• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

John Fetterman: Too Manly for Pennsylvania.  Paid for by the Oz for Senator campaign.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

I was promised a recession.

Everybody saw this coming.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Come on, man.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Mobile Menu

  • Winnable House Races
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Balloon Juice 2023 Pet Calendar (coming soon)
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • War in Ukraine
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • 2021-22 Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2012 / A man of reliable rubber…

A man of reliable rubber…

by Dennis G.|  August 11, 201212:39 pm| 75 Comments

This post is in: Election 2012, Free Markets Solve Everything, Fuck The Middle-Class, Fuck The Poor, Republican Venality, Assholes, Romney of the Uncanny Valley

FacebookTweetEmail

<a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/7191364230/” title=”Mitt-is-a-rubber-stamp by dengre.bj, on Flickr”><img src=”http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7086/7191364230_f9b7ccc16d.jpg” width=”498″ height=”414″ alt=”Mitt-is-a-rubber-stamp”></a>

He’s Grover’s bitch now.

The beltway potentate made it clear last year at CPAC what he wanted:

All we have to do is replace Obama. …  We are not auditioning for fearless leader. We don’t need a president to tell us in what direction to go. We know what direction to go. We want the Ryan budget. … We just need a president to sign this stuff. We don’t need someone to think it up or design it. The leadership now for the modern conservative movement for the next 20 years will be coming out of the House and the Senate.

And Grover made clear what he considered to be the most important qualification to be the Republican Candidate fro President:

Pick a Republican with enough working digits to handle a pen to become president of the United States. This is a change for Republicans: the House and Senate doing the work with the president signing bills. His job is to be captain of the team, to sign the legislation that has already been prepared.

With his pick of Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney has surrendered to the crazies. He has rolled over to show Grover and nutters his belly–hoping for a petting, but fearful of a beating. They own him. He is their rubber stamp.

A Romney Administration will continue the policies of the Bush Administration–especially the tradition of the Vice President running the show while the President meekly follows orders. Ryan will lead. Romney will follow.

I guess we can add Romney’s lack of a backbone to the list of things (like taxes, Bain, Romneycare and the Ryan Budget) that are rude to discuss.

Cheers

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « B-b-b-but teh deficits!
Next Post: Money shot »

Reader Interactions

75Comments

  1. 1.

    amk

    August 11, 2012 at 12:43 pm

    In short, dubya admin III on steroids, as bill clinton said. God save ‘murka if it happens.

  2. 2.

    arguingwithsignposts

    August 11, 2012 at 12:45 pm

    When I clicked on “Next Post” I knew what this was going to be about. Still eight (?) frontpagers left to weigh in!

  3. 3.

    Hill Dweller

    August 11, 2012 at 12:46 pm

    The Obama campaign has released an ad calling Romney/Ryan “The Go Back Team”, which is a riff on the Romney campaign calling themselves “America’s comeback team”.

    Willard is already trying to distance himself from Ryan’s budget, saying they don’t support every line of it.

  4. 4.

    NR

    August 11, 2012 at 12:46 pm

    @amk:

    In short, dubya admin III on steroids, as bill clinton said. God save ‘murka if it happens.

    It’s okay. Nobody can do anything without 60 votes in the Senate. Or so I was repeatedly told in 2009 and 2010.

  5. 5.

    Violet

    August 11, 2012 at 12:46 pm

    I think Romney will be very dangerous in this role. He’s used to telling people what to do, not having to do what others tell him to do. I think he’ll sulk and lash out, each at different times. This is a man, should he win the presidency, who would start a war with [pick a country] just because he could. “That’ll show them they’re not the boss of me!”

    I think he’s stuck in some adolescent age and that’s a dangerous person to have running the country.

  6. 6.

    amk

    August 11, 2012 at 12:47 pm

    @Hill Dweller: Already ? This is the second ad in what, two hours ?

  7. 7.

    Brian R.

    August 11, 2012 at 12:47 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    It’s a feast day. Let them all have a bite.

