Note: See my previous post for the pre-debate conference.
The following is a fictional account of Romney's post-debate conference with his three debate coaches.
However, it is based on best assessments and most likely scenarios of what probably happened.
A stunned Mitt Romney, still in a state of shock after leaving the debate stage, approaches a conference room to confer with his coaches. He can hear the sounds of urban-style hip hop music. He opens the door to the sight of his three debate coaches dancing in celebration. A surprisingly limber and nimble Roger Ailes is putting on an amazing display of krumping. Sean Hannity is on his back spinning like a top on the floor. Bill O'Reilly is locking, popping and moonwalking across the room. A half empty bottle of Macallan whiskey, dated 1926, which Ailes had purchased at Christie's for $30,000, is on the table along with four glasses. The three rush Mitt, hooting and hollering, slapping high-fives. Hannity spikes that stupid football he's always tossing on his TV show.
Mitt: "I can't believe it. He didn't bring it up."
O'Reilly: "This is a miracle! There must be a God after all! There's no other explanation!"
Hannity: "I told you O'Reilly! God's on our side. Prayer works every time it's tried!
Mitt: "But I still can't believe it. They had me on tape calling 47% of the American people -- most of whom are honest, hard working people who contribute tremendously to society and the economy -- nothing but a bunch of self-entitled, dependent moochers who can't even take care of themselves. I practically called them all lazy, worthless scum."
O'Reilly: "You know, Mitt might be on to something. With all the evil we've been doing for all these years. The lying, the cheating, the hypocrisy. The plot to drive up the debt so that we can use it as the excuse to take away all of the social programs that benefit the poor and middle class..."
Ailes: " Starve the Beast baby!! Starve it 'till it's small enough to drown in the bathtub!!"
O'Reilly: "... then we have the unmitigated gall to hold the country hostage for even more tax cuts for the rich, even though all those Bush tax cuts produced zero jobs and only blew up the debt. Let's face it, we're a bunch of scumbags. Why would God do this for us? Could that be possible? Was it really God?"
A suddenly nervous looking Ailes: "Well, Bill, you said it yourself, 'there's no other explanation.'"
O'Reilly: "That's right. There is no other explanation... unless... [Ailes is now twiddling his thumbs and whistling while looking up to the ceiling.] Ailes, you didn't! You couldn't!"
Mitt: "Didn't? Couldn't? What are you talking about, O'Reilly?"
O'Reilly: "Ailes, you made a deal with the Devil! A Faustian bargain!"
Ailes: "OK, OK. You got me. I made a pact with Satan." [shocked disbelief around the room]
Mitt: "Roger, how could you!!?"
Ailes: "It's easy Mitt. I have Lucifer on speed-dial. How do you think I got so many people to believe that Fox News is 'fair and balanced?'
We report, you decide! [Hannity and Ailes bust out laughing] Besides, I only promised him Sean's first born son."
Mitt: "Oh God, Sean, I had no idea!"
Hannity: "Don't worry Mitt. As long as Obama and taxes for the rich both go down, it's worth it."
[A shaken Romney slumps into a chair. Ailes pours a glass of whiskey and hands it to Mitt]
Ailes: "I know it's a shock, Mitt. Drink this, it'll make you feel better."
Mitt: "I'm a Mormon, Roger. We don't drink alcohol."
Ailes: "You're in shock and you're upset. You're trembling, Mitt. This is medicinal. It's like Xanax, only better."
O'Reilly: "A lot better. Give me another glass of that $30,000 whiskey."
[Mitt takes the first drink of whiskey in his life. He gags on the first gulp but then pours the rest down his gullet and then shudders.]
O'Reilly: "Roger, I gotta admit, when they made evil geniuses they broke the mold after they made you."
Ailes: "Let me propose a toast. To Mitt's great performance and Sean's brilliant tactics."
[They all clink glasses]
Ailes: "Sean, I loved the way Mitt pulled off that line you gave him; 'Look, I've got five boys. I'm used to people saying something that's not always true, but just keep on repeating it and ultimately hoping I'll believe it.'
Not only did he get to use that on Obama before Obama got to use it on him -- even though Obama's telling the truth and Mitt's the one repeating the lie -- but he got to use the 'boy' dog whistle too!"
[everyone is laughing as they hoist another drink]
O'Reilly: "I'm a little nervous about that dog whistle, though. Don't you think the libs are going to notice that and use the race card by calling it racial innuendo?"
Hannity: "Plausible deniability, O'Reilly. You always call your sons boys, don't you Mitt?"
Mitt: "Sean, my sons are all over thirty, I have way too much respect for them than to call them boys."
[Everyone busts out laughing. High fives and another round of drinks.]
Ailes: "Wait a minute, then why do you always call us boys? [An inebriated Ailes ponders that thought for a moment.] Why you mother fucking Mormon bastard!" [Ailes charges at Mitt before O'Reilly and Hannity wrestle him to the ground. Then, everyone busts out laughing again. A growing wet stain appears in his pants as Ailes loses control of his bladder.]
O'Reilly: "Hey Roger, don't I get any credit for the Big Bird put down?"
Ailes: "That was smart too, Bill. It was a great nod to the nutbag base, to let them know Mitt hasn't gone socialist on them. They HATE PBS."
Mitt: "Hey this is starting to taste pretty good. Give me another glass. AND TURN UP THE MUSIC!"
The sounds are blasting, Ailes is krumping, Sean is breakdancing, Bill is moonwalking and even Mitt is getting his groove on by, fittingly, doing the Robot.
