Following up on Dennis G’s post from last night on the SLC Olympics, I think I’ve found the perfect running mate for Mitt Romney.
Meet William Porter “Billy” Payne.
Payne was the President and CEO of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, which as we all know is the best possible preparation for being President of the United States. Indeed, these were the Summer games, an even bigger undertaking than the SLC games, so maybe Mitt will be willing to defer to Payne’s greater qualifications and accept the second spot on the ticket.
The 1996 games were, as you may remember, widely criticized for being overly commercialized. To which I say, fuck off you socialist hippies. Corporations are what made America great, and it is lucky we have real Americans like Billy Payne out there to make sure they play a leading role in things like athletic competitions.
But Payne would bring even more to the table than expertise in selling out the Olympics to corporate sponsors. He’s also an investment banker! So he knows how the economy works and understands what the job creators need to, you know, create jobs or something.
But wait, there’s more… he’s also the Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters, which as you may know has a checkered history in regards to allowing in African-Americans (as members I mean, they’ve always been welcome as caddies) and still, to this day, in 2012, does not admit women. In many circles, this would be a liability, but what it really demonstrates is that Payne would be willing to stand up to the New Black Panthers and the Feminazis out there.
Now, if you can find me a more perfect running mate for Romney, I’d love to hear about it. In the meantime, if Mitt does pick Billy Payne, I hope that I can collect a nice fat finder’s fee for the recommendation.
P.S. For all I know, Billy Payne is a delightful man who actively supports liberal causes.
Brian R.
Romney’s caused enough pain in his career already.
lacp
“Bain and Payne!” I like it already.
Wag
Between the two of them they’ve got half of the seasons covered. Now to get a former football (pro or college) exec to run the DOD and someone from baseball to take over for Sec of State, and you’ve got a real team that will fight for American ideals and pass times.
satanicpanic
Is Graham Spanier too obvious?
lacp
@satanicpanic: I’d go with Joe Paterno. You know he won’t make any unfortunate off-the-cuff remarks.
Roger Moore
@Wag:
Jim Bunning for SoS?
wrb
What a find.
The ticket is perfected.
Yutsano
@Roger Moore: I’m thinking Curt Schilling. Get da yootz vote somehow.
BGinCHI
Bring the Payne.
No Payne, no gain.
I also heard they’re vetting Joe the Plumber.
R-Jud
If he retired retroactively in 1992, even better.
Villago Delenda Est
Yesterday’s paper tells me it’s down to a dynamic duo of finalists, Tim “Bridges” Pawlenty and Rob “Not Natalie” Portman.
You know, two boring white guys. I’m sticking with Portman because Tim has collapsing infrastructure in his closet. Well, actually, not in the closet…the closet itself collapsed.
Roy G.
I think Tom Cruise would make the Masters of the Universe dream ticket with Rmoney.
Steve
The disclaimer in the P.S. is probably necessary, but nevertheless, if the Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club turns out to be a liberal then I’ll eat Charles Fried’s hat.
gbear
If he’s going to pick a Bill Payne, it should be the keyboard player from Little Feat.
someofparts
At the time, a friend said that Payne was a better choice to run it than Andrew Young. His reasoning was that, whatever Payne’s shortcomings, he was far more responsible with money than Young was known to be.
Beyond that, you can probably count on Atlanta to commercialize anything.
Villago Delenda Est
I must note that Juan Antonio Samaranche failed, in the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, to label them “the best Olympics EVER!”
Apparently, there were too many fuck ups, and not enough graft for the IOC to cause them to overlook the fuckups.
Villago Delenda Est
@Roy G.:
The unification of the nutjob cults of the 19th and 20th centuries. How can it not be win?
Foxhunter
Ummm, lifetime Atlanta resident here. Billy Payne does not ‘actively’ support any liberal causes. His faux ‘Old Money’ status would prevent that from ever happening.
I mean, he named his son ‘Porter’.
And any deviation from the Republican script would get him drop kicked from Magnolia Ave AND Piedmont Driving Club.
gbear
@Villago Delenda Est:
Not to mention he vetoed a bill increasing infrastructure spending AFTER the bridge collapsed.