  8. 8.

    wrb

    August 11, 2012 at 12:48 pm

    With his pick of Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney has surrendered to the crazies. He has rolled over to show Grover and nutters his belly—hoping for a petting, but fearful of a beating. They own him.

    I like.

    May steal

  9. 9.

    TK421

    August 11, 2012 at 12:49 pm

    A Romney Administration will continue the policies of the Bush Administration

    You mean drone strikes will continue and we’ll keep fighting in Afghanistan? There will be secret prisons and indefinite detention at Gitmo? Undocumented immigrants will be deported at record rates? Whistle-blowers will be prosecuted but not torturers? Rich financiers will be protected while everyone else is forced into austerity? Oil-drilling will be radically increased? Income inequality will widen?

    Gosh, I would hate to go back to that.

  10. 10.

    WereBear

    August 11, 2012 at 12:49 pm

    @Violet: Adolescence gives him too much credit. I’m thinking toddler, personally.

    And isn’t it weird that they loves them some big Leader… and yet keep getting these puppet types?

  11. 11.

    Alison

    August 11, 2012 at 12:49 pm

    Sigh. Was that first line really necessary? Come on…

  12. 12.

    amk

    August 11, 2012 at 12:52 pm

    Sudden influx firebaggers in this thread ? Why Dennis, why ? You’re like a chick magnet to them?

  13. 13.

    Hill Dweller

    August 11, 2012 at 12:52 pm

    Apparently Willard slipped up and introduced Ryan as the next President of the United States.

  14. 14.

    Dennis G.

    August 11, 2012 at 12:53 pm

    @wrb: Steal all you wish…

  15. 15.

    Chyron HR

    August 11, 2012 at 12:53 pm

    @NR:

    And since all the Democrats in Congress are exactly the same as Republicans, they should have no trouble getting 60 votes for any GOP bills.

    Or so you’ve been saying for the past four years.

  16. 16.

    Yuppers

    August 11, 2012 at 12:54 pm

    @Alison: I’m pretty sure he’s referring to the proper use of the term; thus the extension of the metaphor to the exposure of the belly/etc. Outrage is not always necessary.

  17. 17.

    TK421

    August 11, 2012 at 12:54 pm

    @NR:

    And that 60-vote requirement is etched in stone and can never be changed, or something.

  18. 18.

    Martin

    August 11, 2012 at 12:54 pm

    @amk: Sure, already. As Ezra noted, the only reason the GOP even know Ryan’s name is because Obama built him up into a Republican hero. Boehner hates the guy as I suspect most Republican Senators do as well. But the base embraced him under the “Obama must be scared of this guy because he talks about him so much” theory.

    This is exactly the VP candidate the Democrats wanted, and Ryan couldn’t have gotten the tap without them. They’ve had those ads ready for months.

  19. 19.

    Redshift

    August 11, 2012 at 12:55 pm

    @amk:

    Already ? This is the second ad in what, two hours ?

    They could have been produced overnight, but I’m betting they had ads produced and campaign themes ready to roll for all of the major VP contenders. Damn, they’re good.

    Knowing this puts some of the ads in circulation in a new light. The women’s rights/Planned Parenthood ad has been in heavy circulation here in Virginia. It’s good in general, but now it’s obvious that if McDonnell had been picked, they would have riffed straight off of that.

  20. 20.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    August 11, 2012 at 12:55 pm

    @NR: You can let that die. Reid sounds like he’s going to change the filibuster rules next congress.

  21. 21.

    Violet

    August 11, 2012 at 12:56 pm

    @WereBear: Maybe he is a toddler. I don’t know. He’s definitely not an adult. He hasn’t dealt with his inner demons. Maybe he is a toddler, what with the sulking and all.

    I can’t wait to see how this dynamic plays out on the campaign trail. Mitt is going to be livid inside that the base loves Ryan more and he was forced to choose him. But he can’t show that anger, so he’ll try to hide it. And fail. It’ll come out somehow. Maybe he’ll make backhanded slaps at Ryan. Maybe he’ll demonize the base. Maybe he’ll do something incredibly stupid to show he’s “in charge.” It’ll come out.

