Touchdown Romney, Game (not) Over

Mitt Romney won last night's debate. However, the game is not over.

 You see, Mitt needed a win. And knowing that he only needed a tie, Obama played not to lose, and lost. It was the political equivalent of a football team playing prevent defense. You send three linemen at the quarterback and drop the other 8 into coverage. Most of the time, playing prevent defense allows the quarterback time to throw, and receivers more time to shake the defenders, allowing the offense to march down the field. It's cost the University of Utah several games against BYU the past several years (and almost cost them this year's game).

 It's bad to play prevent defense when you are up by less than a touchdown, but even worse when you are down 17 in the 4th. A stop makes it very difficult to win. Allowing a touchdown gives your opponent momentum and confidence. But, you're still up 10 points. The game isn't over. Do you run down the clock, hoping your prevent defense will last until election day? Or do you play your norm, moving the ball effectively and efficiently down the field, hoping to play just as much offense to run the clock to 0:00?  Or, do you run wide-open aggressiveness, hoping you can stick the final nail in the coffin, but also hoping you don't throw an interception, allowing your opponent to have good field position.

I think a good place to start is by pointing out that It's easy to score a touchdown when you have 12 men on the field win a debate when you tell a lie every minute and 24 seconds, not counting lies you repeat.

We'll see what kind of coaches Team Obama has.  I just hope it's not Kyle Wittingham.

-Bob

Mr Rogers to Mitt Romney: Don't cut PBS!

"Mom, do you know why I like Mr Rogers? Because he likes me just the way I am." -Bobby Aagard, circa 1985

I grew up on a healthy dose of PBS programming. Mr Rogers was a friend, and taught me that being different is OK, and that we should love others not for the clothes they wear, nor their toys, but for being themselves. I also learned valuable lessons in topics such as anger management.

But Mr Rogers was not my only early influence. I gained a love of books from Reading Rainbow, and was reading at nearly a 1st grade level entering Kindergarten thanks in part to Sesame Street.

Because of a series of life circumstances, I get to spend some time with my 5-year old nephew, who is about the same age as I was when I said the quote that leads this post. We sit down to watch TV together, and I look at the programs he watches and the lessons we learn from them. Dinosaur Train takes his love of dinosaurs and trains and turns it into a love of science. On a recent trip to the Utah Museum of Natural History, he referenced Dinosaur train, mostly in the parts of the museum that DON'T have dinosaurs. On Sid the Science Kid, he sees that he, like the characters, can channel their natural curiosity to learn new things. On The Cat in The Hat Knows a Lot About That, he learns lessons in observation. And, n our new favorite show, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, we learn some of those same life lessons that I learned from Mr Rogers.

I can't think of anything we learn from shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Phineas and Pherb other than what the latest toys and junk food are out there (seen during commercial breaks)).

Unfortunately, the only way to produce commercial programming is from the private sector getting some help from the Government via PBS. So, when Mitt Romney said in tonight's debate that he wanted to cut funding for PBS (which amounts to a very small portion of the federal budget), I took it personally.

But, this is not the first time funding for PBS has been threatened. In 1969, Congress was wanting to cut funding for PBS, and Mr Rogers went to Washington to testify. Instead of reading his prepared remarks, which he said the Congressmen had promised to read, he spoke briefly about his show, and the good it was doing in the world.

In the next Appropriation, PBS funding went from $9 Million to $22 Million.

So, Mr Romney, please find something else to cut, because this funding is doing a lot of good in the world.

-Bob

Song: Mitt Romney Pays Less Taxes Than Me

If Mitt Can't Name His Plane, No Wonder He Can't Stick to One Position

Multiple Choice Mitt sent out a new email offering the opportunity of a lifetime:

Ann likes to joke that the campaign plane should be called “Hair Force One.”
Personally, I don’t quite know what to call it, but I do know it’s crucial in getting this campaign’s message to every corner of the country. And with just 54 days left until the election, we will be putting it to good use.
I’m excited to invite two of my supporters to come on board the plane, and join me for a day on this important journey. I hope you’ll enter for a chance to fly with me.
I don’t know exactly what our itinerary will be, but if you’re one of the winners — I can tell you it will be exciting. And, who knows, maybe you and I will come up with a better name for the campaign plane.
Thanks for your support,
Mitt Romney

John McCain had the "Straight Talk Expess."  Maybe Mitt can call his plane the "Stuck in a Roundabout Express."