On the other hand, ‘Love Can Build a Bridge’ by the Judds would be a wonderful intro song for Romney/Pawlenty (until they get sued for not asking for the performance rights).
Violet
In case anyone missed it:
You people. They really do think of everyone else as The Help, don’t they?
General Stuck
You gotta check this out. Meet the “Flying Squirrel”
Foxhunter
@Villago Delenda Est:
That apparent slight filled the local airwaves here in ATL for a full year after the Olympics were over.
I guess between the
Richard Jewell, er, Eric Rudolph situation and perhaps a bad meal at the Varsity, Juan Sammich didn’t really enjoy our Southern hospitality.Yutsano
@Violet: Wow. The condescension just drips from that woman’s lips. Maybe we should keep her talking, just for teh lulz.
Violet
@Yutsano: It does. The full quote is even worse:
There’s video. It’s a sit down with Robin Roberts.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Villago Delenda Est:
In other words Tim is to interesting for the Romney ticket.
EIGRP
@Foxhunter: Maybe it wasn’t called the best due to the kinetic event in Olympic Park.
Eric
lacp
That apparent slight filled the local airwaves here in ATL for a full year after the Olympics were over.
I heard it was a delicacy – Slow-Roasted Southern Butthurt.
Foxhunter
Oh, and in the event you were wondering where Mr. Payne’s money has gone to over the years:
OpenSecrets.org.
With the exception of Dueling Zell Miller and Erskine Bowles, Wm. Payne is a consistent ‘R’.
Perfect fit for Romneybot.
Chinn Romney
Ah, the 96 Torch was carried right my house. We sat on the porch to watch. First came a car festooned with Coke ads. Then a few minutes later, another with even more Coke ads. Finally, the runner, leading a large truck covered in Coke ads. I can’t remember if the runner was doing a NASCAR thing, with Coke ads. Probably not, but the point had been driven home by then. Drink more Coke. And oh yeah, don’t forgot to watch the Olympics. Coke.
flukebucket
I watched Ann this morning and yes, her choice of words and the way she delivered them left lots to be desired. She admitted that releasing the the returns would just give the enemy ammunition.
“The Bain and Payne appeal mainly to the insane”
scav
Anne I: “All of You Voters, Get OFF My Election!”
BGinCHI
Way OT, but did anyone else see this recent xkcd?
http://xkcd.com/1079/large/
I love Maine and Ohio. So cool.
Violet
@flukebucket: That’s such a weak defense. Mitt uses it too. “If we release the returns, Obama will have more ammunition!” It practically screams they’re hiding something. If he had returns with nothing remarkable in them, the whole issue would be over and done. By saying the returns have things that could be called ‘ammunition’ they’re admitting there’s questionable info in them.
waynski
@Violet: Ann Romney goes on to say in that interview that you should look at where Mitt’s been financially (kind of the point of Bain questions) and talks about all the money they give to charity but only mentions the Mormon Church (kind of the point of the taxes). Can’t believe no one picked up on this.
Violet
@scav: “You people need to get out of my White House!”
the Conster
Needs moar Al Czervik.
Mudge
I wonder if “you people” includes “those people”?
I can only hope this is Ann’s “let them eat cake” moment.
Tractarian
Ah, now that’s the type of snark I can sink my teeth into!
Redshift
@Villago Delenda Est: NPR may have inadvertently signaled some trouble for Portman yesterday. They did a puff piece on him that was all about his being willing to work with Democrats to get things done, and co-sponsoring bills with Democrats, and putting his arm around a Democratic colleague. Can’t imagine that will go over well with the Teahadists or make them more enthusiastic about Romney. Fortunately, they don’t listen to NPR, so they may not find out about it until after he’s nominated.
There was also a very polite shiv — they mentioned the problem of being Bush’s budget director, and Portman (or someone supporting him, but I think it was him) dismissed it by insisting that Obama has huge deficits but when he was budget director they “submitted a balanced budget.” The reporter noted that while the budget may have been balanced as submitted, it produced a $400B deficit. (They did not, however, mention the additional costs of the wars that were off-budget then.)
