;)
The Commentariat -- Oct. 19, 2012
Presidential Race
Mike Isikoff of NBC News: "A campaign worker linked to a controversial Republican consulting firm, [Strategic Allied Consulting,] has been arrested in Virginia and charged with throwing voter registration forms into a dumpster. The suspect, Colin Small, 31, was described by a local law enforcement official as a "supervisor" in a Republican Party financed operation to register voters in Rockingham County in rural Virginia, a key swing state in the Nov. 6 election." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link.
Nate Silver: "The Gallup national tracking poll now shows a very strong lead for Mitt Romney. However, its results are deeply inconsistent with the results that other polling firms are showing in the presidential race, and the Gallup poll has a history of performing very poorly when that is the case."
Stanching the Voter Drain? Mark Murray of NBC News: "... new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls show President Barack Obama maintaining his lead over ... Mitt Romney in the battleground states of Iowa and Wisconsin. According to the polls -- which were conducted from Monday through Wednesday, encompassing Tuesday's presidential debate in New York and after -- Obama receives the support of 51 percent of likely voters in Iowa to Romney's 43 percent.... And in Wisconsin, Obama is ahead by six points among likely voters, 51 percent to 45 percent...."
David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Obama paid a call on 'The Daily Show' on Thursday.... [Jon] Stewart made Obama laugh several times, but he also pressed Obama on why his administration appeared 'confused' in its response to the terror attacks on American diplomatic personnel in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11." Update: here's the video, Parts 1 & 2:
... CW: what does Matt Drudge glean from the Stewart interview? Here's the headline: "WHEN FOUR AMERICANS GET KILLED, IT'S NOT OPTIMAL.” No link. I read this someplace else. I'm not going to Drudge.
Sharon Otterman of the New York Times: President Obama & Mitt Romney will both speak at the Al Smith Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City this evening. CW: And wouldn't you know it: "Angry e-mails from conservative Christian organizations flooded Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan's in-box in August, after he announced that he had invited President Obama, along with Mitt Romney, to speak at the New York Archdiocese's biggest charity gala of the year, despite the church's differences with the president over contraception, abortion and same-sex marriage." ...
... Update: President Obama was terrific:
... Mitt Romney was pretty funny:
... Here's the New York Times story, by Richard Oppel, of the event.
Helene Cooper of the New York Times: Bruce "Springsteen joined former President Bill Clinton on stage for [a campaign] event [in Parma, Ohio], as part of the Obama campaign's full-throated effort to scrounge up every single vote it can in Ohio." CW: Here's one of those entertaining guys:
... AND the other one:
... PLUS this guy says that he has cleaned up the mess. President Obama in New Hampshire Thursday:
Mike Allen of Politico: "From an Obama campaign aide: Wed., the day after the town-hall debate, 'was the biggest campaign fundraising day for the Obama campaign in history, including 2008.'" (CW: this is an item, not a story; there's no more to it. I'm not linking it because Allen only provides a generic link that will only hold till he makes an update.)
Tom Miles & Rachelle Younglai of Reuters: "The World Trade Organization barred China on Thursday from imposing duties on certain U.S. steel exports, siding with U.S. President Barack Obama in a dispute with Beijing over a type of steel made in two election battleground states. The case involved duties imposed by China on 'grain-oriented electrical steel,' which is used in the cores of high-efficiency transformers, electric motors and generators. The steel is made ... [in Ohio & Pennsylvania]. Although the specialty steel case is tiny compared with other trade disputes with Beijing, the WTO ruling gave Obama a timely win as he defends himself against accusations by his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, that he is soft on China."
Mike Elk of In These Times: "In a June 6, 2012 conference call posted on the anti-union National Federation of Independent Business's website..., Mitt Romney instructed employers to tell their employees how to vote in the upcoming election.... After making a lengthy case that President Obama's first term has been bad for business, Romney said:
I hope you make it very clear to your employees what you believe is in the best interest of your enterprise and therefore their job and their future in the upcoming elections. And whether you agree with me or you agree with President Obama, or whatever your political view, I hope, I hope you pass those along to your employees.
