I was surprised by how badly Romney handled the question about releasing his tax returns, and by what a good job John King did holding Romney’s feet to the fire.
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[…] tax returns during the debate, Mitt Romney cannot seem to get out of his own way on that point, and John King decided to […]
Keith
The GOP really dodged a bullet by not having the Trump debate.
Comrade Mary
This was supposed to be the night Gingrich would be flustered and off his game because of his ex-wife’s interview. Instead, he reared up like a cornered rat and gnawed out the belly of just about everyone else in the room, starting with John King.
And the Mittster was peevish, then flustered, then peevish again.
I guess there are certain disadvantages to growing up rich and spoiled.
Elizabelle
Settling in for Nightline.
ETA: Which will be anti-climatic.
kdaug
@Comrade Mary:
Romney for President!
AA+ Bonds
McCain’s 2008 oppo went to Gingrich. Gingrich is very good at that. I’m sure his people are too.
He got this out, this was the applause line:
“I am tired of the elite media protecting Obama by attacking Republicans.”
He is an old pro. That was beautiful. The whole thing was beautiful – he sold it hard, his famous, famous list.
Villago Delenda Est
@Comrade Mary:
This doesn’t sell well to the vast majority of voters.
Someone needs to reboot the articulation frame of the Romneybot and modify some firmware, or it’s going to the scrap heap come November.
yet another jeff
I’m starting to see that Mitt isn’t actually a sock puppet…he’s a genuine asshole and he’s having a lot of problems keeping from going off on someone…soon, I hope.
AA+ Bonds
Team Romney’s line of the night:
“I’m not questioned on character or integrity very often.”
Some real thought went into that one. It’s just a trick but when spoken quickly, leaves the right impression.
Villago Delenda Est
@AA+ Bonds:
What the vile amphibian doesn’t quite grok is that the Rethugs are the only show the media has to offer until August. Interesting that he calls monopoly coverage an “attack”, but hey, this is the vile amphibian talking.
Sorry, Noot, but that is reality.
lamh35
Hey DougJ, someone posted the video of POTUS singing a lil bit of Al Green at that Apollo fundraiser but in case you missed it, here it is:
POTUS sings a little Al Green
Back on topic, to my mind Romney def was off his game. I would put him behind Gingrich and Santorum. I stil see Romney being the nominee, but it will be interesting to see what happens if Newt winds Saturday.
Villago Delenda Est
@AA+ Bonds:
Mitt, buddy, sorry to inform you, but you’re a Ferengi android. You have no character or integrity to speak of.
wilfred
Gingrich is Aipac’s Chosen One – the 5 million super pac money from Adelman was just a taste. No way he goes under for a woman scorned.
He can rip King because he has better support in the media.
Violet
The “Will you live up to your father?” “Maybe” exchange was horrible from Mitt. It’s a softball question with many easy answers. “My father was one of my heroes.” “I have always been proud of my father for the example he set” “I’ve always tried to live up to the ideals given to me by my parents.” Etc., etc. Instead he showed his craven, compromised soul and raised “daddy issues” as a big question. He could not have handled that question more poorly.
AA+ Bonds
Thanks guys, so much for admiring its purity
lamh35
Hey what happened to my comment???
Anyway, @Elizabelle:
Is it anything new?
jl
@kdaug:
Romney has an ‘eff off buddy! Who the eff are you, anyway loser? I’m successful.’ reflex that is getting harder for him to control.
And in this clip, as I listen to it, I think there is danger in the laziness induced by doing a series of debates that seem designed to focus the energy of the craziest wingnut crazies.
Maybe Romney saying that the Big Black Boogie man will pick on him if he doesn’t release his returns just the right way, and Newt’s liberal media bashing will work with these loons, but it won’t in the general on most people.
Also seems like Mitt, like GW, has some serious unresolved Daddy issues. Most people have some serious Mommy and Daddy issues, but most people deal with them by the time they are middle aged adults.
AA+ Bonds
If you were shaken by what happened tonight, I totally understand
General Stuck
Teehee. Romney fidgets like a cornered rat.
AA+ Bonds
Newt Gingrich has the press working for him against Romney for free right now, and he can also attack the press while they do it
pseudonymous in nc
It was the quote from Mittens’ dad that provided traction.
On that topic, Rick Perlstein’s piece in Rolling Stone is worth a read, on the idea that Willard’s political career has been built upon the suppression of authenticity — on everything except the subject of making money, where it’s his inner being.