Before long, Mitt has removed his pants and is now dancing in his magic underwear. One more glass of whiskey later and Mitt has removed his underwear and is simulating the act of coitus on a bent over Ailes while pretending to spank his rear end.
Another toast. "TO LUCIFER!!!"
Friday, October 12, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Romney's Pre-Debate Conference
This is how I imagine Romney's debate prep went before the first debate:
Mitt: "Boys, I'm worried. My campaign advisors have me contradicting myself every time I open my mouth.
They have me pandering so much to the far right lunatics that I'm now to the right of Attila the Hun. It's making me look like a total jerk. They even wanted me to go full-bore birther, but that's where I drew the line. The fact-checkers are having a field day with me because everything I say is a lie. My tax cuts will bust the budget. And what about the 47% stuff? Obama is going to crucify me on that."
Debate coach #1: "Calm down, Mitt. We've got it all figured out. Don't worry about the contradictions. You've been doing that for so long that everyone's used to it by now. Your entire career has been based on contradictions. It's part of your charm."
Debate coach #2: "As for going too far to the right, now's the time to pivot to the center."
Mitt: "What!? I've already painted myself into a corner. There's so much shit on tape of me sounding like the John Birch Society that if I pivot now, Obama's going to use the 'etch-a-sketch' charge. I can just picture them playing Santorum's prediction over and over again in their ads."
Debate coach #3: "Yeah, Mitt, we know this is going to be tricky but we've got some good time-tested tricks up our sleeves on how to mitigate that."
Mitt: "Mit-igate. I like that. Mitigating Mitt. Mitt the Mitigater. But how are we going to do that?"
Coach #2: "We throw up smoke screens. We obfuscate. We misdirect. We change the subject."
Mitt: "But what do I say?"
Coach #1: "Just say every nonsensical thing we tell you to say."
Coach #2: "That's correct. You're going to blather. You're going to fiddle-faddle."
Coach #1 : "You're going to give them malarkey. Hokum. Hoodoo, claptrap, complete hooey."
Coach #2: "Tommyrot, Mitt. Totally senseless tommyrot. Flapdoodle and hogwash. Unadulterated codswallop."
Mitt: "Codswallop?"
Coach #1: "That's a British term. It means like, horseshit."
Mitt: "What about balderdash?"
Coach #2: "Of course. We won't forget about that. We've got plenty of balderdash for you. We've got all the blah-blah-blah you can handle."
Mitt: "But how can I get away with complete nonsense? Won't someone just call me on it?"
Coach #3: "Mitt, you don't pay us millions for nothing. We know exactly how to make nonsense sound like it makes sense."
Mitt: "You boys are genius. But what about interviews? I can see how I can get away with that at a press conference but what about a one-on-one interview?"
Coach #3: "You'll only do interviews on Fox News."
Mitt: "Well I know that Hannity will do a great job at making me look good and O'Reilly will give me what only looks like a tough interview, he never pushes it too far, but what about Chris Wallace? He's changed lately. He can be pretty tough and persistent."
Coach #1: "Yeah, all of us over at Fox are pissed off at him. All the criticism and ridicule we've been getting for being just an arm of the Republican Party -- at the same time we're selling ourselves as the 'Fair and Balanced' news station -- has gotten to him. So now he's actually been making an effort to be an honest newsman. I'd fire the turncoat bastard but I'm afraid he'll write a book about us if I do."
Mitt: "Wait a minute, I don't understand, all of us at Fox? Fire him? How could you fire him?"
Coach #1: "Mitt, put your glasses on. It's me, Roger Ailes. And that's Sean and Bill over there. Wake up Mitt and get with the program."
Mitt: "Jesus H. Christ! Ailes, Hannity and O'Reilly! You boys are fucking genius! And Roger, don't be so modest, it's the Republican Party that's an arm of Fox News. [Ailes nods in agreement] But how do I avoid Wallace?"
Ailes: "You can't, Mitt. Unlike the Vietnam War, you won't be able to avoid facing some fire." [overheard whispering and giggling]
Mitt: "Shut up Hannity! Did you ever serve?"
Ailes: "Everybody calm the fuck down. Now pay attention, Mitt. We've got it all worked out. When Wallace asks you the 'etch-a-sketch' question you will reply with a very long and boring answer to a completely different question."
Mitt: "But you know what Wallace is like, he'll just repeat the question."
Hannity: "Then you just give the same long and boring answer. And if he asks you again, you do the same thing until he stops. And believe me, he will stop."
Mitt: "But how do you know? And what about the audience, won't they notice?"
OReilly: "It's precisely because of the audience that he'll stop. The exercise will become so tedious that they will actually get pissed at Wallace for putting them through that torture. They'll even forget what the question was. Wallace will realize this. He won't want to hurt his ratings. On to the next question."
Mitt: "Genius, boys, sheer fucking genius!"
Ailes: "Now back to the debate. Mitt, read and memorize these two pages of talking points." [Ailes hands Mitt the pages]
Mitt: "Hello! Talk about pivoting, you've got me taking left of center positions now.
The job creators will not be paying less taxes!?
Only the parasites -- and by that I mean the poor and middle class -- will be paying less taxes!?
You got me sounding like a socialist. My position on Medicare sounds like the 'public option.' It's actually to the left of the public option because it's subsidized by the government with tax-payer money! My lunatic base was so suspicious of me because of my past positions. I've spent so many months convincing them that I'm just as much of a wing-nut as they are and not a moderate at all. I swore I was severely conservative, remember? They'll be furious."
