1%. The problem with the rest of his voters is that they have absolutely no idea that he even made a comment about the Games.
President Obama's remark pointing out that all the big men and big companies had help from others is certainly appropriate.
"The Benefit and the Burden" authored by Bruce Bartlett quotes Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935. In a message to Congress on June 19 he said, "People know that the vast personal incomes come not only through the effort or ability or luck of those that receive them, but also because of the opportunities for advantage which government itself contributes".
They did not do it alone then either. I guess the only ones doing it alone are drug smugglers.
Brooks does it again: A triple bar song and dance about the Olympics with quotes from Lincoln and F. Scott Fitzgerald (doesn't finish though with ..".and still retain the ability to function") and uses the word genius when Scott just meant "first rate intelligence" to make his central point:
"Politics has become a contest of monomaniacs. One faction champions austerity while another champions growth. One party becomes the party of economic security and the other becomes the party of creative destruction."
Are we to guess which party is which? What are we to make of this? Could it be possible that he is saying the Republican party is destructive albeit creative? Or...But Brooks rambles on about the goodness of contradictions. He would have been farther ahead if he discussed the beauty of nuance, that it's antithetical for those in high places controlling countries or companies to have a righteous conviction that they have a monopoly on truth, but need to have an appreciation for complexity. Brooks doesn't think the "house divided" quote applies to us now––slavery, yes, but not now. Perhaps a better quote would have been from Yeats––"things fall apart, the center cannot hold..."and the last lines: "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity."
And while we are at dredging up old quotes from poets and presidents, hats off to Krugman for his "money for nothing (and the chicks for free) title. How apt are the names of the performers––Dire Straits and Sting. Can't get any better than that.
David,
It’s interesting watching Romney’s Insult Tango as he maneuvers awkwardly from one misstep to the next. And you’re entirely correct. Actual or perceived slights and outright insults directed toward foreign powers, especially European nations, will be hailed and high-fived in redneck bars and teabagger meeting places around the country. Many of those predisposed to vote against Obama (as opposed to voting for Romney) routinely love any conservative who talks smack about furriners. Any American, such as the president, who might suggest that other nations might also feel exceptional will suffer the slings and arrows and spitballs and hocked loogies from these gentle worthies who equate any positive statements about countries other than the United States as cowardly treason, so it doesn’t matter if Romney’s foot stays planted in his mouth as long as the insults flow toward Europe and not back toward the good ‘ol USA.
Romney’s America Exceptionalism Tour is of course perfectly timed for that quadrennial display of American xenophobia, the summer Olympics. Since the Reagan years (oh halcyon days of unchecked hatred of everyone outside America), this feature of the games has diminished somewhat but is still there, raising its noxious head now and again, yet another example of the near complete lack of interest in or knowledge of history that isn’t filtered through the muck covered lens of Fox or right-wing media outlets and publishers.
It’s funny that the greatest hatred is reserved for the French (remember Freedom Fries? They were the idea of that stalwart American Patriot, Republican congressman Bob Ney. Oh wait. THAT Bob Ney? The one who was forced to resign in disgrace after being charged with conspiracy and bribery in multiple cases connected to disgraced super GOP lobbyist and fixer Jack Abramoff? That Bob Ney? Oh well, never mind then.). If any of these dunderheads bothered to open a book written by a real—as opposed to Teabagger sanctioned—historian, they might learn that had it not been for French naval support during the Revolution, we’d all be singing God Save the Queen and the founders would all have been hung as traitors. Let’s not even refer to the affinity for France discovered by two of our most famous founders, Franklin and Jefferson. Cherry picking history is something they do so well.
But unlike Bush, for whom insults are second nature, Romney isn’t even any good at it. Bush insulted everyone. Remember that blind reporter he ripped for wearing dark glasses at a White House briefing? He just couldn’t help it. A smirking frat boy asshole through and through. Romney’s insults are more the result of being a socially inept robot who can’t put two words together without sounding like an inauthentic, insincere, lying piece of shit. Seriously, who says something like “looking out the backside of Downing Street”? Did I hear you day "moron"?
Learning the niceties of human interaction, displaying basic courtesy and consideration for others are things he has never really had to learn. He’s only required to fake them. Because if you’re rich and privileged and you think yourself better than everyone else you can do things like chase down fellow students and assault them with no fear of reprisal, and because of your wealth and status, you are the boss, you don’t ever need to worry about how you come across to others. If they don’t like it, fuck ‘em. You fire them. This is the Romney ethos. Can’t wait for him to start insulting the Israelis and the Poles.
Maybe he can make a stop in Switzerland to say hello to his money. No problem insulting anyone there, they don’t care what you call them as long as you use their banks to hide your money.
