****
****
Steve Benen: We talked yesterday about why the 2002 Olympic games, run by Mitt Romney, has become an awkward political story for the Republican presidential hopeful. To help drive the point home, consider this clip, uncovered by the estimable James Carter, of Romney discussing the role of taxpayer money to support the games.
….. Not surprisingly, he concluded that the “massive investment” is absolutely worth it. Indeed, in the same clip, Romney went on to thank Utah’s congressional delegation – which was made up entirely of Republican lawmakers at the time – for being “enormously helpful” in securing so many tax dollars for the 2002 Olympics.
More here
****
****
Greg Sargent: Another day, another Romney truth-stretch: Glenn Kessler knocks down the ubiquitous Romney-GOP talking point that Obama pledged that his stimulus plan would hold unemployment below eight percent.
Special bonus dissembling: As Kessler notes, the info to disprove this one is actually available on the Romney Web site…
More here
****
****
****
Morning everyone
Morning all. Another day to spread truth.
Winner!
Morning taiping1, morning everyone
Thanks. A true honor.
Good Morning!
Oooh…second!
Good mornin’.
Happy Paczki Day everyone.
Thank you, japa21! What is it we are celebrating on Paczki Day?
I think it is fried dough with powered sugar ?
Pronounced poonch-key it is a Polish pastry, which is a fried dough, usually with a variety of fillings and sometimes topped with powdered sugar, sometimes with a glaze of chocolate or other flavors. It is a traditonal day before Ash Wednesday treat and is found just about everywhere in Chicago, which boasts of having the largest Polish population of any city in the world outside of Warsaw.
Oh my, that sounds ever so delicious! Haven’t had breakfast yet, would enjoy some of that Paczki cake indeed! Forgot about it being Shrove Tuesday…. Better wear my shiny beads today! Along with my Obama bling, of course!
have fun today everyone, will check in when I can…
hmmm–how can it sound so bad, and sooo good at the same time?
7th, 8th, or 9th? Top o’ the Marnin’ to ya! Chips.. congrats on First taiping1!
Good morning, TODville.
Paltry Super PAC Fundraising Forced Rethink In Obama Camp
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In early January, President Barack Obama’s campaign manager Jim Messina called David Axelrod, the president’s top strategist, into his Chicago office and started writing on a white board.
On one side of the board, Messina sketched out the amounts of money he expected Republican “Super PACs” and other groups to raise and spend to try to defeat the Democratic president in the November 6 election.
Drawing a line under that cumulative number — roughly $700 million — Messina then highlighted the amount raised by the Republican groups’ Democratic counterparts. It was a measly figure.
“We’ve got to talk about this. This is a problem,” Messina told Axelrod, according to a campaign official.
http://news.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/paltry-super-pac-fundraising-forced-rethink-in-obama-camp.php?ref=fpb
The Repugs have lots of cash, but we have lots of love, and respect for our guy. Bring it Mittens!
Fox News contributor and Republican strategist Frank Luntz warmed up a Michigan crowd waiting for an appearance by Rick Santorum by joking that he has a “Run, Barack, Run” bumper sticker on the front of his car.
scum
OMG, they don’t even hide their racism anymore. I am so appalled.
MT, why should they hide their racism? The first thing they will say they’re not racists, why I have a friend who is black. B.S., the right wing crazy ass conservatives radical racists.
And they have finally found their leader, that radical racists crazy ass Rick Santorum, who don’t call black people black anymore he calls them blah.
Morning Ms. Chips, morning everyone! Thanks for the great links and cartoons, brilliant! Will be passing them on later. And thanks for the excellent photo of the PBO float in the Cologne carnival parade, I live 10 minutes from the parade route downtown, and if I had known about this float I would have been there to cheer it on! Nice to know the Germans understand.
Frank has another post up…
http://frank-schaeffer.blogspot.com/2012/02/how-far-right-roman-catholics-and.html
I was pretty sure Mr. Scheiffer would write something about the recent events. Thank you for the link.
