Tag Archives: Romney

How A Real President Responds To Crisis

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How A Real President Responds To Crisisby Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

Faced with how a real President responds to a national crisis, Republicans are running around with their hair on fire! One is forced to ask, are they really that unpatriotic? Or is it that their hatred for our first Black President is greater than their love for country or their concern for the welfare of their fellow American citizens?

A Tale Of Two Storms

Woman picks through the rubble of her home after Hurricane Katrina

Woman picks through the rubble of her home after Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina and it’s aftermath is still fresh in our collective psyches. For the first time in our modern technological history, a portion of our nation took on the optics of a 3rd world nation. We seemed powerless to help our fellow citizens and this impotence was hammered home day after day, night after night by our 24 hour news coverage.

Hurricane Katrina Victims

Hurricane Katrina Victims signalling for help

We watched as the people of New Orleans – those fortunate enough to make it to their roofs – stood on their roofs, some waving t-shirts, other’s spelling out the word “help” with whatever debris they could get their hands on, all begging for rescue. News helicopters unequipped to be any more than a photographer’s platform, filmed the horror with the unblinking eye of the camera… and we watched. We saw men, women and children endure what none of us could possibly imagine ever happening in the United States of America.

We pride ourselves on coming to the aid of other nations to bring relief and rescue. Suddenly it appeared that we, the worlds last remaining “Super Power,” needed aid. It was a blow to our pride, self-esteem and wounded our delusion of independent self-reliance. The notion of “American Exceptionalism,” was laid bare for the myth that it is.

Michael D. Brown

Michael D. Brown – Head of FEMA under George W. Bush

When Katrina hit, Michael D. Brown – an appointee of G.W. Bush – was the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA. This was a curious appointment because Brown had absolutely no experience in emergency management of any sort! He was a lawyer and a radio personality. The only management responsibility on his résumé was his time as commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association. Bush might as well have made him “Surgeon General.” He was just as qualified for that position.

To his credit, following the Katrina débâcle  a video tape emerged showing Michael Brown warning George Bush that Katrina “might be the big one.”

Unfortunately,  being able to perceive that the light at the end of the tunnel might be a train, doesn’t necessarily mean you know the way out of the tunnel. In short, from my perspective, Michael Brown did the best he could, he was just in over his head.

George Bush in his pick-up truck on his ranch in Crawford, TX.

George Bush in his pick-up truck on his ranch in Crawford, TX. Secret Service wouldn’t let him drive it on the streets.

George Bush had been vacationing at his ranch in Crawford, TX. On the Monday the storm hit, he was attending a ceremony in California. He did not return to Washington until Wednesday following the storm and did not visit New Orleans until that Friday. It was 5 days before he arrived on the scene of what he called “our worst natural disaster in history.” 

FEMA Trailers

Unusable FEMA Trailers – Contaminated with toxic levels of formaldehyde.

FEMA under the Bush administration had given a no bid contract to Bechtel. They were to provide trailers to be used to house victims of major disasters until they could return to their homes. The problem was these trailers had toxic levels of formaldehyde. The people who were moved into them became ill. Of course law suits were filed. Needless to say, this gave FEMA a “black-eye” in the view of the public.

To sum things up, the government’s handling of Katrina was worse than a Chinese fire drill. People died who could have been rescued. The perception that the government was ineffective and more hindrance than solution, was reinforced in the minds of many.

When Hurricane Sandy struck we all, I included, expected the government response to be similar. No, I did not think it would be anywhere near as bad as it was under the Bush administration. Cronyism and incompetence simply oozed from the pores of the Bush administration. However the differences in the responses between the Obama administration and the Bush administration have been stunning!

Craig Fugate

Craig Fugate – Head of FEMA under President Obama

The first notable difference is, when it came time to select a Head of FEMA, President Obama hired the director of Emergency Management from the State of Florida, Craig Fugate. Why? Florida is in the line of fire 6 months out of the year during Hurricane season. Florida gets hit frequently. Thus when he hired Craig Fugate, he was hiring someone with actual experience in crisis management and disaster mitigation. Yes, competence makes a difference.

