Facing strong criticism, Fox News host Steve Doocy on Tuesday morning corrected a quote by President Obama that he partially fabricated last week, conceding on air that he “did some paraphrasing.”
“Last week President Obama talked about not being born with a silver spoon in his mouth. That was interpreted as a big dig at Mitt Romney,” Doocy said toward the end of Fox & Friends. “When I was interviewing Governor Romney on this show I asked him about it. However, I did some paraphrasing that seemed to misquote the president. So to be clear, the president’s exact quote was, ‘I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth.’ And I hope that clears up any confusion.”
Coming to terms with the gripping prospect of five more primaries today, in New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, Politico got me off to a rocky start this morning with a mental image I didn’t welcome and couldn’t stomach Photoshopping (no need for thanks, really):
With Mitt Romney and the national press corps now focused on the general election, Gingrich is hoping to become the Christine O’Donnell of the 2012 race ....
Apparently, Newt may pull off a surprise and win Delaware; then again, he may well not. If he doesn’t, he may suspend his campaign by the end of the week; then again, he may well not. Go sit on the naughty step if you thought he already had. I’ll budge up to make room for you.
Ron Paul’s campaign is still working on its convention strategy to gain some primary delegates to add to caucus ones he’s managed to finagle in order to cement his place in history by nailing the underpants gnome vote.
Zombie Rick Santorum is still on the ballot, and may gain some votes from diehard supporters or folks who just don’t follow the news.
Meanwhile, Mitt plans to shake up his Etch A Sketch, hitch up his pants, and segue from being the presumptive to the presumptious nominee:
Voters in New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania will cast ballots Tuesday. But Romney won’t be in any of those states Tuesday night. Instead, he’ll return to New Hampshire, the state where a sweeping primary victory in January set him down the path to the GOP presidential nomination.
From the Radisson Hotel downtown, Romney plans a speech he’s titled “A Better America Begins Tonight.” The general election speech, aides say, will represent a definitive pivot away from the primary contest and toward Democratic President Barack Obama and the general election
So what will you be focusing on to distract yourself/try to cope with the suspense on this most auspicious of days?
A few days ago, poor old Mittens was bereft at the prospect of the campaign ahead:
“There will be an effort by the, quote, vast left-wing conspiracy to work together to put out a message and to attack me,” Romney said in an interview with Breitbart.com’s Larry O’Connor. “And they’re going to do everything they can to divert from the issue people care about, which is a growing economy that creates more jobs and rising incomes. That’s what people care about,” Romney said.
A few things strike one from this quote, “Welcome to politics, Willard,” “You can dish it out but you can’t take it,” “WTF is a prospective president doing hobnobbing with a bunch of deranged racebaiting death-cultists who can’t write for toffee?” and “Don’t get me started” being just a few of the more obvious. Romney found eager ears at Breitbart.com for his complaints about their favorite “vast left-wing” boogeyman Media Matters, of course.
As Jason Easley at Politicususa observes, at the weekend David Gregory at NBC’s “Meet the Press” and Candy Crowley at CNN’s “State of the Union” grilled David Axelrod—a rare non-Republican among the weekend pundit lineup—about the beastly Obama campaign’s “grinding negativism” in the face of what Axelrod had the audacity to describe as the beleaguered Romney campaign’s “grinding negativism” in the primary and beyond—a complaint I believe we may have heard from a few of Mitt’s opponents from time to time.
And as noted elsewhere, the New York Times’s Public Editor Arthur Brisbane joined the fray:
“Now, though, the general election season is on, and The Times needs to offer an aggressive look at the president’s record, policy promises and campaign operation to answer the question: Who is the real Barack Obama?” Brisbane wrote. “Many critics view The Times as constitutionally unable to address the election in an unbiased fashion. Like a lot of America, it basked a bit in the warm glow of Mr. Obama’s election in 2008.” Brisbane lamented that “a strong current of skepticism holds that the paper skews left ...
I just love that “many critics” from a supposed ombudsman, as if his own unsubstantiated views from his exalted position can’t stand up on their own without the anonymous cavalry galloping along in support of them.
We’re waiting agog over here in Scotland for Mitt Romney’s BFF Donald Trump to come and “give evidence” to the Scottish Parliament’s Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee on Wednesday.
I covered the background to Trump’s efforts to develop a “world-class” golf resort on the Menie Estate near Aberdeen in an earlier post, along with his threats that the proposed installation of the Vattenfall experimental offshore windfarm some miles from his new gated golfing community meant that he wouldn’t go ahead with the second phase—the construction of a hotel and major housing development. As I pointed out at the time, this is all utter humbug since back in June 2011, we saw the announcement:
Donald Trump has been forced to postpone his plan to create the “world’s greatest” golf resort in Scotland, complete with five-star hotel and luxury villas, because of the global financial crisis.
