VIDEO: Week That Was: Obama advantage deepens before debates
Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro discuss the state of the race as the Obama campaign continues to reap the benefits of Mitt Romney's "47 percent" video.
Martin Bashir showed a clip on his show of David Axelrod, Secretary of Makin’ Me Laugh, who said this about Romney’s debate preps: “We know that Governor Romney’s been practicing for months. I think the invasion of Normandy took less preparation than he’s putting into these debates.”
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I agree. I saw that on Martin's show and I had quite a laugh.
"Anyone else wonder if there are anymore Willard "unleashed" tapes lurking out there for a possible October surprise or two?"
Hell yes there are. AND- ol' Mitt will be adding his own creations come Debate #1 day.
Whatta dick.
Too funny though, to hear all the righties on the 'liberal media' AM radio stations suddenly determining all the polls are 'fake' or 'rigged' or as Hannity preffers- 'skewed'.
I predicted a long time ago ON THIS SITE that Obama will win in a landslide - I also believed then that Americans have always wanted to see a close race ... poll after poll, there was a close race which has never been the case.
Last night someone showed a clip of Romney and Ryan at an event. Romney was trying to get the crowd to chant Romney/Ryan and kept saying it over and over. Then there was a cutaway that showed Joe Scarborough burying his head in his hands!
The Obama ad is terrific. He has a couple really good ones running now.
Pat, I saw that clip of Axelrod; it was funny. SeekingS, did you catch Scarborough saying "oh, sweet Jesus" before burying his head. I'm no fan of Romney's but almost felt sorry for him in that clip.
Romney's main strategy for the debates is to make statements that don't make him look like a complete idiot. It will be hard, I know, but that is his only focus. It's sad, really.
There are a whole lot of Republicans that support President Obama, which is only one reason why the President is ahead and there are many more reasons people other than just Democrats support President Obama, and then you add the other 47% and we've got a landslide.
I myself am a registered Independent, and I'll be voting a straight Democrat Ticket this November.
There aren't any really hard core Mitt Robme supporters, probably because Robme changes his position from one hour to the next, and just about everything Romney says upsets one group or another.
I wouldn't call Mitt Robme presidential material by anyone's definition.
American and Elise - I believe a lot of Republicans will secretly be voting Obama this time around - including the Bush family. They know Romney is in WAY over his head!
My brother is a staunch Republican but isn't saying a thing about Romney. His silence says it all!
I am sorry to say that my family,especially in the north,will probably be voting Republican. I try to find out their reasoning but they don't appear,to me to have any. When I was young and unable to vote my Grandparents and mother considered the Democrats too common and of the working class, which infuriated my father ,who used to say what the he** do you think I am and how do you think that I get my money? It still made no difference. I often wonder if that ridiculous thinking is why the few that I know vote Rep.T.P. for some crazy reason such as that.It can't be because they think this present mob wants to help us ordinary people surely
Obama’s lead gives credence to the assertion thirsty liberal voters placed in a desert would drink the sand, not because they were dying of thirst, but because they simply don’t know the difference!!!
I have friends who are staunch Republicans and all they can say is I wish this person or that person were running instead of Romney. Otherwise, they say nothing. It is very telling.
If Romney keeps giving the Obama campaign each week like they have this week, he'll just write the commercials for Obama. Let's see 47%; harvesting; what more could we want?
The quote from Romney, saying he can't understand why airplane windows don't open in emergencies, like when there is smoke in the cabin, just left me slack-jawed.
Well he is starting to praise Obama ...er Romney ...er Obamacare. Romney will soon be sporting an invisible to all but the Tea party commie lapel pin. I hear knives being drawn.
I like the photoshopped photo of President Obama on the telephone where the caption says, to this effect, "I am the President of the United F***king States, and I say that if Mitt Romney wants a window that rolls down, he should have it."
Throughout our nation’s history, both before and after the American Revolution, our nation’s pastors freely spoke out on the political and moral issues of the day. It was their duty and their right under the Constitution to preach against immorality and corruption in the political and the moral realm.
However, as you look back to1954, LBJ ( another Godless liberal Democrat not unlike Obama) was facing re-election to the Senate and was being aggressively opposed by two non-profit anti-Communist groups that were “attacking Johnson’s liberal agenda”. In retaliation, Johnson inserted language into the IRS code that prohibited non-profits, including churches, from endorsing or opposing candidates for political office. In effect, this morally corrupt man used the power of the IRS to silence his opposition. Unfortunately, it worked.
So, a country that has been relentlessly in the courts driving God out of public life since 1963 shouldn’t be surprised by the problems now facing this nation. As we grind through the upcoming election process, it seems like the debate over morality in America has less to do with moral outcomes and more to do with a vision of how society should look based on idealistic remembrances of how things were.
Only intelligence seasoned by wisdom is likely to unravel the social ills endemic in our society today. Theoretically, that will require baby boomers whose IQ is on the right side of the bell curve to stand together against the festering moral corruption that has metastasized into a pathological cancer on our society under Obama.
Certainly, the Republican party is not the party of sainthood, but by contrast with exponential rate of moral decline in the Democratic party under Obama's leadership, it represents the only intellectually defensible option capable of pulling the county out of the economic and moral muck and mire!
Moral decline? Really. I don't see a moral decline. I see our attitudes changing to accommodate advances in science. Science has given us birth control, which allows women to plan their pregnancies; knowledge that gays are born, not made; and to allow people with disabilities to participate and contribute to the world, rather than being hidden away from sight.
Yes, there are different ways of viewing the world, different ways to approach life. But just because I don't want to go to church every Sunday, just because I would accept any of my children's announcement that they are gay, because I accept my children living together before marriage - these do no make us morally corrupt. Instead, we are growing, expanding our view of how people can live and contribute to our world.
Do I have regrets? Sure. I think children want continued interaction with both of their parents and ideally to live with both of them, whether they're both male or female or one of each. I lament that so many children grow up with just one parent in their lives. On the other hand, the pain that some kids went through because they're parents weren't married when I was young I would not want to inflict on everyone.
I don't have an answer for this dilemma, only to encourage everyone to love their children and try and find a way to stay together, with the exception made for situations where one parent is abusive.
They would have to be "power" windows, neither him or his wife want to ruin their immaculate manicures!
No kidding!!! LOL!
BCWC - you are on a roll today!!!
There's just a bit of happy in the air this week for all of us crazy lefty libs! Lovin' the good vibes on a Friday afternoon ... great start to the weekend!
Romney was for rolling down airplane windows before he was against it.
Mitt Romney gave the Internet -- and Rachel Maddow -- a chuckle Monday after post-fundraiser comments that appeared to show the candidate has a tenuous grasp on the physics of flight.
But after Mitt Romney was quoted as saying that airplane windows "don’t open. I don’t know why they don’t do that," a campaign pool reporter says the candidate was joking.
Ashley Parker, a New York Times reporter who filed on the comments, tells New York magazine that "it was clear from the context that he was not being serious."
Never mind Romney's general track record with humor, as Tim Stanley writes in The Telegraph: "It's worth noting that Romney has a habit of throw away lines that suggest a barbed sense of humour that no one else quite gets."
heavenlychild - somewhere Sarah Palin is saying, "thank you, Mitt." She is clearly NOT the dumbest Republican of our time - 2nd maybe but I do believe Mitt takes 1st place!
Are the bookies in Vegas and Reno giving odds yet on which Romney gaffe/incriminating clip will be shown next and the most often? How about the ones on: Vegas business should let the foreclosure crash goes as fast as it can, don't try to stop it and help any ailing homeowners let them all bottom out (and he almost said his next thought - then you can buy their houses for pennies).... Want to bet $10,000 dollars on that last claim you made against me Rick Perry.... I told my yardwork manager to get rid of those illegals working on my yard, I am running a political race I can't have illegals working on my yard.... The Obama team must have a computer program working to pick between all these gaffes and sickening statements that Romney keeps making over and over. Maybe he and his VP candidate Ryan should have a debate between their different policies and philosophy which would be like a far right nut in Ryan against a moderate democrat in Romney's recently discarded but most of his life beliefs...we could call it "Dueling Blowhards" and the them music would be to Dueling Banjos.
Maybe they don't put those roll-downs on some vehicles that could have owners who strap their dogs to the rooftop and therefore the pee and poop he saw could not get into his face. Bring your dog to protest the next Mitt speech.
Wow, you guys are not nice people! "His wife's plane caught on fire... har har har... he worried about her and said something emotional... har har har... let's let them die in flight... har har har..." There isn't a single commenter on this thread that makes democrats look anything but heartless and mean-spirited. I know there are nice democrats out there, but lately they've been few and far between.
