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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2012 / Binders of Women–it’s not just a meme with its own twitter and facebook page, it’s a lie.

Binders of Women–it’s not just a meme with its own twitter and facebook page, it’s a lie.

by Soonergrunt|  October 16, 201211:58 pm| 129 Comments

This post is in: Election 2012, Open Threads, Previous Site Maintenance, Romney of the Uncanny Valley, THIS WAS AWESOME

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Romney claimed that when he became Governor of Massachusetts,  that he, not knowing any competent women executives (that’s a story in its own right) that he wanted to add women to his cabinet so he had binders of women prepared and delivered to him.

It’s all a lie.

What actually happened was that in 2002 — prior to the election, not even knowing yet whether it would be a Republican or Democratic administration — a bipartisan group of women in Massachusetts formed MassGAP to address the problem of few women in senior leadership positions in state government. There were more than 40 organizations involved with the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus (also bipartisan) as the lead sponsor.

They did the research and put together the binder full of women qualified for all the different cabinet positions, agency heads, and authorities and commissions. They presented this binder to Governor Romney when he was elected.

I have written about this before, in various contexts; tonight I’ve checked with several people directly involved in the MassGAP effort who confirm that this history as I’ve just presented it is correct — and that Romney’s claim tonight, that he asked for such a study, is false.

Further, the positions that he staffed with female executives were all in government agencies about which he didn’t care, or which he was actively trying to end, and as Romney’s administration continued in the state government, the percentage of women in executive positions declined from 30% before he took office to 27.6% when he left.

Consider this another open thread.  On another note, as the evening wears on, there will be less stress on the server and site performance will return to normal.  I think over all, we did very well.  Kudos to DougJ and Mistermix for the live chat.  I was approving comments as fast as I could read them, and others were as well and we just kept up.  That live chat was the way to go.

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Reader Interactions

129Comments

  1. 1.

    jwb

    October 17, 2012 at 12:01 am

    I thought the live chat was excellent. It never overwhelmed my screen, though it was impossible to read everything if I looked for even a moment at the TV.

  2. 2.

    They

    October 17, 2012 at 12:02 am

    You didn’t bind that!

  3. 3.

    Mark S.

    October 17, 2012 at 12:03 am

    Eh, I’m going to re-post my last comment since there’s a brand new shiny thread here.

    McMegan shows why she gets paid the big bucks:

    Liberals will loudly proclaim that he won, trying to work the day after story. Conservatives will do the same for their guy.

    Profound. And my favorite:

    The dumbest moments of these debates is when they just stand their calling each other liars

    Don’t just stand their bust a move!

  4. 4.

    jwb

    October 17, 2012 at 12:04 am

    Still surprised that Obama’s numbers in CO suggest he did better in the debate with men (+5) than women (+3).

  5. 5.

    Delia

    October 17, 2012 at 12:04 am

    Is there any subject on which Mittens does not lie? How would you tell if he actually told the truth about something?

  6. 6.

    Soonergrunt

    October 17, 2012 at 12:04 am

    Anna Marie Cox on Twitter just now:
    “PAT BUCHANAN CALLS IT FOR OBAMA. We can all just quit now.”

  7. 7.

    Duane

    October 17, 2012 at 12:04 am

    i recall a scene in Big Love in which i think alby or maybe roman is looking through a binder full of pictures of girls or young women for future brides…. if someone has the series on DVD this clip would be awesome right now….. or is that hitting below the belt…

  8. 8.

    Bruce S

    October 17, 2012 at 12:05 am

    OMFG! A Willard falsehood! Only problem with this is it’s becoming a “Dog Bites Man!” story.

  9. 9.

    Nicole

    October 17, 2012 at 12:05 am

    I’m still flabbergasted that one of the MSM corrected a falsehood, and in the moment. I guess we know who’s off the Romney Christmas card list.

  10. 10.

    handy

    October 17, 2012 at 12:06 am

    @Soonergrunt:

    Cranky ole Pat will do that now and then. He about creamed himself after O’s 2008 DNC acceptance speech.

  11. 11.

    Bill

    October 17, 2012 at 12:07 am

    The instant that Romney uttered the bit about binders, and actively looking for women to fill positions, I called BS and commented thusly on the liveblog. I figured it was a lie, just based on the way it came out of his mouth. Who knew that it actually was, for real, a lie.

    Well, you did.

  12. 12.

    scav

    October 17, 2012 at 12:08 am

    Live chat is pretty much a fire hose, so hard to keep up with any disractions such as the actual debate. Was it switched off earlier and without warning this time? Maybe that could have caused the gerbil death? Stripped the gear going from afterburners to first?