  22. 22.

    amk

    August 11, 2012 at 12:58 pm

    @Martin: @Belafon (formerly anonevent): dang, eleventeenth dimensional chess from that kenyan, muslin?

  23. 23.

    JoyceH

    August 11, 2012 at 12:58 pm

    Okay, I think I’m going to have to join the loony right fringe and start demanding Obama release his school records.

    I want to KNOW what grades he got at Hogwarts and at the Jedi Academy. (I’ll bet they’re pretty good.)

  24. 24.

    Ben Franklin

    August 11, 2012 at 12:58 pm

    It’s a perfect storm of blandness, which can only be interesting if the attack ads continue on Bain, and now SS/Medicare.

    Don’t geevum an inch.

  25. 25.

    TK421

    August 11, 2012 at 12:59 pm

    @Belafon (formerly anonevent):

    “Reid sounds like he’s going to change the filibuster rules next congress.”

    Oh good, just in time.

    That will help the Democrats if they control both houses and the presidency.

  26. 26.

    Dennis G.

    August 11, 2012 at 1:00 pm

    @amk: There is that firebagger/Norquist alliance that must always be defended, so it is not such a surprise that they show up in any thread where Grover is mentioned…

  27. 27.

    Alison

    August 11, 2012 at 1:01 pm

    @Yuppers: I hardly think my comment showed “outrage”. And yes, I saw the metaphor, but even still…it just bugged me, and I expressed so calmly.

  28. 28.

    Davis X. Machina

    August 11, 2012 at 1:01 pm

    @Hill Dweller: Obama did the same thing with Joe Biden, IIRC. It’s a common flub, well on the way to a tradition now…

  29. 29.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    August 11, 2012 at 1:02 pm

    @JoyceH: Those are not the grades you’re looking for.

  30. 30.

    amk

    August 11, 2012 at 1:02 pm

    @Dennis G.: Aha, gotcha. Had forgotten all about that jane baby/grover love fest.

  31. 31.

    Hypatia's Momma

    August 11, 2012 at 1:03 pm

    We just need a president to sign this stuff. We don’t need someone to think it up or design it.

    …the House and Senate doing the work with the president signing bills. His job is to be captain of the team, to sign the legislation that has already been prepared.

    That’s…not the job of the President. That whole “separation of powers” thing in the Holy Writ is there to avoid just that.

  32. 32.

    Ben Franklin

    August 11, 2012 at 1:04 pm

    @Hill Dweller:

    Do you think Romney can tolerate a subservient role? :)

  33. 33.

    The Dangerman

    August 11, 2012 at 1:06 pm

    He has rolled over to show Grover his nutters?!

    /needs glasses

  34. 34.

    lacp

    August 11, 2012 at 1:06 pm

    @wrb: Of course he’s fearful. How would you like to be made to ride on the roof rack?

  35. 35.

    amk

    August 11, 2012 at 1:07 pm

    @Martin: So basically obummer thrust the veep candidate, the 2012 elections framing etc. on mittbot? Love it.

  36. 36.

    Violet

    August 11, 2012 at 1:07 pm

    @Ben Franklin: Romney cannot. He’s used to being the one to tell others what to do. He won’t last long in the “being told what to do” role. He’ll revolt. How he’ll revolt is the question.

  37. 37.

    danah gaz (fka gaz)

    August 11, 2012 at 1:07 pm

    @Ben Franklin: I think Romney has demonstrated that he’s more than willing to be subservient.

    To money.

  38. 38.

    Martin

    August 11, 2012 at 1:09 pm

    @amk: Well, I think Ryan is a genuine case of 11 dimensional chess. I think Obama wanted to keep a recent governor off the ticket because it’s easy for governors to advance positive claims and policies – particularly when so many of their state recoveries came thanks to Obama’s stimulus. So they’d be strong runners simply by claiming credit for Obama’s achievements – and that’s a difficult thing to run against.