"... Romney went on to reassure his audience that it is perfectly legal for them to talk to their employees about how to vote:
Nothing illegal about you talking to your employees about what you believe is best for the business, because I think that will figure into their election decision, their voting decision and of course doing that with your family and your kids as well.
"... He's correct that such speech is now legal for the first time ever, thanks to the Citizen United ruling, which overturned previous Federal Election Commission laws that prohibited employers from political campaigning among employees." Thanks to a friend for the heads-up. Here's the audio:
Greg Sargent: "As the presidential race hits the final stretch, you'll be seeing more and more under the radar communications -- unannounced or highly targeted ads, robocalls, mailers -- that will grow increasingly dishonest as Election Day approaches. Case in point: A new radio ad that the Rove-founded Crossroads GPS is running in Colorado that is almost comically misleading about the latest unemployment statistics and the trajectory of unemployment on Obama's watch."
** "Snow Job on Jobs." Paul Krugman: "... the true Romney [jobs] plan is to create an economic boom through the sheer power of Mr. Romney's personal awesomeness. But the campaign doesn't dare say that, for fear that voters would (rightly) consider it ridiculous. So what we're getting instead is an attempt to brazen it out with nakedly false claims. There's no jobs plan; just a plan for a snow job on the American people." CW: a masterful piece of writing. ...
... Greg Sargent sez, "this 12 million jobs plan is the main rationale for Romney's whole case for the presidency. Why isn't the fact that it has been revealed to be a sham a bigger media story?"
** Tim Egan: "The great mystery of the first presidential debate was what happened to the Barack Obama a slim majority of the country was poised to rehire for another four years.... But there was another missing man in the Mile High City that night, and on Tuesday, he reappeared -- the petulant, unlikable and bullying corporate persona that is Mitt Romney's default mode. With his feigned slights, his constant squabbling over the rules, and his arrogance that he alone has a trust-me-it'll-work business plan to right the country, Romney was the very picture of a C.E.O. used to getting his way."
AND now it's time to check in with octogenarians Margaret & Helen to see what they think of the Romney family & Mitt's serial lying to women & all. Thanks to Bonnie for the link.
Jason Cherkis of the Huffington Post: "In the wake of Rep. Paul Ryan's embarrassing soup kitchen photo-op last week, the organization that runs the facility tells The Huffington Post that donors have begun pulling their money out of the Youngstown, Ohio charity." After the local director of the St. Vincent de Paul charity told the Washington Post that the Ryan people had "'ramrodded their way in,' ... Ryan supporters have ... targeted [him] and his soup kitchen." CW: So backers of Mr. Slash-the-Social-Safety-Hammock, in a pretense of compassion, are withholding funds from a typical, privately-funded, church-affiliated charitable organization -- the kind these yahoos say they love. Thanks to Haley S. for the link.
Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "Americans for Prosperity, the Tea Party-aligned group part-funded by the billionaire Koch brothers, is building a state-of-the-art digital ground operation in Ohio and other vital battleground states to spread its anti-Obama message to voters.... The group hopes that by creating a local army of activists equipped with sophisticated online micro-targeting tools it will increase its impact on moderate voters, nudging them towards a staunchly conservative position opposed to President Obama's economic and healthcare policies. Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is spending tens of millions of dollars developing its local strategy, already employing more than 200 permanent staff in 32 states."
Congressional Races
"Doctor" Joe Walsh says abortion never saves the life of the mother, cements his earlier-won Misogynist of the Year prize. Rick Pearson & Duaa Eldeib of the Chicago Tribune: during a debate between Joe Walsh (RTP-Ill.) & Tammy Duckworth (D), who is challenging Walsh for his Congressional seat, Walsh said he opposed abortion "without exception." "Asked by reporters after the debate if he was saying that it's never medically necessary to conduct an abortion to save the life of a mother, Walsh responded, 'Absolutely. With modern technology and science, you can't find one instance.... There is no such exception as life of the mother, and as far as health of the mother, same thing.'"
AP: "Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill cast herself as a moderate willing to work with Republicans while GOP challenger Todd Akin repeatedly linked her to the policies of President Barack Obama as they highlighted their differences Thursday night in the final debate of the Missouri Senate race."