Ailes: "Take a Xanax Mitt. We're going to put the word out to the base that you're only saying this to get elected. You've done enough ultra-far-right gum-flapping to convince them that you're on their side. They loved the way you called the President an apologizer and sympathizer for the terrorists. And they really admired the way you stuck by your guns by not backing down after the 47% remarks."
Mitt: "Yeah, all I said was that I 'phrased it inartfully.' Heh heh heh heh heh. [laughter from the others in the room]
But all this other stuff you have me saying, none of it is true. Remember the fact checkers?"
Ailes: "Facts have a liberal bias, Mitt. Everybody knows that. Those fact checkers are just a bunch of lefties.
Just like the pollsters and the rest of the media. Just like the schools and colleges and the government and the scientists. They're all lefties except for Fox News and the American people."
Mitt: "You know Roger, with all of those people and organizations you mentioned and considering the fact that half the politicians are Dems and the all the polls are about even, you'd think that half the American people are left of center."
Ailes: "BULLCRAP!!!" [Ailes slams his meaty ham-fists onto the table causing a shocked Romney to jolt backwards, sending his toupee flying off his head.]
O'Reilly: "Mitt, you're wearing a piece!? I'll be damned. Couldn't tell, looks real as hell. But can't you afford some better glue for that? For crying out loud, spring for the bucks, cheapskate."
Hannity: "I'll give you some of the glue I use. I've never had my hair fly off my head like that."
Mitt: "Are you kidding me, Sean? That's the phoniest looking hair I've ever seen. Did that come with a chin strap?"
Hannity: "You're the one who must be kidding. Did you ever get a load of your running mate's hair? Who do you think gave him that? And yes, it does come with a chin strap. But you can cover it up with makeup, see?"
Mitt: "Amazing.
OK boys, but I'm worried about my tax plan. You know I can't give any details about the plan because those numbers don't add up. Obama's going to point that out and cite the Tax Policy Center's Study as proof. All you have me doing is saying that it does add up. Do you expect me to keep saying that, as if by repeating it enough times, that will make it true? I'll just be setting Obama up to use that very zinger against me."
Ailes: "Read the second page, Mitt. That's where we have you preempt him. As soon as he brings up your 5 trillion dollar tax cut, you say 'That's not true. And repeating it enough times won't make it true.'"
Mitt: "Genius!!! Oh the irony! Falsely accusing him of exactly what I'm guilty of. How sneaky and underhanded."
Ailes: "Yeah, Sean thought of that." [A smiling Hannity leans back in his chair as he polishes his fingernails against his shirt.]
Mitt: "I owe you a bonus, Sean. I'll take it out of O'Reilly's cut, he doesn't seem to have contributed much to this. [O'Reilly grumbles as his fists clench in anger.] Now there's only one last hurdle I can see. It's when I told those rich donors -- my real base -- what I really thought about 47% of the American people.
You have nothing at all about that on these two pages. Like I said, Obama will crucify me on that."
Ailes: "That's our greatest challenge, Mitt. You can't apologize because we right-wing dildo-brains think that's a sign of weakness. Plus we've been falsely accusing Obama of apologizing, going on four years now. We can't give the left the satisfaction of seeing our leader grovel like that. It would devastate and demoralize our base and suppress voter turnout. So we have no other choice but to hope and pray that he doesn't bring it up."
Mitt: "What the fuck!!!? Are you guys nuts!!? That would take a miracle!! Never in a million years would Obama pass up an opportunity like that! You're insane!"
Ailes: "Mitt, take another Xanax. Here, take the whole bottle. Listen, Mitt, you believe in miracles, don't you? Wasn't it a miracle when Joseph Smith invented the Magic Underwear? We've got the entire religious right praying for this miracle. Remember how they made it rain in Texas? You Mormons pray, don't you? Well get started."
Mitt: "Oh God."
O'Reilly: "That's it."
A resigned Mitt: "Well, it was a long shot anyway. I Guess there's only so much anyone can do. Thanks for the good effort boys. Is there anything I can do for you boys?"
O'Reilly: "Yeah, Mitt. You can stop calling us boys.”
Mitt: “Why? You guys aren’t black.”
Hannity: “Jumping Jehovah’s Witnesses! I just had a brilliant idea!”
To be continued...
Mitt: "Boys, I'm worried. My campaign advisors have me contradicting myself every time I open my mouth.
They have me pandering so much to the far right lunatics that I'm now to the right of Attila the Hun. It's making me look like a total jerk. They even wanted me to go full-bore birther, but that's where I drew the line. The fact-checkers are having a field day with me because everything I say is a lie. My tax cuts will bust the budget. And what about the 47% stuff? Obama is going to crucify me on that."
Debate coach #1: "Calm down, Mitt. We've got it all figured out. Don't worry about the contradictions. You've been doing that for so long that everyone's used to it by now. Your entire career has been based on contradictions. It's part of your charm."
Debate coach #2: "As for going too far to the right, now's the time to pivot to the center."
Mitt: "What!? I've already painted myself into a corner. There's so much shit on tape of me sounding like the John Birch Society that if I pivot now, Obama's going to use the 'etch-a-sketch' charge. I can just picture them playing Santorum's prediction over and over again in their ads."
Debate coach #3: "Yeah, Mitt, we know this is going to be tricky but we've got some good time-tested tricks up our sleeves on how to mitigate that."