    In Ryan, there’s nothing there. There’s nothing to take credit for. There’s no evidence for his ideas. And while the tea party loves this guy, the GOP hates him. That’s not a recipe to pull in undecided voters.

    And if Obama wanted to have a referendum on income equality and fairness for the middle class, he couldn’t have picked a better pair of opponents.

  39. 39.

    Hill Dweller

    August 11, 2012 at 1:10 pm

    In 2005, Ryan wrote The Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2005, which, obviously, was an attempt to privatize social security.

    It was too radical for Dubya’s administration…

  40. 40.

    Ben Franklin

    August 11, 2012 at 1:10 pm

    @Violet: @danah gaz (fka gaz):

    Holy Moly. He is rubber. You’re both right :)

  41. 41.

    Hypatia's Momma

    August 11, 2012 at 1:11 pm

    @danah gaz (fka gaz):
    To be fair, I’m willing to be subservient for that sort of money, too. But then, I don’t want to be President and I’m opposed to harming others to get it.

  42. 42.

    Martin

    August 11, 2012 at 1:11 pm

    Romney Campaign Raises More Than $1M In First Four Hours Of Ryan Ticket

    Unfortunately, for all we know that means that Adelson wrote another check. Pre Citizen United, that might have meant something.

  43. 43.

    Linda Featheringill

    August 11, 2012 at 1:12 pm

    I don’t think that Romney is used to the subservient role. Or being an also-ran, Ryan & whatshisname. It probably will be very stressful.

    Where’d I put that popcorn?

  44. 44.

    JGabriel

    August 11, 2012 at 1:12 pm

    __
    __
    Dennis G. @ Top:

    With his pick of Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney has surrendered to the crazies. He has rolled over to show Grover and nutters his belly—hoping for a petting, but fearful of a beating. They own him. He is their rubber stamp.

    The last time Romney implemented a program Republicans designed and advocated, it got called Romneycare and the entire Republican base hated it.

    Does Romney really think it’d work out any different this time?

    Romney will do what his base and backers tell him, then, when it fails miserably, they’ll blame him, call him a secret liberal, and look for the next “real, pure” conservative to do their fantasy bidding.

    .

  45. 45.

    Bruce S

    August 11, 2012 at 1:16 pm

    I love this choice – it actually doubles down on the sociopathic aspects of Romney’s record. Paul Ryan is Dick Cheney’s favorite congressman (“I worship the ground he walks on”), he’s an open advocate of the sociopathic morality of Ayn Rand (“Rand provided the clearest moral foundation for capitalism”), and Ryan’s budget drives up deficits, increases inequality and actually increases the cost of providing health care to seniors – not just for seniors themselves, but as % of GDP which is the exact wrong direction for any putative health care “reform.”

    Romney has extinquished any intimation that he might be a secret moderate pandering to the lunatic base – a Bloomberg type in a Tea Party Trojan Horse. Ann Coulter’s hair was on fire this past week. This coming week she’ll be slightly less hysterical, except in claiming victory over any intimations of sanity or moderation coming from the Romney campaign. Ditto Sean Hannity. That’s what Romney buys with Ryan. He’s more than welcome to it. Even the execrable Chuck Todd seemed to be shaking his head at this one – acknowledging it as a signal of Romney’s weakness, in effect an act of desperation. Ryan is the thinking right-wing crank’s Sarah Palin. He probably DOES “read all of them.”

  46. 46.

    4tehlulz

    August 11, 2012 at 1:17 pm

    So under a Romney administration, who would Mitt outsource contol of the nuclear arsenal to?

  47. 47.

    OzoneR

    August 11, 2012 at 1:17 pm

    @Martin:

    And if Obama wanted to have a referendum on income equality and fairness for the middle class, he couldn’t have picked a better pair of opponents.

    What’s likely to happen I think is the election turns into the issue of the deficit/debt/spending cause that’s what Romney will have Ryan speak about. The main danger for Dems here is people think that and the economy/jobs are linked because they’re both bad.

