Politico’s lead story right now:
To GOP, blatant bias in vetting
On the front page of its Sunday edition, the New York Times gave a big spread to Ann Romney spending lots of time and tons of money on an exotic genre of horse-riding. The clear implication: The Romneys are silly rich, move in rarefied and exotic circles, and are perhaps a tad shady.
Only days earlier, news surfaced that author David Maraniss had unearthed new details about Barack Obama’s prolific, college-age dope-smoking for his new book, “Barack Obama: The Story” — and the Times made it a brief on A15.
No wonder Republicans are livid with the early coverage of the 2012 general election campaign. To them, reporters are scaring up stories to undermine the introduction of Mitt Romney to the general election audience — and once again downplaying ones that could hurt the president….
Here’s the difference, Politico: Maybe if Mitt Romney had written candidly about dressage in a book seventeen years ago, the Times wouldn’t have considered it a big news story now. Maybe if the Romney had answered questions about the dressage issue in the last primary season — perhaps even as early as 2006 — the Times wouldn’t be putting it on the front page now. Maybe if Romney, in the last primary season, had joked about dressage, including on national television, the Times wouldn’t be making a big deal of it today. Maybe if Romney had weathered attacks on his dressage habits four years ago from a campaign surrogate of a primary opponent, there would be little press interest now.
Do we really have to explain these things to Romney and his enablers?
(X-posted at No More Mister Nice Blog.)
Stuck in the Funhouse
Well, drat. I just posted a comment in the thread below on this nonsense. If I’d known you were doing same, I would have saved myself some time.
Forum Transmitted Disease
Don’t see why you’d bother, they’d never believe you anyway.
Far better the martyrdom and the continued ability to blame the media and the New Black Panthers.
Strandedvandal
They are ALWAYS working the refs.
g
It is hilarious, isn’t it, that the Vetterening is being driven by “scandals” whose main source material happens to be the autobiography written by the guy they scream hasn’t been vetteredized?
Clime Acts
OT, but relevant: President Obama will honor the Smirking Chimp War Criminal today at the White House.
Look forward, not back.
Epicurus
Apparently you have to explain them to the Big Brains that run Politico. Good luck with THAT one! It’s like trying to teach a pig to sing…
Villago Delenda Est
Yes.
SATASQ
The Snarxist Formerly Known As Kryptik
@Strandedvandal:
And it always works. It always fucking goddamn works.
rlrr
Do we really have to explain these things to Romney and his enablers?
Yes, and be sure to use small words in short simple sentences.
Soonergrunt
Not starting a new thread for this, but thought it should be announced. A Federal Appeals court sitting in Boston has upheld the Federal District court’s opinion that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional this morning.
From the ruling:
Scott S.
I’m supposed to be upset that the current president smoked weed in college when the previous president snorted coke clear into adulthood?
flukebucket
As I told a wingnut friend of mine, I knew Obama had dined on dog meat years before the typical FOX News viewer. Sometimes it is hard as hell to believe that nobody knew anything about a guy who had already written two fucking best selling books about himself and his life before he ran for President.
rlrr
@Scott S.:
IOKIYAR
Patricia Kayden
So Politico’s job is to providing a forum for Righties to vent. Good to know. Have never read Politico and will continue to avoid like the plague.
slippy
@Scott S.: Hell, it looked like he was on SOME kind of bender most of his Presidency. He was nearly as incoherent as Ozzy Osbourne.
Villago Delenda Est
@flukebucket:
Well, it appears that Obama’s best selling books are about as widely read among the cocktail weenie scarfing scum of the Village as The Wealth of Nations is.
That is, not at all.
rlrr
Which is odd considering some footage of Bush from back when he was running for governor of Texas shows him be somewhat more coherent…
rlrr
@flukebucket:
But the typical Fox “News” viewer doesn’t actually read books, though they may own books pimped on Fox “News”…
Punchy
OT:
Cue wingtard heads exploding in 3….2….1.
I eagarly await Willy Donahue’s dying-cat wail on how this is wanton religious persecution and a egregious violation of the 1st and 32nd amendments, therein.
Edit: Sooner got there first
Linda Featheringill
@Soonergrunt:
Okay! We’re making progress.
Roger Moore
@Forum Transmitted Disease:
FTFY. For them to get to the point of believing or not believing, they’d actually have to let the point reach their brains. Not going to happen. They just completely tune out anyone who says that kind of thing without ever paying enough attention that the ideas could actually affect their thoughts.
kc
Imagine if John Kerry did dressage.