Any other suggestions?

(h/t Wonkette)

Mitt Romney's 4 Positions on Embassy Attacks

A Timeline of events:

1) US embassy in Egypt releases statement condemning movie made by Americans mocking Islam.  Statement is released to try to quell protest/riot in front of Embassy.

2) US Embassy in Libya is attacked during a similar protest.  4 people, including the Ambassador, are killed.

3) After the news of the attack, but before word of the deaths is released, Mitt Romney issues a statement.  The statement reads, in part, "It’s disgraceful that the Obama administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks."

4) The next morning, Mitt holds a press conference, where he admits that the statement he was referring to was the one from the embassy.  He condemns the Obama Administration for standing by the statement.

5) 20 seconds later, Romney sets a personal record for flip flopping, condemning the administration for distancing themselves from the statement.

6) Does interview with ABC where he says that white house agrees with him that the statement was bad.

7) In same interview, condemns movie made by Americans mocking Islam. "I think the whole film is a terrible idea. I think him making it, promoting it showing it is disrespectful to people of other faiths. I don't think that should happen. I think people should have the common courtesy and judgment- the good judgment- not to be- not to offend other peoples' faiths. It's a very bad thing, I think, this guy's doing."

Lost, well, let's recap the positions:

-Supporting statement condemning movie is bad.
-Not supporting statement condemning movie is bad.
-Not supporting statement condemning movie is good.
-Supporting statement condemning movie is good.

Several of my Republican friends have posted columns declaring Romney right on this issue.  Well, if you hold one hand behind my back, ask me to guess how many fingers you are holding up, and give me 5 guesses, I'll probably be right.

It must be hard being a Republican and remembering what position you hold this minute.

-Bob

Mitt Romney's 20-second flip flop

1:55 mark -- condemns Administration for "standing by" the Embassy's statement.
2:15 mark -- condemns Administration for "distancing" themselves from the Embassy's statement.

Wow, 20 seconds from flip to flop.

And, the best part was why he said distancing yourself from the statement was bad: because it sends an inconsistent message to the world.

Like contradicting yourself in the matter of 20 seconds.

This Guy Should Read His Poem at the Democratic COnvention

Paul Ryan supports Ayn Rand's Morality. Ayn Rand's Morality is not Mormonism's Morality

This Morning, Mitt Romney named Paul Ryan to be his Vice President Nominee.

When the news broke while I was watching the Olympics, I was excited.  I may have cheered just a little.

You see, there has always been a certain "Greed is Good" mentality to the Romney campaign -- the more money you make, the better person you are.  

And then, just to confirm this, he nominates Paul Ryan to be VP.

Paul Ryan once said "“Rand more than anyone else did a fantastic job of explaining the morality of capitalism, the morality of individualism… It’s that kind of thinking, that kind of writing that is sorely needed right now.”"  Don't believe me?  Well, he said it in a video he posted on his Facebook account.

And, well, there's this video, which takes Ryan's comments and intersperses them with Ayn Rand's:



And, another awesome quote from Ayn Rand:  “Each man must live as an end in himself and follow his own rational self-interest.”

For more info on how Christians must distance themselves from Ayn Rand, follow this link.

So, how does this doctrine of individuality mesh with the doctrine of Mormonism?  Well, not very well.

"We live in perilous times when many believe we are not accountable to God and that we do not have personal responsibility or stewardship for ourselves or others. Many in the world are focused on self-gratification, put themselves first, an

d love pleasure more than they love righteousness. They do not believe they are their brother’s keeper. In the Church, however, we believe that these stewardships are a sacred trust." -Elder Quentin L Cook, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 2009

 I believe the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish—and in effect save their lives. -President Thomas S Monson, October 2009

Man’s greatest happiness comes from losing himself for the good of others. -President David O McKay, October 1963

Satan’s position is the opposite. He sponsors self-interest, raw and unrefined by any other consideration. One of his most effective tools is the temptation to take unfair advantage in order to get gain. It has been so from the beginning. -Elder Dallin H Oaks, October 1986

FOX News Poll Bad For Romney

Fox News, that bastion of liberal media, released a new poll today.