The billionaire property developer flew into Aberdeen on Monday on his latest luxury jet, a Boeing 757-200 fitted out with a master bedroom and five kitchens, to announce that his championship standard 18-hole golf course overlooking the North Sea would open for play in July next year.
... the tycoon said that the full scheme, a £750m complex featuring a luxury hotel, Trump Boulevard, a golf academy, a second course and timeshare apartments, had been bunkered by the recession.
Trump said “the world has crashed” since he first bought the Menie estate and dunes in 2005, provoking a long-running battle with local residents, councillors and environmental groups about his proposals, which has involved heavily altering the legally protected rare dunes.
In fact, as early as December 2008 there had been persistent rumors that Trump’s extravagant scheme would have to be scaled back because of economic considerations. When he proclaimed plans to build a mansion for himself on the land:
The announcements follow strenuous denials yesterday by the businessman’s company that they were scaling back the development in the face of the economic downturn and a series of legal and financial dismissals.
George Sorial, the manager of the Menie project, reiterated Mr Trump’s commitment, stating that any rumours of cutbacks were “just not true”.
Earlier this year, though, Trump had changed his tune and began a characteristically blustery vendetta against the Scottish Government’s drive for renewable energy, claiming that this was the reason he might shelve his plans.
Or: Don’t knock Republican theocracy. It’s sex with someone I love. (possibly obscure allusion explained here.)
The title of this post is lightly stolen from the movie Broadcast News. A favorite movie for me, and the source of the most important political monologue outside Orwell’s Politics and the English Language. I’m talking, of course, about the Tom is the Devil speech:
Aaron Altman: I know you care about him. I’ve never seen you like this about anyone, so please don’t take it wrong when I tell you that I believe that Tom, while a very nice guy, is the Devil.
Jane Craig: This isn’t friendship.
Aaron Altman: What do you think the Devil is going to look like if he’s around? Nobody is going to be taken in if he has a long, red, pointy tail. No. I’m semi-serious here. He will look attractive and he will be nice and helpful and he will get a job where he influences a great God-fearing nation and he will never do an evil thing… he will just bit by little bit lower standards where they are important. Just coax along flash over substance… Just a tiny bit. And he will talk about all of us really being salesmen. And he’ll get all the great women.
That, to my ears, describes Paul Ryan. A good looking guy, and arguably one of the most slightly less-than-Hitler people on the planet. But, very polite, and as he reduces the more sensible teachings of Christianity to pablum, he does so with a certain élan: (my emphasis in the text)
Over the past few days, professional rabid wingnut blabbermouth Dana “Drop Trou” Loesch has been working herself into even more of a frenzy than usual. This time, it’s over allegations that somebody at the DOJ referred an enquiry from credibility-starved hack-hive startupThe Washington Beacon to a “site accused of antisemitism.”
The Beacon‘s edited by Bill Kristol’s underemployed son-in-law Matthew Continetti, the alleged “journalist” whose back copy includes The Persecution of Sarah Palin: How the Elite Media Tried to Bring Down a Rising Star. It’s quite possible that the DOJ has better things to do than help feed the Beacon‘s hysteria mill by responding to its request for a comment about a book with the transparently impartial title Fast and Furious: Barack Obama’s Bloodiest Scandal and Its Shameless Cover Up, but Loesch needs the page hits and something to do with her days now the boss is six feet under and evidently staying there. Her subliterate headline reads:
Loesch and her crew have been trying desperately to link the words “antisemitism”—a favorite of the Breitbartlets, an antidote to “raaaaacism,” if you will—and “Media Matters” in the same way that Jim Hoft loves to pair “thugs” with “union” or “OWS.”
Subsequently, Loesch enlists the help of “P.J. Salvatore,” the inhouse sockpuppet charged with defending her honor when she hasn’t got the guts or hutzpah to put her own name to her whining:
The “misrepresentation”—and yet again hilarious accusations of “selective editing”—in this case concerned Loesch’s remarks that Martin Bashir, being a furriner and all, should go back to jolly old England and keep his nose out of American politics. Loesch doesn’t seem to feel this advice should apply to her colleague, South African-born Joel Pollak, but then you may be gaining the impression that consistency isn’t really part of her makeup.
And now, dick-obsessed Lee Stranahan steps into the breach:
I don’t need to tell you all that Delaware is a small state. It really isn’t a place to make one’s line in the sand unless, well, you’ve milked as much attention and money out of a campaign as it is humanly possible to do. And that is where Newt Gingrich’s campaign currently stands.
Gingrich campaign spokesman R.C. Hammond said they are “optimistic” about the results in the state.