In the aftermath of Sandy, in the words of Dawn Zimmer, the Mayor of Hoboken, NJ, “I put out a call for help and within 90 minutes, FEMA and the National Guard were here.”  The other difference? The day after the storm, President Obama was on the scene, viewing the damage, finding out what was needed and giving physical and emotional comfort to those who’d lost everything. George Bush? 5 days. President Obama? Next day. There is a difference.

A Real President

I’ve heard some make the claim that the President does nothing other than show up for “photo-ops.” The explicit implication – I know, borders on an oxymoron – is that the President is using a tragedy for political gain. While there is little doubt this has happened in the past, with President Obama this is clearly not the case. Sometimes it requires an “Act of God,” to cause people to realize what is truly important.

President Obama meets Governor Christie

President Obama meets with Governor Christie in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey has been an outspoken supporter of Mitt Romney and an ardent, vociferous, bombastic critic of the President. When Hurricane Sandy devastated New Jersey, that was his “come to Jesus” moment. Partisan politics went out the window and Governor Christie found himself in the awkward position of needing the help of the President of the United States for the people of New Jersey. When your home gets blown away, you don’t give a damn which party the person helping you belongs to. You’re just happy someone is extending you a helping hand.

President Obama Comforts Woman

President Obama Comforts Female Victim of Hurricane Sandy

Having a real President show up clearly means a lot in a time of despair. It clearly meant a lot to the people who’d lost everything. When President Obama took that woman in his arms and told her that everything was going to be alright and that our government was going to help her put her life back together, it carried the weight of a President who means what he says and says what he means.

Say what you will about President Obama, there’s one thing that is beyond dispute, whatever he says he will do, he does. He said he would defeat Al-Qaeda, he’s done that. When the question was asked in the primary debates, if he would go into Pakistan to get Bin Laden if he had actionable intelligence, he said he would and he did. He said he would pass healthcare reform, he did that. So when he tells a grieving lady that everything is going to be alright and that the government was going to be with her every step of he way, she tends to believe it and takes hope from it.

Aircraft Carrier Turning

Aircraft Carrier turning

What can a real President do? First of all, he can cut through government “red tape” like a hot knife through butter. President Obama gave instructions that he didn’t want any hold ups or impediments to government aid. He can do a lot more. This is what I believe stunned Governor Christie. When the issue came up of helicopters coming in to bring supplies and assist in search and rescue missions, the problem was where to land them. President Obama picked up the phone and ordered 3 aircraft carriers to station themselves off the coast of New York and New Jersey, to act as mobile bases for the helicopters that would be needed.

C-130

C-130 being loaded

Getting the power back on? We’re Americans. When one State is in need, all of the United States pitch in to help. States all around the nation began rolling crews, equipment and trucks toward our Atlantic seaboard. California sent crews. When President Obama heard they were driving all the way from California to New Jersey and New York, he told them to divert to an airport where he would have C-130 military transports waiting to pick them up, trucks and all.  This is what a real President can do. I’m damn glad we’ve got one.

He Delivered

He Delivered

The Republican Fascination With Rape

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Radical Republican Views May Stab Romney and the GOP in the Back

by Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

It is interesting to note, in all my years of watching the news, never before has the subject of rape been so thoroughly discussed… and in such a disturbing manner. One of the most troubling aspects of this discussion has been the association of a rape with some sort of divine plan. Although rape is discussed within the context of the abortion debate, nevertheless the degree to which those in the “Pro-Life” movement trivialize it should give any thinking female of the species, much cause to pause.

Rape

50 Shades of Grey

It’s a work of FICTION! Don’t get it twisted

Contrary to the apparent opinion of some Republican males, rape is not some variation of a scene from “Fifty Shades of Grey.” There is no romance. There is no acquiescence. Ironically, it is the total abrogation of a woman’s choice and freewill. Whether the method be through the intimidation of violence, brute physical force, the application of an intoxicant or any other means, rape is not consensual sex and there is always a victim.

Battered Teen Girl

Try telling her, “Oh and by the way, you’re pregnant and you have to carry the baby to term.”