MattF
The real solution is for the Obamas to cut out their weird wholesome family life and get with the thug life, like they’re supposed to. It’s obvious that they’re doing it just to hurt Ann Romney’s feelings.
kc
Republicans are so cute when they learn a new word (i.e., “vetting”).
mdblanche
So they are aware that Obama is the incumbent, right? It’s not anyone else’s fault they couldn’t be bothered to do basic research when voters might have actually cared about it. I’ll take the fact that they’re talking about vetting the incumbent as a sign that they’ve got nothing they can run against him on from his record.
Mark S.
Well, this is unfortunate timing right before the Fortnight of Freedom:
Litlebritdifrnt
They are simply pissed off at the fact that the worst “dirt” that they have on him is donkey’s years old and the only thing they might be able to hang on him since 2004 is that he might have sneaked a ciggie once in a while after he said he’d quit. It just burns them that he hasn’t fucked up badly while in office.
Roger Moore
@mdblanche:
And I’ll take it to mean that they’re worried that Mitt wasn’t fully vetted, and they’re afraid of what skeletons Obama might find in his closet. It’s always projection with these assholes. Always!
redshirt
@Litlebritdifrnt: And thank FSM for that! Can you imagine how crazy things would be if Obama weren’t near a Saint?
El Cid
Maybe if Romney were 17 and in high school, it would also receive less prominent coverage.
After all, the press relentlessly examined George W. Bush Jr. as a drunkard, right?
David Hunt
@redshirt:
Proving once again that Obama is the Jackie Robinson of Presidential politics
Roger Moore
@Mark S.:
Wow. It just keeps getting worse and worse, doesn’t it? In a just world, we’d be referring to Dolan as “Prisoner# 271828” rather than “Cardinal of New York”.
slag
@Mark S.: But that’s exactly what The Fortnight of Freedom is all about. Trying to reclaim the moral high ground by putting those sluts in their place. And by “sluts” I don’t mean “priests”, in this particular instance.
RalfW
Politico is a deplorable rag, just a few slimy notches above Fox’s all-out propaganda.
Brachiator
Dressage is an issue?
What, is someone worried that if elected, Romney might get horse turds on the White House lawn?
The crap about Obama is beyond stupid. But I don’t yet see any point in geting worked up over the Romney’s equine antics.
ETA: And this stuff about “vetting” is nonsense that a competent press would laugh out of the room when the GOP tried to bring it up.
wrb
@kc:
Yes, now they are all looking to stick a tube down your nose, an arm up your ass, and dust you with flea powder.
Suffern ACE
@Scott S.: Yes. And if you smoked dope in college, you ought to be ashamed of yourself and not be allowed to comment on blogs where children might read about it. OUTRAGE OUTRAGE OUTRAGE OUTRAGE.
Roger Moore
@slag:
I think you mean, “Trying to distract the rubes from the latest round of scandals.” Pay no attention to the illegality and malfeasance; there are sluts to be shamed.
japa21
@kc: Hey, Kerry doing dressage couldn’t have been any worse than his wind surfing.
Kane
Bain Capital
One-term governorship
Mormonism
Military deferments
Swiss bank accounts
Cayman Islands accounts
Taxes
Past policy positions
Current policy positions
Horse dressage
The list gets longer and longer of what topics are deemed out of bounds to talk about.
Linda Featheringill
@Brachiator: Nobody is emotionally involved one way or another over the horses. The dressage thing was used as a literary device to illustrate a point.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Soonergrunt: Activist judges, Founding Father’s intent is clearly marriage is between a man, a woman and any black women the man has enslaved.
SatanicPanic
@Kane: If the media could just whittle it down to haircuts and food choices they would be very pleased.
Larv
@Brachiator:
No, I’m pretty sure he was just snarking about Politico’s implication that Obama’s teenage drug use is somehow a more important and current issue than the Romney’s horses. I don’t see anybody getting worked up about it except Politico.
Cacti
@Kane:
Just wait till they get to Solamere Capital – The venture firm founded by Willard and son, that now employs Wal-Mart’s Mexico bribe man, H. Lee Scott, Jr.
They’ll practically shit themselves with rage, and demand Obama’s kindergarten report card.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Brachiator:
That’s point, why is Romney getting into a twist about it and screaming “off limits” instead of saying “a’yep, that’s a hobby of mine”. Of course the smart thing to do is turn it on it’s head and say “because of that I love animals and think the abuse of race horses is appalling” or anything to show he can nurture something. But I guess that’s just puss talk for a 1% Alpha like Mittens.
