While the surreptitiously recorded "47 Percent" video may not be solely responsible for Mitt Romney's loss in the 2012 presidential election, it certainly was instrumental. It cemented the already common belief that Romney was out of touch, separate and apart from ordinary Americans. Romney's attempts to distance himself from the video were also transparently phony, which was another of his common traits. So, the video may not have been Romeny's campaign coffin, but it was a fist full of the nails.
The man who shot the video turns out to not be some commie pinko liberal moonbat like me, but an independent. And he doesn't seem to be barnstorming the media for a payday (though who could blame him if he did), having waited this long to out himself. I think he did his nation a great service.
[Excerpt] Mystery man behind ’47 percent’ video revealed
The man who secretly filmed then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney telling a private audience that “47 percent” of voters would vote for President Obama “no matter what,” outed himself Wednesday night during an hour-long segment on “The Ed Show. . .”
The thing everyone will always remember about Bobby Jindal's big State of the Union rebuttal was that he sauntered out looking like a cross between Kenneth the page from 30 Rock, and an Indian Mr. Rogers. What he had to say is utterly lost. Well, it just happened again.
Marco Rubio is one of the first efforts by the post-2012 GOP to put a new face on the party. On substance, there was no change in message, only a slight tweak to the delivery. Rubio came off just as earnest (oh, so earnest) as Jindal, and almost as amateurish. He was on an overly decorated, fakey-looking set, and beyond his dressed up pre-2012 election message, Rubio had a problem. He was simultaneously sweating, and parched. Dry mouth, they call it, and it became harder and harder for him to disguise, ultimately leading to a weird mouth-wipe, and then a lunge (oddly enough, to the left!) for a glass of water.
So, the fact that much of Rubio's patter could have come straight from Mitt Romney's stump speech, and that it was equally fact-challenged in parts, is now lost to that unscripted moment. It may not be enough to shut down Rubio as badly as it did Jindal. And if he's smart, he'll turn it into a self-deprecating gag in the future. But there is no question that the 2014 rebuttal is going to be a job that nobody will want to take, outside of, say, John McCain or Lindsey Graham.
One interesting fact: the lunge revealed that Rubio has tamed his combover hairdo just a bit. Prior to his "moment," his hair was largely hidden in shadow. The lunge showed us his no 'do, and it's a marked improvement.
[Excerpt] The soon-to-be-infamous Marco Rubio water bottle moment Courtesy of National Journal a wonderful moment captured in time from Marco Rubio’s “Republican response” to the President’s State of the Union. Marco Rubio and the water bottle, a moment in American history captured in time forever. . .
I'm back from vacation, so I expected a lot to work with. But I didn't expect the "October Surprise" moments to be fast and furious on October second. Here, as I type, we have three of them. Two of them are of the "opposition research" mold, and this one is of the "self inflicted" variety. All of them--unless I miss my guess--are fairly weak tea.
When it comes to the Joe Biden gaffe, you're grading on a curve. He is prone to speaking off-the-cuff, and when he does so, he sometimes leaves out words, or gropes for the wrong one. In this case, he didn't attribute the middle class being "buried" to the policies of the previous administration, nor to the Republican Congress, both of which are valid points. So it gives the Romney campaign--always searching for a change-of-storyline--with the opportunity to pounce. But it is kind of like a mouse being caught by a toothless, clawless cat. It's just not going to change the news cycle, especially not in the midst of the first debate tomorrow. Nice try though.
[Excerpt] Joe Biden 'Buried' Comment About Middle Class Seized On By Republicans Ahead Of Debate
Republicans pounced on comments by Vice President Joe Biden about the middle class being "buried" for the past four years as proof that President Barack Obama’s economic policies have failed. . .
When is a gaffe serious, and when is it silly? When is it a trifle, and when does it reveal something about the candidate? If Mitt Romney really wonders why you can't open the windows on an airplane he's either an idiot, or he doesn't think very deeply about things. Which is troubling for a presidential candidate. The other option, is that he was trying to be funny. But, joking around would be a very strange thing to do, when your wife has just suffered a harrowing emergency landing.
So which is it? Here's my go-to gal, Rachel Maddow to posit her theories. Don't worry, it's only two and a half minutes long. . .
So, apparently there is a gap in the recording of Mitt Romney that Mother Jones' David Corn released. The video is in two parts, and apparently there is a lapse of one or two minutes between the parts. This is being jumped on by the right as a disqualifier of the entire video, and James O'Keefe/Andrew Breitbart comparisons are being levied. Which is hilarious, when you consider how fervently O'Keefe and Breitbart have been defended on the right.