Rape has nothing to do with the BDSM games some adults engage in. Those are games between consenting adults. Note the consent part. Rape is not about sex. It is about power, control and domination. It is often as brutal as it is insidious. Women who are raped often take years to recover if they ever recover. It takes something from them that can never be returned. It reshapes whom they are and often is devastating to their current and future relationships with men. Thus, the men is their lives, partners and future partners also become the victims of their rape. The physical wounds may heal with time, but the wounds to a woman’s psyche may fester like a hidden cancer for years. Some find their lives irreparably altered. Some become chemically dependent. Others end their lives.

When Republicans trivialize rape by calling it “just another means of conception,” they display a callous disregard for women, equal to, if not greater than the rapist’s. When they attempt to inject their twisted theology into the matter by bastardizing religious dogma, it rises to the level of blasphemy! The very notion that because something happened, God must have intended it has been used to justify nearly every atrocity since the inception of Christianity.

Using this logic, if someone backs a moving van up to your home while you’re on vacation and robs you of everything you own, fret not! God must have intended it. Why have a legal system? Why punish criminals? After all, they can only do what God intends.

Guilt By Association

Needless to say, the Romney campaign has found it difficult to split the baby so to speak when it comes to maintaining support from the radical “Pro-Life” wing of their base, while  appealing to potential female voters. The problem? It is a Sisyphean task to convince right thinking people that a woman who has already suffered a rape, ought be forced to carry the baby of her rapist to term. I suspect that proponents of this lunacy are merely paying lip service to a vacuous ideal because the chances of such a cascading series of tragedies becoming a reality for them is vanishingly small.

Almost all of those promoting this nonsense are male. Most of them are of an age where they’re children are either grown and married or soon will be. They bask in the illusion of security provided by their privilege, which has no relationship to the reality the rest of us must contend with. Of course, this is stunningly consistent with those born into money chiding the rest of us for our lack of industriousness. If we just work harder, sacrifice more, apply ourselves more astutely, we too can achieve just a portion of what they were born with. Personally I have no problem with the rich, wealthy and the privileged. What I have a problem with is them offering commentary on a reality none of them have experienced.

Where do men get the notion that their opinions on what women do with their own bodies, are worthy of consideration? As a man I have no idea what it is like to feel my body adapt, adjust and shift to accommodate a budding human life.  All I can do is plant the seed. The important part of the process of human reproduction is the sole province of the woman. I am comfortable abiding by her wisdom and judgement.

Todd Akin

Todd Akin Senate hopeful from Missouri

Thus, when we hear such nonsense from the likes of Missouri Senate hopeful, Todd Akin, that in cases of legitimate rape, the female body has ways of shutting down and preventing conception, I can only stare with slack jawed amazement. How on earth did he graduate from high school, let alone college without even a rudimentary understanding of human biology and the reproductive process? He could not have sounded any more ignorant had he said, “in such cases, the Stork simply refuses to deliver the baby!” Surely some college or university wants their diploma back?

Roger Rivard

Roger Rivard Wisconsin Legislator

This moral hemorrhaging didn’t end with Todd Akin. Enter Roger Rivard. Close friend of Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan. This fellow has quite an interesting take on rape. In his own words, “some girls rape easy.” Although, taken in context his words are not an admonition to rape, nevertheless they display a mindset that trivializes rape and begins with the premise that women will cry rape when none actually occurred. Does this ever happen? Certainly. Just as people falsely claim to have been robbed or in the case of students, “the dog ate my homework.” People lie. Yet, when someone picks up their phone and dials “911,” the operator on the other end does not and must not question the veracity of the caller. If you say you’re having chest pains, the “911” operator doesn’t speculate that you may have eaten something that disagreed with you and suggest an antacid. The ambulance is sent immediately.

Paul Ryan

Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan

In point of fact, this entire rape problem goes all the way to the top of the Romney – Ryan ticket. Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan also believes that rape is “just another method of conception.” If you’re beginning to see a pattern here, you’re right! What is it about the Republican party that allows the trivialization of such a heinous crime to be acceptable? They pitch more of a fit over rich people being asked to pay 4% more on their taxes, than they do over an innocent woman being raped! 

Camel

The Straw that broke the Camel’s back?

The straw that just may have broken the Camel’s Back is Senate hopeful from Indiana, Republican Richard Mourdock. Not only did he trivialize rape as just another means of conception, he injected God into the equation! Yes, should you get raped and get pregnant, take heart! God intended for it to happen! When pressed on the idiocy of his comments and the suggestion that God intends rape, he did backtrack slightly… and in the process made things worse! “God didn’t intend the rape… but since it happened, why not take advantage of things and throw in a pregnancy!

