"Completely Wrong" Yields Romney Photos in Google Searches

Ha! It looks like the former Senator Rick Santorum isn't the only guy with a Google problem!




[Excerpt]

Google search for 'completely wrong' yields page of Romney photos

To the amusement of Mitt Romney's critics, a Google Image search for the phrase "completely wrong" on Wednesday returned a page nearly full of images of the Republican presidential candidate. . .

Read more at: CNN

More on the "Division, Anger and Hate"

I'm not buying it. Image from Wonkette

I'm still not getting it, this allegation by Mittens that accuses the President of "division, anger and hate." But I think I'm starting to draw a bead on it. With each jab given by Barack Obama, Mitt has responded with alarm. He and his surrogates have alleged that what he said (whatever it is that day) is shocking, out-of-bounds, beneath the office of the President, on and on. Ordinary political jabs are treated as if they were punches below the belt (right in the magic underwear! Now, that's below the belt!). It's similar to the way Mitt chuckles whenever he's asked something uncomfortable face-to-face.

So, I think this accusation of division, anger and hate is just a tactic. This is no more nasty a campaign than the last one ("Pallin' around with terrorists," anyone?), or the primary battle between Obama and Hillary Clinton, or even the recent Republican primary, with Newt Gingrich! It's bullshit, but I fear it could take root like so many other dumb things in these campaigns (windsurfing, tanks, Rev. Wright).

[Excerpt]

Everyone Go Sign Mitt Romney’s ‘Stop Hitting Me’ Petition

Mitt Romney has a never-ending list of complaints about things President Obama is not allowed to criticize him on — Medicare, his business career, taxes, things of that nature — but the Obama campaign simply won’t stop. The only way to stop this now is to get the people involved. We must all sign this petition to get our names in the Romney contact database end the hurtful attacks on Mitt Romney during this most important of elections. Will you, reader, “sign [this] petition if you agree President Obama should take his campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago”? . . .

Read more at: Wonkette

Soledad O'Brien Schools John Sununu

I'm getting tired of political ads and pundits who repeat known falsehoods and debunked "facts." I don't care who's doing it, it ticks me off. But it seems to be the Romney campaign's modus operandi.  So, it's nice when a high profile-reporter calls out a high-profile campaign surrogate, and Soledad O'Brien did a great job. More puzzling than the now standard lie-pushing though, is why John Sununu is any kind of reliable source, with his history. With people like him and Karl Rove (and anyone who turns up from the Bush Administration), it makes you wonder who couldn't stage a comeback. Can John Edwards and Anthony Wiener come out of the penalty box? Or is it only okay if you're a Republican?

No, Obama Didn't "Gut" Medicare

It's become standard operating procedure with Mitt Romney's ads, and it hasn't abated with the addition of Paul Ryan to the ticket: whatever the ad is saying, it's probably not true. This time, it's the allegation that President Obama "gutted" Medicare to fund "Obamacare." But that's not really what happened. I know that "scare the olds" is a time-honored tradition on both sides in politics, but is Romney ever going to latch onto a campaign theme that isn't bogus?

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Obama’s Medicare Reforms Expanded Benefits For Seniors

The Romney campaign’s new ad blitz reinforces its latest attack — that President Obama cut Medicare spending by $716 billion — with an ominous warning to seniors. But the Affordable Care Act’s cuts and other Medicare reforms don’t touch benefits, they target waste in provider payments. . .

Read more at: Talking Points Memo

Mitt Romney's "You Did Not Build That" Moment

Image found at Democratic Underground

Mitt Romney's first national ad was a lie. It was a clip of President Barack Obama quoting something John McCain said, presented as though they were Obama's own words. I think it's still floating out there, uncorrected. Much is made of the difference between spin, distortion, exaggeration and an outright lie. I think a deliberate out-of-context quote is a lie.

And that's what's been happening this week, the Willard Mitt Romney campaign (and the man himself) have been taking an Obama speech out of context, or to be charitable, hinging a whole campaign theme on a misplaced pronoun. It is very clear by the context of Obama's often given (and borrowed from Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren) that he was not saying that small business owneres "did not build that." He was talking about infrastructure and other benefits of living in America. Romney knew this, and so do all but the dimmest of his followers. But he's running with it anyway.

Now, I'm not going to vouch for every single pro-Obama ad. I can't swear that they're all 100% spin-free. But I'm pretty sure they're not laying on the BS with as heavy a coat as Romney. And if you watch the following (very funny) Lewis Black bit from Tuesday's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, you'll see the contrast between the two. Especially when you find out that Romney gave an extremely similar speech about "not doing it all yourself," from the 2002 Olympics. Oops.