NorCalModerate - oh lighten up! His wife's plane DID NOT catch fire. There was a small amount of smoke in the cabin and it landed safely. Had you read the posts that day all of us were glad there were no injuries.
However, Mitt talking about he doesn't understand why there are no roll down windows on airplaines is classic Mitt. Had it been a comment by Obama you'd be all over it!
Seeking, sorry, it's just a pet peeve of mine, how we poke and prod at these candidates and their families and dehumanize them. Would we do that to anyone IRL? It sits wrong with me that we forget these are people. Even if they're "filthy" rich, or the wrong party, they're still imperfect people.
All I can say is, thank goodness I'm not a politician -- there are way too many things that I've said that wouldn't go over well on a public level!!
NorCal - I understand but the situation with Anne Romney's plane was met with great compassion on the day it happened. No one made any comment beyond being glad she was safe.
The fact that Romney keeps making gaffe after gaffe is his problem - one of his many.
I have never made a comment about Anne Romney like so many righties have about Michelle Obama - calling her disgusting names, etc.
Will I make fun of the window on the airplane comment? You betcha! It's just too good to pass up!
NorCalModerate. No one is making fun of the fact there was a fire on Ann Romney's plane. We are making fun of the stupid comment Romney made a few days later. Big difference.
JoAnne, I don't know which one it was. I wasn't there. And even if I were there, I doubt I'd really be able to tell if the man with the most awkward sense of humor was joking or not!!
Mitt Romney made a joke about not having "roll down windows on airplanes." The audience that heard the joke roared with laughter. Apparently, the Democrats here are a lot stupider than Mitt and his Republican audience.
SS - Romney took failing companies, whose own management couldn't save, and led 70% of them to success. Just as he led them to success, so too can he lead the US back to greatness. The fact that you refer to a man who has that kind of ability as "stupid" says more about you than about Romney.
@Kannin-- No he was serious-- then he realized the gaffe- then he was joking--he doesn't get laws of physics-- and we get his humor-- He can't relate to 47% of the true American people. I can't wait until he debates a question the same way...
Was Mitt joking when he didn't know where the water came from after the last hurricane? Let's be polite and say that science is not the man's strong suit....nor is relating to human beings.
Heavenlychild -- "47% of the true American people." True American people? True?? As though those in the other 53% aren't true Americans?? That's rather presumptuous. How did having money become so closely tied to your value as a person and as an American -- how did we get to the point where having less money somehow makes your human experience more valid than those who have more money?
Does no one else see how wrong it is to downgrade the human experience of an entire segment of people, just because of their economic status??
Just in case you find it burdensome to read the article, here is the complete quote on the topic:
“I appreciate the fact that she is on the ground, safe and sound. And I don’t think she knows just how worried some of us were,” Romney said. “When you have a fire in an aircraft, there’s no place to go, exactly, there’s no — and you can’t find any oxygen from outside the aircraft to get in the aircraft, because the windows don’t open. I don’t know why they don’t do that. It’s a real problem. So it’s very dangerous. And she was choking and rubbing her eyes. Fortunately, there was enough oxygen for the pilot and copilot to make a safe landing in Denver. But she’s safe and sound.”
Doesn't sound too humorous to me. How about you Kannin?
Sueb1 - Since you are the expert: What were the relative contributions from 1) Run off, 2) River flooding, 3) Storm surge, 4) Sewer back-up, 5) Rainfall?
"Where did all this water come from?" is a perfectly reasonable question from someone who actually understands the complexity of real problems, and how to solve them.
The Los Angeles Times story that relayed Romney’s airplane remark to the world was based off a pool report written by the New York Times‘s Ashley Parker. When Parker was asked whether it seemed as if Romney made the mark in jest, she left no doubt. “Romney was joking,” she e-mailed. William Everitt, vice president of Investment Real Estate Associates (IREA), was at the Romney fundraiser in Beverly Hills on Saturday. He said Romney was absolutely joking when he said he doesn‘t know why airplane windows don’t open.
“Basically he was retelling the story and when he said ‘I don’t know why they don’t have roll down windows on airplanes,’ he looked at the audience and everyone laughed. It was a clearly delivered joke…There were 1,000 people there that will tell you the same thing.”
The LA Times relies on reporting by the NY Times for events in Beverly Hills? Really? Also, I don't see Ashley Parker's byline on the article, either; only that of Seema Mehta, a political writer for the LA Times since 1998, and she makes no mention of the high altitude jocularity you are claiming for Romney. You can invent your own news if you want to, Kannin, but I am going with the real thing.
AG - "After examining 77 Bain investments made between 1984 and 1999, the [Wall Street Journal] found that 22% of the companies declared bankruptcy or closed within eight years of Bain's initial investment. And poor performance led Bain to forfeit its investment in another 8%.
But there were notable successes, including pizza chain Dominos and office supplier Staples.
Typical private equity funds only receive a fraction of the winnings from their successful deals. The rest goes to investors.
But the winnings were so large that Romney earned millions.
The Journal estimates that for those 77 deals, Bain generated about $2.5 billion on investments of $1.1 billion. Overall, Bain posted gains of 50% to 80% over the period."
Considering he started with failing companies, a 70% success rate is spectacular! Just as he led Bain to success, so too can he lead the US back to greatness. He clearly also has the toughness to cut failing programs and fire deadwood to accomplish it - Toughness and excellent judgment is just what the US needs right now!
Sailcat - New York Magazine 9/25/12 at 10:05 AM “Mitt Romney Was Joking About Airplane Windows” By Dan Amira
Romney understands why you can't open this window.
The Internet was tickled silly yesterday when it learned that Mitt Romney lacks an even basic understanding of the airplanes he has flown on probably thousands of times at this point in his 65-year life. It seemed almost unthinkable that a guy as obviously intelligent as Romney would fail to grasp that, because the cabin is pressurized, opening a window, as Patrick Smith of Ask a Pilot put it to the Atlantic's James Fallows, "would be somewhere between extremely inconvenient and catastrophically dangerous." And guess what: It's still unthinkable. Because Romney was joking.
The Los Angeles Times story that relayed Romney's airplane remark to the world was based off a pool report written by the New York Times's Ashley Parker. When we asked Parker this morning whether it seemed as if Romney made the mark in jest, she left no doubt. "Romney was joking," she e-mailed. Parker told us that while the pool report didn't explicitly indicate that Romney was joking, it was self-evident that he was. "The pool report provided the full transcript of his comments on Ann's plane scare," she said, "and it was clear from the context that he was not being serious."
Kannin, the LA Times article I linked was not based upon a NY Times pool report. According to the byline, it was written by the LA Times political writer and she is more likely to have present than a NY Times reporter. You have no direct evidence to suggest otherwise and the LA Times article itself would be obligated to state its provenance if you were correct, and it clearly doesn't. Dan Amira's few paragraphs (I found it in NY Mag's archives) appear to be based entirely upon an email, and he offers no secondary evidence to support the claims made in the email: in other words, he did not perform due diligence and follow up on the claims contained in his email. Clearly, Dan is not a journalist. He is, in fact, a blogger for a second rate arts and culture magazine that covers New York and as such he is decidedly not a credible source.
Since Romney seems to be able to make stupid remarks and claim afterward he was just joking, perhaps you can read these quotes and tell me which were jokes and which were actual gaffes:
"I pushed the idea of managed bankruptcy, and finally, when it was done and help was given, the companies got back on their feet. So, I'll take a lot of credit for the fact this industry's come back."
"I respect and I will protect a woman's right to choose." -Mitt Romney in 2002 declaring his support of women's reproductive rights. In 2007, however, the same Mitt Romney stated, "I am pro-life."
"Well, this person shouldn't have had any kind of weapons and bombs and other devices..." —Mitt Romney, confused about the mass shooting in a Colorado movie theater, in which the gunman legally obtained all of his weapons and tactical gear, NBC News interview, July 25, 2012
"I was a severely conservative Republican governor." —Mitt Romney, speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, Feb. 10, 2012
"Who let the dogs out? Who? Who?" —Mitt Romney, during an awkward photo op with a group of African Americans kids at a Martin Luther King Day parade (January 2008)
"When you give a speech, you don't go through a laundry list. You speak about the things you think are important." —Mitt Romney, when asked about failing to mention the troops in his nomination speech at the Republican National Convention, Fox News interview, Sept. 7, 2012
George Stephanopoulis: "Is $100,000.00 middle income?"
Mitt Romney: "No, middle income is $200,000.00 to $250,000.00 and less." -ABC's Good Morning America, September 14, 2012.
"I saw my father march with Martin Luther King!" —GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, bragging in 2007 about his family's record on civil rights. Romney later admitted he didn't technically see his father march with King.