  13. 13.

    arguingwithsignposts

    October 17, 2012 at 12:08 am

    Okay, I’m going to post the Joseph Ducreaux from the previous thread: My organizers of paper products, they overflow with wenches.

  14. 14.

    TooManyJens

    October 17, 2012 at 12:08 am

    I’m about to set some motherfuckers on fire over this whole “he didn’t call it an act of terror.” Apparently it doesn’t count unless you say the specific incantation “The attack in Benghazi was an act of terrorism by dirty, rotten terrorists.” Because some people don’t have the reading comprehension for anything less blatant.

    Not to mention that the only thing that’s important to the bugfuck Right is that Obama didn’t say the magic T word enough times. What he actually did, or what Romney would do differently, doesn’t matter. You just have to say the right word so they don’t feel emasculated.

  15. 15.

    ? Martin

    October 17, 2012 at 12:08 am

    @Delia: It’s really alarming how facile he is at lying.

  16. 16.

    Bruce S

    October 17, 2012 at 12:09 am

    @Soonergrunt:

    The one thing Pat Buchanan can be trusted to judge and analyze with some measure of integrity is speeches and debates. I guess it’s because of his speechwriter background. Weird but true. I remember him going over one of Obama’s ’08 speeches, I think it was the night he won, like a kid on Christmas morning, giving Obama mad props.

  17. 17.

    Matt McIrvin

    October 17, 2012 at 12:10 am

    @Duane: Already on the tumblr.

  18. 18.

    Tractarian

    October 17, 2012 at 12:10 am

    From the transcript:

    Now, Governor Romney was a very successful investor. If somebody came to you, Governor, with a plan that said, here, I want to spend $7 or $8 trillion, and then we’re going to pay for it, but we can’t tell you until maybe after the election how we’re going to do it, you wouldn’t take such a sketchy deal and neither should you, the American people, because the math doesn’t add up.

    Love how Obama called him a “very successful investor”. Perfect back-handed compliment.

  19. 19.

    Roger Moore

    October 17, 2012 at 12:10 am

    @Delia:

    Is there any subject on which Mittens does not lie?

    He doesn’t like about subjects he never talks about. I can’t think of anything else.

  20. 20.

    Wag

    October 17, 2012 at 12:11 am

    @jwb:

    now that’s interesting

  21. 21.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    October 17, 2012 at 12:11 am

    Never mind.

  22. 22.

    JWR

    October 17, 2012 at 12:12 am

    The live chat site worked fine for me for about 70 minutes, at which point it quickly died. Aside from that, good times.

  23. 23.

    Duane

    October 17, 2012 at 12:12 am

    @Matt McIrvin:
    well smarter folks than me are already on it…. i guess i need to use the tumblr thingy….

  24. 24.

    AnotherBruce

    October 17, 2012 at 12:12 am

    Slightly off topic, but the flip side of the “act of terror” lie that Romney tried to get away with was the fact that he implied that the President tried to blame the attacks on a video. Of course the President did no such thing in the time frame that Romney was implying. Of course, it wasn’t a direct lie. But the 14 days that Romney was talking about was the time frame in which the President brought up the video.

    I don’t watch enough cable to judge, but, thank you Candy Crowley.

  25. 25.

    Soonergrunt

    October 17, 2012 at 12:12 am

    @Bill: Well, somebody else knew it. I just searched for and found it.

  26. 26.

    Wag

    October 17, 2012 at 12:13 am

    Best line of the evening

    “Please procede, Governor.”

  27. 27.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    October 17, 2012 at 12:13 am

    Binders of wimmin!!
    Binders Of wimmin!!
    My eyes are swimmin with
    Binders of wimmin

  28. 28.

    BGinCHI

    October 17, 2012 at 12:14 am

    Somewhere Tiger Woods was like, shit yeah, binders full of women.

    Romney is so pro-women he’s going to let them move up in the Mormon hierarchy.

    Wait. No.

  29. 29.

    bemused

    October 17, 2012 at 12:15 am

    @Wag:

    Better yet was how nonplussed Mitt was by that.

  30. 30.

    jwb

    October 17, 2012 at 12:15 am

    @? Martin: he’s clearly had years of practice. The question I have is whether he knowingly lies or whether he believes the lies as he concocts them. He’s so slick with them I have to think he actually believes them as he says them. Yet some of the lies are so ridiculous. It’s a mystery.

  31. 31.

    SatanicPanic

    October 17, 2012 at 12:16 am

    @AnotherBruce: I don’t get why Romney thought that was such a great attack. I mean, who cares what he calls it? Obama has already proved what he does to terrorists, Romney is just nitpicking.