    It’s one of those “if p happens with q, then p must lead to q” situations.

  48. 48.

    JGabriel

    August 11, 2012 at 1:17 pm

    __
    __
    Hill Dweller:

    Willard is already trying to distance himself from Ryan’s budget, saying they don’t support every line of it.

    I’m imagining a thought balloon over Ryan’s head in response: “Jesus, that was quick. Thanks for watching my back, jackass.”

    .

  49. 49.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    August 11, 2012 at 1:22 pm

    @4tehlulz:

    Halliburton. Dick Cheney will never go away or die.

  50. 50.

    NancyDarling

    August 11, 2012 at 1:23 pm

    @Alison: Dainty sensibilities much?

  51. 51.

    danah gaz (fka gaz)

    August 11, 2012 at 1:23 pm

    @Hypatia’s Momma: I hate to quote Fight Club for nuggets of wisdom, but sometimes Chuck Palahniuk was spot on.

    “The things you own end up owning you” (movie)

    “the things you used to own, now they own you.” (book)

    In a rare instance of a movie outshining it’s written precursor, the movie quote is better.

    Anyway, fuck money. Being poor is better.

    Ask a Buddhist. Better yet, ask yourself if you’d REALLY like to be Mitt Romney. Or do you think you’d escape that somehow? I’m fairly certain he was born human.

  52. 52.

    OzoneR

    August 11, 2012 at 1:26 pm

    @danah gaz (fka gaz):

    Anyway, fuck money. Being poor is better.

    As true as that is, American society doesn’t make it possible to live poor. It forces you to be a slave to money for survival.

  53. 53.

    Todd

    August 11, 2012 at 1:26 pm

    I’m now watching Billy Jack on Netflix, in honor of the firebaggers on this thread.

  54. 54.

    sagesource

    August 11, 2012 at 1:28 pm

    @NR: Almost correct. But you forgot one thing. The President can start a war by himself. He’s Commander in Chief, after all. Good luck on Congress trying to defund the Crusade against Iran after it’s already stared and American troops have died.

  55. 55.

    danah gaz (fka gaz)

    August 11, 2012 at 1:30 pm

    @OzoneR: I think it’s relative.

    Certainly, I don’t like wondering where my next meal will come from. But OTOH, I’ve cast off the shackles of a six figure income years ago, and am immeasurably better off for it.

    Maybe I should put it this way:

    If you chase money, you’re in a rat race. Even if you win, ultimately you lose. How many wealthy people do you know who are content?

    People confuse what they want. Most people I know who believe money will make them happy, actually want peace. They conflate money with freedom and leap from there to peace, and yet it’s an ever dangled carrot. They hope money will bring them peace and it never does.

    Cut out the middle man. Chase peace.

    Or as that great sage Douglas Adams put it: “The problem was this: Most of the people were unhappy most of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this, but they involved the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because it wasn’t the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.” (apologies to him, quoting from memory)

  56. 56.

    AxelFoley

    August 11, 2012 at 1:34 pm

    @NR:

    It’s okay. Nobody can do anything without 60 votes in the Senate. Or so I was repeatedly told in 2009 and 2010.

    That’s cool. We never had 60 votes in the first place, asshole.

  57. 57.

    wrb

    August 11, 2012 at 1:39 pm

    With his pick of Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney has surrendered to the crazies. He has rolled over to show Grover and nutters his belly—hoping for a petting, but fearful of a beating. They own him.

    I’m thinking that they are going to be crying soon. Their blue-eyed boy and their policies are now tied to a weak Romney campaign with fatal ethics problems.

    This is a perfect opportunity for the Democrats to pound both into a bloody pulp that will never rise again.

    Their play should have been to stay clear of Mitt and try for a coup in Tampa.

    Well played, Obama

  58. 58.

    danah gaz (fka gaz)

    August 11, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    @AxelFoley: Let’s hope that since Romney raised the stakes of this to a referendum on ideology (by bringing Ryan on to the ticket) that when Obama crushes him in November the butthurt will rain down on the downticket races as well.