Villago Delenda Est
@waynski:
I can. The MSM and the Village must maintain the horse race narrative at all costs. OvenMitt keeps bleeding in the water, but the sharks are fighting their temptation to go in for a meal.
ericblair
@flukebucket:
To be fair, she had to say “you people” because saying “you assholes” would have made her break out in a rash. I doubt it’s the last time we’ll hear that particular phrase, even though anybody with two neurons that has to make a political speech knows you never fucking ever use “you people” for anything. I don’t know whether she’s never been briefed on it (stupid) or ignored any advice (more stupid).
Violet
@waynski: I know! It’s a terrible interview. Very condescending tone to anyone who isn’t in her financial position.
hueyplong
Condescension. It’s the new macho.
Villago Delenda Est
@Redshift:
Well, their budgets were “balanced” because they put the multi trillion dollar military adventures in western Asia “off budget”, the way the deserting coward’s vile sire did the entire S&L bailout…a bailout made necessary, in part, due to the malfeasance (read robbing of his own bank) of another spawn of George H.W.
MattF
Back when Noot was running, I joked that the only person who would be a compatible VP candidate with him was himself– the Noot/Noot ticket. Comes now the Mitt/Mitt ticket… I’d try to use subscripts here, but it probably wouldn’t work and would almost certainly put me into moderation.
Linda Featheringill
Clever post! Well done!
Villago Delenda Est
@Mudge:
I think she’s slowly building up to a moment to actually rival Marie Antoinette. Give her some time yet. She’s still a padawan at this stage.
Violet
@MattF: Remember the interview where Newt called Mitt a liar? I wish someone would pull that out again.
Redshift
@Violet: Even better, it signals one of two things: either there’s some politically toxic stuff in them (which I still think is the most likely), or what they’ve seen of the Obama operation has them living in fear that they’ll be able to make something of it anyway.
I kind of wonder if it’s the latter. If the reports that the adamant refusal is coming straight from Mitt himself are true, then I doubt it’s because he recognizes there’s anything that’s actually bad. (I don’t doubt that there is, but I find it hard to imagine him thinking anything he did for his own benefit could be wrong in any way.) If that’s the case, then it means the effectiveness of the attacks so far have totally gotten into his head, and telling voters much of anything risks giving vital information to the enemy. That does not put him on a winning trajectory.
The Republic of Stupidity
@Wag:
Perhaps someone fro a successful program… one that perfectly encapsulates American values… like Penn State…
Violet
@The Republic of Stupidity: Or that Bill Donohue guy from that Catholic group.
The Republic of Stupidity
Has anyone pointed how one of Billy’s strongest qualifications just might be how very, very, very ‘white’ he is?
Just asking…
shortstop
Ann: Will no one rid us of these troublesome voters?
lacp
@ericblair: Maybe Sarah Palin can coach her as to what Real Merkins sound like.
scav
@MattF: Mitts do usually come in pairs, usally closely matched in color, style and basic material. Twice the fun? And, at least in Chicago, when one gets lost, it usually ends up stuck on a fence spike.
Violet
@Redshift: Ultimately the decision not to release them comes down to Mitt. I would be a lot, probably most, of his staffers haven’t even seen them. If any have. So they’re in no position to advise him. He’s probably frantically talking to his accountants about what to do.
I agree, I think the attacks have got inside his head. I think he’s also being defined by the Obama campaign. But we’ll see what happens.
Redshift
@ericblair: Countdown to campaign surrogates arguing that “you people” meant the press, not the voters in 3… 2… 1…
(Actually, I don’t doubt that is what she thought she meant, and ignoring that denying information to the press is denying it to the voters is a symptom of that condescending attitude.)
Violet
@Redshift: I agree. I think she meant the press when she said it, but the fact that she can’t even consider that it’s the voters who have a right to know is very, very telling.
scav
@Redshift: At this point, if there’s nothing in there, the blowback from his own side on WTF was he thinking would be quite entertaining, especially as we’d probably have to guess at it from the churning waters and bits of chum that bobbed up to the surface.
WaterGirl
@Violet: She brags, too, about how they give their 10% to the mormon church. I really think one of the things we’ll see if the tax returns get released is that Romey HAS NOT given 10% of his income.
I don’t think Rommey is capable of understanding how the not paying taxes or paying low taxes or offshore accounts look to the average person.