Question, though: what difference does it make? First, there is absolutely no evidence that this is in an effort to mask anything, and no evidence that Corn lied when he said he'd release the whole video. If indeed the camera stopped for a couple of minutes, this is the whole video. Nobody anywhere has said that the entire Romney fundraiser was captured by video. I'm frankly surprised that so much was recorded. [Story continues below]
Now, before you say I'm making excuses, I have no allegiance to Corn or Mother Jones. I have seen one issue of the magazine, ever, and have been to their website maybe four or five times in all the years I've been blogging. But I'm having difficulty seeing what in the world could have occured in the two missing minutes that changes a thing about this video. Even being generous, and allowing for the wildest of speculation, what could Romney have said that would mitigate the rest of the video?
Regardless, it doesn't change a) what he said that was captured, and b) the fact that Romney called an impromptu press conference to explain himself. If indeed he said something between part 1 and part 2 that changes the tone and context to something different, wouldn't he have said it then?
This is a desperate attempt by the right to erase the impact of what Romney had to say, but it doesn't wash. Surely, Sean Hannity will wave the "missing two minutes" around for time immemorial, but so what. Romney denounced nothing from the video. Unless he does, this is just pointless.
[Excerpt] #missing2min: The Romney tapes' two missing minutes
The secretly recorded tapes of Mitt Romney speaking at a fund-raiser in May were released first in clips on Monday, and later in their full form on Tuesday. At least what appeared to be their full form: David Corn, the Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones, the magazine that first posted the tapes, says "one to two minutes" of the fund-raiser were never captured, according to the person who recorded it. . . Read more at: CNN
Just for your edification, should you be sympathizing with Mitt Romney's pickle over insulting almost half the country: the 47% of citizens who do not pay federal income tax is not necessarily a monolithic Obama bloc. Take a look at the map below. Tell me how many of the states in red voted for Obama in the last election. I'll wait. . .
Image from Tax Foundation
If you're wondering, the answer is two, New Mexico and Florida, the latter being a perpetual swing-state. The rest of them were McCain/Palin country. And let's not forget that the 47% that Romney spoke of included retirees, disabled veterans and many others who are not just slackers on the government dole. To say that they are is insulting and over-simplistic to say the very least.
Rachel Maddow explains--very well--why the tedious, embarrassing Clint Eastwood bit at the Republican National Convention wasn't just an unpleasant happening. It was a spectacularly bad gamble on what to highlight when. See what I mean here. . .
Newsweek says "wimp," I say "douche." Image from source, Think Progress.
Really, how does Mitt Romney fit all of the cognitive dissonance in his head?
[Excerpt]
Romney Praises Israel’s Universal Health Care System, Which Includes Individual Mandate
Throughout his presidential campaign, Mitt Romney has been running away from the individual insurance mandate in the Affordable Care Act — even though a mandate is a cornerstone of the former Massachusetts governor’s health care reform law. “If I’m President of the United States, we’re gonna get rid of Obamacare and return, under our constitution, the 10th Amendment, the responsibility and care of health care to the people in the states,” Romney said during a GOP presidential debate. . .
"Mitt Romney is perhaps the only politician who could start a trip that was supposed to be a charm offensive by being utterly devoid of charm and mildly offensive."
--Alex Spillius, Daily Telegraph columnist
and former Washington correspondent
I'm actually kind of glad that I was listening to a CBS News radio station, and didn't get the big fake-out that Obamacare had been ruled unconstitutional when it hadn't. On the other hand, I wonder what that moment would have felt like, being very disappointed, only to learn moments later. . .fooled ya! It's upheld! That was probably an interesting sensation. But surely not so fun in reverse, for conservatives.
And even less fun if you work for CNN--who blew the story--or FOX "News" (nah, they probably don't care), and those in the media who picked up CNN's blunder.
[Excerpt]
CNN News Staffers Revolt Over Blown Coverage
News staffers at the cable network CNN, long the gold standard in television news, were on the verge of open revolt Thursday after CNN blew the coverage on the most consequential news event of the year. As Chief Justice John Roberts began reading his decision on the future of President Obama's health care overhaul, the CNN team inside the courtroom jumped the gun, believing that Roberts was saying the individual mandate was unconstitutional and would be overturned. . .
For a little while on Thursday morning, many people--even the President--thought that the Affordable Care Act (or, oh-so creatively, "Obamacare") had been rule unconstitutional. CNN heard the first bit of the ruling, misinterpreted it, and ran with it. One wonders if it was worded that way on purpose by whoever typed it up, to dangle that red meat, and then snatch it back! So, tea baggers and the like-minded, had an orgasmic moment, and they took advantage of it. . .and very quickly had to take it back. Oops.
I'm sorry they're not a little juicier, I'll admit. But wait until I find that Jean Schmidt clip!
Source: BuzzFeed
One of the bad things about being a part-time blogger with a full-time job, is that I often am doing something else when something I'd normally post happens. The Mitt Romney campaign's AMERCIA gaffe is right in my sweet spot: political flubs by graphic artists.