I hope the Obama team and the Obama campaign are aware of the level of coordination in the attacks against them. I’ve been hoping for at least a couple of years that they have a conversation with Mr. Schaeffer and other researchers who have published interesting essays on the far-right religious movements. Those researchers have issued warnings for quite some time. I wonder if President Obama and the democratic leadership, like many ordinary americans, have underestimated the problem. When you believe in reason, science, respect, compassion, it may be difficult to imagine the LEVEL of crazyness and hate there is out there.
i think pbo and his team are well aware of the swarm of crazies buzzing all around. but there’s no straight-jacket that can wrap that mess up better than cooling the atmosphere. that’s where reason, compassion etc come in.
WASHINGTON (CN) – Former U.S Department of Agriculture official Shirley Sherrod’s lawsuit against right-wing blogger Andrew Breitbart survived a motion to dismiss, clearing the way for her to pursue the high-profile defamation suit she filed against him and a colleague last year.
Sherrod Sued Breitbart and associate Larry O’Connor in February 2011, charging the two men posted a heavily editor clip of her online that led to accusations of racism and ultimately got her fired.
Breitbert filed his motion under the D.C. Anti-SLAPP Act, which provides that if a defendant can show the claim at issue arises from an act in furtherance of the right to free speech – and if the it is also related to an issue of public concern-he can file a special motion to dismiss.
But in a terse decision, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon tossed the motion, pointing out that the D.C. law that the motion was based on did not take affect until more than a month after Sherrod filed her defamation suit.
I hope she gets multi-million dollar settlement and then everyone else he defames follows suit. Asshold.
photo/1
Oh yeah!
That is very cool!!
That is so far out. I mean, what a culture meld!! This event is going to be genius fun.
Is this Jagger first time meeting our POTUS?
Mick! ☺….Is that is daughter?
I thought it might be his girlfriend, or wife.
I am so happy that he said that POB was relaxed and happy. Good vibes. This makes me happy that music lifts his spirits.HZ
Rev. Wright on Chuck Todd now too. They’re using Santorum’s off the rail religious rants against Obama as an excuse, where sweater vest insane person calls Obama a religious “tyrant” and purposely is coughing up Rev. Wright again, knowing full well that the media will be happy to oblige by airing all those dusty tapes again.
Is Rev Wright physically on Chuck Todd’s show, or are they just discussing him?
It’s gonna be all 2008′s greatest hits between now and November. No doubt we’ll hear about William Ayres and FLOTUS’ “Whitey Tape.” The GOP’s got nothing else so they’re going back to the well and the MSM wants a horse race so they’re more than happy to play along. Because as we all know this is a tactic that served the GOP really well 4 years ago…oh wait.
It’s so despicable. It reeks of desperation. Today Show, Morning_Joe and now Chuck Todd are all doing the same thing. Instead of castigating Santorum for those vile remarks – don’t even get me started on Franklin Graham’s abhorrent remarks about PBO’s Christianity on Morning Joe – they pull up tape circa 2008 of Rev. Wright. to try to play out some false equivalency. It’s just pure and utter desperation. Things are looking up for PBO so what do they do? Drag up culture wars, question PBO’s faith, and fan the flames that hey, that Black guy isn’t one of us, he’s the other. It’s vile crap.
They will fail.
They will fail. You are so correct, Pamela. I truly believe that they will fail.HZ
UT, I probably detest Franklin Graham more than you do, but when I get worked up about the return of the religious wars I realize it is not going to work for them. If anything it is going to result in more people turning away from organized religion.
EXACTLY! This President has governed for three long years, yet the only thing the media and GOP can find that is an appropriate election campaign criticism is Rev Wright?!?!? Where did Wright feature in any of PBO’s policies in the last 3 years?!? Rev Wright is not part of PBO’s record of being President!
What the HELL does Rev Wright have to do with jobs, taxes, foreign policy, national security, Al Qaeda, the deficit, DADT, BP Oil Spill, Hurricane Irene, Keystone pipeline, Women’s rights, etc.? What the HELL does Rev Wright have to do with the Affordable Care Act, Student Loan Reform, Wall Street Reform, climate change issues, dependency on foreign oil, gas prices, car emission standards, etc? What the HELL does Rev Wright have to do with rescue of Detroit Auto Industry, TARP, Citizens United, Debt Ceiling, Bush tax cuts, etc..