Here again is one of the reasons for my Agnosticism. I can hardly think of a higher insult to the divine than to make the “Almighty God” a party to the crime of rape! The fact that God hasn’t dusted off that whole smiting business he made much use of in the Old Testament causes me to have my doubts. Surely if there ever were a need for a good old fashioned smiting, this would be it.

Richard Mourdock

Indiana Senate hopeful Richard Mourdock

As it turns out, these comments by Richard Mourdock may just be that bridge too far. It may turn out that by endorsing Indiana’s Richard  – “I love to inflict my opinions on others” – Mourdock, Mitt Romney may have allowed the Senate hopeful from Indiana to not only stab him in the back, but the entire GOP. Let’s hope so! Women? Are you paying attention? They also say you can’t rape the willing. Do not be a willing participant in your rape. There’s too much at stake. Hold these fools accountable. The abortion debate is really a “Myth-Direction.” This is about what it’s always been about. Control. Absolute, dictatorial control. Or as Richard Mourdock says, “inflicting his opinions” on you! Vote wisely. Friends don’t let friends vote Republican.

Wherefore Art Thou, Mitt Romney?

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92 Year Old World War II Veteran, Ralph Maxwell Reads a Poem He Wrote for Mitt Romney. (text of the poem is below the video)

WHEREFORE ART THOU, MITT ROMNEY?

By Ralph Maxwell

O, Romney-O, Romney-O, Wherefore art thou, Mitt Romney?
You flip-flop here, you flip-flop there,
You flip-flop almost ev’rywhere.
You ballyhoo what you’re gonna do
And then you pull a switcheroo;
You now malign what you found fine;
Seems like you’ve got a jellyfish spine.
Obamacare, by you begun,
Now you’d trash it on day one.
Gun control you did extol,
But now you’re preaching decontrol.

O, Romney-O, Romney-O, Wherefore art thou, Mitt Romney?
We’ve got no clue what you will do
Or what new view you’ll pander to.
Time was you championed women’s choice,
But you no longer heed their voice;
On gay rights, too, guess you withdrew
Support they once enjoyed from you.
Global warming, EPA,
Immigration, minimum pay,
Roe V. Wade, also fair trade,
All joined your flip-flop cavalcade.

O, Romney-O, Romney-O Wherefore art thou, Mitt Romney?
So many things that you were for
You’ve turned against and slammed the door.
Stimulus and cap and trade,
Education, foreign aid,
Campaign reform, tarp rescues, too,
All victims of your switcheroo.
You take your stand on shifting sand,
We never know where you will land;
You vacillate, and you fabricate,
A wishy-washy candidate.

O, Romney-O, Romney-O, Wherefore art thou Mitt Romney?
As gov’nor you let taxes rise,
Now ev’ry tax you demonize.
You say regardless of the facts
You’d take an axe to the millionaire’s tax;
You’d feed the greed of the richest few
The poor and middle class you’d screw.
Your tax returns you hide from view
What evil lurks there we’ve no clue;
If they’re not bad why hesitate?
Is it that they incriminate?

O, Romney-O, Romney-O, Wherefore art thou Mitt Romney?
At Bain you plundered with a flair
And walked away a zillionaire.
You shipped off-shore, good jobs galore
To China, India, Singapore;
A job creator you are not.
And to boast you are is tommyrot.
As a total fraud, Mitt’s got no peer;
What we must do is crystal clear:
Let’s give Obama four more years!
Yes, it’s Obama – four more years!
FOUR MORE YEARS!
FOUR MORE YEARS!
FOUR MORE YEARS!

Originally posted to hungrycoyote on Sat Aug 18, 2012 at 12:44 PM PDT.
Also republished by Indigo Kalliope.

Found on “The Daily Kos.”

Republican Propaganda Fail!

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Republican Propaganda

by Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

REPUBLICAN PROPAGANDA FAIL!