Donut
@Comrade Mary:
It’s funny to me that you use a rat analogy. I came across my old dog-eared copy of James Clavell’s “King Rat” the other day and thought that this primary season was a great time to re-read it again.
Ira-NY
I suspect the reason Mitt badly fumbles the tax return question each time it is asked is that there is a problem with the return(s).
kvenlander
Every time somebody feels the need to tell you they are honest, keep your wits about you. You’re going to get mugged.
Romney felt that need today. He’s a liar but there is some uneasiness in him about it. His hedging makes him look even more dishonest. Gingrich OTOH just powers through like a pro.
AA+ Bonds
A lot of Americans would probably vote for Newt Gingrich to be President
AA+ Bonds
Maybe I’m just hoping this becomes exciting………
handy
Egads, ANOTHER one? I’m sorry I’m too amped about football this weekend to even care about another Dumb,Dumber, and Dumbest debate with special guest Ron Paul.
Omnes Omnibus
@kvenlander: Gingrich is a bullshit artist. He doesn’t care about the truth; he says what he wants. OTOH Romney is also a bullshit artist; he just isn’t very good at it.
Maeve
Romney has a problem understanding anyone without his world view
http://www.borowitzreport.com/
Appologies for not posting the specific post, but my iPad ( it wanted to say Piaf originally) cut and paste is idiosynchratic
Romney’S worldview depends not only on his margarich upbringing but the LDS church view of American exceptionism and capitol rewards for those who are blessed ( see the cold fusion scam)
Every candidate brings his or her background, so that’s nothing unusual. The combination of his background with his spinelessness and a possible republican house and congress is what I find frightening.
cckids
@Violet:
This. He could even have turned it into a riff on the ebils of the IRS, how unbearably complicated the tax code is because big gubbmint hates rich people so. Ludicrous argument, but hey, look at the venue. Mitt just doesn’t have what it takes.
handy
@AA+ Bonds:
I wouldn’t mind the Goopers putting off The Coronation if only for a couple more weeks, but Mittens has barely been scratched so far.
Villago Delenda Est
@Omnes Omnibus:
A bullshit fingerpainter, not an artist.
Gingrich IS a bullshit artist.
OvenMitt, not so much.
AA+ Bonds
If Gingrich freaks out like that in a debate in the general election he will likely be rewarded in the polls, is what I’m saying, because you folks don’t understand . . . . you have to watch Glenn Beck, for a long time, and even his current show is not quite the experience of Fox . . .
This guy lecturing you and emoting and repeating key words over and over thing that Gingrich invented, half the country is now primed by Ailes to accept and compute
AA+ Bonds
@handy:
If Gingrich wins the SC primary and does not take the nomination we will be through the looking glass – there will be no precedent for it in history
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est:
Some of us try to deal in subtlety; others work with flamethrowers.
jl
Newt: BS artist
Romney: BSer
There is a difference, as we saw tonight.
Villago Delenda Est
@Violet:
You know, that’s remarkably similar to the way Mooselini handled Katie Couric’s very slowly lobbed softball asking about reading.
There are very good off the cuff answers you could give to both, but neither of these two dishonest buffoons can handle them.
Neither one demonstrates the native intelligence required to answer the phone at 3AM.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Ira-NY: I’m fascinated by the fact that he would run for with money stashed in the Caymans and think it wouldn’t come up. Also, too, that with all his money, he still feels the need to play fast and loose to make (I’m guessing) a few percentage points more. I don’t think it’s even greed, given his assets his lifestyle seems comparatively modest, it’s an obsessive form of dick-measuring these (mostly) guys fall in to. Every dollar is a point in an all-consuming game.
eric
@Villago Delenda Est: the difference is that Newt is a bully and brushes the truth without regard for how close or how far his current words are from the “real” truth; Romney is cozies up to the truth and tries to finesse the bullshit so it seems lacking confidence. Newt appears strong and Romney appears weak while each is lying is GOP a$$ off.
AA+ Bonds
Gingrich invented the game Rove plays, and Rove played that game all over the Democrats’ asses in 2000, 2004, and 2010, and he can still play it very well, the only question is money
handy
@AA+ Bonds:
He’s not even on the VA ballot! I appreciate your optimism but this thing’s over.
AA+ Bonds
A Gingrich candidacy in the general election will mainstream absolutely horrifying hate speech into American politics
Nom de Plume
The biggest problem with Mitt is that he can’t decide whether to be apologetic for being rich. One moment he’s defiantly saying “I won’t apologize for being successful!”, the next moment he’s mewling about how he supposedly didn’t inherit anything from his enormously wealthy parents. Well, which one is it, Mitt? You either think your money is worth apologizing for or you don’t.