"I'll tell you what; ten thousand bucks? $10,000.00 bet?" —Mitt Romney, attempting to make a wager with Rick Perry during a Republican presidential debate to settle a disagreement about health care (December 2011)
"I like those fancy raincoats you bought. Really sprung for the big bucks." —Mitt Romney, making fun of fans wearing plastic ponchos during a visit to the site of the Daytona 500 Nascar race in Florida, Feb. 26, 2012
"Join me in welcoming the next president of the United States, Paul Ryan!" —Mitt Romney, flubbing the introduction of his running mate, Norfolk, Va., Aug. 11, 2012
"I'm not familiar precisely with what I said, but I will stand behind what I said, whatever it was." —Mitt Romney, asked in a press conference about remarks he made to Fox News host Sean Hannity (Jacksonville, Florida, May 17, 2012)
"I love this state! The trees are the right height!" —Mitt Romney, campaigning in Michigan (February 2012)
"The best answer is as little as possible," —Mitt Romney, when asked what he wears to bed at night, interview with ABC's ''LIVE! with Kelly and Michael,'' Sept. 14, 2012
"I purchased a gun as a young man. I've been a hunter pretty much all my life." —Mitt Romney (April 2007) making a statement that later required clarification after his hunting credentials were questioned. Small game hunter Romney later said, "I'm not a big-game hunter. I've made that very clear. I've always been a rodent and rabbit hunter. Small varmints, if you will."
"I'm running for office, for Pete's sake! We can't have illegals!" —Mitt Romney, recalling his reaction when he learned that there were illegal aliens working the ground on his property, employed by a firm that he subsequently fired (October 2011)
"I'll introduce you to the heavyweight champion of my life!"
—Mitt Romney, introducing his wife Ann while speaking at factory in Youngstown, Ohio, March 5, 2012 (He quickly corrected himself, saying ''I didn't mean weight'')
"PETA is not happy my dog likes fresh air." —Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2007, responding to criticism from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals following revelations that he had once strapped the family dog to the roof of his car during a 12-hour road trip
"I should tell my story. I'm also unemployed," —GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, speaking in 2011 to unemployed people in Florida. Romney's net worth is over $200 million.
Dominoes and Staples? The underpaid, overworked and exploited, employees of those companies are in the 47% Romney doesn't care about. Nice way to talk about the workers who made him rich. He's a slime ball.
The comment I like best that Romney said was that his dog was used to traveling on top of the car and he was in an airtight container. Well, if the container was airtight I don't suppose he awoke to complain. I still crack up every time I think of it.
Another good one was when Romney thought the fencing around the factories in China was to keep people out. Like people were going to break in to work. Hey, Mitt, it is is to keep people in, that is why they had a riot there last week. Living conditions in those factories not so good.
I Love the commerical for Robney the guy talking about Israel then he goes on to talk about economy and they show these building boarded up! And you can tell that the plywood been on those buildings is a lot older then 2-3 year more like 5 to 10 years with all the mildew on them! I just have to laugh !
Watch the video and then checkout Obamaphone.net. Obama is taking full credit for these free phones which the rest of us pay for in tax dollars. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpAOwJvTOio This program may have been around for quite a while, but it is totally being abused now by our Divider in Chief.
JERSY GIRL - grow a brain. This video doesn't prove anything except the person talking thinks it was give because of President Obama. Nowhere is there anything to indicate President Obama is "taking full credit" as you imply. If you look, this video is put up by the Romney campaign. They could just have easily TOLD this woman what to say. If you EVER have any proof of anything - post it. Until then - this is just stupid YOUTUBE - and dumb you!
If you bother to check SNOPES - and you REALLY should before you post - the Federal Communications Commission made the phones available, realizing that phones are necessary for everyone in case of emergency, etc.
But, you'd MUCH rather show your stupidity and - of course - blame President Obama!
As usual, Jersy Girl, not true. This program started in 1996 under Clinton, was continued by Bush and went from only landlines to low-end cell phones under Obama. It is to help the poor get help if needed and to get jobs (you can't get a job if you don't have a phone). It costs roughly $10 a month per person. It started to be called Obamaphone when the right wingnuts took it out of context and attributed to him....big surprise there, huh?
It's going to be a good thing to see Mr. Romney debating the President and both answering to some of these statements that they have made over this whole time they've been in politics.
"The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting an inexperienced man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America . Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama. It is less likely to survive a multitude of Idiots such as those who made him their president." (said to be an English translation of an article in the Prague newspaper by Prager Zeitungon)
You probably mean "Prager Zeitung" which is published in German for the small German speaking population in Prague. So far I have not been able to find the article to which you are referring.
Could you send me the reference, preferably to the original German version?
I wish I could walkuere! I read the quote (in English) here and asked where it came from. Another poster gave the source info I posted but he wasn't sure either. It is a great post though and worth repeating.
Kannin, Who has more experience as POTUS, Romney or Obama? Romney just wants to be president because of ambition. How is he more qualified than the current President? Because he was a private equity guy? If you think the country needs a President and VP who believe in trickle down economics, then Romney is your logical choice. I think it's come to the point where a lot of Americans are finally recognizing that trickle down is a scam.
So what? Are we supposed to take lessons in Democracy from a Polish Newspaper? People who a few years ago where wallowing in the misery of communism dictatorship?
Dictators all throughout the World: North Korea, Zimbabwe, Poland only a few years ago and many other countries believe that Democracy is not a valid form of government because citizenry are not smart enough to select "the RIGHT"person.. . This paper in Poland does not believe in Democracy, no wonder Poland has the highest percent of citizens moving to other countries in Europe to seek better pasture.
What is deepening for the GOP/RNC "Speculator and Chief" is his lack of dignity, ethical behavior, morality, and NO sense of what humanity means. Now the GOP/RNC "Romulian" is a "Speculator Of Spewing," and he is proud of it. He does not remember what he says, and he loves to "Spew" off the cuff, which causes him to be a huge "Goofy Gaffer."
Obama is extremely calculated.
One could make the conspiritorial case that he was sitting on this and released the 47% video in a non conventional way.....lol.
Is anyone really suprised about M. Romneys gaffes and misteps. He was from the onset and still is as a matter of fact a severly flawed candidate. This man is what the repubs went thru so much of a vetting process for. Yet after all is said and done. There is something to be said about the whole GOP and their way of doing and handling of their business. They have offended just about every type of people from minorities on down to the elderly, sick and the poor alike. And let us surely not forget about the 47% remark. Come to think of it, that "Moon Colony" thingy that Newt was spewing actually would have done them some good. They all could have left this world and taken all of those tea-party right wing-nuts with them. And "Wow" what a wonderful world this planet Earth would really be...
actually he claimed tea party in the primary and went hard corp republican in the general elections. Dont know why he did that. conservatives want to cut and he did nothing to say he was going to do anything about anything for federal spending........ Ron paul crazies as well as a lot of the conservatives will hibernate this election. Pretty much a traitor after the nonmination. The primarys were all cut and dried anyway. THe guy with the most cash pretty much wins the day. Its strange because everyone was saying romney would be hurt by all the bickering to become the nominee. Actually, all the candidates were flawed and he's spoke the least. Now, he is getting pounded as he flips on every topic brought in front of him. The 47% remark was more like offending 97% as no one thinks like that unless your pretty much mentally out of touch. For a so called religeous guy, he certainly doesn't think much of people.
Jerseygirl ...I watched Joe as he almost cried in shame over the Romney/Ryan cheerleader chant...I almost felt some sympathy pains for Romney my own self. He must really be the epitome of pathetic self delusions of grandeur. It is evident that he is unaccustomed to not getting his butt kissed.
I admit that I have wondered if all of the money spent on this election would distort it more than usual and although time will tell I think that it may be less of a factor than I feared. My opinion is that Romney is totally unsuitable but could possibly buy the nomination but it seems that the voting public do have some thought to what we are hiring. I sure hope so!
I love how the Republicans equate the Bain experience with turning around the US economy.
With Bain- you have a company that seeks out vulnerable companies that are obviously being poorly managed and these companies can use any means in which to turn them around in a short period to make quick profits. In other words they had government contributions, cheap money from the banks to load up the companies with debt, fire a bunch of employees and steal whatever benefits they can, work out deals with existing bondholders that will take pennies on the dollar just to get some returns, outsourcing jobs to cheaper labour markets etc.
In other words it is vulture capitalism at its finest. On top they get tax advantages on the capital they make. The people in these positions are the leeches of society that know and care about nothing but making their next buck.... doesn't matter who gets screwed in the process. This is who the Republican feel would make the best president.
As President (Shudder!)