Roger Moore
@Kane:
I think it’s easier to describe what they are supposed to do; they’re supposed to repeat Romney’s talking points as if they were independently researched articles. That’s what the business press does with corporate press releases, so he can’t understand why the political press has to do mean things like try to verify his claims and talk about how this week’s press release contradicts everything in last week’s.
Brachiator
@Larv:
Yeah, I took a look at the Politico piece. It is a pointless, boring ramble.
wrb
I’d have to pause before voting for someone who dressed their kitty.
Horse dressing is too weird. Does he dress to match?
Or as the other half of the couple?
Rosalita
@Scott S.:
don’t forget the booze too
Cacti
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Romney’s been trying desperately to show he’s “jes folks”. Stories of car elevators and $800,000 show horses sort of kill that.
Not to mention, I’ll bet a lot more people got high in college than could tell you the first thing about Austrian warm bloods.
Kane
For a party that was obsessed with Barack Obama’s experience four years ago, it’s interesting that they have no problem whatsoever with Romney’s lack of experience. He served one unpopular term as the governor of Massachusetts, and that’s it. This makes Romney the least experienced major-party presidential nominee in more than 70 years. He needs to be vetted whether they like it or not.
Jebediah
@redshirt:
I see what I think you maybe did there.
Cacti
@Kane:
And he abandoned that one two-years in, to focus on his first unsuccessful run for the White House. After 2006, he was Governor in name only, and spent most of his time out of state, insulting Massachusetts for Republican donors.
wrb
@Kane:
He has bidness experience, the only kind that counts.
Unfortunately he went to a fancy school too, but the fact that he then went straight into bidness means he probably wasn’t ruined.
Roger Moore
@Cacti:
It’s worse than that. In his typical pattern, Romney has been trying to have it both ways. On the one hand, he wants to come across as just folks. On the other hand, he wants to be a Galitan Overlord Job Creator whose judgment can’t be questioned. And FSM help anyone who brings up Galtian Overlord in an unapproved format or on a day when he’s playing up his just folks credentials, or vice versa. He wants to be in complete control of the message at all times, and it’s the media’s fault on those rare occasions when they don’t follow his rules and actually engage in some independent journalism.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Cacti:
Yes, and he’s failing miserably at it. He should be pushing himself as a benevolent rich guy. But it’s no surprise; just about every rich man I have meet tries to pretend they are some blue collar working stiff.
gbear
Cacti @ 54
After
20062009, he was Governor in name only, and spent most of his time out of state, insultingMassachusettsMinnesota for Republican donors.That worked so well for Tim Pawlenty. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have more money than god, like Mitt does.
catclub
@Kane: I say ask about his tax returns from now till the election. Also his Cayman Islands bank accounts.
gogol's wife
The story on Ann wasn’t just about her hobby, but about how she bankrolls a swindler (her dressage coach) who sells injured horses to suckers. Politico (sorry, won’t read it) seems to have left that part out.
gogol's wife
@Brachiator:
See my comment #60. The Times story wasn’t just about the hobby. It was about financial dealings.
catclub
@gogol’s wife: Interesting. Better explanation for why they are squealing.
Almost makes me want to go read it.
slag
@Roger Moore: You’re exactly right. I do mean that. Though I would have a hard time believing that many of these men don’t also feel morally superior themselves when they’re shaming sluts. I’ve known way too many self-important privileged people to believe that. It’s a win-win for them.
quannlace
You kidding? These are the same people who were outraged that someone had the nerve to ask Sarah Palin the trick question of what kind of things does she read.
wrb
Wonder if the Romney campaign is secretly behind these stories. They may be doing them good. On Open Range “a syndicated radio show carried by stations in the west they interrupted coverage of the AgriBeef Minute, National Day of the Cowboy, Todd Nash’s champion working cow dogs, and the the Grazing Improvement Act for this:
Ed Drone
So Rmoney’s cross about dressage stories? (Cross-Dressage? It would be irresponsible not to wonder).
And Republicants are declaring the dawn of Gottervetterung, are they? Vetterinheit uber alles!
Gesundheit!
Assholes, every one of ’em.
Ed
butler
Bullshit. They really think Michelle spends at least 100K per year on clothes and bags? That’s just a straight up fucking lie.
Brachiator
@gogol’s wife:
If Ann were running for president, I might care. But she’s not, so I don’t.
Also I think wrb nicely notes the link to the reaction to the Times story that the criticism brought out horse lovers and positive PR for the Rommeys.
The one bit of Schadenfreude here is that the GOP secretly enjoyed it when morans like Cokie Roberts accused Obama of being all elitist and such for taking his vacation in Hawaii, where his family lived for Pete’s sake. But now Romney is getting slapped around over irrelevant stories about his wife and the upscale horsey set.