  32. 32.

    amk

    October 17, 2012 at 12:16 am

    Tweeted. Sooner, the better.

  33. 33.

    AnotherBruce

    October 17, 2012 at 12:16 am

    @jwb:

    He was the alpha male, unfortunately we haven’t advanced as a species as we would like to think.

  34. 34.

    Spaghetti Lee

    October 17, 2012 at 12:16 am

    Conservative facebook friend (good guy to talk sports and movies with, even if our politics are polar opposites) said that Jim Lehrer was the best moderator of the three. I think the translation is “we got whupped.”

  35. 35.

    arguingwithsignposts

    October 17, 2012 at 12:17 am

    The binder thing really overwhelmed a few other zingers Obama got in, like at the end, when he closed with “I believe Governor Romney is a good man.” All I could hear was “For Brutus is an honourable man; So are they all, all honourable men-“

  36. 36.

    Redshift

    October 17, 2012 at 12:18 am

    @Bill: Yeah, I had the exact same reaction. I turned to Ms. Redshift and said “I can’t wait to read how this story is a complete lie.”

  37. 37.

    Hill Dweller

    October 17, 2012 at 12:18 am

    I loved how the President tied Willard to Dubya on fiscal policy, but called him far more extreme on social policy.

  38. 38.

    The Dangerman

    October 17, 2012 at 12:18 am

    Romney has two core beliefs; one, how to get more money (this includes avoiding taxes) and, two, he really, REALLY wants to be President (so he can cut taxes, mostly, but there is an Oedipus complex there that even puts Dubya to shame). Everything else is a lie suited to that particular moment as he perceives requires it so he can be President, something his Daddy couldn’t do. When he loses, we might see him crack up, saying “Rose Garden” over and over instead of “Rosebud”.

    His problem going into the next debate is Foreign Policy is his weakest area (by far). I don’t see how he can do any better than a draw in that one and, it’s far more likely, he gets schooled again.

  39. 39.

    Mnemosyne

    October 17, 2012 at 12:18 am

    The live feed made me a little seasick, but I’m hoping to scan through it when I watch the debate on Tivo.

  40. 40.

    jwb

    October 17, 2012 at 12:21 am

    @AnotherBruce: I actually found Crowley’s explanation confusing. I also didn’t closely follow the official explanations because it was clear to me as soon as I heard the weapons involved that the attack was a a carefully planned action. In fact I presumed all the official accounts were noise to disguise what we knew in the hopes of quickly getting the attackers.

  41. 41.

    jwb

    October 17, 2012 at 12:21 am

    @AnotherBruce: I actually found Crowley’s explanation confusing. I also didn’t closely follow the official explanations because it was clear to me as soon as I heard the weapons involved that the attack was a a carefully planned action. In fact I presumed all the official accounts were noise to disguise what we knew in the hopes of quickly getting the attackers.

  42. 42.

    jwb

    October 17, 2012 at 12:21 am

    @AnotherBruce: I actually found Crowley’s explanation confusing. I also didn’t closely follow the official explanations because it was clear to me as soon as I heard the weapons involved that the attack was a a carefully planned action. In fact I presumed all the official accounts were noise to disguise what we knew in the hopes of quickly getting the attackers.

  43. 43.

    Soonergrunt

    October 17, 2012 at 12:21 am

    @amk: thanks! I never remember to tweet my own articles.

  44. 44.

    mai naem

    October 17, 2012 at 12:22 am

    @Wag: “Please proceed”

    Obama looked like he was arguing with an obstinate child . For real. It really looked like a father talking to a teenager. “uh huh, yeah, and you did that because your friends did that?? So if your friends stuck their hand on the stove you would too?”

  45. 45.

    AnotherBruce

    October 17, 2012 at 12:22 am

    @SatanicPanic: He was desperate and made the mistake of believing his own propoganda. All politicians are prone to this, some less than others.

  46. 46.

    bemused

    October 17, 2012 at 12:23 am

    @SatanicPanic:

    Many business owners, big or small, are bullshitters so I would think in Mitt’s line of work, leveraged buy outs, you would find the most practiced bullshitters around.

  47. 47.

    jwb

    October 17, 2012 at 12:23 am

    FYWP. Submit comment button didn’t seem to be working on the iPad. But it was obviously working all too well.

  48. 48.

    Redshift

    October 17, 2012 at 12:23 am

    @jwb: “On Bullshit” is the go-to text here. He’s BS-ing, he doesn’t give a damn about whether what he’s saying is true or not, or how obvious the lie is, only about whether he’s effectively creating the impression he wants.