    Let’s bury Ayn Rand once and for all. Huzzah!

  59. 59.

    The Other Alex Jones

    August 11, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    And with this materstroke, the Brothers Koch probably will spin up a false-flag operation to make Romney somehow become incapable of holding office, forcing Ryan to the Presidency. This assumes of course that the GOP wins the Presidency; this will be done just after he’s sworn in as to not cause chaos between election and inauguration. (And with Mitt’s ‘accidental’ pronouncement of Ryan as ‘The next President of the United States’, who can argue that?)

    @Hill Dweller:

    The Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2005

    Gawd does that sound Telelvangeical.

  60. 60.

    danah gaz (fka gaz)

    August 11, 2012 at 1:42 pm

    @wrb: “Their play should have been to stay clear of Mitt and try for a coup in Tampa.”

    Honestly, I think that would have been even worse for the GOP. Try as I might, I can’t envision a scenario where changing candidates 3 months before the election would have been anything short of disaster.

  61. 61.

    danah gaz (fka gaz)

    August 11, 2012 at 1:48 pm

    @Hill Dweller: “Willard is already trying to distance himself from Ryan’s budget, saying they don’t support every line of it.”

    LOL!

    So he picked his Veep, and can’t even stand by him a few hours after announcement? That should play in Peoria.

    LOL LOL LOL!

  62. 62.

    Ben Cisco

    August 11, 2012 at 1:50 pm

    @4tehlulz: Netanyahu, who else?

  63. 63.

    wrb

    August 11, 2012 at 1:53 pm

    @danah gaz (fka gaz):

    Honestly, I think that would have been even worse for the GOP. Try as I might, I can’t envision a scenario where changing candidates 3 months before the election would have been anything short of disaster.

    I don’t see them winning this election either way. Mitt is damaged and it is too late to switch. However I think the right-wing ideology would have emerged less damaged if they’d stayed clear of Mitt.

  64. 64.

    wrb

    August 11, 2012 at 1:56 pm

    @danah gaz (fka gaz):

    So he picked his Veep, and can’t even stand by him a few hours after announcement? That should play in Peoria.

    Man, the dude is limber. The floppery reminds me of the guy who danced with Funkadelic.

    What courage Mitt has projected today.

  65. 65.

    Chris

    August 11, 2012 at 2:17 pm

    Again, I understand Grover’s wet dream, being that that’s exactly how things worked in the Gilded Age, but I wonder how they square it with the massive security state that’s appeared in the meantime. Those things aren’t run by committee. Maybe a de factor power sharing agreement, where the president abdicates all domestic responsibilities and Congress abdicates all foreign ones?

  66. 66.

    danah gaz (fka gaz)

    August 11, 2012 at 2:19 pm

    @wrb: I’ve said this early (since the GOP primaries opened up), and so often that it will probably end up etched on my tombstone:

    Romney will win the nomination and lose the general.

    Nobody wanted to bet me. Wankers. I could use some new boots =)

  67. 67.

    Bruce S

    August 11, 2012 at 2:55 pm

    Most provocative comment I’ve read to date on the rationale for Ryan’s choice, from Noam Sheiber:

    …the key recent development is that Romney is poised to lose a race he should by all rights be winning, and conservatives are poised to blame this loss on his ideological moderation. (He not only gave people health care, he wants credit for it!). Against this backdrop, the rationale for the Ryan pick strikes me as pretty clear: Ryan is the way Romney and his aides escape blame for their now-likely defeat—blame which would have vicious and unrelenting—and pin it in on conservatives instead. With only minor historical revisions, they will be able to tell a story about how Romney was keeping the race close through early August, at which point the party’s conservative darling joined the ticket and sent the poll numbers into steady decline.

    According to this narrative, the campaign will merely be guilty of a political misdemeanor—being bullied by conservatives into a lousy running mate…

  68. 68.

    WereBear

    August 11, 2012 at 3:02 pm

    @Bruce S: Makes a lot of sense to me. Number one rule of the rising MBA: Escape all blame.