Daniela Altimari of the Hartford Courant: Rep. Daniel Chris Murphy (D) & Linda McMahon (R) of Connecticut held their final debate Thursday afternoon. "A University of Connecticut/Hartford Courant poll released Thursday showed Murphy with a six point lead." CW: this is good news. The multimillionaire fake wrestling empress McMahon has led Murphy for much of the campaign season.
Other Stuff
CW: A number of contributors have been complaining about undecided & low-information voters. Marvin S. went out and found a truly low-information lady. Marvin has a suspicion of which way this woman will vote. The scary part to me is that the woman sounds like an adult, & she is relatively articulate. If you happened into a conversation with her -- as long as you kept to innocuous topics like the weather -- you might never guess what a dunderhead she was. Although -- come to think of it -- when she started complaining that the new local weatherman was constantly bringing on blizzards & droughts & such, you'd get a clue. This audio, BTW, has had nearly 2.5 million listeners:
Ah, Free Speech. AP: "An 80-year-old Connecticut woman has been charged with larceny and breach of peace after tearing down political signs that included an image of President Barack Obama with an Adolph Hitler-style mustache. Nancy Lack tells WVIT-TV she was offended by the picture and took down three posters that were being hung last Thursday near the post office on Main Street in Hebron, Conn. Workers for frequent presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche, who were putting up the signs, called police. Lack says she knew she would get in trouble. But she says she lived through World War II and was angry that someone would portray the president as a Nazi."
Ah, Schadenfreude. AP: "The conservative scholar behind a high-grossing film that condemns President Barack Obama has resigned as head of an evangelical college. The King's College in New York announced Dinesh D'Souza's resignation Thursday. Its board had been meeting about the school president and his relationship with a woman who is not his wife." ...
... Ariel Kaminer of the New York Times has more.
News Ledes
New York Times: "A large bomb exploded in the heart of Beirut's Christian section on Friday, killing a top Lebanese security official and at least seven others, wounding dozens and spreading anxiety and dread in a city where memories of sectarian violence from Lebanon's long civil war have been resurrected by the conflict in neighboring Syria."
New York Times: Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen in Pakistan, has recovered to the extent that she is now able to stand with assistance and communicate in writing, medical officials at the British hospital where she is being treated said on Friday."
Washington Post: "The CIA is urging the White House to approve a significant expansion of the agency's fleet of armed drones, a move that would extend the spy service's decade-long transformation into a paramilitary force.... The proposal by CIA Director David H. Petraeus would bolster the agency's ability to sustain its campaigns of lethal strikes in Pakistan and Yemen and enable it, if directed, to shift aircraft to emerging al-Qaeda threats in North Africa or other trouble spots...."
AP: "The CIA station chief in Libya reported to Washington within 24 hours of last month's deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate that there was evidence it was carried out by militants, not a spontaneous mob upset about an American-made video ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad, U.S. officials have told The Associated Press."
New York Times: "European Union leaders said early Friday that legislation enabling rescue aid to be channeled directly to Spanish banks should be agreed by the end of the year, but they left open critical decisions on how soon it could go into effect." The Guardian has a liveblog on this as negotiations are continuing.
Washington Post: "BP said Thursday that an oil sheen detected in the Gulf of Mexico last month probably came from crude trapped in the giant coffer dam that the company used in a futile attempt to capture the oil that was spilling from a BP well in 2010."
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Reader Comments (22)
Well, Citizens United is certainly the gift that keeps on giving - to plutocrats. What's that line from the old song? - "I owe my soul to the company store." This will soon be the reality for working Americans.
In the spirit of uplifting videos you may enjoy this one featuring David Attenborough.
On the day of the most recent presidential debate myself and colleagues were scouring a piece of land for wood turtles, a species of Special Concern in MA. The land in question is to have a solar farm built upon it, and our job was to try as best we could to remove turtles that could be killed during construction.
So, you might imagine how angry I was to hear Romney advocate for deregulation to allow for speedy development in order to obtain natural resources. Under Romney I am sure nothin would have a chance of survival!!!! Really, who needs turtles?! Even Obama seemed to determined to prove to people that he too could drill as well as a republican.