ALL THESE so-called ISSUES, yet Rev Wright is the topic of focus for the media today? Because the Republicans have FAILED, are FAILING, and WILL continue to FAIL, and CANNOT beat PBO on any of these relevant issues – the media knows it. The REPUBLICANS know it. You and I know it. Children and babies know it. Liberals know it. Libertarians know it. Democrats know it. Independents know it. The Professional Left knows it. Al Qaeda knows it. Netanyahu knows it. The WORLD KNOWS IT!!!
Franklin Graham is a disgrace. I don’t listen to anything he has to say anymore. I don’t watch Morning Joke, Chuckie Todd, or any of those shows.
Because I know they will piss me off, so I refuse to listen to their B.S.
Good Morning all and a Happy Fat Tuesday to you. Reading everyday but not posting much. Love this blog with all your lovely support and research…I get my BP down everyday when I come here.
Off today so it is chore day.
Peace and Love to all,
Sue
Good Morning O’s!!!! A snowy great getting up day for me in O city! Nice picture of PBO walking across people up top of the thread (and folks thought he just walked on water, hmph)
It does look like he’s walking on top of people………..Who knew!!! Good catch cookemom!! lol
Just a bit of perspective…PBO has been governing this country for the past THREE years. Yet 8 months before the election, the GOP cannot find ANYTHING on his record for their candidates to successfully campaign on – they have to resort to none-issues like Rev Wright, “Islamist Radical” “not a Christian” – things that even John McCain stayed away from in 2008. That is serious desperation in my opinion. If I were a Republican, I would be very concerned right now.
hopefruit2 – I am with you. If all they have to run on is Rev Wright, the Republicans are in a world of hurt.
I hope they continue. I hope the GOP continues to expose the ugly underbelly of their existence. It should force sane Republicans to take an objective look at their party and know there is no option in terms of who should get their votes. These nut jobs are helping to ensure a Democratic sweep in November.
Agreed. Let them keep going down this path and that landslide for POTUS that Yahoo predicted a week ago will surely happen.
Exactly. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The GOP are going all in because they have nothing else to run on. So expect these sly, coded, dog whistles for now and then a few months down the line when they hit desperation mode expect full-on name calling. I fully expect the N-word to be uttered in public at some point during the campaign (I know some people here don’t like seeing that slur, but this is the reality we need to be prepared for). The more unhinged, untruthful and hateful the GOP becomes, especially in contrast with the upbeat and fact-filled campaign that PBO will be running, the voters won’t have a clearer picture of what direction the country should go.
What I can tell the crazy GOP Rev Wright none sense did not work in 2008 and will NOT
work in 2012 or ever The GOP have no issues to run on the only thing left for them is hate,
race, and a bunch of lies, and will not worrie about PBO he will take the GOP on any issue.
Morning TOD. Happy Fat Tuesday! (Mardi Gras).
Year of the Nastygram
By Ed Kilgore
———————————
Pretty much everyone looking at the descent of the contest into viciousness points the finger at Mitt Romney and his Restore Our Future Super-PAC for leading the way. It was Team Mitt that first went heavily negative in Iowa, destroying initial leads by Rick Perry and then Newt Gingrich. The numbers support that narrative:
————————————
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2012_02/year_of_the_nastygram035540.php
A must-read guys:
\
http://www.politicususa.com/en/inside-job-bush-money
Thanks for the link, 57. I have “Inside Job” on my TIVO. Been waiting to view it with my partner. Now I think I’ll go ahead and view it at MY convenience and save it to re-watch with my partner.
it’s funny that even though we all know it’s happening, to see it laid out with evidence is so chilling.