No outsourcing, No negotiating with debt holder (China, Japan), No firing employees since your job is to create more not fewer jobs, No demand for products because the middle class has been gutted and other markets such as Europe (recession) and China & India and Japan are all slowing down and will be more protective of their own markets, an overstuffed corporate structure that have been getting more than their share for years (35+), that has plenty of money(profits) and through very favourable tax structures have kept much of this money and they are still are not hiring.
Romney's solution. Give them another tax cut, don't disclose what loopholes you will fill and than cross your fingers and hope that the corporations truly were holding out hoping that Obama would be defeated in 2012. Than they will start hiring and make the Rep's look good.
Dream on...... the man is hopeless and the last thing that this country needs to get out of a mess that was created by the overindulgence of the upper class and the myth that is trickle down economics.
Democrat or republican does not matter you are a slave of the media and still think the two parties are separate and that one cares for you more than the other. Why do you think they went to so much trouble to keep a third party down? Because to the democrats or republicans it does not matter which one of them wins (cause that would mean business as usual) as long as it is one of them. there are 12 million libertarians and only 9 million gays and yet the gay rights issue is at the forefront of our discussions and the libertarian agenda is not even mentioned. Libertarians would give the gays their rights because they believe in the constitution not religion when it come to running the country. They would also do something that the two main parties have not even mentioned quit spending. They have a very concise plan for this whereas the other two parties have only empty rhetoric.
Vote for the people vote for your country vote third party.
The attack of American Embassy in Libya is seen by majority of Americans as follows:
It is a clear fact that it was the YouTube video that ignited spontaneous demonstrations across the Middle East, North Africa and in many other Islamic countries such as Indonesia.
In Libya, where many former Gadhafi fighters and supporters were still hiding dangerous weapons they had looted from various army barracks during the just ended Civil war in their homes, similar spontaneous demonstrations against the You tube video were hijacked by these people having sophisticated weapons which they used to attack the USA Embassy. These bad people keeping such weapons took advantage of the spontaneous demonstrations to mingle/mix with the rest of demonstrators whereby they got the opportunity to attack the Embassy killing the Ambassador and other Americans who were there at the moment.
It is a clear fact that following the civil war that just ended in Libya a few months ago, there are thousands of dangerous weapons in the hands of members of the public. Ordinary people are keeping weapons they found left on the streets by the fighters. Many former Gadhafi fighters and supporters are still hiding thousands of weapons they ran away with. These people can use such weapons at short notice and spontaneously whenever any opportunity presents itself to them as it happened during the spontaneous demonstrations.
The Obama administration has never misled the public about what happened in Benghazi. Bad people on the streets of Libya took advantage of the spontaneous demonstrations to use the deadly weapons to attack the embassy. They needed no training to use the weapons in attacking the embassy because they had used the same weapons before during the civil war.
If the US was not engaged in an unconstitutional religious crusade in the middle east those four people would not have died. So it really does not matter what was said about it. They have been lying to us about the situation in the middle east for the last 65 years why should they be honest about it now. We need our troops and our money home not over there blowing it up and then rebuilding it. What about our infrastructure? I mean come on if we really wanted peace over there don't you think that 65 years would have been enough time?
The funny thing to me about this past year is, we have heard nonstop about gay rights all year long the media has been very good about putting the rights of 9 million americans out there and making sure we have the information to make an informed decision about gay rights.
But when it comes to the election the media has intentionally disregarded the rights of 12 million libertarians by not covering that point of view. I get 9 million gays need their rights I fully support that. But why does their agenda get coverage and libertarians don't even get a mention.
Democrats and Republicans both don't care who wins the election as long as it is one of those two parties then nothing will change for DC. Because those two parties work quite well together when it comes to ensuring that they are the only games in town. the media is totally in their pockets.
A vote for a democrat or a republican is a vote to sell out our country.
The only way VoMit and Lyin Ryan will win any swing state is to steal the vote. They tried to in Florida and got caught! And trust me all states are being looked into for RepubliCon Crimes to stuff the ballot and surpress the vote by crooks and thugs but it wont help them They are proven Cheaters and just got caught in Florida! They make Nixon look like a saint for gods sake these pukes of todays RepubliCon party are just that Con's and crooks
Both parties filed law suits to keep libertarians off the ballot in several states. What's worse than stealing an election? How about stealing your right to even choose. And besides the democrats are not strictly on the up and up ether that's why they don't want picture ID laws for voting. Funny too, since their main support base is all receiving government checks. Here in LA. you have to have a picture ID to cash your Federal check. But when it come to something as important as your vote the fact that some people would have a problem with the most basic security measure you could take. I mean hell would biometrics work better for you?
Gary Johnson left office with a surplus of cash and vetoed spending increases 795 times while governor. That record is better than both of the top parties choices. If the media was not ignoring the views of 12 million Americans you would know that. Go back to your liberal biased media you are a lost cause. Your head has been filled with the creme cheese that is two party politics. And original thought is now impossible for you. I understand, it is not your fault, those billions that the two parties spend on marketing are working out very well for them.
Good post. I agree with you. Republicans hopes of winning even though they are badly trailing according to the polls is based on the millions of dollars they have been paying to hire various companies to fake votes for them. They have been planning this for the past 4 years so if the Democrats are not careful, they may find themselves in the same situation Al Gore found himself in, in the year 2000. In 2000, fake Florida results were certified in a hurry by the Secretary of State and Bush was pronounced the winner.
How comes an ATM machine serving millions of bank customers globally has never given me more than what I have in my bank account while each time some unscrupulous election officials talk of election machine failure. America is advanced in technology and nothing like election machines error should in any way be entertained by voters.
We have heard of cases where election machines are programed to register the winner's votes as the loser's and the loser's as the winner's. A machine being used in Democrats' stronghold is programed to register Democrats' votes as Republicans and Republicans as Democrats.
The Obama commercial where they have the audio of Romney's 47% remarks over working people, seniors and veterans is brilliant!
They should have finished it with him singing "America the Beautiful" while they showed shots of homeless, disabled veterans and combat soldiers.
Talk about off-key.
LMAO Anna Molly!
Anyone else wonder if there are anymore Willard "unleashed" tapes lurking out there for a possible October surprise or two?
The Obama Diary comment:
Martin Bashir showed a clip on his show of David Axelrod, Secretary of Makin’ Me Laugh, who said this about Romney’s debate preps: “We know that Governor Romney’s been practicing for months. I think the invasion of Normandy took less preparation than he’s putting into these debates.”
########
I agree. I saw that on Martin's show and I had quite a laugh.
"Anyone else wonder if there are anymore Willard "unleashed" tapes lurking out there for a possible October surprise or two?"
Hell yes there are. AND- ol' Mitt will be adding his own creations come Debate #1 day.
Whatta dick.
Too funny though, to hear all the righties on the 'liberal media' AM radio stations suddenly determining all the polls are 'fake' or 'rigged' or as Hannity preffers- 'skewed'.
the week that changed the world...
I predicted a long time ago ON THIS SITE that Obama will win in a landslide - I also believed then that Americans have always wanted to see a close race ... poll after poll, there was a close race which has never been the case.
Obama in a landslide...
FORWARD....
NO!!!! Anna Molly I cannot endure hearing those bad singing commercials again, please for the love of God, DELETE!!!
Last night someone showed a clip of Romney and Ryan at an event. Romney was trying to get the crowd to chant Romney/Ryan and kept saying it over and over. Then there was a cutaway that showed Joe Scarborough burying his head in his hands!
Obama/Biden 2012
The Obama ad is terrific. He has a couple really good ones running now.
Pat, I saw that clip of Axelrod; it was funny. SeekingS, did you catch Scarborough saying "oh, sweet Jesus" before burying his head. I'm no fan of Romney's but almost felt sorry for him in that clip.
Jody - yeah - I had forgotten that. Joe is totally fed up. I'd bet a lot that he votes for Obama in November!
The fact that no one would join the chant as Romney just kept saying it over and over says it all!
Obama/Biden 2012
Seeking, you are so delusional.
Romney's main strategy for the debates is to make statements that don't make him look like a complete idiot. It will be hard, I know, but that is his only focus. It's sad, really.
Sailcat - then he will just be able to say "no comment" to each question. That's the only way he won't screw it up!
Obama/Biden 2012
TO: JERSY GIRL 1 who wrote:
I disagree.
There are a whole lot of Republicans that support President Obama, which is only one reason why the President is ahead and there are many more reasons people other than just Democrats support President Obama, and then you add the other 47% and we've got a landslide.
I myself am a registered Independent, and I'll be voting a straight Democrat Ticket this November.