    That’s not saying anything about whether or not he knows he’s lying, he may well know, but it’s obvious he doesn’t care.

  49. 49.

    Mike in NC

    October 17, 2012 at 12:23 am

    What a fucking dirtbag.

  50. 50.

    MattR

    October 17, 2012 at 12:23 am

    Could not force myself to watch the debate on the flight back from Vegas. But loving all the commentary I’ve seen since I got back home.

  51. 51.

    amk

    October 17, 2012 at 12:24 am

    @Soonergrunt: My pleasure dood.

  52. 52.

    scav

    October 17, 2012 at 12:26 am

    @Redshift: that book should practically be the operaters manual for this century (so far, certainly).

  53. 53.

    jwb

    October 17, 2012 at 12:27 am

    @MattR: If you get a chance, watch it. I found it even more entertaining than the Biden-Ryan debate.

  54. 54.

    Roger Moore

    October 17, 2012 at 12:27 am

    @arguingwithsignposts:
    I think I prefer The Most Interesting Man in the World.

  55. 55.

    Suffern ACE

    October 17, 2012 at 12:28 am

    Lets see. Bizarre debate moment last week was Ryan answering a question about the auto bailout with a story about a car crash to prove that Romney was a car guy. I think tonight will be about assult rifles and single parents.

  56. 56.

    amk

    October 17, 2012 at 12:28 am

    How did this lying pos ever get to this position of a contender ? Thank you massholes.

  57. 57.

    Redshift

    October 17, 2012 at 12:28 am

    The other thing about the women cabinet appointees story, as emptywheel pointed out on Twitter — Romney had been in business consulting for 25 years and didn’t know any women executives?

  58. 58.

    AnotherBruce

    October 17, 2012 at 12:29 am

    @jwb: It’s a reasonable assumption that Obama would choose his words carefully the day after an attack like this. But I’m not sure what part of Crowley’s explanation you found confusing.

  59. 59.

    suzanne

    October 17, 2012 at 12:29 am

    Being out west, the debate starts at 6pm, and I’m not home from work at that time, so I DVR and watch about a half an hour behind. I’d love to take part in one of the live chats sometime.

    I have hated Romney for a long time, but his slippery shadiness was really on full display this evening, and my aversion to him grew significantly. I didnt think that was even possible. He’s SO slimy. If there really are a few undecideds left out there, I think this should definitely help our POTUS tonight.

  60. 60.

    daverave

    October 17, 2012 at 12:30 am

    @The Dangerman:

    I thought Obama missed an opportunity when Mitt went off-topic on the whole investments in China thing, the blind trusts and going on and on and on about how Obama’s pension and investments inevitably have money in China. Would have been a perfect time for Obama to come back with something like: “Not everyone has their life revolve around money all of the time, governor.”

  61. 61.

    guachi

    October 17, 2012 at 12:30 am

    Upon further reflection, Obama saying “please proceed” as Romney was about to blow his Libya answer was one of the single greatest (unpracticed) debate moments ever.

    Almost all the other good lines from debates past were rehearsed in some way.

  62. 62.

    Joseph Nobles

    October 17, 2012 at 12:31 am

    Not only did Obama call the Benghazi attack an act of terror on September 12, he did it again on September 13.

    http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/13/remarks-president-campaign-event-las-vegas-nv

    Right there at the top. Yes, that was the Las Vegas fundraiser speech.

  63. 63.

    MattR

    October 17, 2012 at 12:31 am

    @jwb: Will do now that I am in the comfort of my own home where I can talk back to the TV while pacing around the living room.

  64. 64.

    TexasMango

    October 17, 2012 at 12:32 am

    There’s a focus group on MSNBC and they are all idiots. Every single one of them.

  65. 65.

    Joseph Nobles

    October 17, 2012 at 12:33 am

    @guachi: Oh, sweet Jesus, I now know that if I ever hear the President tell me to “please proceed,” it is time to reconsider all my life choices.

    I did seriously think the President was about to break a foot off.

  66. 66.

    WaterGirl

    October 17, 2012 at 12:33 am

    @Mnemosyne: You might want to keep the CoveritLive thread open until you watch the debate, then. I think if you close it and re-open it, you will have to press a link a bunch of times to see more and more of the comments.

    At least that’s how it worked for me last week.

  67. 67.

    Betsy

    October 17, 2012 at 12:33 am

    @jwb: My mom, who is a very good judge of character (and whose mom isn’t), says that he decides himself, that he has no self-awareness. May not actually know his own lies. Now that’s more frightening to me than if he is a calculated liar. Because what the hell he would do if elected, not even he can tell, and it wouldn’t be internally consistent even atthe barest minimum.