AA+ Bonds
@handy:
GET EXCITED CHAMP
AxelFoley
@lamh35:
ROFL, that’s my dude!
AA+ Bonds
I wonder if Democrats would be smart enough to point out in a general election that Mitt Romney made history by losing SC etc.
It’s pretty damning, the Republican who lost the South
Villago Delenda Est
@Nom de Plume:
Has anyone ever taken The Donald to task for inheriting a bundle and parlaying it into a larger fortune, which he then proceeded to make smaller again?
I think Trump would handle the wealth question better than Romney. Might be transparent bullshit, but at least it would entertain. Romney can’t pull that off.
Omnes Omnibus
@AA+ Bonds:
@AA+ Bonds: Dude, calme-toi. The crazy is on parade, but my guess is that, ultimately, a bloodied and battered Romney will have the GOP nom. He has a glass jaw, his only punch is a roundhouse that on can see coming from a mile away, and his footwork rivals that of Peter Boyle as the Monster. And that is on a good day. Do you think he can actually match up against Obama?
AA+ Bonds
I guess that was McCain though, ROFL
Angry DougJ
@lamh35:
Awesome!
Villago Delenda Est
@AA+ Bonds:
What it would do is draw bright battle lines for any short term future civil war that might break out.
patrick the pedantic literalist
I know many people want to see Romney lose the republican nomination because he is the best in polls against Obama, but Newt is such a glib and facile liar he worries me. His poll numbers now against Obama are no worse (or even better) than they were against Romney two months ago and he might have come back from that. And while Newt polls poorly with independents, I don’t trust independents not to vote by flipping a coin on their way into the booth.
Anyhow, just me being paranoid.
Of course, if Obama keeps doing such a credible Al Green, the independents might go with him in the end.
Nom de Plume
@Villago Delenda Est: Might be transparent bullshit, but at least it would entertain. Romney can’t pull that off.
And that sums up Mitt Romney. He’s a complete phony, but he somehow hasn’t mastered bullshit.
AA+ Bonds
@Omnes Omnibus:
Every minute Gingrich remains is a tradeoff between bowl-season damage to Romney on the one hand, and the severe damage to the body politic of a Fox News primetime style of campaign
Romney and Rove and everyone on Team Romney have all been blatantly treating South Carolina as the linchpin for a win at the convention, which is one of those magic things where no one knows the cause and effect,
but clearly Romney believes that he needs to win South Carolina
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
Dammit, Doug, I hate it when you don’t even try to find the right title for a post. This one’s a gimme:
You keep all your money in a big brown bag inside a zoo
JGabriel
@pseudonymous in nc: Thanks for the Perlstein link. Definitely worth reading.
.
jl
I don’t think Newt has a real chance. But from what I have read, his personal Newt cultural education and Newt gear enterprise income is so hard to distinguish from his campaign finances, that he is making money off the run and will stay in, doing damage, long after there is no hope.
Plus his delusional visionary insights will carry him along. The ??? in the underpants gnome game is not a problem, but a perceived opportunity for Newt.
I cannot root for any of them. Allowing any of these fools, swindlers and contemptible hypocrites to run in a general election for anything is a necessary evil of our current political system.
Let’s hope for a long damaging destruction derby of the GOP primary that does at much damage as possible to the GOP.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Nom de Plume:
I think part of his problem is his sheer contempt for the voters he’s courting. Poppy Bush had the same thing, even if he wasn’t quite as bad as Romney. Somewhere under all that hair gel and that smile and the creepy laugh, it’s got to be galling him that all his self-humiliation and flip-flopping and flesh-pressing, they still don’t like him. I take pleasure in thinking of his muted resentment and frustration, and I’m okay with that.
MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson
@lamh35:
Give the GOP five minutes and they’ll announce that this proves Obama can neither sing nor dance without a teleprompter.
cmorenc
@patrick the pedantic literalist:
The general election involves needing to appeal to a very different national audience than that limited to GOP primary voters, especially in a state like South Carolina that is atypically more receptive to Gingrich’s approach to politics. Verbal tactics by Gingrich that will turn on hard-core conservative voters who have zero chance of considering voting for Obama won’t work nearly so well with more moderate, less intensely partisan sectors of the electorate. For every independent voter Gingrich turns on, he’ll likely turn two, three, or four completely off, plus the nonwhite voters in this country (including Latinos, not just blacks) are hearing the words Gingrich isn’t even trying very hard to conceal with dog whistles.