The Truthiness of Mitt Romney

Image from source, MaddowBlog

It's generally accepted by we lowly citizens that politicians fudge the facts and skew the truth. The heads of the parties spin the story of the week. After a big political event, the press sit for interviews in what is actually called the "spin room".  Usually, only the most hyperbolic throw the word lie around, and when they do it, they are often lying. But it is lying. Even the ones on our own "team" do it, and we shrug and say, "that's politics." It's a sad reality of life. It's just a matter of degrees, I suppose.


Now, few people would say that Newt Gingrich never lies. He's famous for it. But what about that handsome Mormon fellow, Willard "Mitt" Romney? Surely he's not a serial liar like the rest, right? Well. . .


[Excerpt]


Chronicling Mitt's mendacity

Several weeks ago, I launched a Friday afternoon feature, highlighting the most offensive Mitt Romney falsehoods of the week. I was off last week, but let's get it started again.

1. Romney claimed President Obama "went before the United Nations" and "said nothing about thousands of rockets being rained in on Israel from the Gaza Strip.

True or false? The claim isn't even close to being right. . ."

Read much, much more at: The Maddow Blog

Right Wing World: Where Killing Medicare "Fixes" It

The Budget Munster is lying to you. Image from HuffPo.

There have seemingly always been spin doctors, and political finesse when it comes to policy and talking points.  What they're doing with the Paul Ryan "kill Medicare" plan is just the latest, most audacious example. There is a line that can be crossed from "polishing a turd" to "outright lying." And saying that Ryan's plan would "save" Medicare is outright lying.

[Excerpt]

Ryan Says His Plan Repeals The 'Raid' Obama Made To Medicare. It Doesn't

Besieged by attacks over House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's Medicare plan, Republican lawmakers are amplifying their message that it was President Barack Obama's health care law, not theirs, that pushed draconian cuts to the entitlement program. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Bush Tax Cut "Trap" Acknowledged by Republicans

Image from source, Think Progress

I've talked about this issue on the blog before of course. But part of my problem with the Republicans' framing of the "Bush Tax Cuts" issue is the ridiculous spinning and juvenile oversimplification.  The tax cuts were set up from the start to sunset, and were planned to be something of a poison pill to Democrats when the deadline came.  Everybody who is paying attention knows this, but they still will frame this as though they don't know how everything started.

Are you as irritated as I am with spin? We all know what's going on, but we have to listen to the weeping orange Boehner pretend that Obama is raising taxes?

[Excerpt]

Bush Officials Celebrate Tax Cut ‘Trap’ They Laid Nine Years Ago



As debate rages in Washington over the Bush tax cuts, set to expire at the end of this year, the Bush administration officials who initiated the steep tax cuts are celebrating what they see as an apparent victory, since signs point to a temporary extension of all the cuts. The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz interviewed Dan Bartlett, Bush’s former communications director, and Andy Card, Bush’s former chief of staff, among others, and they were pleased at how the expiration debate has played out. . .
 
Read more at: Think Progress

Captain Obvious: Rich People Don't Need Tax Cuts

This really should go without saying. I remain completely unconvinced that tax cuts for the wealthy are necessary, or can be justified. The "Bush Tax Cuts" of 2001 and 2003 were originally implemented because of the budget surplus we had at the time. They were passed under reconciliation rules, with an intentional 10-year sunset, because they weren't paid for. They've been in effect for 10 years, and have not proven to "create jobs" at all--quite the contrary--even though that seems to be the sole defense for extending them.

Letting them expire, even if we let all of them expire, does not amount to a "tax hike," let alone an "Obama tax hike." It simply would revert the tax rates to what they were in the 1990s, a time when rich people were getting along just fine, thank you very much. 

Today, the Senate is supposed to vote on 1) an extension of the middle-class (below $250,000 per year) tax cut, and 2) an extension on monies made above a quarter million dollars per year.  Republicans are expected to filibuster both of them. I'm curious how they will spin voting against tax break extensions for the entire country. No doubt, it will still be the ridiculous spin we've been hearing on the issue on the Sunday talk shows for months now.  There is no legitimate reason for them to block these votes. They could simply vote on both--attempt to extend both--and have zero political fallout. But they probably won't. So they'll have to rely on their--admittedly effective--considerable spinning skills to save their bacon.

I for one don't really care if any of the tax breaks are extended. For someone in my tax bracket, the savings from the Bush tax cuts is negligible anyway.  And if we're being honest, and are really concerned about the deficit/national debt (I really could use a little help knowing the difference, as could most politicians and pundits) all of the tax cuts should probably expire. That would save a helluva lot of money, and would make an extension of unemployment benefits a non-issue.