So, this is my plug for nature:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8WHKRzkCOY
We had a little political chat with a pair of friends who may be the only Republicans I really know. We usually avoid politics but the video of the duh woman got it started. The discussion reminded me of the entire basis of their political beliefs. The only thing they think about is the fact that spending one dime of their money on anything or anybody other than themselves is the entire basis of their beliefs.
I think they are truly representative of the basic nature of 'conservatism'. It's all about me and screw you (especially if you happen to have a different skin color).
P.S. They happen to have moved to Florida.
Peter Joseph has a concise description of what the Mittster actually did at Bain: it's well worth reading.
http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/a-financier-in-chief/
@Marvin Schwalb
Your friends? Kidding, right? Cannot believe that you could truly be friends with people for whom the whole show is "It's all about ME."
But then, I guess your friendship was time limited, since they have moved to Florida--hopefully, not close to Ft. Myers!
I can understand maintaining family relationships, as do RD Pepe and I with our brothers--even though they are right wing nutcases. However, to unrelated people, who think (and I presume act), in such an entitled, selfish, fashion is beyond me. Perhaps I lack tolerance? Or, as my mother told me when I was a child: "You are too sensitive."
I think the best explanation is that I have become very crabby in my seventh decade--and am no longer willing to put up with people who are rude, selfish and smug. Oh yeah--and who do not believe that we are all "our brothers' keepers." Because, guess what, we are.
@Kate: One of the sorrows of my life is to have watched my sister (only in her early sixties) slide from being a Canadian left winger a decade ago into the nauseating bubble of American right wing world (and it's my fault---I originally got her satellite radio!). although safely in the hands of Canadian single payer health care, she defends American health care as the "best in the world": of course, it is---if you're a member of Congress or a Bain executive.
@Kate Madison I have known these people for about 35 years and the word 'politics' didn't arrive until about 5 years ago when they retired. Coincidence? Maybe. And the best part is that they have plenty of money.
Here is a side story. We actually lost contact with them for a few years about 10 years ago. We reconnected when my wife and I ran into them while walking on a side street in the town of ........
Ghent, yes Belgium!
Kate: Although I would have preferred almost any other name than Phyllis, and Ruth or Regina might not have been too bad, it's Phyllis that I'm stuck with––the D, by the way stands for Doyle, my maiden name (always thought that was an interesting coinage).
What Marvin was describing is something I have run into through the years. You have these friends that you seem to have much in common with until some time into the relationship you discover their political bent which leans way over to the right. One couple we had known for years suddenly revealed their bigoted stance re: Jews––we never saw them again. I am happy to have a superficial relationship with many of my neighbors who I know are Republicans––talk centers around gardens, weather, dogs, and children––but I agree with you in terms of real friendships being of the same political and moral view.
By the way: Had a lovely exchange with my brother about some childhood memories that we shared. Rare exchanges, but when it happens I can't help but hope.
The Reuters story about the Koch brothers fake grass roots ground game is frightening in its implication. It may explain why the polls are tightening even after Obama's superb second debate and the lowered unemployment numbers. At the end of the story the creep at the head of AFP, Phillips, had the nerve to compare the tens of millions Kochs et al. Are spending to Hollywood money, like George Clooney was paying to develop a state of the art electronic infrastructure.
The Kochs are just the John Birch society renamed. And ther message of "economic freedom" is bogus and evil. Sadly, they have enough money at their disposal to buy votes through advertising and such. And a very gullible lazy electorate.
@Kate Madison & @Marvin Schwalb. I have or have had over the years plenty of friends with whose political philosophy I vehemently disagreed. I don't think politics is everything, & I know for a fact that conservatives can be very fine & generous people -- they just have a different view from mine of how the world works. If we discuss politics, I will sometimes try to change their views on specific issues -- usually by pointing out facts or logic -- but I don't think I'd ever tell them, "Your worldview sucks," even though, well, yeah, their worldview sucks.
Mind you, these friends are just folks. They are not professional policymakers or pundits. The people I object to are those professionals, whether they're politicians or columnists or think-tank opinionators or even reporters, whose business it is to understand the implications of policies -- and who espouse cruel, counterproductive or thoughtless measures and won't be dissuaded from those views.