So when I read a quote from a romney ally saying that he wouldn’t have run if he had known he would have to release all those returns, or that he would rather drop out than release the returns, that screams “uh oh, I will look really bad to my mormon peeps and I will be completely screwed!”.
Edited for clarity.
Violet
Okay, Ann’s “you people” comment is now Andrew Sullivan’s Quote of the Day and it’s top story at GOS. Maybe it’s getting a little attention.
jwb
@Redshift: Watching TPaw defend Anne over the dancing horse episode yesterday convinced me that he’s going to be the VP. The Dems even backed down, which makes him look powerful. Makes me wonder if the Dems didn’t decide to back down in order to burnish TPaw’s credentials. That makes as much sense as anything about that seemingly idiotic episode.
Villago Delenda Est
@General Stuck:
Good lord, she’s fantastic! My video buffered as she was doing her uneven bars dismount, and she was absolutely straight in mid air.
THEN she nailed the landing tighter than Obama pounding Rmoney on his taxes.
Face
And if Team O really wanted to go full batshit nuts (to take the playbook away from the Repubs), they’d claim that she was referring to blacks as “you people”, since she was interviewed by Ro-Ro. Then make a strained but likely savvy and completely accurate claim that Romette and Repubs in general don’t like black people, and fly a few days with that kite.
Litlebritdifrnt
@waynski:
From what I understand (and I could be pulling it out of my rear) but the Mormon Church does pretty much diddly squat charitable work, they spend all the dough on shopping malls and such. I saw somewhere is it like less than 1% real charity work.
Narcissus
“What do you mean, you people?”
“What do you mean, you people?”
Violet
@WaterGirl: I completely agree. I think he may not have given the full 10% or even anywhere close. How do they know how much money he’s got. What if he’s only given 3% or 5%? His standing in the Mormon church, his very last bastion of being completely respected, will unravel. I think it’s his greatest fear.
As for Ann Romney saying this in the interview:
“Do you think he’s the kind of person who is trying to hide things?” What kind of question is that? Projection, it seems to me. And if he’s got nothing to hide, why not release the returns. I hope some other news person asks a real follow up.
And “He is so good about it.” Good about what? We’re just supposed to take Ann’s word? Why? Why can’t we see data to see if our understanding of just “how good about it” he is is the same as hers.
Villago Delenda Est
@jwb:
I think you’re on to something there. It’s the old brier patch routine.
Oh, please don’t give us the gift veep who will keep on giving, OvenMitt. Please, please don’t!
jwb
@Redshift: Well, the 2010 return is toxic enough I think that the Obama folks wouldn’t have any trouble finding good material in the rest of the returns. Still, I think there is something illegal in them. The way the GOP went apeshit insane when Cutter made that remark about felony seemed like they hit a raw nerve.
RP
I’m sure she meant the press when she said “you people,” but that’s a distinction without a difference. The point of giving information to the press is to inform the public, so by saying that the press isn’t entitled to the info., she’s saying that the public isn’t entitled to it either.
maya
@MattF: “You people” are overlooking 5, count ’em, 5 serious candidates for the Veep position on the Romney ticket: Tagg, Matt, Josh, Craig and that other one.
Romney $ Son, 2012
Can’t get more American capitalismistic than that.
Violet
@RP: Absolutely true, but Ann isn’t smart enough to see that, it seems.
shortstop
@ericblair: Isn’t she the daughter of a coal miner? At least Mitt has the excuse of having been bred to obnoxious entitlement. Ann had to learn to be that big an arrogant asshole.
ETA: Nope, I see he was a “self-made” manufacturer. I wonder where the hell I got the idea he was a miner.
Violet
As far as VP possibilities, Rubio was on the Diane Rehm show today. He was talking about his book and other things, but took callers’ questions too. Is he still in the running? I thought the timing of the call was interesting. Hasn’t his book been out awhile or am I misremembering?
Litlebritdifrnt
@Violet:
It is over at Sully’s place.
catclub
@WaterGirl: “uh oh, I will look really bad to my mormon peeps and I will be completely screwed!”.
now that makes sense to me as a reason not to release any more tax forms. If Mitt Romney had a ‘profound conversion experience’ and became something other than Mormon, he could have walked to the nomination. The fact that he does not indicates one area that is non-negotiable for him.