Sarah Palin Still Whining; Lashes Out at Bloggers

Photo from source, Huffington Post

Maybe there's something to what Sarah Palin has to say. But then again, maybe not. Who can tell? She talks in circles, after all. I do know that I'm not bored, and I'm not anonymous. Whether or not I'm pathetic is someone else's call.

What I do know, is that the whole "Sarah's not the mother of Trig" was an initial flame out of a blog topic, one not covered much here, or on most of the blogs I read. And I also know that though this issue has about as much legitimacy as the "Barack Obama isn't a natural born citizen" buzz on conservative blogs, that Palin is playing it up like it was the whole story.

It's classic Republican deflection, if a little inartfully delivered by Palin. Pretend that all of the negative press heaped upon her was out-of-bounds unsubstantiated rumor. Forget the dismal Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson interviews. Forget the many ethical questions. Forget the heated campaign rhetoric ("Pallin' around with terrorists") that incited her crowds into a fury. Nothing is her fault, apparently, and it all boils down to bloggers like me, who were obsessed with her bizarre birth story. Or something.

[Excerpt]

Palin Lashes Out At "Bored, Anonymous, Pathetic Bloggers"

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin recently made waves again by criticizing the media in a nine-minute long interview. One of her beefs was with rumors about the true origins of her youngest son, Trig Palin. "When did we start accepting as hard news sources bloggers, anonymous bloggers, especially," she asked. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Sarah Palin: You Want Some Cheese With That Whine?

Photo from source, CNN

The reports of Sarah Palin's never ending whining about the evil librul media keep trickling out. And she's doing herself no favors. First, she comes off as incredibly naive as to how a major political candidate is treated these days. She is also pretending that the slings and arrows she endured were atom bombs. Mole hill, meet mountain.

She's probably just irked that she left the impression in most American minds that she's a half-wit. And she keeps on proving it. She is also conflating internet gossip with actual reporting. Yes, her family was discussed in less than glowing terms, largely due to their own actions, or to bizarre stories that begged to be discussed. But that was far from the mainstream media's main story on Palin, which more often focused on her extreme rhetoric, and divisive politics.

Yes, Mrs. Palin, for the first couple of days of your campaign, the blog was abuzz about Bristol, Trig, Tahhhd, Track, Truck and the rest. We didn't know anything about you, and the eccentricities of your family bubbled quickly to the surface. But, please don't pretend that that was all, most or even very much of what was being reported. You gave rare--and terrible--interviews. You came off like a dolt, and a mean dolt at that. A dim-bulb with supreme confidence. That's far too close to a certain President who is soon leaving office.

But oh, that Barack Obama! The media that does his bidding! The bloggers! And that evil Keith Olbermann! The worst part of this is that the 25%-ers--those folks who would vote for a deck chair if it was a Republican--will buy Sarah's bullshit hook, line and sinker. To that group, she'll always be the beleaguered, unfairly accused Saint Sarah. And right-wing talk radio and FOX "News,"--apparently not part of the mainstream media--will feed that mindset, for as long as Palin remains newsworthy.

[Excerpt]

Palin accuses media of 'personal, salacious' reporting

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s office accused the media Friday of habitually taking her remarks out of context “to create adversarial situations,” and of pursuing “erroneous and often outrageous leads on a variety of non-issues. . .”

Read more at: CNN

Bill O'Reilly vs. Godwin's Law

Godwin's law states that the longer an argument goes, the more probable a Nazi comparison will be made. It is then posited that anyone who uses a Nazi analogy automatically loses the argument. I don't entirely agree, as I think it is possible that some situations are comparable (not identical, of course). But most of the time, Godwin's law holds true. Looks like somebody forgot to tell Bill O'Reilly. . .



Found at: News Corpse

Political Double-talk and the Dumbed-Down American

Photo of Susan Jacoby from source, Raw Story

A recurring theme here on the blog has been perceived reality vs. actual reality. I recently highlighted a quote by George Orwell, and will do so here again, as it illustrates my point:

". . .we are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right. Intellectually, it is possible to carry on this process for an indefinite time: the only check on it is that sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality, usually on the battlefield."--George Orwell, "In Front of Your Nose"

I know I'm repeating myself in many ways by yet again bringing up Karl Rove's mission over the course of the Bush Administration, to manufacture his own reality. It may have been occurring for years or decades before Rove, but he mastered the art of spin. He could almost literally tell people not to believe their own lying eyes or ears, to ignore transcripts or video proof to the contrary: his reality was the real reality. He had the "real math."

Below is an excellent article on this theme, covering this theme far more adeptly than I am able to do. Check it out.