    However, does this fellow explain why “Mit should be winning”? Is that based on the economy? Which admittedly sucks, but a lot of people still blame the Republicans for that; rightly so.

  69. 69.

    WaterGirl

    August 11, 2012 at 3:02 pm

    @Redshift: You guys keep mentioning new ads. LInks, please?

    Edited for politeness.

  70. 70.

    Mike E

    August 11, 2012 at 3:06 pm

    rMoney/rAyn for Amercia

  71. 71.

    MsInformed

    August 11, 2012 at 3:12 pm

    @Ben Franklin: Ask Ann.

  72. 72.

    Gravenstone

    August 11, 2012 at 3:51 pm

    I fully expect multiple ads featuring the available footage of Norquist talking about how all he wants in a Republican president is a warm body with enough digits to manipulate the signing pen. No thinking required (or is that allowed?)

    By election day, Norquist will be as well known (if not better) than Romney/Ryan. And with his exposure, one hopes the Republican hopes fade with him.

  73. 73.

    Villago Delenda Est

    August 11, 2012 at 9:03 pm

    @Martin:

    But the base embraced him under the “Obama must be scared of this guy because he talks about him so much” theory.

    Which goes to show just how easy it is to manipulate the utter fucktards of the base.

  74. 74.

    LanceThruster

    August 11, 2012 at 9:36 pm

    This is either a tongue twister or a Beetlejuice/Bloody Mary incantation —

    Rubber Mitty Ryan Rumper
    Rubber Mitty Ryan Rumper
    Rubber Mitty Ryan Rumper

  75. 75.

    Rome Again

    August 12, 2012 at 1:37 am

    I don’t have a search function at the moment to check and see if anyone has posted this, but, Free Republic is still standing against the Romney ticket, even with Ryan on it.

    I gotta hand it to them on their principled stand, even if they’re crazy. I admire the steadfast stand they are taking:

    From Jim Robinson:

    “Except for his unfortunate go along to get along support of TARP, bailouts, stimulus spending and the increased credit limit, etc, Ryan is a pretty good choice. Probably the best choice of the RINOS that were on Romney’s short list. I support Ryan for the vice presidency. Wish he were at the top of the ticket, though.
    But I still cannot and will not support the grand father of ObamaCare. Romney still loves and brags about his bastard brainchild, RomneyCare, even today when he knows what an anti-liberty socialist POS it is.
    And the fact that he advocated that abortion should be safe and legal in America for over three decades of his adult lifetime and even advocated that Roe v Wade should be supported and sustained as settled law precludes any consideration whatsoever by this pro-life Christian for Myth Romney for the presidency.
    And the fact that he boasted that he would be better for “gay rights” than Ted Kennedy, and proved it just increases my resistance.”

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

2023 Pet Calendars

Pet Calendar Preview: A
Pet Calendar Preview: B

*Calendars can not be ordered until Cafe Press gets their calendar paper in.

Recent Comments

  • A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan) on TGIFriday Morning Open Thread: Busy, Busy, Busy (Jan 27, 2023 @ 3:50pm)
  • Bill Arnold on Banned Book Drops (Open Thread) (Jan 27, 2023 @ 3:49pm)
  • Glidwrith on TGIFriday Morning Open Thread: Busy, Busy, Busy (Jan 27, 2023 @ 3:47pm)
  • PaulWartenberg on Banned Book Drops (Open Thread) (Jan 27, 2023 @ 3:47pm)
  • Josie on Banned Book Drops (Open Thread) (Jan 27, 2023 @ 3:46pm)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
We All Need A Little Kindness
Favorite Dogs & Cats
Classified Documents: A Primer

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup

Front-pager Twitter

John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
TaMara
David Anderson
ActualCitizensUnited

Shop Amazon via this link to support Balloon Juice   

Join the Fight!

Join the Fight Signup Form
All Join the Fight Posts

Balloon Juice Events

5/14  The Apocalypse
5/20  Home Away from Home
5/29  We’re Back, Baby
7/21  Merging!

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!