“Because Delaware is a small state it has allowed us to campaign effectively,” Hammond said.
“We are looking for a bounce from Delaware and, with a good showing in the state, we will spend a lot of time on the phone with donors.”
The campaign originally said late Friday night that the speaker would spend Monday campaigning in Delaware and then would head to Virginia (where Gingrich lives) for Tuesday. Just 30 minutes later, the campaign said Gingrich would be in North Carolina next week instead.
Campaigning effectively in Delaware is like pacing effectively in a phone booth. You show up. Done.
What Gingrich’s campaign has not done, however, is suspend itself. Oh, no.
It’s been apparent for a while now that despite the vast wealth at his disposal, Mittens’ campaign is a few sammitches short of a picnic. Heck, all that money doesn’t even buy you any new ideas.
Witness the shameless “borrowing” of a legendary UK Conservative Party poster from way back in 1979—the fateful election that brought Margaret Thatcher to power. Here’s Mittens’ minions’ version above the original one:
The repurposed poster misses a few tricks in the original: the pun on “Labour” not “working” is replaced by a bland personalization and a revisiting of Romney’s recent theme that President Obama should forgo playing golf and family vacations at the locations of his family’s choice because too many Americans—Mitt Romney being one—are currently unemployed.
The original poster has been credited with winning the election for Thatcher, and Campaign magazine voted it “poster advertisement of the century.”
But there’s one little detail Mittens’ team has overlooked. What happened to unemployment in the UK once this magnificently clever ad won the election for the Conservatives? Here’s a little graph:
Oops.
Anyway, this is all so last century, Mitt. The word on the street in swinging London nowadays is “Austerity isn’t working.”
We have lots of frogs down here in Florida. I like frogs very much and enjoy encountering them on my own terms, i.e., outside, where they belong, and from a cozy distance.
See, we’ve had boundary issues, frogs and me. It’s been suggested in some quarters that perhaps I take these unexpected frog assaults a little too personally and have become a bit paranoid about their propensity for popping up to surprise me in unlikely places.
I’d like to see how these critics would react to this kind of scenario on their turf. What’s pictured below is the console of a sadly neglected exercise bike that lives on my back porch:
And yes, that’s a goddamned frog coming out of a hole in the exercise bike console:
Are there critters in your neck of the woods who pop out to surprise you? Discuss! Or talk about whatever.
If Mitt Romney doesn’t become president (and I don’t really think he should), I think I’d like to see him in a Food channel program: On the Road Eating Stuff with Mitt. There has just been so much amusing footage of him interacting oddly with people in diners and eating breakfast and being weird with waitresses. I think it could be a hit. In the above clip, he is not digging the looks of those cookies. I can’t wait to see how he reacts when he’s introduced to scrapple (a real authentic Pennsylvania treat).
Not contnt wiht aidng and abetinng the anti-vacine moevment, Hufngton Posst continuse to promot fring sceince. Do theese findngs make sense to anyoen? Also, do any of yuo kno how doornobs work? Im darwing a blank heer and the dog realy neesd to go to the bahtrooom.
Waht do you meen, “how did you REALY tare your rotatr cuff, gil?” I todl you alredy, I fell rolerbladng.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/19/12 at 05:42 PM
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Poor Mrs. Mitt. After 40+ years of back-breaking momming, the woman has earned the right to kick back and take it easy. And she could, too, if it weren’t for her husband’s compulsive need to cross “Be President!” off his bucket list.
So Mrs. Mitt is forced to endure serial humiliations, one of the worst of which must surely be the obligation to interact socially with a vulgar, embarrassing blowhard like Donald Trump. Last night, Mrs. Mitt was obligated to paste on a smile and ride the elevator to the 66th floor of Trump Tower to join Trump, his wife Melanoma and 400 other crass rich people (the only kind willing to share airspace with Trump) to raise $600,000 for the Mitt campaign at a “birthday party” for Mrs. Mitt. (66th floor + $600,000 - $599,994 = 666!)
And, because even though Trump was born rich, he somehow managed to avoid acquiring the good taste and manners that often make our plutocrats seem less overtly monstrous than they actually are, he exposed poor Mrs. Mitt to maximum tackiness, including a sugary image of herself astride a sugary Austrian Warmblood dancing horse, thus inviting unflattering comparisons between Mrs. Mitt and Marie Antoinette.
The Cake Boss dude, who constructed the monstrosity, chose to surround the horse and rider with stumps. Why? A subtle protest of Trump’s desire to clear-cut ancient Scottish trees to build vulgar golf resorts? It’s a mystery. And an open thread.