Shawn in ShowMe
Dr. Romney paced through his secret lair, lost in thought. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, clenched his fists and bellowed at no one in particular: “It can’t be happening again! It’s just not fair!”
“Why must the ultimate prize ever be denied me? Because I’m not the man my father I was? Because I don’t feel emotions as other humans do? It’s not my fault. I was born this way!”
“I’ve got great hair and lots of money yet no one loves me. All this money spent on focus groups and even they can’t give me the answers I need. Or maybe,” Dr Romney said bitterly, “they’re afraid to. God… is this your idea of a joke?”
Dr. Romney collapsed to one knee and began to weep.
MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson
@AA+ Bonds:
You don’t think Fox News has already done that?
Omnes Omnibus
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think one of the differences between Poppy and Mitt is that Poppy was actually comfortable being uncomfortable. He was a rich preppy, and, if people didn’t like him, he was okay with that. Mitt is a stiff who looks down on people but nevertheless craves their approval
jl
@pseudonymous in nc:
Along with JGabriel, thanks for providing that link. George Romney’s political success was before my time. I knew he was a Mormon, and the famous brainwashing quote about Vietnam.
Mitt fell far from the tree.
Maybe Mitt’s mom had the genes of a greedy sleazy cheap mealy mouthed fake politician, but that is pure speculation.
Martin
Man, SC doesn’t disappoint. What a fucking clown show – this is great. Newt looks primed to win this state, and he’ll almost certainly self-immolate later, because fuck, only SC could fall for this bomb throwing shit, but it’s going to burn through countless more millions of GOP dollars, depress GOP motivation even more going into the general, etc.
But I have credit Newt for how he handles these debates. He’s absolutely fearless and unshakable. Sociopathically so. Republicans love that shit and it’s admirable in a way, because we all wish we could (responsibly) do that as well. But its scary as fuck in a leader, because we know that it’s not normal. Cheney was the same way.
Evolving Deep Southerner (tense changed for accuracy)
@Omnes Omnibus: A bullshit artist versus a bullshit craftsman, maybe?
Martin
@Omnes Omnibus:
No, he’s a sociopath.
Seriously. Bullshit is just a symptom.
jl
@Martin: If Newt is the nominee, his claim that he can deal with court decisions he does not like by ignoring them won’t go over as well in the general as it does in SC.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@jl:
Lenore Romney ran for the Senate from Michigan as a pro-choice Republican. If you look on youtube, there are a few clips of Willard proclaiming that his pro-choice stance is a tribute to his mother. Most of what I’ve read about George suggests he was an admirable guy, but I heard the author of a book on Willard (didn’t get the name or title) saying that it was George who instilled the Randian ethic in Willard, which is really contradicted by this:
MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson
@Martin:
I vote for:
Newt Gingrich Bullshit Sociopath
He’s streets ahead in the matoko_chan primary, that’s for sure.
Omnes Omnibus
@Evolving Deep Southerner (tense changed for accuracy): Craftsmen have skill. Even journeymen, almost by definition, can do a workmanlike job. Apprentices have potential. No, Romney shouldn’t be mentioned in their company.
Villago Delenda Est
@Martin:
Aside from the lack of any physical or moral courage, both of these clowns avoided military service because their egos would not allow them to go as anything short of a commissioned officer, and due to the nature of the assignments they’d be given, they would not come back alive. Because if Charlie didn’t get them, their own troops would have.
Donut
Some you aren’t quite “getting” an aspect of Romney. He is, has got to be, in fact, a consummate bullsit artist. I run into assholes like him all the time in my business. Guys and gals who make it to his rung in business world are extraordinarily good at bullshitting and glad-handing. However, he’s not a political bullshitter. In politics you have to either have empathy or be able to fake it really well. That is political bullshittery. In Mittens’ business world, not so much empathy is needed, as one needs the ability to lie and obscure and mislead, just until the deal is locked up where you want it, then the pretenses can be dropped. Can’t drop the pretense of empathy in politics, ever.
Jean
@lamh35: That clip made me smile! It was endearing.
jl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Thanks for the info. I was joking about Mitt Romney’s mother.
Like the other GOP candidates, Mitt is such a mess, that I don’t think it is fair holding any of their parents responsible for what miserable jerks they have made of themselves.
Sorry for the incivility, Bobo would be concerned.
Evolving Deep Southerner (tense changed for accuracy)
@Omnes Omnibus: OK. Newt is the Jackson Pollock of bullshit artistry. Romney is … bad bullshit faux-Bauhaus sketches?