So if Paul Ryan came to my door & asked for a glass of water, I might say, "Aah, you're on your own. You should have been better prepared. This house doesn't come equipped with a 'hammock that lulls able-bodied people into lives of complacency and dependency.'" But if a Ryan voter came asking for a drink of water, he'd get it.
Finally, nobody has to defend his friendships here. Friendships are complex relationships. We have the friends we have for whatever reasons we have them. If a few of your best friends are jerks, consider yourself normal.
Marie
Marie, thanks, you just summed up the reality of it all. Friendship is not a simple word.
Marie - thanks for your excellent post about friendship...especially since we will find ourselves at close quarters this week-end with Republicans at an intimate dinner to raise money for a charitable group that provides healthcare services to low-income people. I can certainly attest that there are some very community- spirited Republicans out there; they are just misguided in their politics.
Oh, and some of us are married to Republicans :-(.
Life is indeed complex!
The Democratic challenger's in the Ct. debate with Linda McMahon name is Chris, not Daniel as cited above. I have been watching these debates––have been supporting Murphy––since I live in CT. Linda presents as a loving grandmotherly kind of woman with an appealing slight southern accent and is trying hard to connect with women, saying she is not going to kowtow to her party, but is an independent thinker. But Chris keeps reminding voters of her actual record as a shrewd business executive that deprived her wrestlers health care and encouraged shoddy practices.
I also watched part of the Wisconsin debate––Tommy Thompson is a rude, blowhard of a man––but at least he's not batshit crazy like Joe Walsh––he of the "You lie" outburst that should have gotten him ousted, but didn't.
Since we're on the subject of friends and family members who have been seduced by the dark side of the force (I think it's more like dark side of the fecal matter), I long ago gave up trying to figure out why many of the friends I grew up with in a blue collar neighborhood up north, have such contempt for Democrats and have sided with and voted for people who clearly have no interest in them except for their vote.
I've tried to point this out many times in the past (especially during the Reagan years) that "these people hate you. They have no interest in helping you." Even today, one of my friends who has been out of work for a long time regularly sends me crap emanating from some right-wing propaganda workshop about how Obama is a socialist/fascist, yadda, yadda, yadda. I point out to him that if Obama had not been in office, all those extensions he's been getting on his unemployment benefits would have run out a long, long time ago. He finally got a job on a state-run construction project that came about because of stimulus money put in place by Democrats. He still won't admit that Republicans aren't the saviors of the world.
So I don't worry about it anymore. This guy would lay down his life for me and I for him. As a kid (and even as an adult) he was an acquired taste. Most people had no use for him but I got him. In many respects he's one of the smartest guys I've ever known even though it took him until he was almost 30 to finish his high school equivalency.
But like many of my other friends, he's completely taken in by imagery and the ruling metaphors of the right: power, manliness, loyalty to flag, friends, and family, standing up for what's right. Even when presented with reams (nay, binders!) of reasons why none of these things apply to the modern GOP, too many voters still buy into these images. The metaphorical imagery of the left, concocted largely by the media with much assistance from the right, is that of bleeding heart cry babies who want to take money from "decent" people and give it to lazy Blahs, and who would rather knuckle under to foreign dictators than go to war, like real men. Again, no amount of real world examples demonstrating how ridiculous these assertions are makes even the tiniest dent.
But as Marie says, we have friends for very specific reasons. Sometimes you have to set politics aside in favor of other more compelling reasons.
The truly sad thing is how elitist punks like the Romneys and the Ryans can be seen as anything other than the lying pretenders, faux tough guys, and manipulative scumbags they truly are.
It perhaps could tie in with the reason so many people still consider the Boy Scouts of America, and the official Catholic Church to be such wonderful organizations.
John Ford, in one of his later films, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, tries to dissect the events of a single night which propelled one man into stardom, political success, and riches, and another--the one who really shot Liberty Valance--into despair and seclusion, to the point that only two people showed up at his funeral.