Mitt: "Mit-igate. I like that. Mitigating Mitt. Mitt the Mitigater. But how are we going to do that?"
Coach #2: "We throw up smoke screens. We obfuscate. We misdirect. We change the subject."
Mitt: "But what do I say?"
Coach #1: "Just say every nonsensical thing we tell you to say."
Coach #2: "That's correct. You're going to blather. You're going to fiddle-faddle."
Coach #1 : "You're going to give them malarkey. Hokum. Hoodoo, claptrap, complete hooey."
Coach #2: "Tommyrot, Mitt. Totally senseless tommyrot. Flapdoodle and hogwash. Unadulterated codswallop."
Mitt: "Codswallop?"
Coach #1: "That's a British term. It means like, horseshit."
Mitt: "What about balderdash?"
Coach #2: "Of course. We won't forget about that. We've got plenty of balderdash for you. We've got all the blah-blah-blah you can handle."
Mitt: "But how can I get away with complete nonsense? Won't someone just call me on it?"
Coach #3: "Mitt, you don't pay us millions for nothing. We know exactly how to make nonsense sound like it makes sense."
Mitt: "You boys are genius. But what about interviews? I can see how I can get away with that at a press conference but what about a one-on-one interview?"
Coach #3: "You'll only do interviews on Fox News."
Mitt: "Well I know that Hannity will do a great job at making me look good and O'Reilly will give me what only looks like a tough interview, he never pushes it too far, but what about Chris Wallace? He's changed lately. He can be pretty tough and persistent."
Coach #1: "Yeah, all of us over at Fox are pissed off at him. All the criticism and ridicule we've been getting for being just an arm of the Republican Party -- at the same time we're selling ourselves as the 'Fair and Balanced' news station -- has gotten to him. So now he's actually been making an effort to be an honest newsman. I'd fire the turncoat bastard but I'm afraid he'll write a book about us if I do."
Mitt: "Wait a minute, I don't understand, all of us at Fox? Fire him? How could you fire him?"
Coach #1: "Mitt, put your glasses on. It's me, Roger Ailes. And that's Sean and Bill over there. Wake up Mitt and get with the program."
Mitt: "Jesus H. Christ! Ailes, Hannity and O'Reilly! You boys are fucking genius! And Roger, don't be so modest, it's the Republican Party that's an arm of Fox News. [Ailes nods in agreement] But how do I avoid Wallace?"
Ailes: "You can't, Mitt. Unlike the Vietnam War, you won't be able to avoid facing some fire." [overheard whispering and giggling]
Mitt: "Shut up Hannity! Did you ever serve?"
Ailes: "Everybody calm the fuck down. Now pay attention, Mitt. We've got it all worked out. When Wallace asks you the 'etch-a-sketch' question you will reply with a very long and boring answer to a completely different question."
Mitt: "But you know what Wallace is like, he'll just repeat the question."
Hannity: "Then you just give the same long and boring answer. And if he asks you again, you do the same thing until he stops. And believe me, he will stop."
Mitt: "But how do you know? And what about the audience, won't they notice?"
OReilly: "It's precisely because of the audience that he'll stop. The exercise will become so tedious that they will actually get pissed at Wallace for putting them through that torture. They'll even forget what the question was. Wallace will realize this. He won't want to hurt his ratings. On to the next question."
Mitt: "Genius, boys, sheer fucking genius!"
Ailes: "Now back to the debate. Mitt, read and memorize these two pages of talking points." [Ailes hands Mitt the pages]
Mitt: "Hello! Talk about pivoting, you've got me taking left of center positions now.
The job creators will not be paying less taxes!?
Only the parasites -- and by that I mean the poor and middle class -- will be paying less taxes!?
You got me sounding like a socialist. My position on Medicare sounds like the 'public option.' It's actually to the left of the public option because it's subsidized by the government with tax-payer money! My lunatic base was so suspicious of me because of my past positions. I've spent so many months convincing them that I'm just as much of a wing-nut as they are and not a moderate at all. I swore I was severely conservative, remember? They'll be furious."
Ailes: "Take a Xanax Mitt. We're going to put the word out to the base that you're only saying this to get elected. You've done enough ultra-far-right gum-flapping to convince them that you're on their side. They loved the way you called the President an apologizer and sympathizer for the terrorists. And they really admired the way you stuck by your guns by not backing down after the 47% remarks."
Mitt: "Yeah, all I said was that I 'phrased it inartfully.' Heh heh heh heh heh. [laughter from the others in the room]
But all this other stuff you have me saying, none of it is true. Remember the fact checkers?"
Ailes: "Facts have a liberal bias, Mitt. Everybody knows that. Those fact checkers are just a bunch of lefties.
Just like the pollsters and the rest of the media. Just like the schools and colleges and the government and the scientists. They're all lefties except for Fox News and the American people."
Mitt: "You know Roger, with all of those people and organizations you mentioned and considering the fact that half the politicians are Dems and the all the polls are about even, you'd think that half the American people are left of center."
Ailes: "BULLCRAP!!!" [Ailes slams his meaty ham-fists onto the table causing a shocked Romney to jolt backwards, sending his toupee flying off his head.]
O'Reilly: "Mitt, you're wearing a piece!? I'll be damned. Couldn't tell, looks real as hell. But can't you afford some better glue for that? For crying out loud, spring for the bucks, cheapskate."
Hannity: "I'll give you some of the glue I use. I've never had my hair fly off my head like that."