  68. 68.

    Redshift

    October 17, 2012 at 12:34 am

    @scav: The Bush Administration made so much more sense after I read it. Before that, I could understand why they lied, but I couldn’t understand why they would tell such obvious lies. The one I particularly remember was when Bush cut his vacation short and flew back to sign the Schaivo bill, and his press flack just said flat out “Oh, no, he didn’t come back early. He was always planning to come back now.” That completely mystified me until I read Frankfurt.

  69. 69.

    WaterGirl

    October 17, 2012 at 12:34 am

    @jwb:

    In fact I presumed all the official accounts were noise to disguise what we knew in the hopes of quickly getting the attackers.

    I have been thinking the same thing.

  70. 70.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    October 17, 2012 at 12:34 am

    @SatanicPanic: It’s a big thing on FOX News and talk radio, where they think it’s a “gate”. Or are trying to make it one at least, but so far it’s not getting too much traction outside their crazed world. This should help kill it.

    Mitt suffers from echo chamber syndrome, sometimes, thinks that what he hears in the insane-o-sphere is actually newsworthy.

  71. 71.

    Some Guy

    October 17, 2012 at 12:37 am

    Watching MSNBC’s undecided voter focus group. They are fucking idiots. The SNL sketch is clear. They keep saying Romney is a business man and did well in Massachusetts. Really stupid people. Easily impressionable and lacking basic information.

  72. 72.

    piratedan

    October 17, 2012 at 12:37 am

    I’m sure Mitt will get around to sharing his five point plan details about the same time that he discloses his tax returns from 2009 and 2010

  73. 73.

    jwb

    October 17, 2012 at 12:38 am

    @AnotherBruce: I was confused by what she said was happening in the 14 days after with the story about the video.

  74. 74.

    WaterGirl

    October 17, 2012 at 12:39 am

    @suzanne:

    I have hated Romney for a long time, but his slippery shadiness was really on full display this evening, and my aversion to him grew significantly. I didnt think that was even possible. He’s SO slimy. If there really are a few undecideds left out there, I think this should definitely help our POTUS tonight.

    I thought the same thing until I talked to my best friend tonight after the debate. He isn’t nearly as political as I am, and he did not recognize most of Romney’s lies as lies.

    He’s still planning to vote for Obama, but he was planning on that even before the debate. It really is true that we are in a position to really influence the outcome if we talk with other people we know who may not be as tuned in to the situation as we are.

  75. 75.

    Soonergrunt

    October 17, 2012 at 12:39 am

    @TexasMango: Yes. They are. From the lifelong Republican who is going to vote Republican, and the lifelong Democrat who is going to vote Democrat, and the three morons in the middle who are voting for either Obama or Romney because of things that they heard tonight that no one else on the fucking planet heard, and the three morons that are still undecided, every Goddamn one of them was a fucking idiot.

  76. 76.

    Redshift

    October 17, 2012 at 12:39 am

    @TexasMango:

    There’s a focus group on MSNBC and they are all idiots. Every single one of them.

    Yeah, I had to turn it off. Did you hear whether they are supposed to be “undecided”? I wasn’t paying attention at the start of the segment.

  77. 77.

    The Dangerman

    October 17, 2012 at 12:40 am

    @Betsy:

    Because what the hell he would do if elected…

    He would be Dubya on steroids; he’d get his huge tax cuts and his draconian budget cuts and he’d go vacation to clear brush (or whatever the fuck he does; I guess it’s boating). I don’t think he could give less of a shit about, say, Syria.

  78. 78.

    AnotherBruce

    October 17, 2012 at 12:40 am

    @TexasMango: Jesus, I finally got cable and I hear this. Cole has a point. I prefer right wingers to these stupid fucking people.

  79. 79.

    jwb

    October 17, 2012 at 12:41 am

    @Betsy: Yes, and if he doesn’t know he’s lying, you know none of his staff will ever be able to call him on it. The only thing they’ll be able to do is lock him up in the White House, just like they have him locked down on the campaign right now.

  80. 80.

    handy

    October 17, 2012 at 12:44 am

    @Bill E Pilgrim:

    Romney’s our first real Fox News candidate. His entire campaign is nothing but Roger Ailes-approved fax blast talking points.

  81. 81.

    jwb

    October 17, 2012 at 12:45 am

    @handy: Oddly enough, I get the impression from Murdoch’s Twitterfeed that he seems to think Romney is fucking incompetent.

  82. 82.