[Excerpt]

Author: Right wing intellectuals make wishful thinking sound rational

Susan Jacoby, a prominent intellectual who worries about the growing disregard for reason in American political debates, says the dumbing down of political discourse is affecting how citizens choose their leaders and is letting candidates manipulate their audience.

"Without a base of knowledge of how things are you can't really have a reasonable talk about how things ought to be," Jacoby recently told PBS's Bill Moyers. . .

Read the rest at: Raw Story

Huckabee Defends AIDS Statement

Photo from source, Raw Story

Mike Huckabee is turning out to be everything I feared Fred Thompson would be: wrong about everything, but sounds reasonable enough to appeal to mainstream America. I watched Huckabee's interview on FOX "News" Sunday, and find him to be just as much a bobber and weaver as any other politician.

For all the (tedious) talk about religion this campaign season, and the focus on Huckabee's cred as a Christian--he's just as bad as the rest. He will not answer a question about his past statements directly an honestly. In this case, he is not changing his story as much as he is sugar-coating it.

[Excerpt]

Huckabee stands by AIDS statement

GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said Sunday that he stands by the statement he made 15 years ago that AIDS patients should have been isolated.

"I didn't say that we should quarantine," Huckabee said in an interview with Fox News, "I simply made the point, and I still believe this today, that in the late '80s and early '90's, when we didn't know as much as we do now about AIDS, we were acting more out of political correctness than ... normal health protocols."

Read more at: Raw Story

Rudy Giuliani "Sex On the City" Scandal Grows

Photo from source, Daily News

What is the deal with these Republican scandals? In both Mike Huckabee's and Rudy Giuliani's respective scandals, rather than fess up and put the whole story out there, they make it worse by spinning and stalling. More drips out, and they have to do damage control. Then more drips out. Is this how they'd run the country?

[Excerpt]

Judith Nathan got security earlier

Judith Nathan got taxpayer-funded chauffeur services from the NYPD earlier than previously disclosed - even before her affair with then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani was revealed, witnesses and sources tell the Daily News. . .

Read more at: Daily News

The Surge: Is it Really Going Better Now?

No doubt you've heard a lot of more upbeat, positive news about Iraq lately, especially as it regards the "surge." Having heard such things before, I started paying a little more attention, and was surprised how often two words come up in these stories: O'Hanlon and Pollack.

These are the names of two reporters who, we are assured, are left-leaning "Bush critics," and after a visit to Iraq, have determined this is a war we just might win. That would be good news! But is it true? The most curious thing to me was that it seems to be primarily this one story by these two reporters that is cited as proof. Over and over again. And not just on FOX "News" and The Sean Hannity Show--though they are flogging it particularly hard.

Anyway, I've become jaded and suspicious when it comes to almost any news these days, so I looked into it a little bit. This piece, from Salon.com goes a little deeper. Check it out.

[Excerpt]

The really smart, serious, credible Iraq experts O'Hanlon and Pollack

What is the most vivid and compelling evidence of how broken our political system is? It is that the exact same people who urged us into the war in Iraq, were wrong in everything they said, and issued one false assurance after the next as the war failed, continue to be the same people held up as our Serious Iraq Experts. The exact "experts" to whom we listened in 2002 and 2003 are the same exact establishment "experts" now.

Hence, today we have yet another Op-Ed declaring that We Really Are Winning in Iraq This Time -- this one in the NYT from "liberal" Brookings Institution "scholars" Ken Pollack and Mike O'Hanlon. They accuse war critics of being "unaware of the significant changes taking place," proclaim that "we are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms," and the piece is entitled "A War we Might Just Win."

The Op-Ed is an exercise in rank deceit from the start. . .

Much more (with extensive followups and links) at: Salon.com

Spinning Around the Poll

No, that's not a typo. It's just a reminder not to buy the spin (from either side) after the Iowa "straw poll." And, oh, there will be spin.
[Excerpt]

When a Poll Is Not Really a Poll

By Jon Cohen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 8, 2007; Page A03

High on the list of superpowers a campaign might wish for would be the ability to manipulate opinion surveys, and on Saturday in Ames, Iowa, Republican presidential contenders will get to live that dream through the Iowa straw poll.

The event, a tradition in election cycles in which there is no GOP incumbent, is billed as an indicator of how party members will vote in the Republican caucus in January. But while no one can stage-manage a random telephone poll, it is open season when any voting-age Iowan or Iowa college student with a $35 ticket has a say.

Few of the 40,000 people who are expected to descend on Iowa State University on Saturday have to reach into their own pockets to pay to participate in the so-called poll. . .

Read more at: WashingtonPost.com