Mitt: "Are you kidding me, Sean? That's the phoniest looking hair I've ever seen. Did that come with a chin strap?"
Hannity: "You're the one who must be kidding. Did you ever get a load of your running mate's hair? Who do you think gave him that? And yes, it does come with a chin strap. But you can cover it up with makeup, see?"
Mitt: "Amazing.
OK boys, but I'm worried about my tax plan. You know I can't give any details about the plan because those numbers don't add up. Obama's going to point that out and cite the Tax Policy Center's Study as proof. All you have me doing is saying that it does add up. Do you expect me to keep saying that, as if by repeating it enough times, that will make it true? I'll just be setting Obama up to use that very zinger against me."
Ailes: "Read the second page, Mitt. That's where we have you preempt him. As soon as he brings up your 5 trillion dollar tax cut, you say 'That's not true. And repeating it enough times won't make it true.'"
Mitt: "Genius!!! Oh the irony! Falsely accusing him of exactly what I'm guilty of. How sneaky and underhanded."
Ailes: "Yeah, Sean thought of that." [A smiling Hannity leans back in his chair as he polishes his fingernails against his shirt.]
Mitt: "I owe you a bonus, Sean. I'll take it out of O'Reilly's cut, he doesn't seem to have contributed much to this. [O'Reilly grumbles as his fists clench in anger.] Now there's only one last hurdle I can see. It's when I told those rich donors -- my real base -- what I really thought about 47% of the American people.
You have nothing at all about that on these two pages. Like I said, Obama will crucify me on that."
Ailes: "That's our greatest challenge, Mitt. You can't apologize because we right-wing dildo-brains think that's a sign of weakness. Plus we've been falsely accusing Obama of apologizing, going on four years now. We can't give the left the satisfaction of seeing our leader grovel like that. It would devastate and demoralize our base and suppress voter turnout. So we have no other choice but to hope and pray that he doesn't bring it up."
Mitt: "What the fuck!!!? Are you guys nuts!!? That would take a miracle!! Never in a million years would Obama pass up an opportunity like that! You're insane!"
Ailes: "Mitt, take another Xanax. Here, take the whole bottle. Listen, Mitt, you believe in miracles, don't you? Wasn't it a miracle when Joseph Smith invented the Magic Underwear? We've got the entire religious right praying for this miracle. Remember how they made it rain in Texas? You Mormons pray, don't you? Well get started."
Mitt: "Oh God."
O'Reilly: "That's it."
A resigned Mitt: "Well, it was a long shot anyway. I Guess there's only so much anyone can do. Thanks for the good effort boys. Is there anything I can do for you boys?"
O'Reilly: "Yeah, Mitt. You can stop calling us boys.”
Mitt: “Why? You guys aren’t black.”
Hannity: “Jumping Jehovah’s Witnesses! I just had a brilliant idea!”
To be continued...
Monday, October 8, 2012
My Post-Debate Analysis
In a September 4 post
http://liberalbabyboomer.blogspot.com/2012/09/gop-theme-we-built-this-straw-man.html
just before the Democratic Convention, I expressed the hope that the Dems would offer a strong defense of Obama's "You Didn't Build That" speech. The Republicons had taken those words out of context and then, in the most galling display of underhanded political deceit in my lifetime, used their twisted interpretation of those words as the theme of their own Convention.
This was my prediction of what would happen:
"Unfortunately, I'm not hopeful of that hope because I can count on one hand the number of people I've heard give that message the rigor and eloquence that it deserves. My guess is that they won't even try."
Well, I would rate my prediction as "Half-True."
They did try. A little. Very little.
But the effort was neither rigorous nor eloquent and no one either talked about it afterwards or remembers it now. Do you? I didn't think so.
Here was the hope and prediction that I expressed, just before the debate, in my last post titled "Please Punish Mitt for His 47% Slur Tonight" :
"Now my hope is that in tonight's debate Obama will give Romney the punishment he deserves for the false, outrageous and insulting slander he committed against 47% of the American people. My guess is that he'll try. But I'm afraid that he won't do that job justice."
Well, I would also rate this prediction as "Half-True."
He didn't do that job justice.
But it was because the brother didn't even try! Oh Barry, how could you let us down like that?
The President needs to fire all of his advisors because they are the most inept bunch of incompetents
I've ever witnessed. Not that Obama should be absolved of blame, but these guys are awful.
Both the Republican Party and the Romney Campaign should be a smoldering heap of rubble by now. The con job that the Republicon Party have been pulling on the American people for the past thirty years is tantamount to treason. They have deliberately driven up the debt and caused a dangerous crisis with their "Starve the Beast" economic policies in order to use that debt as the excuse to circumvent the democratic process and get rid of the programs that the overwhelming majority of Americans voted for.
(I'll get into that more in a future post)
All political campaigns double-talk, obfuscate, omit facts, distort facts, mischaracterize and "stetch the truth." Obama's campaign is no exception. But the level of deception being perpetrated by the Romney Campaign must be unprecedented. They have to be the most deceitful campaign in American history.
If this were a competition for the title of world's biggest liars, the Romney campaign would be as dominant a team as the '27 Yankees were in baseball..
The fact that the Democrats have not been able to put the Republicons to rest tells us that they need much smarter people running the Party. I officially volunteer my services.
Here's what I would have suggested they do for their Convention last month:
Make their campaign theme "We Built This Economy"
The message behind this theme would be that all Americans contribute to the economy and the economy is what provides the opportunities that allow individuals to become rich.