    Anya

    October 17, 2012 at 12:46 am

    MSNBC focus group was full of blethering morons. OMFG! They are really unbelievably dumb. I cannot get over how idiotic they sounded. They woman were the worst.

  83. 83.

    Anya

    October 17, 2012 at 12:47 am

    @Redshift: Undecideds from Ohio. Kay must be mortified.

  84. 84.

    Hill Dweller

    October 17, 2012 at 12:50 am

    @Some Guy:

    Watching MSNBC’s undecided voter focus group. They are fucking idiots. The SNL sketch is clear. They keep saying Romney is a business man and did well in Massachusetts. Really stupid people. Easily impressionable and lacking basic information.

    Willard had a 35% approval rating when he left office. How is that “doing well”?

  85. 85.

    Original Lee

    October 17, 2012 at 12:50 am

    I saw this piece today, and after tonight’s debate, I am even more convinced that De Vries knows Mitt very very well.

  86. 86.

    handy

    October 17, 2012 at 12:52 am

    @Hill Dweller:

    These people are smart. He did very well in Massachusetts.

  87. 87.

    batgirl

    October 17, 2012 at 12:55 am

    @TexasMango: You are being too nice to them.

  88. 88.

    handy

    October 17, 2012 at 12:55 am

    @Anya:

    Here’s hoping it’s more like “motivated.”

  89. 89.

    AnotherBruce

    October 17, 2012 at 12:56 am

    @jwb: Very simple, Romney was trying to imply that Obama was trying to blame the violence on a video and didn’t mention act of terror until 14 days later. Crowley mentioned he did call it an act of terror almost immediately that the Prez didn’t mention the video until 2 weeks later. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it’s certain that Obama labeled the attack as an “act of terror” the day after it happened.

  90. 90.

    Or something like that.Suffern Ace

    October 17, 2012 at 12:57 am

    @AnotherBruce: But did he call it a war? It’s important that he call it a war.

  91. 91.

    Gex

    October 17, 2012 at 1:02 am

    @Hill Dweller: They must be thinking of Romneycare.

  92. 92.

    SatanicPanic

    October 17, 2012 at 1:09 am

    @guachi: That was classic. It’s a trap Mitt! Obama wasn’t even trying to hide it.

  93. 93.

    Redshift

    October 17, 2012 at 1:09 am

    @AnotherBruce: And considering that Romney keeps referring to the “assassination” of the ambassador when (correct me if I’m wrong) he died as a result of the fire, it takes a lot of gall to try to make something of quibbles about Obama’s language.

  94. 94.

    Hill Dweller

    October 17, 2012 at 1:11 am

    @Gex:

    They must be thinking of Romneycare.

    Which Ryan’s medicaid cuts will likely end.

  95. 95.

    SatanicPanic

    October 17, 2012 at 1:13 am

    If you’re undecided right now, you’re basically like the person who skipped the first seven Harry Potter movies and now you’re confused at the start of the 8th and annoying everyone around you with your stupid fucking questions.

  96. 96.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    October 17, 2012 at 1:14 am

    @AnotherBruce:

    I prefer right wingers to these stupid fucking people.

    I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it’s an ethos.

  97. 97.

    Dexter's new approach

    October 17, 2012 at 1:14 am

    Not sure if the team should play up the binder moment or expose the bogus claim. I mean the binder sounding really bizarre, out-of-tune statement. As usual, Mitt is lying but don’t we have enough evidence of that? Let’s play up the weirdness.

    And I thought Mitt sounded really old-school patronizing in general in his comments towards the question. I mean we all agree that we need more flexibility at the workforce to take care of families. But Mitt seems was like his actions were: “sure sweety, go home and pick up the kids from soccer and make dinner, the men got this.”

  98. 98.

    DPS

    October 17, 2012 at 1:15 am

    We have a new collective noun for women. “A murder of crows,” “a pack of wolves,” “a school of fish,” and “a binder of women.”

  99. 99.

    fuckwit

    October 17, 2012 at 1:19 am

    I watched the TPM 100 seconds summary, and it looked like a guest shot on O’Lielly’s show. They just stood around interrupting each other and yelling at each other? And the moderator too? What the screaming fuck?

    That’s not a debate, that’s hurting America, Tucker Carlson style.

    But I guess that’s what the TV idiots wanted: a Jerry Springer brawl.

    We will not solve the problems of the 21st century by trying to conduct our politics as if it were 0th century gladiatorial combat.