(Yes, the other is his money.) Of course, on the other hand, his base is Mormons and Mormon money, so he cannot give that up casually either. Poor, poor, Mittens.
quannlace
Vanilla Squared
Violet
@shortstop: No, her parents were rich. From Wikipedia:
She went to a private school, the sister school of Mitt’s school, Cranbook. Her famly had money.
ETA: She has the demeanor of someone who has always had money. She’s very to-the-manor-born.
shortstop
@Violet: I think Rubio’s been asked to pretend that he’s still in the running. The plan is apparently to keep talking about how women and Cuban-Americans and Indian-Americans are very much still in consideration, absolutely, yes, when in reality it was never going to be anyone but a white guy.
quannlace
The sense of entitlement, it is strong in this one!
shortstop
@Violet: Yep, saw my mistake and edited my comment.
Villago Delenda Est
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Damn.
You’re right.
Given a choice between the two, they’ll go with the guy who’s the most toxic to the ticket.
They’re that fucking stupid.
wrb
@Violet:
How could it after Obama claimed that he built our businesses and fathered our children?
Who could have any outrage left?
catclub
“We give 10 percent of our income to our church every year.”
And not a penny more!
One suspects there is not much in the way of generosity in those gifts.
Some people might think that a given year was especially blessed and actually give more.
Some people might actually observe a need and give more than the ‘required’ 10% because they could.
FlipYrWhig
@Violet: Yes, in fact, I do think Mitt Romney is the kind of person who hides things, and is not “good,” despite his membership in the Church of Steampunk Scientology.
lacp
@Litlebritdifrnt: Not fair. They also use it to fight gay marriage.
satby
@Violet: And has no one even noticed that Ann’s “you people” comment was delivered to an African-American newswoman?? Seriously Freudian moment.
Correction, it was noted above.
Chyron HR
Tithing is not charity, it’s a membership fee. Try again.
FlipYrWhig
@Violet: Ann Romney has that Peggy Noonan affect about her. Pearls, quiet, enunciation, and scolding.
scav
It would appear a tad more generous if less immediately tied to benefiting self in prestige and position in the this-planet LDS church and the whole mandated amount to ease your way into the VIP lounge of the afterlife planet.
@Chyron HR: beat me to it, exactly!
shortstop
@FlipYrWhig: And without even the excuse of chronic drunkenness.
Violet
@FlipYrWhig: Barbara Bush? Without the obvious edge. I think she’s got an edge, but she keeps it in the family.
ericblair
@catclub:
Quite possibly “income” in the “W-2 wage income” sense, and not in the broader “wages plus capital gains plus dividends plus other stuff” sense.
My outta-my-arse guess is that he managed to pay zero zip bupkis income tax for at least one year. That would really set people off, and as an added bonus blow up any argument about not taxing the “job createrers”. I also think we’ll never ever see another Rmoney tax return.
This too. Giving tax-deductible money so you can put a kick-ass AV system in the sanctuary is not “charity”.
shortstop
Hey, if the Romneys want to encourage Americans to look into what the LDS does with that money and what its goals are, that’s fine by me.
@ericblair: I doubt it will be zip, but it will be disgustingly low, low enough to invoke the rage of the great unwashed.
Totally agree that they’re not going to release their returns. I really think they’re capable of stonewalling this. Ain’t enough popcorn in the world.
pete
@shortstop: I think this was from the 1967 Peter Cook/Dudley Moore movie Bedazzled (though it’s not here). An awed young fellow tries to make small talk with aristocratic lady:
“My father used to be a coal miner.”
“Really? Mine too, but he sold it.”
Violet
@shortstop: How will this play if they continue to refuse to release their returns, even up to the convention?
shortstop
@pete: Ha!
I wonder if I just thought that all or most Welsh immigrants are former coal miners. Doesn’t sound like the kind of thing I go around thinking, but I admit this is not looking good for me.
shortstop
@Violet: Terribly! And how will it play if they do release their returns? Terribly! They know what’s in them, and they seem to think the damage will be greater if they release. Too delicious.