And, well that poll looks bad.  It's bad for Mitt Romney.

The poll was conducted by live telephone calls on both cell phones and land line phones August 5-7.  All respondents were registered voters.  Margin of error is 3 points.

Romney 40%
Obama 49%
Other 2%
Would Vote 2%
Don't Know 8%

So, what you have is Obama with a 9-point lead over Romney.  In their July 15-17 poll, that number was 45-41 Obama, so he's increasing his lead.

One thing that made me nervous was that respondents were asked how interested about the election they were.    Of those who were "Extremely Interested" (42% of the sample), The Romney-Obama race was tied at 48-48.  However, in the previous poll, Romney led extremely interested voters 53-42.  So, Romney is losing ground with those extremely interested.

On Favorable/Unfavorable ratings for the candidates, we see Obama is more favorable than Romney

Obama 54% Favorable 42% Unfavorable
Romney 46% Favorable 45% Unfavorable

And, according to this poll, Obama has a 49% approval rating (46% disapprove).  President Obama has hovered between 42-49% since he hit 55% approval in May 2011 (just after the bin Laden kill).  While it's tough to win as an incumbent with an approval rating below 50%, It seems kike many of those who don't approve of Obama still won't vote for Mitt.

Regardless of how you would vote, how comfortable would you be with Mitt Romney as President?
Extremely Comfortable 8%
Very Comfortable 18%
Somewhat Comfortable 33%
Not at All comfortable 38%
Don't Know 3%

And, they asked the 71% that would be somewhat or not very comfortable with a President Romney what the main reason they felt that way. And, the answers they gave showed us where Romney fails:

His positions on the issues 17%
Phony/Dishonest 9%
Out of Touch 8%
Republican/Conservative 7%
For the Rich 7%
Everything 6%
His Wealth/He's rich 5%
Changes his positions/Flip flops 5%
Don't know enough about him 5%
Business Background/experience 4%
No Substance 3%
Too Conservative 2%
Religion/Mormonism 2%
Arrogant 2%
No Charisma 1%
Not Conservative enough 1%
Too close to Bush/Same as Bush 1%
Other 6%
Don't know 9%

So, most of the answers given are about Mitt the man, and it's hard to reintroduce yourself to the American people.  It can be done, but it's hard.  Especially when people have an opinion that you are an out of touch, dishonest rich politician in it for yourself.

Let's look at Obama on the same question:

Extremely Comfortable 21%
Very Comfortable 20%
Somewhat comfortable 22%
Not at all Comfortable 37%
Don't know 1%

Of the 59% of people who were somewhat or not at all comfortable with a second term for President Obama, they gave these reasons why:

Performance as President: 25%
Unemployment/Jobs/No economic recovery 15%
His positions on the issues 14%
Everything 9%
Health Care plan 6%
Big Government spending 5%
Socialist policies 4%
Phony/Dishonest 4%
Changes his positions/Flip flops 3%
Democrat/Liberal 2%
Taxes 2%
No substance/just a celebrity 1%
Arrogant 1%
Against business -
His background/race -
Other 5%
Don't know 4%

But, here's the kicker question, the question that has to have Team Mitt shaking in their shoes:

If Barack Obama is re-elected as president, which of the following best describes your feelings?

42% The country's going down the drain and I am dreading what is going to happen in the next four years.
18% The country's improving every day and I look forward to another four years.
7% neither
3% Don't know

Romney Roundup 7/26: Illegal Legal Guns From The Soviet Union That We Built By Ourselves With Help From The Government

This is the first in an irregular series where I will post a bunch of unrelated stories about Mitt Romney, and a snarky comment about them.

Talking Points Memo: "Romney Camp Once Again Warns Of ‘Soviet’ Threat"'

A foreign policy adviser to Mitt Romney’s campaign warned against policies that would aid “the Soviet Union” Wednesday, making him at least the third person from Team Romney — including Romney himself — to refer to a country that hasn’t existed since 1991 in the course of attacking President Obama’s foreign policy.

Maybe they are using the history books found in some Utah classrooms.....