  100. 100.

    jwb

    October 17, 2012 at 1:22 am

    @AnotherBruce: very odd that Romney didn’t have that timeline down. I guess he figured he could bluster through, but if he really thought Obama wouldn’t be prepared for Mitt on this item, it really means politically he’s not very smart. There are times you can gamble with BS, but there are also times when you’re going to get called on it, and this one had a high probability of being called.

  101. 101.

    fuckwit

    October 17, 2012 at 1:24 am

    I watched the TPM 100 seconds summary, and it looked like a guest shot on O’Lielly’s show. They just stood around interrupting each other and yelling at each other? And the moderator too? What the screaming fuck?

    That’s not a debate, that’s hurting America, Tucker Carlson style.

    But I guess that’s what the TV idiots wanted: a Jerry Springer brawl.

    We will not solve the problems of the 21st century by trying to conduct our politics as if it were 0th century gladiatorial combat.

    Still I guess it’s great that the President figured out how to win at that game.

  102. 102.

    TheMightyTrowel

    October 17, 2012 at 1:27 am

    @fuckwit: your concern is noted.

  103. 103.

    jwb

    October 17, 2012 at 1:28 am

    @fuckwit: you can have a debate or you can have a brawl. But if one guy shows up to debate and the other guy shows up to brawl, it will either end in a brawl or the debate guy will lose.

  104. 104.

    TheMightyTrowel

    October 17, 2012 at 1:28 am

    @fuckwit: your concern is noted.

  105. 105.

    Comrade Luke

    October 17, 2012 at 1:28 am

    A guy on my Facebook feed just posted: If the media does it’s job, Obama will lose his job over the Libya lie.

    So there’s that.

  106. 106.

    Laura

    October 17, 2012 at 1:29 am

    @fuckwit: Uh It’s kind of hard to put 95 minutes into 100 seconds without making it look like all they did was talk over each other. Which is not what happened at all.

  107. 107.

    Spaghetti Lee

    October 17, 2012 at 1:29 am

    @fuckwit:

    Huh. In a 90-minute debate, what do you suppose a journalist is going to pick for his video montage, the most dramatic clips, or the least?

    Maybe it speaks poorly to TPM, but as someone who actually watched the thing, I can assure you they did not spend the whole time screaming at each other.

  108. 108.

    jwb

    October 17, 2012 at 1:30 am

    @Comrade Luke: did you push back?

  109. 109.

    Comrade Luke

    October 17, 2012 at 1:35 am

    @jwb: No. There were already 18 comments and half a dozen likes supporting his comment. This is the same guy who posted a photo of what his 8th grade son decided on for a Halloween costume “on his own”: Obama as the devil, complete with horns and a pitchfork.

    It would be pissing in the ocean at this point. I just hid him from my news feed.

  110. 110.

    amk

    October 17, 2012 at 1:44 am

    @fuckwit: Totally typical ‘murkan clueless ? Watch the fucking debate.

  111. 111.

    James E. Powell

    October 17, 2012 at 1:46 am

    @jwb:

    On pushback in response to family/friends who post right-wing shit on facebook.

    Is there really any point to doing anything? I admit, I do occasionally respond because occasionally I just can’t take it.

    Recently, some one posted that Obama had run up more than half the total federal debt of $17 trillion and that we owed $11 trillion of it to the Chinese. So I responded with a link to FOX that refuted both claims. He responded with another completely untrue claim as if he had never made the first one.

    I have two brothers who are Limbaugh/FOX dependent for their information. They know I am educated in economics and law. They know I worked in the Ohio legislature on budget matters. They have known me all my life. And nothing I say to them, no reasoning, no questioning, does anything to change their Limbaugh/FOX dependent ways.

    If I can’t make a dent with my own brothers, what good is it to talk to strangers?

  112. 112.

    slightly_peeved

    October 17, 2012 at 1:48 am

    @Redshift:

    My wife imagined Jon Stewart going “go oooonnn..”

  113. 113.

    Felanius Kootea

    October 17, 2012 at 2:01 am

    @Comrade Luke: Please also hide him from our newsfeed on BJ if you’re not going to push back. We got enough jackasses like Sully in our corner screaming doom and gloom at the slightest hiccup – I’ve reached my naysayer saturation point.

  114. 114.

    Comrade Luke

    October 17, 2012 at 2:02 am

    @James E. Powell:

    A friend sent me a screen shot of his FB feed, where one of his friends posted:

    Fact – if the earth was 10ft closer to the sun we would all burn up and if it was 10ft further we would freeze to death…God is amazing!