There aren't any really hard core Mitt Robme supporters, probably because Robme changes his position from one hour to the next, and just about everything Romney says upsets one group or another.
I wouldn't call Mitt Robme presidential material by anyone's definition.
Obama/Biden 2012
American Girl - thank you!
Obama/Biden 2012
My pleasure Seeking, you're on the right track and you know it!
Obama/Biden 2012
American Girl - you are right. My husband has been a staunch Republican for years! We always joke about when we vote we wiped out the others vote.
In any event - he is voting for Obama. And did in 2008. Most of his friends that are Republicans will be doing the same - so they say.
Obama/Biden 2012
American and Elise - I believe a lot of Republicans will secretly be voting Obama this time around - including the Bush family. They know Romney is in WAY over his head!
My brother is a staunch Republican but isn't saying a thing about Romney. His silence says it all!
Obama/Biden 2012
I am sorry to say that my family,especially in the north,will probably be voting Republican. I try to find out their reasoning but they don't appear,to me to have any. When I was young and unable to vote my Grandparents and mother considered the Democrats too common and of the working class, which infuriated my father ,who used to say what the he** do you think I am and how do you think that I get my money? It still made no difference. I often wonder if that ridiculous thinking is why the few that I know vote Rep.T.P. for some crazy reason such as that.It can't be because they think this present mob wants to help us ordinary people surely
Obama’s lead gives credence to the assertion thirsty liberal voters placed in a desert would drink the sand, not because they were dying of thirst, but because they simply don’t know the difference!!!
I have friends who are staunch Republicans and all they can say is I wish this person or that person were running instead of Romney. Otherwise, they say nothing. It is very telling.
If Romney keeps giving the Obama campaign each week like they have this week, he'll just write the commercials for Obama. Let's see 47%; harvesting; what more could we want?
Romney - the gift that just keeps giving!
Obama/Biden 2012
The quote from Romney, saying he can't understand why airplane windows don't open in emergencies, like when there is smoke in the cabin, just left me slack-jawed.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49155788/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/why-plane-windows-dont-roll-down-romney-would/
Well he is starting to praise Obama ...er Romney ...er Obamacare. Romney will soon be sporting an invisible to all but the Tea party commie lapel pin. I hear knives being drawn.
I like the photoshopped photo of President Obama on the telephone where the caption says, to this effect, "I am the President of the United F***king States, and I say that if Mitt Romney wants a window that rolls down, he should have it."
Anna, I saw a newspaper headline from the morning after the election over @ DK:
ROMNEY BEATS ROMNEY.
haha
Seeking, it's almost like Romney is Barack's biggest donor these days!
Amy- Romney wants all that military budget increase to go, in part, to those expensive screen doors for our submarines.
Anna Molly- I LOVE it!!!!!
Obama/Biden 2012
drive-by - okay, this is just going to be the gift that keeps giving. I can just imagine the SNL skits now...... This will play for weeks!
Obama/Biden 2012
Throughout our nation’s history, both before and after the American Revolution, our nation’s pastors freely spoke out on the political and moral issues of the day. It was their duty and their right under the Constitution to preach against immorality and corruption in the political and the moral realm.
However, as you look back to1954, LBJ ( another Godless liberal Democrat not unlike Obama) was facing re-election to the Senate and was being aggressively opposed by two non-profit anti-Communist groups that were “attacking Johnson’s liberal agenda”. In retaliation, Johnson inserted language into the IRS code that prohibited non-profits, including churches, from endorsing or opposing candidates for political office. In effect, this morally corrupt man used the power of the IRS to silence his opposition. Unfortunately, it worked.
So, a country that has been relentlessly in the courts driving God out of public life since 1963 shouldn’t be surprised by the problems now facing this nation. As we grind through the upcoming election process, it seems like the debate over morality in America has less to do with moral outcomes and more to do with a vision of how society should look based on idealistic remembrances of how things were.
Only intelligence seasoned by wisdom is likely to unravel the social ills endemic in our society today. Theoretically, that will require baby boomers whose IQ is on the right side of the bell curve to stand together against the festering moral corruption that has metastasized into a pathological cancer on our society under Obama.
Certainly, the Republican party is not the party of sainthood, but by contrast with exponential rate of moral decline in the Democratic party under Obama's leadership, it represents the only intellectually defensible option capable of pulling the county out of the economic and moral muck and mire!
Moral decline? Really. I don't see a moral decline. I see our attitudes changing to accommodate advances in science. Science has given us birth control, which allows women to plan their pregnancies; knowledge that gays are born, not made; and to allow people with disabilities to participate and contribute to the world, rather than being hidden away from sight.
Yes, there are different ways of viewing the world, different ways to approach life. But just because I don't want to go to church every Sunday, just because I would accept any of my children's announcement that they are gay, because I accept my children living together before marriage - these do no make us morally corrupt. Instead, we are growing, expanding our view of how people can live and contribute to our world.
Do I have regrets? Sure. I think children want continued interaction with both of their parents and ideally to live with both of them, whether they're both male or female or one of each. I lament that so many children grow up with just one parent in their lives. On the other hand, the pain that some kids went through because they're parents weren't married when I was young I would not want to inflict on everyone.
I don't have an answer for this dilemma, only to encourage everyone to love their children and try and find a way to stay together, with the exception made for situations where one parent is abusive.
"Let's see 47%; harvesting; what more could we want?"
Roll-down airplane windows! We want roll-down airplane windows!!!!
(Dang it, Ames, quit typing so fast!)
They would have to be "power" windows, neither him or his wife want to ruin their immaculate manicures!
... but all would be lost except for Calista's hairdo! Oh the inhumanity ... the horror ... of such a survival.
Feisty ....
No kidding!!! LOL!
BCWC - you are on a roll today!!!
There's just a bit of happy in the air this week for all of us crazy lefty libs! Lovin' the good vibes on a Friday afternoon ... great start to the weekend!
Obama/Biden 2012
Romney was for rolling down airplane windows before he was against it.
Mitt Romney gave the Internet -- and Rachel Maddow -- a chuckle Monday after post-fundraiser comments that appeared to show the candidate has a tenuous grasp on the physics of flight.
But after Mitt Romney was quoted as saying that airplane windows "don’t open. I don’t know why they don’t do that," a campaign pool reporter says the candidate was joking.
Ashley Parker, a New York Times reporter who filed on the comments, tells New York magazine that "it was clear from the context that he was not being serious."
Never mind Romney's general track record with humor, as Tim Stanley writes in The Telegraph: "It's worth noting that Romney has a habit of throw away lines that suggest a barbed sense of humour that no one else quite gets."
heavenlychild - somewhere Sarah Palin is saying, "thank you, Mitt." She is clearly NOT the dumbest Republican of our time - 2nd maybe but I do believe Mitt takes 1st place!
Obama/Biden 2012
Thanks GF!
Some days the RWNJ's just make it too easy... bubblegum and all... ;o)
I always love Friday afternoons on FR! Time when we can all let our hair down a little bit!
Are the bookies in Vegas and Reno giving odds yet on which Romney gaffe/incriminating clip will be shown next and the most often? How about the ones on: Vegas business should let the foreclosure crash goes as fast as it can, don't try to stop it and help any ailing homeowners let them all bottom out (and he almost said his next thought - then you can buy their houses for pennies).... Want to bet $10,000 dollars on that last claim you made against me Rick Perry.... I told my yardwork manager to get rid of those illegals working on my yard, I am running a political race I can't have illegals working on my yard.... The Obama team must have a computer program working to pick between all these gaffes and sickening statements that Romney keeps making over and over. Maybe he and his VP candidate Ryan should have a debate between their different policies and philosophy which would be like a far right nut in Ryan against a moderate democrat in Romney's recently discarded but most of his life beliefs...we could call it "Dueling Blowhards" and the them music would be to Dueling Banjos.
Actually, with all the flip flops, Romney could debate himself but then he'd have to pick which Mitt won.
In honor of Romney and his desire for roll-down windows from Boeing, I'm buying.
(But- all drinks will be served in dribble glasses with rubber ice cubes.......)
Maybe they don't put those roll-downs on some vehicles that could have owners who strap their dogs to the rooftop and therefore the pee and poop he saw could not get into his face. Bring your dog to protest the next Mitt speech.
Wow, you guys are not nice people! "His wife's plane caught on fire... har har har... he worried about her and said something emotional... har har har... let's let them die in flight... har har har..." There isn't a single commenter on this thread that makes democrats look anything but heartless and mean-spirited. I know there are nice democrats out there, but lately they've been few and far between.
NorCalModerate - oh lighten up! His wife's plane DID NOT catch fire. There was a small amount of smoke in the cabin and it landed safely. Had you read the posts that day all of us were glad there were no injuries.
