Was sitting here with my friend and said “Let’s check out the hive mind.” So we switched to Fox, and caught Sean Hannity talking to Ed Gillespie, and Hannity was apparently doing push back on the devastating Obama zinger about horses and bayonets, and said, and I am not fucking making this up:
“Some of our troops rode horses in Afghanistan and the Marines still carry bayonets. Maybe someone should tell the President how the military actually works.”
Yes, Petunia. A couple hundred special forces guys rode horses in Afghanistan, basically because you can’t take an M1A2 or Hummer up the Khyber pass. Likewise, the Marines do still do carry bayonets (as does the Army!), but I don’t recall the last bayonet charge. The number of combat troops carrying bayonets is a small fraction than the 3.5 million grunts we had in WW1 wearing pith helmets and dying in bayonet charges and mustard gas. Likewise, there were tens of thousands of horses in WW1 in combat, there were a few in Afhanistan.
These people are just insane.
Spaghetti Lee
Not insane, just doing what they pay him for.
jwb
This feels like the RW equivalent of a bayonet charge in WWI. It will probably be just as effective.
RosiesDad
@Spaghetti Lee: Damned straight. Spin, spin, spin.
But you can’t make this shit up. That’s why we always tune to Fox for the post-debate damage control.
Killjoy
Those straws won’t grasp themselves
JPL
Why didn’t Mitt know this?
Zam
In other news Michael Steele is upset we won’t admit that Romney was just as good as Obama.
Carl Nyberg
Republicans make these sort of pedantic arguments that are true in some narrow sense, irrelevant and dishonest in the larger sense, but they will get flogged in the corporate media, because anything the Republicans claim deserves to get treated seriously.
We live in an insane world.
Obama’s foreign policy has many holes, but most of the reasonable criticism should be made from the Left or Libertarian perspective.
Seth Owen
Some argument over when the last cavalry CHARGE was, but the last US Army cavalry units were dismounted by 1942. As for bayonets go, I’m not sure the current infantry small arm even mounts one, but even my M-16 back in the day only carried it for show.
RosiesDad
Of course, based on what flooded Facebook seconds after Obama dropped the zinger, including this, it was a hell of a set up.
YellowJournalism
I did the same thing earlier, John. I need to learn my lesson and Just Say No. They had Sarah Palin trying to talk about Romney’s Russia comments.
And I guess CNN tried to do a rebuttal on the horses comment, too.
themann1086
What I want to know is why Obama isn’t supplying our troops with chainsaw bayonets. How else can we fight off the Locust?
Jerzy Russian
Also, Colonel Potter rode a horse in M*A*S*H*
PsiFighter37
I matched $400 of BJ donations tonight.
Keep it up, friends. This is the closing shot to fire up the base.
JGC – I’m going to SW Ohio to canvass. Any care if I send you guys some field reports to post up to the main site? This was my modus operandi in past elections.
Punchy
Can you apply mustard gas to brats? Is it spicy brown or yellow? Also, horses in the military? Didnt know. Is this where Big Brown and Giacomo ended up?
TS
Every member of the f..ing LSM earns money that puts them into the millionaire class – they will do and say anything to avoid paying taxes. They all hate their country and the thought of the underclasses being at home – instead of over there getting killed puts the fear of 1000 bayonets into them
Cacti
We’re at our lowest level of ships of the line since the Merrimack fought the Monitor.
How will we stop Iran from using Syria as its path to the sea?
I think Rmoney is mistakenly labeled as smarter than Bush for the fact he can be wrong in complete sentences.
murakami
horsesandbayonets.tumblr.com
This should make Hannity feel better. Remember, they’re laughing with you.