Mike in NC
@Martin:
Read that Rick Perry pissed away roughly $25M on his laughable attempt to lead these idiots.
Egg Berry
@Evolving Deep Southerner (tense changed for accuracy):
He’s the Thomas Kinkade of bullshit.
Yutsano
Holy shit. Did anyone else hear Willard’s blatant lie at the end about how he inherited no money from his father?
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est: Have you ever read John Keegan’s “Mask of Command?” If not, look for it. I think you would like it. If you have, I choose Wellington and Grant.
Omnes Omnibus
@Evolving Deep Southerner (tense changed for accuracy): Much better.
@Egg Berry: Best.
MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson
@Yutsano:
Mitt didn’t inherit that money – he earned it through self-reliance and leveraging creative synergies with the parental unit.
Villago Delenda Est
@MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson:
Bingo!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@jl:
i figured. i just find that pre-flip invocation of his mother to be so soulless and contemptible that I didn’t want to miss a chance to flog it.
gwangung
@Egg Berry: I would think the velvet Elvis of bullshit. Or the big eyed dog…..
Martin
@Mike in NC: What does he care? Wasn’t his money. The Kochs lost 9 seconds of income. Boo hoo.
Mike in NC
@Omnes Omnibus:
Keegan’s getting old and has been coasting lately, but he’s undoubtedly one of the top military historians of the 20th century. About ten years ago he appeared at the Smithsonian for a lecture and I got an autographed copy of “The Face of Battle”.
Jamie
Mitt’s problem is a complete inability to connect with people outside his class. That ‘maybe’ is classic – he’s trying to negotiate like he’s talking with his peers – he knows there’s a problem, and is asking what it will cost to make it go away. Problem is, voters are not counterparties in a finance transaction. He simply doesn’t get how he sounds to people outside of his bubble.
Gingrich is a sadist, which by definition requires a lot of empathy. You can’t hurt people effectively without it.
butler
I was just checking google trends. One of the current top 5 hot searches: “open marriage”.
Not sure exactly what that reveals about google users and GOP politics and such, but it did make me smile.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mike in NC: “Face,” “Mask,”, and “Six Armies in Normandy” are enough for a great career. Let him coast.
Delia
What I find fascinating in this clip is the change in Willard’s face. You can just watch that perfectly groomed, Ken-doll handsome rigidly plastic persona dissolve away and there’s someone who doesn’t know who he is, but is kind of desperate to hold onto something. It’s really rather frightening. To hear him keep repeating that he’s very successful, it’s almost like a plea for validation.
Evolving Deep Southerner (tense changed for accuracy)
@Egg Berry: For the fucking win.
Kola Noscopy
@jl:
Most people have some serious Mommy and Daddy issues, but most people deal with them by the time they are middle aged adults.
I would have to respectfully disagree. In the United States especially, where psychiatry and mental health counseling still have a stigma attached, I think MOST middle aged adults NEVER resolve their mommy and daddy issues. Why do you think there are so many angry drivers on the roads? :P
MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson
@Kola Noscopy:
Well, Dr Fucking Freud, it might have something to do with traffic congestion, stress and pressure to be at work at some insane hour of the morning.
Narcissus
Mitt Romney is Randall Flagg pass it on
JGabriel
Kola Noscopy:
I gotta go with MARP on this one. Angry drivers are likely to be just as much a byproduct of our demeaning economic system as they are of unresolved Mommy/Daddy issues.
.
Evolving Deep Southerner (tense changed for accuracy)
@Egg Berry: “Painter of Bullshit.”
Kola Noscopy
@MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson:
Relax, douche, it was a rhetorical, offhand remark, meant to solicit a wry smile. But you can always be counted on to provide some vicious spew around here, usually far out of proportion to anything that might have prompted it.
I do disagree with your spew however: Of course the factors you mention apply, but the mood and aggressiveness of many drivers seems WAY out of proportion to the circumstances.
But spew away as you see fit…
Gust Avrakotos
If anyone asks me again why I like Obama so much I will just forward them this clip. Oh, and I like the presidential stuff he does too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=T-hDt2E8MoE
Just cuts through the hate like butter.
Villago Delenda Est
@Omnes Omnibus:
I will have to check it out, thanks for the tip!
MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson
@Kola Noscopy:
My middle finger raises itself in a gesture of humble apology to your delicate soul.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@Omnes Omnibus: I was very disappointed in Keegan’s history of World War I. It repeated all of the conventional wisdom on how British generals were incompetent and never changed what they were doing. In fact, since at least fifteen years prior to the publication of that book, there has been a large scale reinterpretation of what happened on the western front that, if not vindicating Haig and others, certainly presents a very different picture of how they went about defeating the Germans. They actually did change their small unit tactics drastically as well as mastering the technical arts of war. Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson are the most prolific of this set of historians, particularly among the authors you’ll find at B&N, but there are plenty of others.