Came across this photograph while visiting one of the “Liberal Forums” I frequent. From time to time, Republicans want to crash the party. We don’t mind them, because their presence suggests two things. The first is, if you’re not attracting Republican “Trolls” you’re not being effective at getting the message out. The second is, every now and again, you get a rational Republican who realizes he’s only being spoon fed one side of the issues and is truly interested in hearing the other side. They usually pose intelligent questions and give intelligent responses. Do we convince or convert all of these people? Of course not. However, they go away with a slightly different perspective and usually have much to think about they had not previously considered.

It was in this vein I came upon this picture with a comment indicating that the picture was from one of Mitt Romney’s Ohio campaign stops. The size of the crowd was used as an indication of how popular Gov. Romney is in Ohio. The poster further went on to say, “don’t tell me *Mr* – not President – Obama is leading in Ohio!” Well, of course it should be obvious, if Mitt Romney got that size of crowd… ANYWHERE it would be all over all the news stations. Fox News would be using it as “B-roll” for almost all of it’s lead-ins. That crowd is larger than the crowd at this years Republican National Convention. However, let us do our due diligence and actually examine this picture.

Upon closer inspection you notice some very unusual – dare I say impossible – things. The first thing you notice are the shadows. On a sunny day there is only one light source. Thus all shadows cast will fall in the same direction depending on the time of day, time of year and position of the Sun. This is governed by well established laws of physics. Anytime you see shadows going in multiple directions, you know immediately there has to be an additional light source. Since we only have one Sun, all shadows MUST fall in the same direction. When examining this photograph, you can count at least four different directions shadows are being cast. We could stop right here because this proves the photograph is a composite of several photographs assembled to create an illusion.

The next thing you notice is the composition of the crowd. Look at the colors in the crowd on the far left of the photograph. they seem natural. As the crowd swells to the right and into the distance, everything becomes purplish and red in hue. Again, this is not natural. Distance or size doesn’t change color. Next, pay attention to the podium or stage. Notice the banners in apparent disarray? Why are they on the back of the podium and not the side facing the crowd? Why are they in disarray? Doesn’t the banner on the far right actually look like an Obama banner? What’s an Obama banner doing at a Romney rally?

Then there is the small “Press Stage” in the immediate foreground. Which way are the people on that stage looking? They’re not looking at the stage. They’re looking almost directly to their right. They’re not looking at the crowd. What are they doing? Bottom line? This is a carefully crafted, composite photograph that some with limited knowledge put together to create a false impression. Actually it makes me smile. When they go to these lengths, you know you’ve got them on the run.

 

When Is Redistribution Not Redistribution?

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When is REDISTRIBUTION not REDISTRIBUTION?

I have watched with some irony the Republicans vainly attempting to throw monkey dust into the air to turn the conversation away from Mitt Romney’s big night of truthfulness. Make no mistake. The Republicans running around with their hair on fire over “Mitt – Caught On Tape!” are not upset with what he said. Actually they’re in total agreement. What they’re upset about is, what they truly believe is now out in the public and being discussed and examined by everyone. In a panic they’ve made a mad dash – as Eugene Robinson said – grabbed their fire ax and swung hard where it said, “In Case of Emergency, BREAK GLASS!”

They’ve brought out a 1998 tape of a young Senator Barack Obama saying that he agreed with – oh my gosh! – *SOME* “redistribution,” presumably of wealth. Their hope is that this will drive their base and any people on the fence into a panic. Here’s a little secret about human nature. When you try to scare someone, the first thing that pops into your mind is what *YOU* find terrifying. Want to know what terrifies rich people more than death it’s self? Even more than going to prison, ask Bernie Madoff? What terrifies rich people more than anything else is the thought of becoming poor! Yes, what terrifies them more than anything else is having to live what 99% of the rest of us call, EVERYDAY LIFE! You never know how brave you were now did you?

Let’s explore this whole “redistribution” question. Simple fact. The *ONLY* way to become rich is by transferring the wealth of the people around you – usually the poor – into your bank account. You have to sell them something, provide some service they *believe* to be indispensable or like Wall Street, rob them blind! The irony is, so long as wealth is being redistributed up to the rich, we call that Capitalism. When that exact same wealth is being redistributed back down to the poor, we call that Communism. Capitalism, GOOD! Communism, BAD! The only difference is the direction in which the wealth is moving. This is the big lie our American Society, Western Civilization has been based on. You have to convince the unwashed masses that one day, they too, by pure luck may become rich. Thus, they must preserve the system in the *hope* that one day they will benefit from it. This is a lot like buying a Powerball ticket. How does the “Pot” become so large? It’s because of all the suckers buying tickets.