I’m hauling myself out of the phlegmy slough of a joyful spring dose of 24-hour flu here and desperately playing catch-up on work and breathing and stuff like that, so consider yourselves apologized to for the lack of bloggy goings-on. Anyway, I decide to check out what’s eating the blogosphere at the moment, and yup—it’s that dog again.
The old adage goes, “When you’re in a hole, stop digging.” But it seems Mitt and Ann Romney just can’t stop doubling down on that infamous dog on roof incident from way back in 1983. I’ve known a few Irish setters in my time, and they’ve by and large been soft old things, albeit bonkers. Judging by the Romneys’ response when ABC’s Diane Sawyer used an “exclusive” interview to raise the issue yet again, that may be a family trait:
Mitt Romney told Sawyer that the Seamus attacks were the most wounding of the campaign “so far” ...
Well, Mitt, it’s only April. Buckle up.
“The dog loved it,” Ann Romney said. “He would see that crate and, you know, he would, like, go crazy because he was going with us on vacation.”
Yeah, so you’ve both been saying since the story first emerged. Look, it’s an Irish setter—its threshold for “loving it” is pretty damn low. As for “going crazy,” from my experience with the breed, how the heck could you tell?
And here comes the usual TMI:
Adding to the left’s narrative that Romney had little compassion for the animal is a detail from the 1983 trip that Ann Romney confirmed to Sawyer. The dog became sick, defecating all over itself and the windshield of the car, leading Romney to hose them both off before they continued on the drive to Canada.
“Once, he—we traveled all the time—and he ate the turkey on the counter. I mean, he had the runs,” Ann Romney said, laughing as she explained how the dog got diarrhea.
In a 2007 blog written during Romney’s first campaign for the presidency, Ann Romney said the dog rode “in an enclosed kennel, not in the open air” and compared the experience with a person riding on a motorcycle or roller coaster.
Remind me never to visit Disney World when the Romneys are there.
Mitt Romney, when asked by Sawyer if he would do such a thing again, said “Certainly not…,” which would have been a fantastic answer had he not been compelled to add a totally narcissistic qualifier, “...with all the attention its received.”
I repeat: “Certainly not with all the attention its received.”
North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx went on convicted felon G. Gordon Liddy’s wingnut talk radio show last week to denounce all these students and recent college grads who are bitching about their student loans:
I went through school, I worked my way through, it took me seven years, I never borrowed a dime of money. He borrowed a little bit because we both were totally on our own when we went to college, totally. [...] I have very little tolerance for people who tell me that they graduate with $200,000 of debt or even $80,000 of debt because there’s no reason for that. We live in an opportunity society and people are forgetting that. I remind folks all the time that the Declaration of Independence says “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” You don’t have it dumped in your lap.
Of course, the expense today’s students incur is a bit more steep than the cost of obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Dinosaur Husbandry during Foxx’s youth, even spread out across seven years. How much more? It’s hard to do a direct comparison since not all of the chiseled stone tablets used to record educational expenses in Foxx’s day have been digitalized. But here’s a chart that illustrates how tuition costs have risen since 1985:
Could a near 600% increase have something to do with ballooning student indebtedness? Possibly! Here’s the punchline: Foxx chairs the House Subcommittee on Higher Education. Hahahaha!
My Rumproast co-blogger StrangeAppar8us used to do anoccasionalseries on One-Scoop Wonder Matt Drudge. I thought of Strange when I saw the OOGA BOOGA headline below, so I decided I’d revive Strange’s regular feature.
Here’s the story it links to, which covers Mittens’ NRA speech. In that speech, Mittens regurgitated the NRA’s own paranoid fantasy about Obama, which goes something like this: Obama does fuck-all about guns for four years as part of a fiendishly clever scheme to lull gun owners into a false sense of security and win a second term. And then, just as quick as his hand leaves the bible on his Second Inauguration Day, Obama orders jack-booted ATF agents to go door-to-door to forcibly disarm the populace.
Of course, Mittens himself was all for sensible gun control measures when he was running for and serving as governor of Massachusetts, and unlike the president, Mittens has actually signed gun control legislation. If the NRA were a bipartisan interest group, it would support the president over Romney for that reason.
But the NRA is actually a dismal, dishonest collection of Republican hacks and barrel-stroking, pinwheel-eyed lunatics who believe open-carry permits are required to protect them from rogue turkeys, so it’s entirely in the bag for Gun-Grabber Willard.
As for Mittens himself, who the hell knows what he really believes on the gun issue. He believes he should be president, and he believes there’s no lie too shameless to utter in pursuit of that goal. And his lies will be swallowed, digested and excreted as truth by fellow liars and hacks like Drudge, and the resulting turds will be polished to a high gloss by bottom-feeders like Halperin.