    Someone replied to her post with the scientific explanation of why it’s not true:

    To anyone wondering, that’s not true. 1) Earth’s orbit is elliptical and the distance from the sun varies from around 147 million km to 152 mil km in a given year. 2) Every star has a habitable zone that is affected by the star and its intensity. Earth’s orbit could decrease by 4.5mil miles or decrease by 34mil miles and still be in the habitable zone . 3) If your claim was true any moderately sized earthquake could take us out of the habitable zone. Sorry.

    Her reply?

    Okay, that’s cool and all but don’t ever comment on my status telling me I’m wrong ever again. I didn’t ask you, did I? Answer: NO.

    They’re not going to listen, no matter what facts you provide.

  115. 115.

    amk

    October 17, 2012 at 2:08 am

    @Comrade Luke: Jeebus. That’s all.

  116. 116.

    Or something like that.Suffern Ace

    October 17, 2012 at 2:26 am

    @amk: Well, since I learned that fact from my minister – along with lots of other facts that turned out not to be true, I’m going to take a pass on the criticism. I was 12 though. It took me until I was 18 to learn that that was not true. Maybe she’ll come around.

  117. 117.

    amk

    October 17, 2012 at 2:44 am

    @Or something like that.Suffern Ace: That’s why I said Jeebus.

  118. 118.

    Eric U.

    October 17, 2012 at 3:14 am

    @jwb: don’t think Murdoch is stupid enough to eat his own dogfood. That was the most disturbing thing to me about GWBush’s presidency, that was the first crew that actually believed all the contradictory things that they have the rubes believing. Now the whole party has become unhinged, as has been well documented

  119. 119.

    Dream On

    October 17, 2012 at 5:13 am

    Doesn’t the villain in Sherlock Holmes’ “The Illustrious Cllent” (with Jeremy Brett) keep a binder full of women?

  120. 120.

    Frankensteinbeck

    October 17, 2012 at 6:05 am

    @Eric U.:
    Romney has definitely drunk the Kool Aid. In a series of debates where he’s reversed course on all his major stances to pretend he’s a moderate, he’s also parroted a number of the flakiest Wingnut memes. I live with a totebagger. His raving about Fast And Furious or blaming China’s monetary manipulation for the job situation made her scratch her head and wonder what this crazy man was jabbering about. The passion with which he bitched about the 47% should make it clear that he’s swallowed the counterfactual underpinnings of Wingnut thought. The man doesn’t just believe his wealth makes him a living god, but that half the country actually pays no taxes and lives off government handouts.

  121. 121.

    PreservedKillick

    October 17, 2012 at 6:35 am

    How did this lying pos ever get to this position of a contender ? Thank you massholes.

    We got rid of him as fast as we could. The rest of the country primaried him to where he is now.

    FWIW.

  122. 122.

    different-church-lady

    October 17, 2012 at 7:05 am

    @AnotherBruce:

    Crowley mentioned he did call it an act of terror almost immediately that the Prez didn’t mention the video until 2 weeks later.

    In other words, when Crowley said Mitt was right that it took two weeks, she meant he was right in a completely inverse way from what Romney was saying.

  123. 123.

    different-church-lady

    October 17, 2012 at 7:12 am

    @Comrade Luke: “You know what’s really amazing about God? That he also created complete morons like you who know fuck-all about how the things he created work.”

    Do it. I dare you.

  124. 124.

    Cassidy

    October 17, 2012 at 8:16 am

    @fuckwit: You my concerned friend, are wrong. Disclaimer: I went to bed early last night. I was exhausted. I already know who I”m voting for and it’ll be straigt Dem ticket. You put Ted Bundy on as “D” and he gets my mark vs. any Republican.

    Politics is a street fight. There is no such thing as polite, considerate debate in this country and never has been. It’s ugly now, was ugly then, and has been ugly in between. Now, we just have social media and meme generators.

  125. 125.

    rikyrah

    October 17, 2012 at 9:10 am

    of course it was a lie…is this a shock to ANYONE?

  126. 126.

    catclub

    October 17, 2012 at 9:52 am

    @Delia: Mormonism. Not. a. word.

  127. 127.

    lacp

    October 17, 2012 at 10:00 am

    @DPS: It made me think of witch hunters: “Willard Romney, Binder of Women.”

  128. 128.

    Sammy

    October 17, 2012 at 5:59 pm

    @Delia: Thsi site is great. I laughe so hard that my face hurts.

    Binders Full Of Women http://bindersfullofwomen.tumblr.com/

  129. 129.

    Okelliott

    October 19, 2012 at 11:39 am

    @Dream On:

    Yes. Here it is….

    http://elliottswildkingdom.wordpress.com/2012/10/18/women-in-binders-with-sherlock-holmes-and-mitt-romney/

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