Violet
@shortstop: Were you thinking about John Edwards? His father worked in a mill.
burnspbesq
@Foxhunter:
Is there any other kind?
Violet
@shortstop: I guess my question is, will the media ask questions or will it get dropped. Out of curiosity, I watched the first 15 minutes or so of the Today Show yesterday and today and it wasn’t mentioned either day. I don’t know about the cable channels. I guess I wonder if a new tidbit will come out that will make the media bring it up again, or if it’s going to die down (like Mitt hopes) and it’ll be a nothingburger shortly.
I think it’s a huge deal and I don’t know how it can fully go away, but Mitt can buy a lot of media, so…
catclub
@pete: I am surprised that the bit in the anti-Bain ads that Romney looks like the guy who fired you is not bouncing around the internets more.
That would hint at the point that Obama by comparison does NOT look like the guy who fired you.
shortstop
@Violet: I guess I’d predict that it will go in waves. The media will feel sorry for him/get bored and drop it, then more will come out about a specific ugly-ass Bain deal or another tax shelter or an Olympic crony contract or or or, and public interest will go up again and again. All week long, new stuff has been dribbling out, and the Obama campaign isn’t going to stop pushing that. There is plenty of there there, it seems.
Since Team Romney wasn’t smart enough to conduct its financial business with more political acumen, the best thing it could have done was drop the returns on the Friday afternoon after Santorum dropped out. Now there just isn’t any non-terrible option for them.
ericblair
@Violet:
I’m wondering that too, since some goopers have come out and told him to (sorry) open the kimono. However, said goopers seem to be at odds with the other goopers who actually would have been in a position to know something about the returns: does anyone know if the Alabama governor or whoever has been told to walk it back?
I doubt there’s a power on this planet that will make the Mittster cough up the goods, and it will be a slow rot on his campaign.
At this point, the only way to really fuck things up from the Dem side would be an illegal release of the returns from the IRS. Then the RomBot could holler persecution and the whole thing goes away. I’m guessing and hoping the IRS have got those files locked down tighter than Rmoney’s asshole.
catclub
@ericblair: “I’m guessing and hoping the IRS have got those files locked down tighter than Rmoney’s asshole.”
Yep. The IRS cannot release them. And I posted elsewhere that the IRS cannot say whether or not the forms he releases match up with what he sent to them. So he could just make them up.
I was promptly shouted down that such a thing was unpossible, but I am not so sure.
Violet
@shortstop: Could he release them the day the Olympics start, since that should be a distraction?
@ericblair: Yes, the Alabama Gov walked it back the next day.
I agree, I hope Anonymous or someone doesn’t get in and get the tax returns. It would completely undercut the strategy. I wonder if Mittens’ has figured that out and will release them to someone like that so he can claim to be persecuted? Then they (the cleaned up ones) will be “out there” and there’d be nothing to talk about.
Face
He was, for 17 years of his life.
rikryah
Some White folks don’t get it…
YOU PEOPLE just isn’t a phrase you should use
Violet
@catclub: Could he really created fake ones and then release them? That would be ballsy because he’d be toast if he was found out. I can’t imagine him trying it.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Villago Delenda Est: Like you, I’m sticking with Portman. His family owns that quaint little inn in Ohio and all – great for speeches from the balcony. Outside long shot – Kelly Ayotte.
Foxhunter
@burnspbesq: No, Colonel Jesup, there is not. :)
dww44
@someofparts: Oh, I don’t know that Atlanta is in a league all by itself. Commercializing anything seems to be pervasive throughout the sports world. Every sports arena, stadium,or complex has a commercial name attached to it. So, I don’t think Atlanta should be especially tarred. At least Atlanta didn’t, based on what’s been posted here and/or linked to, take the taxpayers to the cleaners.