However, Mitt talking about he doesn't understand why there are no roll down windows on airplaines is classic Mitt. Had it been a comment by Obama you'd be all over it!
Obama/Biden 2012
Seeking, sorry, it's just a pet peeve of mine, how we poke and prod at these candidates and their families and dehumanize them. Would we do that to anyone IRL? It sits wrong with me that we forget these are people. Even if they're "filthy" rich, or the wrong party, they're still imperfect people.
All I can say is, thank goodness I'm not a politician -- there are way too many things that I've said that wouldn't go over well on a public level!!
NorCal - I understand but the situation with Anne Romney's plane was met with great compassion on the day it happened. No one made any comment beyond being glad she was safe.
The fact that Romney keeps making gaffe after gaffe is his problem - one of his many.
I have never made a comment about Anne Romney like so many righties have about Michelle Obama - calling her disgusting names, etc.
Will I make fun of the window on the airplane comment? You betcha! It's just too good to pass up!
Obama/Biden 2012
Umm, NorCalModerate? Apparently, the story now is that Romney himself was the one who was joking about it:
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/09/mitt-romney-joke-joking-airplane-windows.html
So, take your pick - either he's incredibly stupid, or he's just as "heartless and mean-spirited" as the rest of us. Which is it?
NorCalModerate. No one is making fun of the fact there was a fire on Ann Romney's plane. We are making fun of the stupid comment Romney made a few days later. Big difference.
JoAnne, I don't know which one it was. I wasn't there. And even if I were there, I doubt I'd really be able to tell if the man with the most awkward sense of humor was joking or not!!
You know Anne just panicked because the "HELP" was off duty and she couldn't say "you people" to anyone..
Mitt Romney made a joke about not having "roll down windows on airplanes." The audience that heard the joke roared with laughter. Apparently, the Democrats here are a lot stupider than Mitt and his Republican audience.
Kannin - the only people stupider than Mitt are those who support him for President!
Obama/Biden 2012
SS - Romney took failing companies, whose own management couldn't save, and led 70% of them to success. Just as he led them to success, so too can he lead the US back to greatness. The fact that you refer to a man who has that kind of ability as "stupid" says more about you than about Romney.
@Kannin-- No he was serious-- then he realized the gaffe- then he was joking--he doesn't get laws of physics-- and we get his humor-- He can't relate to 47% of the true American people. I can't wait until he debates a question the same way...
Kannin - the fact that you believe in Mitt Romney sadly says everything about you!
Obama/Biden 2012
Seeking, you just called half of America "stupid". Welp, there goes your chances for running for office!
(Don't worry; I can't run for office, either.)
Romney/Ryan 2012
Was Mitt joking when he didn't know where the water came from after the last hurricane? Let's be polite and say that science is not the man's strong suit....nor is relating to human beings.
Heavenlychild -- "47% of the true American people." True American people? True?? As though those in the other 53% aren't true Americans?? That's rather presumptuous. How did having money become so closely tied to your value as a person and as an American -- how did we get to the point where having less money somehow makes your human experience more valid than those who have more money?
Does no one else see how wrong it is to downgrade the human experience of an entire segment of people, just because of their economic status??
Here is the original article from the LA Times. Please point out where the reporter thought Willard was joking and where the audience chuckled.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-romney-beverly-hills-fundraiser-20120922,0,2317962.story
Just in case you find it burdensome to read the article, here is the complete quote on the topic:
“I appreciate the fact that she is on the ground, safe and sound. And I don’t think she knows just how worried some of us were,” Romney said. “When you have a fire in an aircraft, there’s no place to go, exactly, there’s no — and you can’t find any oxygen from outside the aircraft to get in the aircraft, because the windows don’t open. I don’t know why they don’t do that. It’s a real problem. So it’s very dangerous. And she was choking and rubbing her eyes. Fortunately, there was enough oxygen for the pilot and copilot to make a safe landing in Denver. But she’s safe and sound.”
Doesn't sound too humorous to me. How about you Kannin?
Sueb1 - Since you are the expert: What were the relative contributions from 1) Run off, 2) River flooding, 3) Storm surge, 4) Sewer back-up, 5) Rainfall?
"Where did all this water come from?" is a perfectly reasonable question from someone who actually understands the complexity of real problems, and how to solve them.
The Los Angeles Times story that relayed Romney’s airplane remark to the world was based off a pool report written by the New York Times‘s Ashley Parker. When Parker was asked whether it seemed as if Romney made the mark in jest, she left no doubt. “Romney was joking,” she e-mailed. William Everitt, vice president of Investment Real Estate Associates (IREA), was at the Romney fundraiser in Beverly Hills on Saturday. He said Romney was absolutely joking when he said he doesn‘t know why airplane windows don’t open.
“Basically he was retelling the story and when he said ‘I don’t know why they don’t have roll down windows on airplanes,’ he looked at the audience and everyone laughed. It was a clearly delivered joke…There were 1,000 people there that will tell you the same thing.”
TO: Kannin who wrote:
That's a lie and you know it!
Romney liquidated those businesses, layed off all the workers, kept the employees' pension money, and shipped those jobs overseas!!!
In Mitt Romney's ENTIRE LIFETIME he's only created about 100,000 jobs. President Obama has created 5 million jobs in just 3 years!
Quit trying to TRICK people into voting for a JOBS CREMATOR!
Obama/Biden 2012
The LA Times relies on reporting by the NY Times for events in Beverly Hills? Really? Also, I don't see Ashley Parker's byline on the article, either; only that of Seema Mehta, a political writer for the LA Times since 1998, and she makes no mention of the high altitude jocularity you are claiming for Romney. You can invent your own news if you want to, Kannin, but I am going with the real thing.
Fail.
AG - "After examining 77 Bain investments made between 1984 and 1999, the [Wall Street Journal] found that 22% of the companies declared bankruptcy or closed within eight years of Bain's initial investment. And poor performance led Bain to forfeit its investment in another 8%.
But there were notable successes, including pizza chain Dominos and office supplier Staples.
Typical private equity funds only receive a fraction of the winnings from their successful deals. The rest goes to investors.
But the winnings were so large that Romney earned millions.
The Journal estimates that for those 77 deals, Bain generated about $2.5 billion on investments of $1.1 billion. Overall, Bain posted gains of 50% to 80% over the period."
Considering he started with failing companies, a 70% success rate is spectacular! Just as he led Bain to success, so too can he lead the US back to greatness. He clearly also has the toughness to cut failing programs and fire deadwood to accomplish it - Toughness and excellent judgment is just what the US needs right now!
Sailcat - New York Magazine 9/25/12 at 10:05 AM “Mitt Romney Was Joking About Airplane Windows” By Dan Amira
Romney understands why you can't open this window.
The Internet was tickled silly yesterday when it learned that Mitt Romney lacks an even basic understanding of the airplanes he has flown on probably thousands of times at this point in his 65-year life. It seemed almost unthinkable that a guy as obviously intelligent as Romney would fail to grasp that, because the cabin is pressurized, opening a window, as Patrick Smith of Ask a Pilot put it to the Atlantic's James Fallows, "would be somewhere between extremely inconvenient and catastrophically dangerous." And guess what: It's still unthinkable. Because Romney was joking.
The Los Angeles Times story that relayed Romney's airplane remark to the world was based off a pool report written by the New York Times's Ashley Parker. When we asked Parker this morning whether it seemed as if Romney made the mark in jest, she left no doubt. "Romney was joking," she e-mailed. Parker told us that while the pool report didn't explicitly indicate that Romney was joking, it was self-evident that he was. "The pool report provided the full transcript of his comments on Ann's plane scare," she said, "and it was clear from the context that he was not being serious."
Kannin, the LA Times article I linked was not based upon a NY Times pool report. According to the byline, it was written by the LA Times political writer and she is more likely to have present than a NY Times reporter. You have no direct evidence to suggest otherwise and the LA Times article itself would be obligated to state its provenance if you were correct, and it clearly doesn't. Dan Amira's few paragraphs (I found it in NY Mag's archives) appear to be based entirely upon an email, and he offers no secondary evidence to support the claims made in the email: in other words, he did not perform due diligence and follow up on the claims contained in his email. Clearly, Dan is not a journalist. He is, in fact, a blogger for a second rate arts and culture magazine that covers New York and as such he is decidedly not a credible source.
Fail again.
Since Romney seems to be able to make stupid remarks and claim afterward he was just joking, perhaps you can read these quotes and tell me which were jokes and which were actual gaffes:
"I pushed the idea of managed bankruptcy, and finally, when it was done and help was given, the companies got back on their feet. So, I'll take a lot of credit for the fact this industry's come back."