I would invite three speakers to elaborate on this message:
1) William Deresiewicz, an essayist, critic and author.
Read this brilliant article he wrote for the NYTimes last May and you'll understand why:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/opinion/sunday/fables-of-wealth.html?_r=0
Here is a relevant snippet:
"First of all, if entrepreneurs are job creators, workers are wealth creators. Entrepreneurs use wealth to create jobs for workers. Workers use labor to create wealth for entrepreneurs — the excess productivity, over and above wages and other compensation, that goes to corporate profits. It’s neither party’s goal to benefit the other, but that’s what happens nonetheless."
2) Nick Hanauer an entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author.
Check out this fantastic YouTube video also from last May:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBx2Y5HhplI
Please check those links out, if not now, then when you have time. You'll love it.
Boy, I wish I had done the kind of thinking that resulted in the brilliant ideas that those two men came up with, then written it down in my blog. Wait a second. I did. Way back in August of last year.
In two posts from last year I offered a bit more sophisticated description of how the economy works than the slop the Republiconservatives give, which goes like this:
"the wealthy are the job creators, they do it all by themselves with nothing but their hard work, genius and risk-taking courage. How dare you think of raising their top marginal tax rate from 35% to 39.6%! Just because we have a huge and dangerous debt caused in large part by the Reagan and Bush tax cuts? Why that's socialist redistributionist class warfare! The rest of you count for nothing and just take while the creators make. You should be grateful that they do all of the work, pay all of the taxes and create all of the jobs. The rest of you sit on your couches waiting for the government check to come in. Why, you self-entitled, irresponsible moochers who can't even take care of yourselves. We should be lowering the job creators' taxes even more so they can start creating jobs! And if they still won't create jobs, then we'll lower them again! We Republicons hope the job creators are smart enough to wait until their tax rate is zero before they start creating jobs, if they feel like it. Rather, they might just want to speculate with that dough in no-job producing ventures, instead.
Hey, that's the invisible hand of the free market, so keep your mouth shut!"
In my first post I directly and forcefully exposed this steaming pile of horseshit:
http://liberalbabyboomer.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html
I wrote my second post after the Elizabeth Warren speech on which Obama based his speech:
http://liberalbabyboomer.blogspot.com/2011_09_01_archive.html
In this one I criticized Ms Warren's speech for being weak and full of tactical errors. I then counseled Dems and libs on what to say and what not to say. Unfortunately Obama then said exactly what I suggested he shouldn't say.
It's almost as if the President never read my blog!
If he had taken my advice he would never had made that 'You didn't build that' gaffe in the first place.
This is why I would make:
3) Joe Barton a retired postal clerk and amateur blogger
my third speaker.
The first two geniuses on this list of speakers deserve a Nobel Prize in Human Decency.
The third is way too modest to suggest such a thing.
But if they had a Nobel in modesty, he would be forced to accept because he is too honest to deny his modesty.
Another thing I would have suggested for the Convention would have been to show how practically every businessman the Republicons paraded on that stage and put in their ads relied on government contracts, loans and taxpayer financed infrastructure. Does that make them irresponsible, dependent moochers, Mitt?
In my next post I will reveal the advice I would have given Obama for the first debate.
http://liberalbabyboomer.blogspot.com/2012/09/gop-theme-we-built-this-straw-man.html
just before the Democratic Convention, I expressed the hope that the Dems would offer a strong defense of Obama's "You Didn't Build That" speech. The Republicons had taken those words out of context and then, in the most galling display of underhanded political deceit in my lifetime, used their twisted interpretation of those words as the theme of their own Convention.
This was my prediction of what would happen:
"Unfortunately, I'm not hopeful of that hope because I can count on one hand the number of people I've heard give that message the rigor and eloquence that it deserves. My guess is that they won't even try."
Well, I would rate my prediction as "Half-True."
They did try. A little. Very little.
But the effort was neither rigorous nor eloquent and no one either talked about it afterwards or remembers it now. Do you? I didn't think so.
Here was the hope and prediction that I expressed, just before the debate, in my last post titled "Please Punish Mitt for His 47% Slur Tonight" :
"Now my hope is that in tonight's debate Obama will give Romney the punishment he deserves for the false, outrageous and insulting slander he committed against 47% of the American people. My guess is that he'll try. But I'm afraid that he won't do that job justice."
Well, I would also rate this prediction as "Half-True."
He didn't do that job justice.
But it was because the brother didn't even try! Oh Barry, how could you let us down like that?
The President needs to fire all of his advisors because they are the most inept bunch of incompetents
I've ever witnessed. Not that Obama should be absolved of blame, but these guys are awful.
Both the Republican Party and the Romney Campaign should be a smoldering heap of rubble by now. The con job that the Republicon Party have been pulling on the American people for the past thirty years is tantamount to treason. They have deliberately driven up the debt and caused a dangerous crisis with their "Starve the Beast" economic policies in order to use that debt as the excuse to circumvent the democratic process and get rid of the programs that the overwhelming majority of Americans voted for.
(I'll get into that more in a future post)
All political campaigns double-talk, obfuscate, omit facts, distort facts, mischaracterize and "stetch the truth." Obama's campaign is no exception. But the level of deception being perpetrated by the Romney Campaign must be unprecedented. They have to be the most deceitful campaign in American history.
If this were a competition for the title of world's biggest liars, the Romney campaign would be as dominant a team as the '27 Yankees were in baseball..