See, I'm a graphic artist, and if I made a mistake like this at work--usually--it would be no big deal. After all, every job goes through stages: concept, options, prototypes, revisions (revisions, revisions, revisions), with client input along the way, finally only producing the final product with the clients' express approval. Sometimes, there are multiple people signing off! So, if there's a typo on the 1,200-piece order, it's the client's fault! Oh, who am I kidding. . .it's the artist's fault, even when it isn't. No matter how many people signed of on AMERCIA (say it with me in your best Jan Brady voice, "Amercia, Amercia, Amercia!"), it is the artist who took this one in the shorts. And not in a good way.
[Excerpt]
Romney’s ‘Amercia’ and 7 More Political Gaffes Rooted in Technology
Mitt Romney has a technology problem. Not the sort of problem that Rick Santorum had with Google search results, but with his latest app called With Mitt. Apparently, his developers had trouble spelling the
word “America.” Whoops. That’s an important word to know how to spell when
you’re trying to become a U.S. president. . .
Mayor of Newark managed to step in it pretty big on Meet the Press on Sunday (in a discussion in an episode I watched, and didn't manage to notice). Cory Booker's problem--besides going against President Obama's message when he is an Obama surrogate--was a classic on: false equivalence. It's one of the most infuriating issues in politics and in modern news-info-tainment. "They all do it." "They're just alike." "Both sides of the aisle are guilty."
Mama might have told you that there are two sides to every story, but she should have been more precise. Both sides are not always equal. Rachel Maddow is not merely the flip side of Sean Hannity. Creationism isn't as scientifically valid as Evolution. And the Jeremiah Wright "issue" is not the equivalent to Mitt Romney's history at Bain Capital.
[Excerpt]
Et Tu, Cory Booker? The Pathology of False Equivalence
There is a disease spreading across our political punditry, and the beloved mayor of Newark, Cory Booker, seems to have contracted it. On Sunday’s Meet The Press, Booker disavowed the new ad campaign attacking Mitt Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital, and in doing so, compared the Obama team’s decision to air the ads to the right-wing invocation of Reverend Wright to take down the president. Booker released a retraction video hours later, but the incident indicates just how advanced the sickness of false equivalence is in our national dialogue. The plague has now infected a normally sharp public official unlikely to confuse a thinly veiled racist play against the first African-American president with an examination of the economic track record of his challenger. . .
Okay, so Mitt Romney dissed a beloved bakery's offering of delicious cookies, what's the big deal, right? Well, it's just the latest in a series of tone-deaf, boneheaded gaffes that makes Romney look out of touch. If riding in a tank or windsurfing can derail a candidate (and how dumb is that, really?), which of these gaffes will be the final straw for Romney?
With The Little Dumber Boy (™The Stephanie Miller Show), Rick Perry officially out of the race, he will quickly be forgotten on the national scene.* Sure, he may turn up as a throw-away reference if there is another bumbling Texas governor. Or maybe as a Trivial Pursuit question. But otherwise, he's going to slink back to Texas, and I doubt he's going to be very high profile for a while.
So, it's pretty much my last chance to make fun of the guy in any kind of timely manner. Enjoy.
*There is the chance, of course, that FOX "News" will throw Perry a bone now and again, I suppose. Or he could even get a folksy spin-off of the politics-meets-Hee-Haw program, Huckabee.
[Excerpt]
Rick Perry’s top ten ‘oops!’ moments of his campaign
Rick Perry’s presidential campaign may be best remembered for a single word and an exclamation point.
Oops!
Perry’s propensity for verbal gaffes contributed to his rapid decline from leader of the pack to also-ran presidential wannabe. . .
Okay, I have to admit, I laughed out loud. In a story with
very little opportunities for humor, this one got me. But on another
level, I want to kick myself. The Penn State problem is not a "sex
scandal," or a "gay scandal." It is a child rape scandal. There is an unwarranted conflation there. But still hits the funnybone, for bone-headed decisions.
[Excerpt] Joseph Amendola, Jerry Sandusky's Lawyer, Gives Gay Sex Line Phone Number
To
the chagrin of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocates
everywhere, the Penn State child abuse scandal has been cited in several arguments made against gay parenting and adoption by various right-wing pundits. . .
God, blowing Mrs. Bachmann a kiss. Image from ABC News.
I keep vacillating between thinking the 2012 GOP Presidential field is stupid, ignorant or crazy. I'm starting to think it's a combination of all three. Now, Michele "Crazy Eyes" Bachmann has flubbed in her supposed area of expertise, foreign policy. What a goober.
[Excerpt]
US Embassy in Iran? Michele Bachmann’s ‘Oops’ Moment
Did Michelle Bachmann have her “oops” moment?
In light of the British Foreign Ministry pulling all U.K. nationals out of the British embassy in Tehran after students stormed the building in protest, GOP presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann told a crowd in Waverly, Iowa, today that she would close the U.S. embassy in Iran. . .