When then Senator Barack Obama talked about wealth “redistribution” he was talking about using it to fund schools, programs to benefit children, teacher, police and firefighter’s salaries, improve neighborhoods etc. You know? All those things that make America the place you want to live? Contrast this to the philosophy of MItt Romney and Bain Capital. Their business model was to buy distressed companies and either make them profitable by outsourcing jobs and production to China – a Communist nation – or breaking them apart and selling them off in pieces. They redistributed jobs overseas, redistributed production overseas, redistributed the wealth into their offshore bank accounts. They do not however call that redistribution. They call that Capitalism. When anyone dares to take issue with it, they call it “Class Warfare.” Funny how it’s only “Class Warfare” when we fight back?

BAFFLE THEM WITH BULLS#@$!!!

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IF YOU CAN’T DAZZLE THEM WITH BRILLIANCE… BAFFLE THEM WITH BULLS#@$!!!

Whenever you listen to Republican spokesmen present the espoused political philosophies and ideologies of the Republican party, they always seem so reasonable. After all, they’re competing in the “Marketplace of Ideas.” Among reasonable people, the strength of one’s ideas should prevail and win the day. For example, if I’m dragging a heavy sled up a hill and you come along and show me the “Wheel,” you and I are not going to have an argument. The only thing I want to know is where can I get a set of four?

If I’m breaking a sweat, trying to make a fire rubbing two sticks together and you show up with a BIC lighter, I’m going to want to borrow it or buy it. You’ve got a better idea and I’m all in! When Republicans talk about a smaller government, it sounds reasonable… on the surface. You’ve got my attention. Tell me more! You lay out how if government were smaller, I could keep more of the hard earned money I make. Sounding good! Here comes the sticky part. In order to make government smaller, we have to cut back somewhere. Okay, I understand that. We cannot make government smaller without cutting something. That’s perfectly logical. What do you propose we cut?

You give me your list and suddenly I turn ashen white… no easy feat for a person of color! On your list I find the following:

• Education.
• What you call “Entitlement Programs.” (Odd choice of words – more later)
• EPA. – Environmental Protection Administration.
• FDA.
• Banking restrictions.
• Corporate tax rates.
• Infrastructure maintenance.
• Federal salaries – not congressmen, but other government workers.
• Collective bargaining – Unions.

As I catch my breath from the staggering implications of your plan, I point out that you left “military spending” off your list. Being that the United States spends more on it’s military than the next 6 closest nations… COMBINED! Why no cutbacks there? You respond that we need a strong military to keep us safe. Okay, but safe from what? Safe from whom? Technology has come along way since WWII. Even marginal nations can so blanket a battlefield with bombs and munitions, it would be suicidal to have tank battalions amassed for a shootout. Certainly any nations who presumably could pose a threat, all have nuclear capabilities. It doesn’t take 1,000 nukes to send us all back to the stone age.

Let’s explore the whole entitlement program thing. What exactly do you mean by entitlements? Social Security? Medicare? Welfare? Veteran’s benefits? I’m really not feeling you on this one. I started working when I was 14. I was stunned when my first paycheck did not reflect the money from all the hours I’d worked. My father sat me down and explained the facts of life. I learned that FICA – who the hell is he??? – was money the Government took out of my check for Social Security and Medicare and other programs that I didn’t need at 14, but I would need when I got older. How much older I asked? At that time it was 62. Hell! That was an eternity away! I’ll be 55 in a couple of months, and suddenly the prospect of receiving all that money the Government borrowed from me for a lifetime of work, seems within reach. What do you mean by dismissing it as an “Entitlement Program?” Entitled to it? No! It’s mine. I own it! I paid for it!