Good morning TOD. Here is an email I received from G. Terry Madonna, Franklin and Marshall College. Good info:
Center for Politics and Public Affairs
The link here contains a compilation of information dealing with former Pennsylvania U.S.Senator Rick Santorum’s political career in response to requests for background information;the information includes data from F&M polls, columns written by Terry Madonna and Michael Young, an account of Santorum’s victory over Harris Wofford in 1994, and aspects of his defeat in 2006 by Bob Casey, http://tinyurl.com/6nwmb8m.
In his four years in the House and 12 years in the Senate, Santorum cast thousands of votes. Yes, he voted to raise the debt ceiling, to hike his own pay, and he supported billions in spending, and certainly some of it for Pennsylvania projects. Below are 25 votes he cast that provide a sense of his positions on a wide variety of subjects–obviously it’s not meant to be comprehensive. Source: The Almanac of American Politics.
Santorum votes
1) NAFTA-No
2) Brady Handgun Purchase-No
3) Cut Missile Funds-No
4) Balanced Budget Amendment-Yes
5) Pass Line Item Veto-Yes
6) Reduce Medicare Growth-Yes
7) Increase Minimum Wage-Yes
8) Welfare Reform-Yes
9) Gay Employment Rights-No
10)Cuban Embargo-Yes
11)Remove Clinton for Perjury-Yes
12)Remove Clinton for Obstruction-Yes
13)Approve Bush Tax Cuts-Yes
14)Campaign Finance Reform-No
15)Permit ANWAR Development-Yes
16)Bar Gays in Boy Scouts-Yes
17)Force in Iraq-Yes
18)Prescription Drug Benefit-No
19)Gun Show Background Check-No
20)NATO War Serbia-No
21)Nuclear Test Ban Treaty-No
22)Support Roe v. Wade- No
23)Ban Partial Birth Abortion-Yes
24)Assault Weapons Ban-No
25)Bar Same Sex Marriage-Yes
Let’s hope he keeps it up. I’m for him acting stupider and stupider. Remember, the crazier he talks, the more media attention he gets, the more independents (especially women and minorities) will sit up and notice. As long as the economy trends in a positive direction (stock market up, etc), we got this. Not a problem on the international front, noone can take away his strong handling of foreign affairs. Sooo, keep it up Mr. Sanctimonious and we’ll turn the House and keep the Senate blue. Too bad, hearing the stuff causes high blood pressure and ulcers along the way.
Five Things All the GOP Candidates Agree On. (They’re Terrifying.)
By Ed Kilgore (9/19/2011)
==============================
1. Hard money.
2. Anti-unionism.
3. Radical anti-environmentalism.
4.Radical anti-abortion activism.
5. No role for government in the economy.
Add all this up, and it’s apparent the Republican Party has become identified with a radically conservative world-view in which environmental regulations and collective bargaining by workers have strangled the economy; deregulation, federal spending cuts, and deflation of the currency are the only immediate remedies; and the path back to national righteousness will require restoration of the kinds of mores—including criminalization of abortion—that prevailed before things started going to hell in the 1960s. That Republicans hardly even argue about such things anymore makes the party’s transformation that much more striking—if less noticeable to the news media and the population at large.
===============================
http://www.tnr.com/article/the-permanent-campaign/95054/gop-hard-money-anti-union
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/02/21/gop-presidential-contenders-are-all-out-of-office-and-as-a-result-out-of-touch.html#body_text4
A Long List of the Most Terrible Things Rick Santorum Has Ever Said
By TNR Staff
======================
On the link between same sex marriage and national security: “I would argue that the future of America hangs in the balance, because the future of the family hangs in the balance. Isn’t that the ultimate homeland security, standing up and defending marriage?”
On the war in Iraq: “As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else. It’s being drawn to Iraq. You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I don’t want the eye to come back to the United States.”
On contraception: “Many of the Christian faith have said, well, that’s okay, contraception is okay. It’s not okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.”
======================
More terrible things here………
http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/99240/santorum-surge-2012-vetting-quotes
Hi everybody I have been lurking here for the longest while and tried on several occasions to send a comment. Here’s hoping; I am just wondering if Mitt hate the government so much should become president will he do away with the government?
This President is a two-term president; no-one or anything is going to shake my faith on this.