"I respect and I will protect a woman's right to choose." -Mitt Romney in 2002 declaring his support of women's reproductive rights. In 2007, however, the same Mitt Romney stated, "I am pro-life."
"Well, this person shouldn't have had any kind of weapons and bombs and other devices..." —Mitt Romney, confused about the mass shooting in a Colorado movie theater, in which the gunman legally obtained all of his weapons and tactical gear, NBC News interview, July 25, 2012
"I was a severely conservative Republican governor." —Mitt Romney, speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, Feb. 10, 2012
"Who let the dogs out? Who? Who?" —Mitt Romney, during an awkward photo op with a group of African Americans kids at a Martin Luther King Day parade (January 2008)
"When you give a speech, you don't go through a laundry list. You speak about the things you think are important." —Mitt Romney, when asked about failing to mention the troops in his nomination speech at the Republican National Convention, Fox News interview, Sept. 7, 2012
George Stephanopoulis: "Is $100,000.00 middle income?"
Mitt Romney: "No, middle income is $200,000.00 to $250,000.00 and less." -ABC's Good Morning America, September 14, 2012.
"I saw my father march with Martin Luther King!" —GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, bragging in 2007 about his family's record on civil rights. Romney later admitted he didn't technically see his father march with King.
"I'll tell you what; ten thousand bucks? $10,000.00 bet?" —Mitt Romney, attempting to make a wager with Rick Perry during a Republican presidential debate to settle a disagreement about health care (December 2011)
"I like those fancy raincoats you bought. Really sprung for the big bucks." —Mitt Romney, making fun of fans wearing plastic ponchos during a visit to the site of the Daytona 500 Nascar race in Florida, Feb. 26, 2012
"Join me in welcoming the next president of the United States, Paul Ryan!" —Mitt Romney, flubbing the introduction of his running mate, Norfolk, Va., Aug. 11, 2012
"I'm not familiar precisely with what I said, but I will stand behind what I said, whatever it was." —Mitt Romney, asked in a press conference about remarks he made to Fox News host Sean Hannity (Jacksonville, Florida, May 17, 2012)
"I love this state! The trees are the right height!" —Mitt Romney, campaigning in Michigan (February 2012)
"The best answer is as little as possible," —Mitt Romney, when asked what he wears to bed at night, interview with ABC's ''LIVE! with Kelly and Michael,'' Sept. 14, 2012
"I purchased a gun as a young man. I've been a hunter pretty much all my life." —Mitt Romney (April 2007) making a statement that later required clarification after his hunting credentials were questioned. Small game hunter Romney later said, "I'm not a big-game hunter. I've made that very clear. I've always been a rodent and rabbit hunter. Small varmints, if you will."
"I'm running for office, for Pete's sake! We can't have illegals!" —Mitt Romney, recalling his reaction when he learned that there were illegal aliens working the ground on his property, employed by a firm that he subsequently fired (October 2011)
"I'll introduce you to the heavyweight champion of my life!"
—Mitt Romney, introducing his wife Ann while speaking at factory in Youngstown, Ohio, March 5, 2012 (He quickly corrected himself, saying ''I didn't mean weight'')
"PETA is not happy my dog likes fresh air." —Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2007, responding to criticism from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals following revelations that he had once strapped the family dog to the roof of his car during a 12-hour road trip
"I should tell my story. I'm also unemployed," —GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, speaking in 2011 to unemployed people in Florida. Romney's net worth is over $200 million.
Sailcat, you left out.
"I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives".
Kanin,
Dominoes and Staples? The underpaid, overworked and exploited, employees of those companies are in the 47% Romney doesn't care about. Nice way to talk about the workers who made him rich. He's a slime ball.
The comment I like best that Romney said was that his dog was used to traveling on top of the car and he was in an airtight container. Well, if the container was airtight I don't suppose he awoke to complain. I still crack up every time I think of it.
Another good one was when Romney thought the fencing around the factories in China was to keep people out. Like people were going to break in to work. Hey, Mitt, it is is to keep people in, that is why they had a riot there last week. Living conditions in those factories not so good.
I Love the commerical for Robney the guy talking about Israel then he goes on to talk about economy and they show these building boarded up! And you can tell that the plywood been on those buildings is a lot older then 2-3 year more like 5 to 10 years with all the mildew on them! I just have to laugh !
Watch the video and then checkout Obamaphone.net. Obama is taking full credit for these free phones which the rest of us pay for in tax dollars. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpAOwJvTOio This program may have been around for quite a while, but it is totally being abused now by our Divider in Chief.
JERSY GIRL - grow a brain. This video doesn't prove anything except the person talking thinks it was give because of President Obama. Nowhere is there anything to indicate President Obama is "taking full credit" as you imply. If you look, this video is put up by the Romney campaign. They could just have easily TOLD this woman what to say. If you EVER have any proof of anything - post it. Until then - this is just stupid YOUTUBE - and dumb you!
If you bother to check SNOPES - and you REALLY should before you post - the Federal Communications Commission made the phones available, realizing that phones are necessary for everyone in case of emergency, etc.
But, you'd MUCH rather show your stupidity and - of course - blame President Obama!
Talk about delusional - you TRULY have no clue!
Obama/Biden 2012
As usual, Jersy Girl, not true. This program started in 1996 under Clinton, was continued by Bush and went from only landlines to low-end cell phones under Obama. It is to help the poor get help if needed and to get jobs (you can't get a job if you don't have a phone). It costs roughly $10 a month per person. It started to be called Obamaphone when the right wingnuts took it out of context and attributed to him....big surprise there, huh?
SNOPES--the rumor has it-- take it for what it is---
It's going to be a good thing to see Mr. Romney debating the President and both answering to some of these statements that they have made over this whole time they've been in politics.
It certainly will, as long as they ask equally significant questions of both.
"The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting an inexperienced man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America . Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama. It is less likely to survive a multitude of Idiots such as those who made him their president." (said to be an English translation of an article in the Prague newspaper by Prager Zeitungon)
Kannin - actually just put Romney where you have Obama in the "article" and you've got it right.
When you have to go to Prague to get support for your candidate you should know you're in trouble!
Obama/Biden 2012
exactly
Uh ... well ... well ... uh ... Just reverse "Romney" and "Obama" in every one of the posts you've ever made and they will be more accurate.
So there! <childish stamp of foot>
And I would expect nothing more from you than a childish stomp of your foot!
Obama/Biden 2012
Kannin,
You probably mean "Prager
Zeitung" which is published in German for the small German speaking population in Prague. So far I have not been able to find the article to which you are referring.
Could you send me the reference, preferably to the original German version?
I wish I could walkuere! I read the quote (in English) here and asked where it came from. Another poster gave the source info I posted but he wasn't sure either. It is a great post though and worth repeating.
Please let me know if you discover more.
Kannin, Who has more experience as POTUS, Romney or Obama? Romney just wants to be president because of ambition. How is he more qualified than the current President? Because he was a private equity guy? If you think the country needs a President and VP who believe in trickle down economics, then Romney is your logical choice. I think it's come to the point where a lot of Americans are finally recognizing that trickle down is a scam.
So what? Are we supposed to take lessons in Democracy from a Polish Newspaper? People who a few years ago where wallowing in the misery of communism dictatorship?
Dictators all throughout the World: North Korea, Zimbabwe, Poland only a few years ago and many other countries believe that Democracy is not a valid form of government because citizenry are not smart enough to select "the RIGHT"person.. . This paper in Poland does not believe in Democracy, no wonder Poland has the highest percent of citizens moving to other countries in Europe to seek better pasture.
Romney, "I can't remember what I said, but I stand behind it, whatever it was."
"President Obama is not telling the truth when he says I said that."
Yeah, that will get him somewhere in the debates.. LOL
4 more for 44
Latest "7-Election" poll numbers:
Obama- 58%
Romney- 42%
Laugh if you like, but think about it.
Regular folks tend to shop at 7-11.
You know, "those people" who Romney doesn't worry about.
btw Remember Mitt's "I don't know about these pastries. They look like they came from 7-11." comment?
Sweet revenge! (ha)
Obama/Biden 2012
Electoral poll 347 Obama Romney 191 Yipee---
OBAMA/BIDEN 2012--- Hillary 2016( getting ahead of myself)
What is deepening for the GOP/RNC "Speculator and Chief" is his lack of dignity, ethical behavior, morality, and NO sense of what humanity means. Now the GOP/RNC "Romulian" is a "Speculator Of Spewing," and he is proud of it. He does not remember what he says, and he loves to "Spew" off the cuff, which causes him to be a huge "Goofy Gaffer."