The reporter hearing the true story decides not to print it, saying that "when the legend becomes fact, print the legend." This is, no doubt, how the Romneys of the world see themselves: legends. The big difference is that their views of themselves, the Republican Party's view of itself, have never become "factual". They want the legendary status without ever having to do anything to deserve it; in fact, they want it even though their actions are 180 degrees removed from what the legends proclaim.
Life sucks and then you die.
But along the way, you meet some pretty great people, so I guess that counts for something.
That deer crossing clip is almost too crazy to believe. Could it be someone trying to put those guys on? If not, this lady is definitely one who shouldn't be allowed to do a whole lot of things, like drive or be out by herself at any time.
The idea of deer amassing at a crossing sign put up by the state highway department, waiting to run across an interstate, reminds me of an old Jay Leno joke.
"I was sitting in front of the TV watching a baseball game one day and my wife comes in and says the cat is missing, and will I go look for him. So I get into the car and start driving around the neighborhood. As if he's gonna stick to the main roads."
Hey, maybe we can change those signs and make them Teabagger Crossing signs.....after all, if these knuckleheads believe that childbirth is never dangerous for a mother, or that women experiencing legitimate rape have a mystery hormone that turns on protecting them from pregnancy, then why not direct all of them to cross an interstate? Together. At rush hour.
@PDPepe The initials are the same, but I think "You Lie" guy is Joe Wilson of SC and not Joe Welsh of Illinois.
Respected (Ha!) conservative big shot, er, mouth, Dinesh D'Souza, the guy who emits frothy spittle on a regular basis about how angry Barack Obama is with America, who claims to be intimately familiar with the president, enough to be able to label him a child molesting Kenyan fascist/communist and hater of all things red, white, and blue, but who has never actually met the man, has resigned from his lofty position as president of King's College, a Christian school in Manhattan. Forced to resign is more like it.
Speaking of intimate familiarity, Mr. D'Souza, in full right-wing victim mode, expressed outrage and indignation, stating that he had no idea that Christians didn't consider it A-Okay to be schtupping one woman while married to another.
"The idea" he huffed. "I've been humping around on my wife for a couple of years now and no one told me it was wrong! WTF?"
King's College hired D'Souza because of his high visibility in wing-nut circles and hoped he would bring the school some notoriety.
He did.
When will people wise up to these carny barkers?
Julie in Massachusetts: (nothing political - everyone else can skip this.)
Went to the website but could find nothing on turtles of any sort. Had many laughs at what I found, though. Wood turtles, aka Red Legs are highly intelligent as far as turtles go - I've read only the Reeves from Japan is smarter. They are thoroughly protected in PA - the only thing you are allowed to do is help them across the highway but there is a heavy fine if you keep them and are caught. I applaud you for searching them out - their habitats grow smaller to non-existent by the day. BUT - they are highly territorial and if you release the ones you found back into the wild, they will go home - no matter how far away you release them. Most likely most of them would be caught or killed on the highway. They are getting ready to hibernate so it would be a bad time to let them go now anyway.
Maggy
Oh yeah, in other good news, let's have a big round of applause for Edith Windsor of New York City who won a battle for morality and decency and against the forces of hateful intolerance and drooling stupidity when a NY appeals court drove a stake through the dessicated heart of the DOMA, a.k.a. the Defense of Fear-filled, Intolerant, Homophobic Putzes Act.
Love to see what kind of nonsense Scalia will dredge up to lecture this woman when and if this case makes it to the Gods on Olympus.
Way to go Edith!
RTFS!
@Maggie Holman
Ah, but turtles are indeed political! Democratic polices, although far from ideal, favor environmental protection.
The feel good video I tried to link features BBC "Mr. Nature" aka David Attenborough with a diversity of wildlife from around the world. The song, What a Wonderful World plays in he background.
I liken the video to Matt Harding's dance video but instead of celebrating people diversity, it celebrates animal diversity.
Google BBC, David Attenborough, What a Wonderful World.
And, thanks for helping turtles cross the road!
Julie,
Gorgeous video. Such a great idea. I remember when the Living Planet was first broadcast in this country, my brother and I worked up some pretty good David Attenborough imitations. Just the voice though. The man himself is inimitable.
Thanks for the link.
@MAG: thanks for the correction. you are right–-twas the Wilson Joe, not the Walsh.