Nice Day here in England
Welcome PatriciaM
You are going to love it here. And, we are always glad to have new friends join us.
OMG, too funny. If only it weren’t quite so relevant.
sign me up for 4 boxes!
Oh, for godssakes.
The Associated Press @AP
Supreme Court will re-examine affirmative action, taking up admissions policy at University of Texas:
trib.al/I6jWHn
I know the case. It’s so bloody annoying. These two white students didn’t get into UT by UT’s admissions standards. They were mad, but they were ultimately okay with it. Guess what. Some right wing advocacy group trying to make a name for itself coerced them into filing a law suit against UT. Our school newspaper the Daily Texan has been reporting about it and majority of opinions at UT Austin is that the students failed to meet UT’s admissions standards. I believe their case was dismissed everywhere but now it’s being taken up by the SC? Sheesh. It’s 2012 and in addition to culture wars, voter suppression, now we’re going after affirmative action? My goodness.
Thanks for that background, UT. I’m so sick of this. A lot of us spent a lot of years going through this the last time around and it was very ugly then. And now they want more? DEAD issues.
Santorum’s Elite Problem
By Jonathan Chait
———————————–
Republican money men have always tolerated social conservatism as a part of building the party coalition and attracting votes. But the understanding has always been that the social issues must be subordinate: They don’t want a president who cares about those issues as much as he cares about the financial stuff. Santorum’s social issue platform is not meaningfully more conservative than Gingrich’s, or even Romney’s, but Republican elites perceive that he actually cares about this stuff, and it scares them.
———————————–
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/02/santorums-elite-problem.html
Guess what TOD? The DOW is 10 points away from 13,000. Let’s see if PBO’s policies will get some credit.
Oh no wait. Let me not hold my breath.
If the Dow goes up…well it’s not because of PBO’s policies, if it goes down, it is directly related to PBO’s policies.
Gas price up….who’s fault = PBO? Gas price falling….silence. The GOP will never give credit to our President for anything. Remember all the credit they gave him for getting Bin Laden? It is beyond maddening, and we have no msm to highlight all this. Makes me ill.
Cartoons of the day, featuring little ricky…
http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2012/02/21/cartoons-of-the-day-santorum-rockets-to-top-of-the-polls/
more lil ricky
http://media.mcclatchydc.com/smedia/2012/02/20/11/06/JxsuW.SlMa.91.jpg
I’m not worried about the latest dirty tricks on rethugs. Let’s not give into despair, peeps. Eyes on the ball.
.. dirty tricks ‘of’ rethugs.
cartoons help immensely with the despair thing. the repugs are beyond ridiculous–they’e a joke!
I WAS UP EARLY THIS MORNING AND THEN I FELL ASLEEP…THE SANDMAN COMETH…NOW…I’M VERY LATE!…LOLLLLLLLL..:)
I didn’t get a chance to read last night’s threads until this morning and something struck me as I was going through them.
The first thing was Smartypants comment that Chips posted about the RW trying to drive wedges between us. And then the history behind J O’B's departure from this site. Chips explained that she left after reading Chips’ rant about the Catholic Church.
Tieing the two together, I realized that we may be missing a major part of the recent blow-up on the whole BC controversy. The general assumption has been that it is all about BC, men controlling women’s bodies, etc. and that it was an attempt to get the Catholic vote by making it seem PBO was waging a war on religion and specifically the Catholic Church. Although it may be true that there is an element of male power dominance here, if we stop there we are making a major mistake.
The first mistake is by our underestimating the intelligence of the drivers of the RW. I am not talking about Romney or Santorum here. I am talking about those people who decide what issues are to be discussed, how they are to be discussed and what the goals are in bringing those issues up.
I think we can all agree that the RW is focused on two things: giving the base an emotional reason to get out there and vote. The second is suppressing the Dem votes as much as they can. We know they are good at the first. 2004 was a prime example. The same sex amendments did the job, specially in places like Ohio.Granted, they still probably needed to engage in shenanigans to pull out victory, but without that drive to bring out the base, the shenanigans may not have been enough.