Obama is extremely calculated.
One could make the conspiritorial case that he was sitting on this and released the 47% video in a non conventional way.....lol.
Is anyone really suprised about M. Romneys gaffes and misteps. He was from the onset and still is as a matter of fact a severly flawed candidate. This man is what the repubs went thru so much of a vetting process for. Yet after all is said and done. There is something to be said about the whole GOP and their way of doing and handling of their business. They have offended just about every type of people from minorities on down to the elderly, sick and the poor alike. And let us surely not forget about the 47% remark. Come to think of it, that "Moon Colony" thingy that Newt was spewing actually would have done them some good. They all could have left this world and taken all of those tea-party right wing-nuts with them. And "Wow" what a wonderful world this planet Earth would really be...
Go figure, then go vote...
actually he claimed tea party in the primary and went hard corp republican in the general elections. Dont know why he did that. conservatives want to cut and he did nothing to say he was going to do anything about anything for federal spending........ Ron paul crazies as well as a lot of the conservatives will hibernate this election. Pretty much a traitor after the nonmination. The primarys were all cut and dried anyway. THe guy with the most cash pretty much wins the day. Its strange because everyone was saying romney would be hurt by all the bickering to become the nominee. Actually, all the candidates were flawed and he's spoke the least. Now, he is getting pounded as he flips on every topic brought in front of him. The 47% remark was more like offending 97% as no one thinks like that unless your pretty much mentally out of touch. For a so called religeous guy, he certainly doesn't think much of people.
Jerseygirl ...I watched Joe as he almost cried in shame over the Romney/Ryan cheerleader chant...I almost felt some sympathy pains for Romney my own self. He must really be the epitome of pathetic self delusions of grandeur. It is evident that he is unaccustomed to not getting his butt kissed.
I admit that I have wondered if all of the money spent on this election would distort it more than usual and although time will tell I think that it may be less of a factor than I feared. My opinion is that Romney is totally unsuitable but could possibly buy the nomination but it seems that the voting public do have some thought to what we are hiring. I sure hope so!
Kannin
I love how the Republicans equate the Bain experience with turning around the US economy.
With Bain- you have a company that seeks out vulnerable companies that are obviously being poorly managed and these companies can use any means in which to turn them around in a short period to make quick profits. In other words they had government contributions, cheap money from the banks to load up the companies with debt, fire a bunch of employees and steal whatever benefits they can, work out deals with existing bondholders that will take pennies on the dollar just to get some returns, outsourcing jobs to cheaper labour markets etc.
In other words it is vulture capitalism at its finest. On top they get tax advantages on the capital they make. The people in these positions are the leeches of society that know and care about nothing but making their next buck.... doesn't matter who gets screwed in the process. This is who the Republican feel would make the best president.
As President (Shudder!)
No outsourcing, No negotiating with debt holder (China, Japan), No firing employees since your job is to create more not fewer jobs, No demand for products because the middle class has been gutted and other markets such as Europe (recession) and China & India and Japan are all slowing down and will be more protective of their own markets, an overstuffed corporate structure that have been getting more than their share for years (35+), that has plenty of money(profits) and through very favourable tax structures have kept much of this money and they are still are not hiring.
Romney's solution. Give them another tax cut, don't disclose what loopholes you will fill and than cross your fingers and hope that the corporations truly were holding out hoping that Obama would be defeated in 2012. Than they will start hiring and make the Rep's look good.
Dream on...... the man is hopeless and the last thing that this country needs to get out of a mess that was created by the overindulgence of the upper class and the myth that is trickle down economics.
One Choice only..... Obama/Biden FOR THE PEOPLE
Democrat or republican does not matter you are a slave of the media and still think the two parties are separate and that one cares for you more than the other. Why do you think they went to so much trouble to keep a third party down? Because to the democrats or republicans it does not matter which one of them wins (cause that would mean business as usual) as long as it is one of them. there are 12 million libertarians and only 9 million gays and yet the gay rights issue is at the forefront of our discussions and the libertarian agenda is not even mentioned. Libertarians would give the gays their rights because they believe in the constitution not religion when it come to running the country. They would also do something that the two main parties have not even mentioned quit spending. They have a very concise plan for this whereas the other two parties have only empty rhetoric.
Vote for the people vote for your country vote third party.
The attack of American Embassy in Libya is seen by majority of Americans as follows:
that ignited spontaneous demonstrations across the Middle East, North Africa
and in many other Islamic countries such as Indonesia.
still hiding dangerous weapons they had looted from various army barracks during
the just ended Civil war in their homes,
similar spontaneous demonstrations against the You tube video were hijacked by these
people having sophisticated weapons which they used to attack the USA Embassy. These
bad people keeping such weapons took advantage of the spontaneous demonstrations
to mingle/mix with the rest of demonstrators whereby they got the opportunity to
attack the Embassy killing the Ambassador and other Americans who were there at
the moment.
that just ended in Libya a few months ago, there are thousands of dangerous
weapons in the hands of members of the public. Ordinary people are keeping
weapons they found left on the streets by the fighters. Many former Gadhafi
fighters and supporters are still hiding thousands of weapons they ran away
with. These people can use such weapons at short notice and spontaneously
whenever any opportunity presents itself to them as it happened during the
spontaneous demonstrations.
public about what happened in Benghazi. Bad people on the streets of Libya took
advantage of the spontaneous demonstrations to use the deadly weapons to attack
the embassy. They needed no training to use the weapons in attacking the
embassy because they had used the same weapons before during the civil war.
If the US was not engaged in an unconstitutional religious crusade in the middle east those four people would not have died. So it really does not matter what was said about it. They have been lying to us about the situation in the middle east for the last 65 years why should they be honest about it now. We need our troops and our money home not over there blowing it up and then rebuilding it. What about our infrastructure? I mean come on if we really wanted peace over there don't you think that 65 years would have been enough time?
Vote third party lets get these crooks out of DC.
The funny thing to me about this past year is, we have heard nonstop about gay rights all year long the media has been very good about putting the rights of 9 million americans out there and making sure we have the information to make an informed decision about gay rights.
But when it comes to the election the media has intentionally disregarded the rights of 12 million libertarians by not covering that point of view. I get 9 million gays need their rights I fully support that. But why does their agenda get coverage and libertarians don't even get a mention.
Democrats and Republicans both don't care who wins the election as long as it is one of those two parties then nothing will change for DC. Because those two parties work quite well together when it comes to ensuring that they are the only games in town. the media is totally in their pockets.
A vote for a democrat or a republican is a vote to sell out our country.
Vote third party!
The only way VoMit and Lyin Ryan will win any swing state is to steal the vote. They tried to in Florida and got caught! And trust me all states are being looked into for RepubliCon Crimes to stuff the ballot and surpress the vote by crooks and thugs but it wont help them They are proven Cheaters and just got caught in Florida! They make Nixon look like a saint for gods sake these pukes of todays RepubliCon party are just that Con's and crooks
Both parties filed law suits to keep libertarians off the ballot in several states. What's worse than stealing an election? How about stealing your right to even choose. And besides the democrats are not strictly on the up and up ether that's why they don't want picture ID laws for voting. Funny too, since their main support base is all receiving government checks. Here in LA. you have to have a picture ID to cash your Federal check. But when it come to something as important as your vote the fact that some people would have a problem with the most basic security measure you could take. I mean hell would biometrics work better for you?
DONT VOTE FOR OROMBEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Vote third party any third party. No change can happen with the democrats or republicans in DC.
Gary Johnson left office with a surplus of cash and vetoed spending increases 795 times while governor. That record is better than both of the top parties choices. If the media was not ignoring the views of 12 million Americans you would know that. Go back to your liberal biased media you are a lost cause. Your head has been filled with the creme cheese that is two party politics. And original thought is now impossible for you. I understand, it is not your fault, those billions that the two parties spend on marketing are working out very well for them.
Degan
Good post. I agree with you. Republicans hopes of winning even though they are badly trailing according to the polls is based on the millions of dollars they have been paying to hire various companies to fake votes for them. They have been planning this for the past 4 years so if the Democrats are not careful, they may find themselves in the same situation Al Gore found himself in, in the year 2000. In 2000, fake Florida results were certified in a hurry by the Secretary of State and Bush was pronounced the winner.
How comes an ATM machine serving millions of bank customers globally has never given me more than what I have in my bank account while each time some unscrupulous election officials talk of election machine failure. America is advanced in technology and nothing like election machines error should in any way be entertained by voters.
We have heard of cases where election machines are programed to register the winner's votes as the loser's and the loser's as the winner's. A machine being used in Democrats' stronghold is programed to register Democrats' votes as Republicans and Republicans as Democrats.