You know? Come to think of it, I’m rather fond of breathing clean air and drinking clean water. While we’re on this subject I find comfort in knowing – believing – that someone is monitoring our food supply and making sure the drugs my doctor prescribes have been checked and tested. Don’t get me started on the banks! Those bastards on the executive boards of banks all need to be rounded up and put in prison for grand larceny! I suppose you’ve never ran a tight balance in your checking account and had the bank take their fee first and bounce 3 checks! NSF fees of $30.00 each for a $6 dollar miscalculation. How about this one. Ever had a Credit Card with the payment scheduled on the first of the month? Ever have the bank change the payment date to the 15th without telling you? Then hit you with a late fee? Report to the credit reporting agencies that you were late? We need more banking restrictions!

Education? We’ve got far too many dummies running around now! Most of them claiming to be Republicans. The stupidity level in this country has been on the rise as the money we spend on education decreases. We need more teachers. They need to be paid more. Schools need to be better equipped. At this point my Republican friend walks off in a huff! However, this is not the end! This is the most critical thing to watch.

I’ve been paying attention. Republicans have been busy redrawing districts to their political advantage. They’ve been funding groups – True The Vote – who’s masthead says they’re a non-profit organization. The reality is they’re a *for profit* business! What is their business? There sole purpose for existence is to block perceived democrats from voting by any means necessary. Republican controlled States have been busily putting in place new voter restrictions – a poll tax – that now causes citizens to have to pay for new types of ID just to vote.

The problem is clear! Republican ideas are NOT winning in the marketplace of ideas, so they’re trying to rig the market! This past week has been one disaster after the other for Mitt Romney. First he steps in it big time over the embassy attacks. Before he can breach the surface for air, a tape is released where he’s talking to some donors who paid $50,000 a plate. I’m sure he felt comfortable. He admits that he doesn’t really give a damn about 47% of our fellow citizens. To him and those present, the 47% are the unwashed masses who are living off the government and costing taxpayers. The irony is, if you’ve got $50,000 to blow on a dinner with poor entertainment? Featuring the world’s worst stand up comedian? You’ve probably got an armada of accountants and you’re not paying any taxes.

During Mitt’s stand up bit, the subject of the Latino vote came up. Mitt jokes that his father was born in Mexico and that if he had been born a Latino he might do better with the Latino vote and have an easier time running for office! NOT FUNNY! Not funny at all! Now Mitt is on his “apology tour.” He made an appearance on the Spanish speaking network “Univision.” His problem? He appeared in “BROWN FACE!” Really Mitt??? Do you think the Hispanic community is that stupid? How insulting! I’m just thankful you didn’t try  to appear in Black Face at the NAACP Convention!

The Bain Method

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The Romney Campaign has devolved to the point where we now must ask, could they REALLY be this bad? I am beginning to suspect intentionality. Let us not forget that Mitt Romney attended the best schools money could afford. He has a law degree from Harvard and an MBA from Harvard. He was the Governor of a State. He was/is the CEO of a very successful business enterprise. Certainly he has the resources to hire the very best people available to run his campaign. Yet what we’ve seen over this past month looks more like an old black and white episode of “The Keystone Cops.”

Put another way, I’m 55 years old, overweight and out of shape. If I were silly enough to challenge, let’s say Kobe Bryant to a game of one on one, at what point would you begin to suspect something was amiss? When the score was 14 to 12? Even if it were in his favor? Suppose it were 18 to 20, still in his favor? At some point you would simply KNOW that Kobe was shaving points and showing extreme kindness to an old man. Particularly since I can’t shoot a basketball worth a damn!

Remember the movie “White Men Can’t Jump” staring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson? Great movie by the way. Woody Harrelson played a pretty damn good – but unknown – college basketball player. He would sit in the stands. Wesley Snipes would be “styling and profiling” on the court and talking much shizzle. The Con would go like this. Wesley would be running his mouth and finally say, he could beat any two-man team present with…  – then he’d look over at Woody Harrelson, usually the loan white guy sitting in the stands – with that white guy sitting over there! The betting would begin. Why? Because everybody – the black players – simply knew that white guys were no good at playing basketball.

Of course they’d win. It was a pretty successful racket. The “marks” only saw your average white guy. They didn’t know who Woody Harrelson was or what his skill level was. They simply assumed based on his skin color that he couldn’t play basketball. Sort of a lesson in reverse racism.