We also know that they are trying several things to suppress the Dem vote, specially minority votes through things such as voter ID laws. But one thing they are good at, as Smartypants pointed out is creating division in the Dem ranks. And one thing that is sure to do that is any discussion of religion.This site does not get into this as much as others, but go to any LW oriented blog and when religion comes up you are bound to see a lot of derisive comments directed toward people who have a religious faith (note, Chips rant did not fall into that category). You will see comments about the stupidity of people who believe, comments about mythology and people who can’t think for themselves and need to have some “phony” religion to fall back on.
And let’s face it, the Catholic Church is a target for believers and non-believers alike. Yet there are many people who have a great commitment to the Catholic faith (I am one, although I was raised mainstream Protestant). For many (I am not one of these) attacking the Church is the same as attacking the faith. And when one’s faith is attacked, it is felt as an attack on the person. And this creates division and potentially the loss of votes.
For people who are both religious and politically aware (such as J O’B) it is unlikely that they will suddenly decide not to vote for PBO. But for those who are not as politically aware and in touch with what is happening, feeling that their faith is being attacked may not cause them to vote for the Republicans, but it may give them second thought about voting for PBO, specially if they feel attacked by those who they always felt agreed with them.
We must vigilant for these tactics from the Right and not dismiss them for being stupid or irrelevant or misguided. Their whole hope this year is to keep Democratic voters at home, and they will use any method they can to do so, including causing doubts and division among the ranks.
THIS!!!!
The Republicans are using these wedge issues to fracture PBO’s base of supporters by turning us against each other. That’s an old divide n conquer strategy. We have to be hyper-vigilant the GOP is becoming inreasingly vile in their tactics. And the media is operating on the GOP’s behalf.
You should bring this post to the next thread so that more people can read it.
hopefruit, I agree with your entire post, Every word of it. I hope we can get O’B back and have a caring and compassionate discussion.
Excellent post Japa
I would ask that folks spread this comment to other blogs where it may have also been a problem.
Regardless of what issues arise and the comments that are made, we need to hang together as a blog, as a party and as a people.
I hope J O’B returns, but more importantly, I hope each of us realizes that if we leave, become silent and give up, Repubs win……
I would also suggest that Japa develop this into a blog post that is sent to “The People’s View”.
This type of thinking needs a broader audience.
Japa my instincts about this site, is that when a person voice their opinion from their personal faith point of view it is not receptive by some who come here. That is expected, because some people have a different faith and some are non-believers in Christ.
Yes, when a person is made to feel less acceptable because of their beliefs, it is divisive. It is best that we not get in an argument about one’s belief. When we say Catholic church, we are speaking about people and they live and die by their beliefs.
We must vigilant for these tactics from the Right and not dismiss them for being stupid or irrelevant or misguided. Their whole hope this year is to keep Democratic voters at home, and they will use any method they can to do so, including causing doubts and division among the ranks.
*********************************************
THISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
really useful analysis, japa. thanks for pulling these threads together.
yes, they will try to divide us, confuse us, and poison our minds. stirring up religious defensiveness is a time-tested tool for getting regular folk to fight the battles of the rich and powerful.
we have to watch ourselves, when we start feeling crazy–it probably means the crazies have made inroads in our minds. not easy, but we have to neutralize them. this blog is a great place to renew our balance, and revive our good sense.
thanks, again, chips, for giving us a forum that keeps us sane!
The GOP Super PACs Have Taken Over the Campaign
By John Hudson
=================================
GOP fundraisers have created a monster. Or better yet, an army of monsters. The super PACs assembled to support the GOP presidential candidates have become more powerful and more self-sufficient than the candidates’ own campaigns. In January, the super PACs supporting the top four candidates raised $22.1 million more and kept $5 million more cash on hand than the candidates themselves. Here’s how the super PACs have over-shadowed each campaign, according to financial data filed Monday.
=================================
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/02/gop-super-pacs-have-taken-over-campaign/48963/
Heads up everyone:
http://theobamadiary.com/2012/02/21/heads-up-and-chat-away-5/
DOW just hit 13,000 for one second.