It isn’t that Keegan disagrees with them that bothers me. It’s that he never even acknowledges that this line of scholarship exists. The book isn’t any different than one he could and would have written in 1980, despite being published in 2000. That’s just incredibly bad history writing. It’s the kind of thing that makes me skeptical of other things he writes, since he has demonstrated that he will ignore all recent scholarship on a subject he is covering. I end up wondering whether he’s doing the same thing in anything else of his that I read.
Kola Noscopy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Seriously: Why do you think he is running? Why do insecure but arrogant assholes like this subject themselves to the madness of an American style campaign?
Just a pathological will to power?
Kola Noscopy
@MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson:
More self revealing spew. Please continue.
MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson
@Kola Noscopy:
Did Passive-Aggressive Troll Sympathy Night end early in South Carolina? What brings you here to demand our attention?
magurakurin
Romney is a piker. Good things are going to come from Obama’s second term.
Kola Noscopy
@MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson:
Tiresome, you are. And sad.
MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson
@Kola Noscopy:
Door in ass hitting you let you not.
Cain
@Martin:
For Newt, this is pure revenge. He’s really been hitting back at Romney. Now the guy is running scared and got his pet Voltron SuperPAC seeding Florida.
I hope they continue to spend money like water. More money spent now, the less they’ll have during the general. But man, there are going to be a lot of strings attached to these republicans retards when they get into office because all of them will want a piece of meat from him.
TheHalfrican
Romney withering during the question about his father was……..fuck, people really think he can beat Obama lol?
Kola Noscopy
@MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson:
Flattering that it’s important to you to try to appear to be trying to run me off.
I’ll stay. I can tell you like me.
MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson
@Kola Noscopy:
Fine by me. I am perfectly happy to have a catnip mouse to bat around when my paws need the diversion. Please, say something enraged and self-pitying to amuse me. Or you could go back to your usual line about you so horny, you love me longtime.
Kola Noscopy
@TheHalfrican:
Ummm…GWB somehow “beat” Al Gore. In this country, with a stupid electorate, an overall corrupt political class, an utterly corrupt media, and a batshit crazy supreme court, anything is indeed possible.
Kola Noscopy
@MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson:
How about: I don’t think you’re nearly as much of an asshole as you pretend to be here?
pete
@Egg Berry: Applause
MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson
@Kola Noscopy:
Try it on Newt when he wakes up in the morning. Let me know how it goes.
Kola Noscopy
@MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson:
You’re trying to hard…the strain is showing.
MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson
@Kola Noscopy:
If you say so, Pepsi. Any chance of you trying a line that doesn’t come from the 1860 edition of Snappy Retorts For Ye Aspiring GentleTroll?
Shalimar
@handy:
You missed the news, Dumbest dropped out and endorsed Gingrich.
tulip
@Shalimar:
For the win… yeah!
AnotherBruce
@Violet: @Martin: Dick Cheney he had(has) the talent to lie with absolute conviction and authority.
Delia
Here’s the vision now: Death of a Salesman, starring Mitt Romney.
Kola Noscopy
Just watched the clip above. Yes, Mitt is a sleaze, and as a resident of Massachusetts I have NEVER heard a good word about him as governor here. I moved here after his reign was thru.
That said, it must be allowed that he has a great speaking voice; really rings through that hall. Shit like that can go a long way with the stupeedo american electorate.
The Prez won’t have it quite so easy as when debating the nasal-ass voice of John McCain.
Jc
I saw the clips of these guys – then I saw the clip of Obama doing singing a line from Let’s Stay Together.
My GOD, Obama is just head and shoulders above these guys. It’s…it doesn’t even begin to be close. Wow, it really is shocking to see.
MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson
@Jc:
The difference is that Obama is completely confident in himself, while the GOP critters are faking it desperately.
amk
@Comrade Mary: The willard fucker is so short tempered. Wonder about his home life. I’m guessing wifey and sons tiptioed around the house when daddy was home.
Fucking asshole.
Kola Noscopy
@MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson:
Are you confident in the ability of a majority of stupid americans to make that distinction? A lot of them are going to LIKE Romney’s big voice and white daddy bluster.
MacKenna
Ron Paul spun a good line. He’s embarrassed he’s not as rich as the other candidates.
MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson
@Kola Noscopy:
Seems to me that the person with daddy issues might just be you, Pepsi. What’s your obsession with the topic? First it was bad driving, now it’s the allegedly stupid American electorate.
Martin
@AnotherBruce:
Yeah, see, that’s not a talent. I mean, it is when you’re an actor and you know that they know that you’re acting, and you can completely disassociate what you say from reality, because, well, that’s your job and no harm comes of it. That truly is admirable and we give them little statues for doing it.
But when you’re not an actor, and you know that they think you’re sincere (or at least hope they think that), and you can still completely disassociate what you say from reality, because, well, you can, and if you did what you just suggested people would die (in Iran, San Francisco, CNN headquarters, China, or whoever you think should be nuked) – well, that’s not a talent. We usually call that a personality disorder.
It’s still admirable in a way, because you can watch it and say in your head “fuck, I wish I could pull that off in my next staff meeting or with my wingnut inlaws” but then you need to consider the cost, which is that you’ve lost all sympathy for other living things. And that’s not so admirable.
Carolinus
Best part of this clip is Romney outright admitting the reason he’s delaying the release is to minimize the political damage.
MacKenna
Every time Romney says “Lemme tell ya” and “I’m not going to apologize for my success” I want to hit him with a baseball bat.
Kola Noscopy
@MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson:
OK. Then you wrote that.
Suffern ACE
@Ira-NY: Yep. And if there is a problem with his tax return – say he’s involved in some kind of shelter set up that should have been ended – he should have fixed that problem years ago. He’s been running for president since 2007 (O.K. so he stopped running, and then we had to wait for an exploratory committee and other BS). I wonder what he’s got. Some kind of stock leasing scheme with a holly roller church that doesn’t exist? A huge deduction for “The Human Fund” donaton. Income from a sewer pipe in Germany? The world awaits.
Anne Laurie
@Egg Berry:
Perfect! “Certified” artistry for people who wouldn’t know real art if it bit them in the groin, but they want something tasteful to hang over their political sofa…
Anne Laurie
@Yutsano:
More Willard-parsing; IIRC, his tiny little ‘insignificant’ mere-multi-million trust fund came from his grandfather. Besides, in Willard’s world, a trust fund isn’t actually money, it’s an extracorporeal version of good genes.
Arundel
This might have been mentioned: While they were trying to outdo each other in bragging about the immense hardships and cruelties they would bring down on the lives of “illegals”- and Gingrich and Romney were quite keen on talking about how they’d love to fuck up the lives of the immigrants who no doubt still clean their kitchens and mow their lawns- well Gingrich had a peculiar idea that Romney echoed.
The idea: That, “Visa, Mastercard, or American Express” should be in charge of vetting immigrants as to whether they are worthy of American citizenship. Or even a green card. As to whether we should tolerate their presence, even.
“Visa, Mastercard, or American Express” should be in charge of deciding who gets to be an American, now. This is boggling on many levels. One level is wondering if it’s an actual paid product placement in a caucus speech. Or an oath of fealty to those corporations, out loud. Or a vivid illustration of how fucked we are as a country that they think this is a great idea. Boggling.
If only we had “Visa, Mastercard, or American Express” vetting immigrants at Ellis Island, right? We might not have this “diversity” problem in America today! Unbelievable that Republican politicians talk so freely like this now, and are utterly allowed to by the dead-horse media. There is literally nothing to inhuman and nasty they can propose that won’t be taken “seriously”. Nauseating.
Patrick
@Jamie
That’s honestly some of the most astute political analysis I’ve ever read.
On a related note, has anybody else picked up on one of Romney’s less-noticed talking points in his frequent reference to his own “broad shoulders”? It’s almost as if he’s using traditional salesman tactics to emphasize product features:
“I’ve got broad shoulders and I’m happy to describe my experience in the private economy[…]”
“You gotta have broad shoulders. You can’t spend your time whining.”
“[…]but instead it’s coming from Speaker Gingrich and apparently others. And that’s just part of the process. I’m not worried about that. I’ve got broad shoulders.”
“Look, I have pretty broad shoulders. I know the attacks are going to come — they’re going to come more fast and furious now[…]”
“the other contenders for the race are going to come after me in a big way. Of course, they’ve been going after me for the last several months. But that’s the nature of the process. I’ve got broad shoulders. I’m willing to handle it.”