The fact that the Democrats have not been able to put the Republicons to rest tells us that they need much smarter people running the Party. I officially volunteer my services.
Here's what I would have suggested they do for their Convention last month:
Make their campaign theme "We Built This Economy"
The message behind this theme would be that all Americans contribute to the economy and the economy is what provides the opportunities that allow individuals to become rich.
I would invite three speakers to elaborate on this message:
1) William Deresiewicz, an essayist, critic and author.
Read this brilliant article he wrote for the NYTimes last May and you'll understand why:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/opinion/sunday/fables-of-wealth.html?_r=0
Here is a relevant snippet:
"First of all, if entrepreneurs are job creators, workers are wealth creators. Entrepreneurs use wealth to create jobs for workers. Workers use labor to create wealth for entrepreneurs — the excess productivity, over and above wages and other compensation, that goes to corporate profits. It’s neither party’s goal to benefit the other, but that’s what happens nonetheless."
2) Nick Hanauer an entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author.
Check out this fantastic YouTube video also from last May:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBx2Y5HhplI
Please check those links out, if not now, then when you have time. You'll love it.
Boy, I wish I had done the kind of thinking that resulted in the brilliant ideas that those two men came up with, then written it down in my blog. Wait a second. I did. Way back in August of last year.
In two posts from last year I offered a bit more sophisticated description of how the economy works than the slop the Republiconservatives give, which goes like this:
"the wealthy are the job creators, they do it all by themselves with nothing but their hard work, genius and risk-taking courage. How dare you think of raising their top marginal tax rate from 35% to 39.6%! Just because we have a huge and dangerous debt caused in large part by the Reagan and Bush tax cuts? Why that's socialist redistributionist class warfare! The rest of you count for nothing and just take while the creators make. You should be grateful that they do all of the work, pay all of the taxes and create all of the jobs. The rest of you sit on your couches waiting for the government check to come in. Why, you self-entitled, irresponsible moochers who can't even take care of yourselves. We should be lowering the job creators' taxes even more so they can start creating jobs! And if they still won't create jobs, then we'll lower them again! We Republicons hope the job creators are smart enough to wait until their tax rate is zero before they start creating jobs, if they feel like it. Rather, they might just want to speculate with that dough in no-job producing ventures, instead.
Hey, that's the invisible hand of the free market, so keep your mouth shut!"
In my first post I directly and forcefully exposed this steaming pile of horseshit:
http://liberalbabyboomer.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html
I wrote my second post after the Elizabeth Warren speech on which Obama based his speech:
http://liberalbabyboomer.blogspot.com/2011_09_01_archive.html
In this one I criticized Ms Warren's speech for being weak and full of tactical errors. I then counseled Dems and libs on what to say and what not to say. Unfortunately Obama then said exactly what I suggested he shouldn't say.
It's almost as if the President never read my blog!
If he had taken my advice he would never had made that 'You didn't build that' gaffe in the first place.
This is why I would make:
3) Joe Barton a retired postal clerk and amateur blogger
my third speaker.
The first two geniuses on this list of speakers deserve a Nobel Prize in Human Decency.
The third is way too modest to suggest such a thing.
But if they had a Nobel in modesty, he would be forced to accept because he is too honest to deny his modesty.
Another thing I would have suggested for the Convention would have been to show how practically every businessman the Republicons paraded on that stage and put in their ads relied on government contracts, loans and taxpayer financed infrastructure. Does that make them irresponsible, dependent moochers, Mitt?
In my next post I will reveal the advice I would have given Obama for the first debate.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Please Punish Mitt for His 47% Slur Tonight
In a previous post, just before the Democratic National Convention, I expressed the hope that the Dems would forcefully defend the remarks delivered in that July campaign speech by Obama that contained the phrase "you didn't build that." That speech was an attempt to explain how successful businesses rely not only on individual initiative but, among other things, government initiatives, public infrastructure and the help entrepreneurs get from their fellow citizens..
Instead of giving that message the rigor and eloquence it deserved, Obama delivered an inarticulate mess that the Republiconservative distortion machine then used to accuse him of insulting hard working business owners by not giving them the credit they deserved. After taking that phrase out of context in order to make it seem that Obama was saying the exact opposite of what he did say, they then made it their fucking convention theme!
What a bunch of dirty, low down, underhanded skunks.
I have yet to hear one of these right-wingers square these other words (from that same speech) with their canard that Obama was denigrating individual effort:
"And what this reminded me of was that, at the heart of this country, its central idea is the idea that in this country, if you’re willing to work hard, if you’re willing to take responsibility, you can make it if you try "
"...and if they’re willing to work hard, then they can achieve things that you wouldn’t have even imagined achieving."
"The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative..."
The Dems could have made Obama's real message their own campaign theme. They could have explained how the efforts and contributions of all of us are what makes the economy -- and the economy is what provides the opportunities that allow individuals to become rich.
That would have been brilliant. But having been burned once, the Dems decided to stay away from that.
How pathetic.
Now my hope is that in tonight's debate Obama will give Romney the punishment he deserves for the false, outrageous and insulting slander he committed against 47% of the American people. My guess is that he'll try. But I'm afraid that he won't do that job justice.
I must say that every time Obama has been given the opportunity to make the case for liberal principles he has fallen short. Worse than that, he often turns those opportunities into fodder for that 'Republiconservative distortion machine' by serving up some 'inarticulate mess' which they then seize on and use against him.