HuffPost: "Mitt Romney: 'Many' Of Aurora Shooting Suspect's Weapons Were Illegal" 

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Wednesday said many of the weapons obtained by the shooting suspect in Colorado were obtained illegally and that changing laws won't prevent gun-related tragedies.
But the firearms that authorities allege James Holmes used to kill 12 people in Aurora, Colo., were obtained legally.

Typical Republican, making up his own reality....

 Think Progress:  "Romney’s ‘We Did Build This’ Events Feature Businesses Built With Government Subsidies And Contracts"

Today, the Romney campaign is hosting an entire series of campaign events based on President Obama’s misinterpreted commentabout small businesses. While Obama’s full speech made a “no man is an island” argument, the Romney campaign has seized on the quote, “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that” as evidence of Obama’s disdain for small business owners.
Romney, ignoring the fact that he has echoed this same sentiment on multiple occasions, organized 24 “We Did Build This” events in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Virginia, Ohio, Iowa, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Nevada. At each event, local business owners are speaking about their self-sufficiency in running a business and how government is hindering their growth.
But, like the New Hampshire business owner showcased in Romney’s attack ad on the issue, many of these business owners have received significant support from the government, a ThinkProgress analysis finds.

Nothing like pointing out that your opponent was right.  Thanks, Mitt!

Mitt Romney: Frequent, Flagrant, Brazen Liar

Interesting bit from the Guardian about Mitt Romney's dishonesty.  Some highlights:

 Quite simply, the United States has never been witness to a presidential candidate, in modern American history, who lies as frequently, as flagrantly and as brazenly as Mitt Romney.
Now, in general, those of us in the pundit class are really not supposed to accuse politicians of lying – they mislead, they embellish, they mischaracterize, etc. Indeed, there is natural tendency for nominally objective reporters, in particular, to stay away from loaded terms such as lying. Which is precisely why Romney's repeated lies are so effective. In fact, lying is really the only appropriate word to use here, because, well, Romney lies a lot. But that's a criticism you're only likely to hear from partisans.

The author then talks about the bit in Romney's book about President Obama going around the world to "apologize" for America, which in the real world never happened.  

President Obama never went around the world and apologized for America – and yet, even after multiple news organizations have pointed out this is a "pants on fire" lie, Romney keeps making it. Indeed, the "Obama apology tour", along with the president bowing down to the King of Saudi Arabia, are practically the lodestars of the GOP's criticism of Obama's foreign policy performance (the Saudi thing isn't true either).

 He then goes on to list several more Romney lies about the economy, stimulus, auto bailout, Obamacare.  But then we get down to the "Brass tax" of it all:

The lying from the Romney campaign is so out-of-control that Steve Benen, a blogger and producer for the Rachel Maddow show compiles a weekly list of "Mitt's Mendacity" that is chockfull of new untruths. Benen appears unlikely to run out of material any time soon, particularly since Romney persists in repeating the same lies over and over, even after they've been debunked.

This is perhaps the most interesting and disturbing element of Romney's tireless obfuscation: that even when corrected, it has little impact on the presumptive GOP nominee's behavior. This is happening at a time when fact-checking operations in major media outlets have increased significantly, yet that appears to have no effect on the Romney campaign.

What is the proper response when, even after it's pointed out that the candidate is not telling the truth, he keeps doing it? Romney actually has a telling rejoinder for this. When a reporter challenged his oft-stated assertion that President Obama had made the economy worse (factually, not correct), he denied ever saying it in the first place. It's a lie on top of a lie.

As a song we used to sing in Primary says "When you tell one lie, it leads to another..." 


And, in conclusion, a paragraph I wish I had written, because it so well sums up my feelings about Mitt:

Romney is charting new and untraveled waters in American politics. In the process, he is cynically eroding the fragile sense of trust that exists between voters and politicians. It's almost enough to make one pine for the days when Sarah Palin lied about "the Bridge to Nowhere".

Republicans: Let's fight the individual mandate by electing the guy who passed an individual mandate

Sometimes, Republican logic is so illogical.

I Got National Props!

I logged on to Blogger to write a post when I saw this stat graphic:

What caused the spike in stats?