And, by the way, Billy Payne is most certainly not a liberal (virtually no middle class white male in this state is), but he’s not a conservative loon either. As far as I know he doesn’t meddle in the political stuff. Otherwise he wouldn’t be the head of Augusta National, which to its credit, hasn’t over commercialized itself whatever other failings it may have.
shortstop
@Face: Yay! Vindication!
ericblair
@catclub:
I guess he could, although faking up a return like that sounds difficult and would be suicide if that got out. Also, if it looks suspicious, someone in the press could ask for a form 4506 release where the IRS would send a transcript directly to them. If he stonewalls on that, then you’ve got a pretty good idea that all ain’t right.
daverave
@Litlebritdifrnt:
I’m willing to bet $10,000 that they spend a big bunch of that tithing cash on proselytizing in third world countries like France.
MattF
@rikryah: …and that’s why it’s revealing. It’s not just us. This is a phrase that Ann Romney has used before– and it’s fair to suppose that she uses it habitually to refer to the lower orders. Bear in mind now that people who know the Romneys have been saying that Ann Romney will ‘humanize’ Mitt. I’d have called that a low bar, and it turns out that indeed it is.
cat48
Looks like Obama is having Some Effect on Public Opinion which is always good! Politiwire has a new Gallup abt ITR’s:
July 19, 2012
Majority Say Romney Should Release Tax Returns
A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds that Americans, by a 54% to 37% margin, say Mitt Romney should release his tax returns from additional years.
Those calling for more disclosure include 75% of Democrats, 53% of independents and 30% of Republicans.
Also interesting: “While 42% predict the release of additional returns would not reveal anything politically harmful, 44% believe it would include damaging information — including 15% who say they believe the revelations would be so serious that they would ‘show he is unfit to be president.'”
scav
@daverave: Arg, don’t jiggle that neuron. I had a jesus-baby-undoubtedly-wingtard thankfully distant kin who every Christmas sent out letters asking for donations to fund their proselytizating junkets, once, Explicitly to bring THE Word ™ of Jay-sus to the Upper Middle Classes in wait Mexico in wait February.
Tehanu
@Violet:
Generous? Mormons are REQUIRED to give 10% of their income to the church. The only “generosity” that involves is when they then funnel the money to themselves for “church work.” I believe Jesus Christ, who figures so prominently in the Mormon church’s official name, would be a little annoyed at the idea that paying for teenagers from prosperous families to live in France for a year was the same as feeding the hungry and caring for the sick.
Roger Moore
@Violet:
If he creates fake ones, he should also fake having them released by an enemy like Anonymous. That way he gets to claim that somebody is releasing fake returns in an attempt to discredit him. Of course that’s a high risk strategy- it could put more pressure on him to release the real returns to prove the other ones are fake- and opens up a separate set of questions about whether the fake returns should be a basically honest but cleaned-up version of his real ones (in the hopes people will think it shows he’s basically clean) or an obviously fake one that shows completely impossible crimes, uses the wrong forms, etc. (in the hopes of discrediting the idea that he should have to release anything).
WaterGirl
@Roger Moore: No-Risk-Romney doesn’t have the balls to do that. In fact, I’m not sure he has any balls at all. (she said hatefully)
Roger Moore
@dww44:
Not quite all of them. There are still a few ancient venues like Fenway and The Rose Bowl that have stuck with traditional names, and some that just use the team, school, or mascot name, like Dodger Stadium, Sun Devil Stadium, or the like. The commercial names seem to be the definite majority these days, though.
shortstop
@Roger Moore: Even Fenway has a commercial aspect–it’s in the old Fenway neighborhood, but the developer owned a realty company also called Fenway, so there was some (slightly indirect) self-promotion there. And of course my beloved Wrigley Field retains the gum empire name, although the Wrigleys have had nothing to do with the place or the Cubs since the early 1980s.
rikryah
@Litlebritdifrnt:
0.79%
YES, less than 1%
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
test.
Fort Geek
There’s more of Podrick than Ser Ilyn in this Payne.
That said, Mittbot’s hardly the Imp…has enough money to be a Lannister, but lacks conviction. Littlefinger, perhaps?
rdale
Another, admittedly obscure and of interest only to historians, thing about Billy Bob Payne and the Atlanta Olympics: he declared that all of the archives, papers, photos, whatever from those Olympics were his personal property and kept them locked up. So there is no archive of 1996 Olympics records, like there is for just about any other one, like LA, or Calgary, or Salt Lake, or Montreal, and so on.
opie_jeanne
@shortstop: You were thinking of Santorum, I think.