Stuff like this, or Obama’s youthful pot smoking, should be non-issues. But as long as the GOP wants to make hay over it, they have to be willing to sleep in the stable with the other nags.
WereBear
@butler: Truth, that. The First Lady makes a point of shopping reasonable, and US-based, designers.
Do they really want to stack Michelle Obama’s wardrobe expenditures against the Bushes? Nancy freakin’ Reagan?
Then they can go ahead.
Roger Moore
@Brachiator:
That’s a reasonable argument only assuming that Ann keeps separate finances from Mitt; I don’t think they do. As far as I can tell, this means Mitt is personally profiting from swindles, and that’s a real issue. Of course those swindles pale in comparison to the ones he pulled off at Bain, so they’re probably not worth emphasizing.
Brachiator
@WereBear:
This is doubly and triple stupid. Again, the fools who tried to paint the Obamas as rich aristocrats are now falling all over themselves with the Romneys, who actually are rich aristocrats.
But this crap about the Obamas is false and more important, just irrelevant.
But the GOP are hoping that some voters will be dazzled by the bullshit.
And although it hurts me to even briefly defend Sarah Palin, it always amazed me that Bible Spice got excoriated for abusing the wardrobe budget the GOP set up for her, but Mrs McCain never got slammed for dipping into her trust fund for some very expensive outfits.
Brachiator
@Roger Moore:
Too much of a stretch, not a logical argument, and I still don’t care.
And keep in mind that I absolutely detest Mitt Romney.
There is almost never a reason to go after a candidate’s spouse. And a lot of this stuff will only backfire, making Mrs Romney sympathetic, and Romney sympathetic for backing her up.
Roger Moore
@Brachiator:
I think we’re broadly in agreement, at least about bringing the issue up. I think it’s definitely wrong, and that Mitt is profiting from dirty dealings, but that it’s far enough down his list of sins that it’s not really worth worrying about. Unless you can show he was personally involved and can find a sympathetic person who he swindled, it’s nowhere near as good a campaign point as all the people he put out of work with his corrupt dealings at Bain. Concentrate on those instead.
FlipYrWhig
@wrb: Dressage is the way she copes with MS? OK, let’s go with that. If John Kerry said that windsurfing was a way for him to cope with the shit that went down in Nam, how much respect do you think he would get for that statement?
CW in LA
@Scott S.: And sure looked staggering-drunk at the Beijing Olympics, too.
wrb
@FlipYrWhig:
If Kerry had said that the shit that went down left him sufficienty impared mentally that he must
do something to “cope” wouldn’t have helped, I’d think.
Being physically impaired doesn’t impair ones ability to First Lady, at least if First Ladying doesn’t require the Lady to provide the first Guy with frequent athletic sexytime.
Anything that gets liberals to attack the Romneys for having horses or to make light of Ann’s MS is good for the Romney campaign, imo.
Brachiator
@Roger Moore:
Yep. I think that this dead horse, even if an Arabian Purebred, has been thoroughly beaten.
rikryah
Just asking normal questions about Willard and familia is too much..
f-em.
nothing but Whiny Ass Titty Babies – the entire lot of them
Brachiator
@FlipYrWhig:
Well, to be fair, Ann Romney saw more bad shit go down in Nam than Kerry.
Spouses ain’t candidates. All the crap that was aimed at Teresa Heinz Kerry, especially for her being rich, was pure BS. As is the crap aimed at Mrs Obama.
And the crap aimed at Mrs Romney.
And as others have noted, this shit always backfires and increases sympathy for the person attacked.
David Koch
Moreover, Obama’s drug use in high school was already covered in a big front page story in 2008 in …… wait for it…. the New York Times.
See Exhibit #A —> http://www.nytimes.com/images/2008/02/09/nytfrontpage/scan.jpg
ornery_curmudgeon
@wrb: Wonder if the Romney campaign is secretly behind these stories. They may be doing them good.
Yes, some were trying to tell the community this would be the result of attacking dressage, back when the FP’s were running post after post showing their ignorance on the subject.
To the community’s credit it was reined in … the FP’ers sure had the bit in their teeth though.
workworkwork
@wrb:
While I agree with your general premise (family is off-limits and the dressage thing is just a shiny distraction), I felt it necessary to point out that MS does not just have physical effects, but cognitive as well.
My wife has MS and she has issues with memory, reasoning and decision-making ability as well as loss of coordination and muscle weakness.
Apart from that, I’m right there with ya.
wrb
@workworkwork:
my apologies, I didn’t know