President Barack Obama steps off Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on July 25
****
Alex MacGillis (The New Republic): …. cynicism has regained the upper hand this week, in a big way, with the Republicans’ out-of-context trumpeting of a single, infelicitous line from Obama’s recent riff, echoing Elizabeth Warren, about the need for public investment to sustain economic growth….
…. There is actually a pretty good argument to be had over this riff — an argument that gets to the heart of what the 2012 election is about …. But Republicans aren’t engaging in that argument. Instead, they have plucked out the single line — “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that” — which makes it sound like Obama’s ”that” refers to the business, not to the roads and bridges of the previous line…..
How has the press covered this? ….. Even Andrew Sullivan, this morning, essentially shrugged at the gambit, faulting Obama for having stumbled into the confused wording in the first place to produce his “biggest blunder yet”….
….. I’m genuinely perplexed that people who work with words for a living can be so blithe about the deliberate misuse of words to mislead. What are we in this business for if not to hold the people we cover to basic standards of context, rather than just scoring the marks left by the mistruths?
Full article here
****
****
Charles P. Pierce: Senator McDreamy believes he’s found an acorn:
Sen. Scott Brown said Wednesday that President Barack Obama made his “you didn’t build that” comments after getting “bad advice from professor [Elizabeth] Warren.” “They’re almost verbatim,” Brown said on “Fox and Friends,” referring to a speech Warren gave last year. “And the president got bad advice from professor Warren, certainly. You’ll never hear me demonizing our job creators.”
….. no, McDreamy, saying that the Romney campaign is lying their ass off about what he said is not the president “stepping back and correcting the record” — and undeniably true. For example, here in the Commonwealth (God save it!) we are blessed with a junior senator who benefitted early in life from the welfare benefits provided by other taxpayers that his family collected after his parents split, who attended a public high school financed by other taxpayers in Wakefield, who trained in the publicly financed Massachusetts National Guard, and who has been on the public payroll in one way or another since 1992.
You’re welcome, senator. Think nothing of it.
Full post here
****
****
Ah, Willard is charming the British!
The UK Telegraph (right wing rag): Mitt Romney has questioned Britain’s preparedness to host the London 2012 Olympics and asked whether the country is genuinely willing to “celebrate” the Games.
….he told US television there were “disconcerting” signs about Britain’s readiness …. Romney questioned the enthusiasm of the British public. “Do they come together and celebrate the Olympic moment?” he asked. “That’s something which we only find out once the Games actually begin.”
…. The comments on the Olympics came after Mr Romney’s advisers told The Daily Telegraph that he would restore “Anglo-Saxon” understanding to the special relationship between the US and Britain…
…. However, Mr Romney will receive a lukewarm reception in London. He held brief talks with Ed Miliband, the Labour leader. In a gaffe of his own, Mr Romney referred to Mr Miliband as “Mr Leader”…..
…. Later on Thursday, Mr Romney is planning to hold a fundraiser at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge. One of the hosts of the fundraiser, former Barclays CEO Bob Diamond, withdrew from the event after he resigned in the wake of the Libor scandal.
****
Tony Blair very excited to meet Willard in London
****
The UK Telegraph: Barclays told to stop fundraising for Mitt Romney
Barclays has been accused of fundraising for political candidates instead of working to rebuild the public’s trust in banks following the Libor-setting scandal.
Executives at Barclays have reportedly donated more than $1m (£645,000) to to US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s election campaign.
They are set to hand over more this evening at fundraising dinner in a secret Mayfair location, where tickets cost between $50,000 and $75,000, according to the Guardian.
An early-day motion (EDM) signed by 11 MPs last week demanded the bank and its directors stop working to bolster Mr Romney’s election campaign and concentrate on repairing confidence in the banking system.
More here
****
Morning everyone 