I suspect something similar may be going on with the Romney campaign. We look at Mitt Romney and we *assume* that his goal is really to be President of the United States. We never stop to ask, “why?” When you look at his record as governor of Massachusetts, it certainly wasn’t a stellar record. 47th in Job creation. He left Massachusetts with a budget deficit. About the only successful thing he did was *sign* a health care bill that the Affordable Care Act is modeled after. One would think that a man with an MBA from Harvard could have done better had he actually applied himself.

You cannot look at Mitt Romney’s record and say that he is so committed to public service and making things better, that he feels a true calling on his life to benefit our Nation and fix the problems that ail us. Perhaps we need to dig a little deeper and look a little further? Let’s examine his business experience. The first red flag that springs to my mind was his prescription for our Automotive Industry. He felt so passionately about the subject that he wrote an “Op-Ed” in the Wall Street Journal entitled, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.”

His philosophy can hardly be mitigated by the notion that bankruptcy as is the practice with much smaller corporations can ultimately turn into a positive thing. The theory that large corporations can be split apart and sold off piecemeal only works if there are entities present with the interest and resources to buy up these failed corporations. This was clearly not the case in 2008. The credit markets had dried up and there were simply no entities out there other than the federal government, with the resources or interests to do anything.

Although President Obama does not possess an MBA from Harvard, he saw this fact. Odd that Mitt missed this wouldn’t you say? So, what was Mitt calling on by way of experience? When you look at the Bain model, the cookie cutter formula was to find companies with exposure, load them up with debt which because of the assets of your consortium was easy to do, pocket the proceeds from those loans and then let the already struggling company try to pay off the debt you’d put on it. When the companies went bankrupt as they usually did, you then broke them apart and sold them off in pieces, making even more profits for your investors. You’d do it over and over and over again.

Was Mitt Romney a successful businessman? Yes he was. However, not in the sense you would normally think! The business he was successful at was that of a corporate raider. He was a vulture capitalist. He didn’t take businesses, turn them around and make them successful. If they survived Bain, it was because they had a solid core that Bain was unable to crack. They would ultimately have succeeded and done so quicker and easier had they never had any involvement with Bain.

When you look at the Romney campaign, you begin to get the whiff of the Bain cookie cutter model. Many of the elements are very similar. Mitt Romney has been running for President for what? Over 7 or 8 years now? He’s put together what appears to be an actual viable campaign. This is the “business” he’s going to ultimately blow apart. Based on appearances, he now goes to Republican donors and the money begins to flow into his campaign coffers. Just as he loaded up companies with debts before they ultimately failed and declared bankruptcy. He’s doing the same thing. Money is flowing into pro-Romney “Super-Pacs.” It is flowing directly into his campaign. Because things are being managed in such a slipshod manner, it is easy for millions to simply vanish.

Your next clues are his offshore accounts and his refusal to reveal his income taxes. If you were serious about becoming President, one of the very first things you’d do is clean up your tax filings. He’s had over 8 years to do this. The fact that he has not should tell you something. If you were *really* running for President, you would close your offshore accounts and move all your money Stateside. This would have been done long ago. How does it look when the person running for President doesn’t have enough faith in the United States to put his money here?

At some point you begin to realize, NOBODY could be that bad unless it were on purpose! I’ll give him being caught on tape. That may have been unforeseen. However, coming out at 10 pm and holding a – what the hell was that anyway? – a quasi press conference? Taking 3 questions and really not answering any of them. Why couldn’t that have waited until the next day? It was just going through the motions, to give the appearance of concern.

Going off half cocked on the burning of our embassies and the death of our Ambassador? Really Mitt? As a businessman one should know you don’t make statements or issue press releases until all the facts are in. Harvard Lawyer, Harvard MBA Mitt Romney never learned this? His Republican Convention was a complete mess! People look at how a candidate runs his campaign, runs his convention as an indication of his or her leadership skills. Could you imagine a Romney administration actually managing a national crisis? That is a frightening prospect to consider… certainly based on how he’s run his campaign.

The only thing that makes sense, the only thing that fits is, what if this entire campaign is a sham? What if this is just another way for Mitt to do the *ONLY* thing he truly is good at… and that is to redistribute the wealth from the deep pockets of billionaires into his offshore accounts? Something to think about.