“Look, it’s – it’s going to be, you know, all guns blazing in my direction and I’ve got broad shoulders. I can handle that. I’m not worried about it,”
This isn’t just some usage of a common trope about toughing things out, IMO, but a deliberate attempt to implicitly remind everyone that he “looks like a president” and that Gingrich is a amorphous lump of dough. It’s a verbal alpha dog posture.
But it also smacks of insecurity. It’s just like his laughable “people don’t question my character and integrity very often” Jedi mind-trick fail.
rlrr
The price of gas has doubled since Obama has been President???
Pseudonym
So it’s Romney. According to Romneynomics, government is always the problem, with its irresponsible debt increases that Obama himself opposed, with its massive bailouts to cronies like the UAW and Solyndra, and its weighing down and crushing the private-sector recovery with new regulations and taxes and health-care mandates. Job creators want to create jobs, the government just isn’t letting them! We can’t go the way of Greece by coddling all our moochers and looters and continuing this out-of-control spending and taxation; we need to go back to the limited government envisioned by our founders, which left the economy a free market that used the miraculous engine of capitalism to finance our freedom. The market is always best; just look how bad things are now, after Obama has passed all these porkulus plans and crony kickbacks and excessive regulations on farm dust and banning development of our own fossil fuel reserves that would make us energy independent. We just need to unleash the economic power of the American people, the most productive and hardest working people on earth, and stop getting in the way of those people who are trying to create jobs.
How does one counter that message?
JPL
I miss the old days when candidates spoke about education, foreign policy and the economy. Ron Paul wants to return to the sixties when it was easy to be a doctor. Of course, he didn’t mention any thing about life expectancy or the fact that the AMA controlled the number of medical schools and graduates. Free enterprise at work.
@Pseudonym: The republican tax policy would cause our country to look more like Greece.
kay
@JPL:
Ron Paul dogwhistles as much as the rest of the GOP field, he just pulls it off better.
His claim that immigrants are crowding emergency rooms “because we have a federal law” was disgusting.
The federal law he’s talking about is one that mandates that hospitals that receive federal money stabilize people who go the emergency room.
What’s the libertarian response to that law? People are supposed to die on the street? What a nasty, nasty thing to say. The House member from Texas is bitching that he has to pay to patch up immigrant workers before they can report for their next shift? What nerve. How much does his state benefit from their labor? He’s too miserly to provide an IV and some bandages?
Odie Hugh Manatee
@kay: @kay: “He’s too miserly to provide an IV and some bandages?”
Why waste the money caring for an illegal worker when there is a full pool of replacements, if not already in the country, just across the border? Let them fend for themselves; if they survive then they will be tougher, if not then they make room for another one of them. Same with poor people, there’s lots of them so who cares if some of them die prematurely? There are plenty more waiting in the wings to replace the ones that do so nobody will notice. After all, they all breed like rabbits anyway.
/Republican presidential candidate
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Mittens doesn’t just think like a hard drive he sounds like a hard drive too. Wow….
Niques
@Narcissus: When I first read this I thought you were referring to Randall Boggs, of Monsters, Inc. fame.
I kinda think it’s a better fit. Mitt is definitely NOT charismatic.
butler
@rlrr: Technically, yes. Of course, it would be stupid to put any of that on his policies.
Obama was elected and Inaugurated around the deepest depths of the recession, and the snap back in demand had caused gas prices to tumble down below $2 a gallon. It was a blip, and gas prices moved back to their more normal level which they had been at for most of the previous decade, at $3+ a gallon.
Kane
Romney should gather all of his tax records for the past ten years and just have a Friday document dump. He would take his hits for a few days, but then all of the information would be out there. Instead, he is hemming and hawing whenever he is asked about the issue, and now his own supporters are turning on him.
Romney says that he will wait until April to release his records, but it wont matter by then. Three more months of drip, drip, drip on this issue will solidify the belief that he is hiding something, and voters will think the worse. If Romney believes that the information in his tax records are so damaging to his campaign, he should have never entered the race.
Scuffletuffle
@MildlyAmusedRainbowPerson: Teh awesome! I’d borrow it if I could remember it.
Angry Egilsson
@Jamie:
This is a smart comment by Jamie. It really provides insight into Romney’s problem.
MCA
This is so much fun. Romney’s delay on the tax records is so full of contempt for his own party, it’s astounding. He’s essentially saying “I’ll respond on this issue when the Democrats make a big deal of it, after you’re gone. Because I’m the nominee, and I don’t have to deal with you little puppies nipping at me.”
Combine that with the fact that the biggest trend in the Republican primary process has now become the GOP candidates discussing whether their own frontrunner is too rich and out of touch. Never thought we’d see the day.