PD,
I love your close reading of the Krugman piece, right down to the Dire Straits-Sting reference. Excellent.
As for Brooks, I just couldn't do it today. I can only take him at one or two removes lately.
I'd also suggest that, picking up on your Yeats reference, perhaps a more accurate description of what awaits us should Obama fail in November, is portended at the end of that poem:
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
Yeat's dark vision of ancient evil resurrected once again into the world is not far off from where we may find ourselves should this country be steeped for another four or eight years in the unfiltered waste products of right-wing effluence.
This morning, I thought for a second what it would feel like watching the networks on November 6 shrieking for joy the news of Romney's election, Fox, beside itself with chortling and gleefully hurled insults at Democrats and the Obama family, the 1% cracking open 100 year bottles of champagne, getting ready to put the boot to the rest of us under the malleable, pusillanimous, and vision-free "leadership" of Willard the Rat.
I could feel my stomach tighten and churn. If that does come to pass, Yeats' rough beast will have arrived at last and darkness will follow.
Re: Akhilleus and the death spiral. Remember when we were taught about the "Dark Ages"? Now the title of those times has been changed to the "Middle Ages". One thousand years from now historians will refer to the "Post-Exceptional Ages" and will marvel at the profound stupidity of those that brought about the darkening of enlightenment. The gods smile at the humans temples and columns; foundations of sand, given the manner of man.
Re: Ad slogans for the Republicans. From Mitt, "You didn't build that!" For Mitt, "I didn't say that?"
"England, it's a little country, with little people and little houses and little roads. I like little people, I've owned many of them." Mitt Romney quote since lost in the dustbin of history.
Yes, Akhilleus, that rough beast might well be more descriptive of what may slouch towards our political manger come fall. You know, Yeats has been such a deep well to dip into––so many writers have used his words. Another poem of his, "Sailing to Byzantium"––opening lines "That is no country for old men..."–––a book and a really good film took those lines and then we have Roth's "The Dying Animal"––lines from the same poem––"consume my heart away; sick with desire/ and fastened to a dying animal/ it knows not what it is/ and gather me/into the artifice of eternity." Roth's novel is a small, disturbing masterpiece––after reading it I felt somewhat undone by it––and that erotic cover, painting by Modigliani, Reclining Nude––perfect!
I'm looking for answers to two simple questions.
If it is unfair for people to ask for Mr. Romney's tax returns, was it unfair to ask for President Obama's birth certificate?
If a crazy person is intent on mass murder, then couldn't he just as well do it with scissors and not assault weapons?
Personally, I think I would stand a better chance against an assailant wielding a pen knife than a Glock with a 30 round clip.
JJG, remember, the victors get to write the history. Romney may have a chance to reinvent himself as something other than a Stepford Candidate.
PD, I haven't read The Dying Animal, but I'll put it on my list. I was on a big Roth kick some years ago. The last one I read was The Plot Against America. Man, he didn't know the half of it. A new plot has been hatched and the forces of darkness are closing in on the 20 yard line.
Dan, Romney didn't think it was unfair to ask for other people's tax returns. In fact, he stated quite unequivocally that anyone who tried to hide their tax returns should be automatically disqualified from public service. Oh wait....that was only for "you people", not for Lord Romney. He can do whatever he likes.
BTW David Cameron's description of SLC as 'in the middle of nowhere' is right on. I went there once for a scientific conference at the convention center downtown. The city was empty all day and the atmosphere was really blah.
Akhilleus just to note, Romney is not insulting anyone. He has absolutely no concept of what an insult is since the only person in the world with emotion is him. Also note he like all NPD's he is really a coward covering the fact that deep inside he has no sense of having any worth. I expect if he wins, the real POTUS will be Mrs. Nitt.
Marvin,
You may be right. In which case Lady Romney (AKA the Queen of Hearts--how's that for irony?) will have a guillotine erected in the Rose Garden.
"You people have too much to say about our Royal Persons. Off with your heads!"
To which Mitt the Twit will reply "Whatever you desire, my sweet."
After the beheading, of course, The Rat will try to spin the execution as being all the fault of liberals who simply don't understand how business works. Just like that terrible Nee-groe person they deported to Arabia or some other place where they have Moos-lums.
A new Constitution will be enacted (sorry, no vote this time) beginning with "You the People, of the country we allow you to live in, RomneyWorld, in order to form a more perfect serving class and to insure Our Royal Tranquility, provide for our defence, and to promote our general and specific welfare, and to secure the blessings of Liberty only for our Royal Persons, will do as we say or we shall cut your fucking heads off. Understand?"
Willard will, of course, still be allowed to hobnob with the other rats in order to guarantee Lady Romney's continued extravagant lifestyle.
And the horse stays. Peasants will be allowed to clean out the Royal Stables.