From Joe the Plumber to attacks on his ‘socialism.’ From the public option to rationing and death panels. From the Bush tax cuts to redistribution of wealth. From apologizing for America to 'you didn't build that.'
Obama just can't seem to defend himself.
It’s not just him, it’s the entire Democratic Party and the left in general.
However, there are a small handful of exceptions and I will highlight them in future posts.
Consider this revolting irony:
Romney just uttered, probably, the most insulting accusations ever made against the American people by a presidential candidate. And they were based on complete falsehoods. (to be fair, he did exclude all rich people from those insults even though many of them don't pay any income taxes and are dependent on government handouts.)
How is it that right-wingers can make such hay out of things that Obama never said, did or thought, incorporate it into their convention theme and drive themselves into a mindless rage, but the Dems can't effectively put Romney's feet to the fire for the most unambiguous insults we've ever heard from a presidential candidate? We've never seen Mitt so relaxed and at ease as when he made those comments.
It wasn't Obama who denigrated the efforts of people, it was that bastard Mitt Romney!
Romney hasn't suffered nearly as much as he should have for this. His candidacy should be completely over by now. Despite the fact that his efforts to squirm out of this are so fucking pathetic, he's actually succeeded to a large extent.
Out of all the insults he stuffed into the load of garbage he delivered to those rich donors, the worst by far was this one:
"I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
Wow. Damn. Hoowee. That's 47% of the American people he's talking about. What a fuck.
You know, even if Obama did mean you didn't build that 'business', at least that would be partially true. Because people who start businesses -- while contributing initiative, ideas and/or capital -- don't usually build it themselves. They usually hire other people to build it for them. People like the 47% of irresponsible moochers that Mitt and his donors seem to despise.
Romney's horeshit, on the other hand, is just a god-damn flat out lie.
The only person I've seen so far to do this issue proper justice is the great Paul Krugman.
If you haven't read his recent NYT Op-Ed please do. It is beautiful:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/opinion/krugman-disdain-for-workers.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120921&moc.semityn.www&_r=0
Instead of giving that message the rigor and eloquence it deserved, Obama delivered an inarticulate mess that the Republiconservative distortion machine then used to accuse him of insulting hard working business owners by not giving them the credit they deserved. After taking that phrase out of context in order to make it seem that Obama was saying the exact opposite of what he did say, they then made it their fucking convention theme!
What a bunch of dirty, low down, underhanded skunks.
I have yet to hear one of these right-wingers square these other words (from that same speech) with their canard that Obama was denigrating individual effort:
"And what this reminded me of was that, at the heart of this country, its central idea is the idea that in this country, if you’re willing to work hard, if you’re willing to take responsibility, you can make it if you try "
"...and if they’re willing to work hard, then they can achieve things that you wouldn’t have even imagined achieving."
"The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative..."
The Dems could have made Obama's real message their own campaign theme. They could have explained how the efforts and contributions of all of us are what makes the economy -- and the economy is what provides the opportunities that allow individuals to become rich.
That would have been brilliant. But having been burned once, the Dems decided to stay away from that.
How pathetic.
Now my hope is that in tonight's debate Obama will give Romney the punishment he deserves for the false, outrageous and insulting slander he committed against 47% of the American people. My guess is that he'll try. But I'm afraid that he won't do that job justice.
I must say that every time Obama has been given the opportunity to make the case for liberal principles he has fallen short. Worse than that, he often turns those opportunities into fodder for that 'Republiconservative distortion machine' by serving up some 'inarticulate mess' which they then seize on and use against him.
From Joe the Plumber to attacks on his ‘socialism.’ From the public option to rationing and death panels. From the Bush tax cuts to redistribution of wealth. From apologizing for America to 'you didn't build that.'
Obama just can't seem to defend himself.
It’s not just him, it’s the entire Democratic Party and the left in general.
However, there are a small handful of exceptions and I will highlight them in future posts.
Consider this revolting irony:
Romney just uttered, probably, the most insulting accusations ever made against the American people by a presidential candidate. And they were based on complete falsehoods. (to be fair, he did exclude all rich people from those insults even though many of them don't pay any income taxes and are dependent on government handouts.)
How is it that right-wingers can make such hay out of things that Obama never said, did or thought, incorporate it into their convention theme and drive themselves into a mindless rage, but the Dems can't effectively put Romney's feet to the fire for the most unambiguous insults we've ever heard from a presidential candidate? We've never seen Mitt so relaxed and at ease as when he made those comments.
It wasn't Obama who denigrated the efforts of people, it was that bastard Mitt Romney!
Romney hasn't suffered nearly as much as he should have for this. His candidacy should be completely over by now. Despite the fact that his efforts to squirm out of this are so fucking pathetic, he's actually succeeded to a large extent.
Out of all the insults he stuffed into the load of garbage he delivered to those rich donors, the worst by far was this one:
"I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
Wow. Damn. Hoowee. That's 47% of the American people he's talking about. What a fuck.
You know, even if Obama did mean you didn't build that 'business', at least that would be partially true. Because people who start businesses -- while contributing initiative, ideas and/or capital -- don't usually build it themselves. They usually hire other people to build it for them. People like the 47% of irresponsible moochers that Mitt and his donors seem to despise.
Romney's horeshit, on the other hand, is just a god-damn flat out lie.
The only person I've seen so far to do this issue proper justice is the great Paul Krugman.
If you haven't read his recent NYT Op-Ed please do. It is beautiful:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/opinion/krugman-disdain-for-workers.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120921&moc.semityn.www&_r=0
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