Well, It turns out that national blog Crooks and Liars featured my post on Mitt's Religion Flip-Flop on their blog roundup:

Yeah, I feel special.  Especially when you factor some stats from this post:

-My number one all-time (since Google Analytics started calculating in April 2006) visits in a day was June 9 2012.
-The number six all-time source of traffic to my blog is now Crooks and Liars.  100% of the visits have been in the last week. One of the sites above it is no longer in service.  Another probably hasn't sent traffic to me in a long time.  Another is Google.
-The number six all-time most read post is the one referenced by Crooks and Liars.  Only one other post in the top 10 was written since the 2008 election, and that was in 2009.

So, yes, I'm feeling the love.  Go to the link, read the post (and watch the video), and share it with friends.  Especially your friends who are voting for Romney because he's Mormon.

-Bob

Mitt Romney's Religion flip-flop

One of they key tenets of the LDS Church is that in 1820, God appeared to Joseph Smith.  In fact, what differentiates Mormonism form other religions is the fact that we believe that God has spoken to, and through prophets from Joseph Smith and Brigham Young to Gordon B Hinckley and Thomas S Monson.

In fact, we also believe that there are other General Authorities that speak with God.  We also believe in personal revelation -- the concept that God can speak to us to guide us in our lives.

So why, in 2007, did Mitt Romney tell a Boston TV station in 2007 that he didn't think God had spoken to anyone since Moses?



Surely Missionary Mitt taught the first vision to people in France.  He probably even taught them about living prophets on the earth today speaking with God.

So, does Mitt Romney really believe that God hasn't spoken to anyone since Moses?

Or is he willing to lie about ANYTHING to become President, even his religion?

I think the answer is clear.

Mitt Romney Bully Story Is An Issue Because He's Still A Bully

By now, you've probably heard about how Mitt Romney allegedly bullied a kid in high school.  Mitt's "denial" was that he did some crazy things in high school, doesn't remember this incident, and besides, he didn't know the kid was gay.


First, gay kids aren't the only ones who get bullied.  As a straight kid who got bullied a lot, I know.


Second, by saying he didn't know the kid was gay, but doesn't remember this incident leads me to think that maybe he did bully the kid.  Maybe not to the extreme portrayed in the post, but by his own admission, he wasn't exactly an angel.


So, why does it matter?  Well, because Mitt hasn't really grown out of it.  As Paul Begala wrote:

One can draw a straight line from the young man who pinned down a terrified teenager and walked a blind man into a closed door, to the adult who put the family dog in a kennel and strapped it to the roof of the car, to the businessman who laid off hundreds of people, cancelled their health benefits, and paid himself millions while their company went bankrupt. And the line continues: the governor who slashed education and raised fees on the middle class, and the possible president who would use his power to cut taxes on his fellow millionaires while pushing for the gradual demise of traditional Medicare. 

Then there is the aura of someone who acts as if the rules don't apply to him.The Post reported that the abused boy was ultimately expelled from Cranbrook—for smoking a cigarette. Really. The victim got expelled for smoking a cigarette, but Mitt faced no sanctions for maliciously victimizing a vulnerable student and a teacher. It's good to be a prince. Maybe that's why Romney felt entitled to take a $10 million bailout for Bain, but opposed President Obama's bailout of the auto industry. He thinks there's one set of rules for the privileged, and another for the rest of us.

There is also the story of his arrest for disorderly conduct.  He had gone to  launch his boat in a lake.  There was a park ranger there who told him not to launch the boat because the registration had been painted over.  Mitt launched anyway, because it's only a $50 fine.  That "I'll do what I want" attitude is common among bullies.  

Or, there's any time a reporter or someone else calls him out on his "evolving" stances on issues.  You see, Mitt Romney is consistent on issues.  His current stance is the stance he's always had, regardless of what evidence you have to the contrary.  Mitt has always been at war with Oceania.  He gets upset when you ask him why he used to be at war with Eurasia.

Character matters in politics.  People's character often doesn't change in their lives.  If Mitt could provide any examples that his character has changed, I'd give him credit.  Unfortunately, evidence shows that he hasn't changed.

Mitt Romney's Re-writing History on Pakistan, bin Laden

<$BlogItemBody$>