KG
I didn’t watch… I had more important things to do, like go to the gym. I did catch a few minutes on the radio, Romney’s ability to say whatever he thinks will help him in the moment is amazing. Rather than checking Fox, I clicked over to Hewitt. Apparently Romney looked like a president and the president looked petulant. He’s (shockingly) predicting a big Romney win. Still don’t know what world he lives in
DPS
Don’t forget swords. Don’t Marine officers have swords when they’re in dress uniform? And catapults! Don’t they have catapults on aircraft carriers? Obama probably didn’t even know that.
maryQ
http://www.amazon.com/review/RTUCWLTPT58B5/ref=cm_sw_em_r_asr_TUVVE.16JHET7_r
MattR
I watched less than 30 seconds of the debate, but it happened to coincide with the “horses and bayonnet” quip. So you guys are saying Obama didn’t make Romney look like a fool for the entire debate? How disappointing?
Spatula
And then you logged onto Balloon Juice, right?
RosiesDad
@Cacti:
I have to borrow that.
GregB
It was a slap in the face to the bayonet corps and all of the brave horses in our military.
scav
oh the poor dears. It’s the elites going over the over the top after cowering in the trenches during the great war all over again. Bayonet charges and complaining up those uppity suffragettes. Snap to for the salute and the sniper takes off your head.
victory
funniest tweet of the night….
“Every time I heard Romney say, ‘Step 1’ I thought, ‘Cut a hole in the box.’ “
Culture of Truth
They just unveiled an Afghan horse troop monument at the World Trade Center. Some ghastly 10 foot high bronze monstronsity.
AT
On sullys round up he had quote from Bill Kristol calling the race for Romney after tonight debate. I was immediately relieved and feel much better about life given his track record.
jwb
@KG: Given that I’ve heard this line about Romney looking “presidential” from about two dozen commentators when Romney looked like he had a bayonet jammed up his ass the whole night, that one was clearly in everyone’s talking points before the evening ever began.
maryQ
Hey, I need only five more people to say this is helpful to be the most helpful review onAmazon.
Yes, I am a shameless huckster. But check out my review of this bayonet.
http://www.amazon.com/review/RTUCWLTPT58B5/ref=cm_sw_em_r_asr_TUVVE.16JHET7_r
NotMax
So we can now say truthfully that Mitt, his 5 sons, and also Rafalca have never joined up.
Culture of Truth
But yes they are insane
handy
@KG:
He’s been in the bag for Romney since ’08. So, yeah, real brave analysis on his part.
Phoenix_rising
Did the President even say, We no longer use horses & bayonets?
I heard We’re at our lowest level of _______, but that’s okay, means we’ve changed with the times.
Someone who’s awake and sober, get the transcript.
I’m tired ’cause I home schooled the FP debate with an atlas and a 7th grader. Who flipped over to the Maghrib, looked puzzled, and said: Mali isn’t Egypt and Libya’s neighbor, and it’s big but has not that many people living there. Why is he talking about Mali? And how come they keep saying China about everything and haven’t said Burma once?
I’m exhausted, I tells ya.
Ash Can
Hey, whaddya know, it’s Cole. Glad she let ya up for air, sport!
MikeJ
Did Rafalca spend the Vietnam war as a missionary in France?
Culture of Truth
“I’ll take ‘S Words’ for $1,000 Alex”
Cacti
@RosiesDad:
Borrow away. ;-)
PsiFighter37
Tonight was cathartic. I think the only thing that would’ve made it better was a 47% reference.
So much win. From the first answer to the closing statement to horses and bayonets in the middle – PBO just smashed the fuck outta that failed-ass one-term governor. Not even fair.
Which BJer said last debate was like The Wire? Someone tell them they were early by 6 days.
PeakVT
I think all of our generals should go back to having wooden teeth.
Odie Hugh Manatee
For everyone who appreciates a good laugh from a picture, something I snapped and captioned for your amusement…
You’re welcome. :)
Hill Dweller
@AT: I think the wingnut commentators got word to spin this for Romney hard, regardless of reality, before the debate even started. Brooks, Kristol, Schmidt, etc. all looked ridiculous trying to spin that debate performance as good for Willard.
I think this win was decisive enough to make the Willard spin sound ridiculous to anyone that saw it.
NotMax
@DPS
While I’m not versed on every single thing on an aircraft carrier, I think you may be confusing steam catapults (to accelerate aircraft on take-off) with the type of catapult used as offensive weaponry.
Punchy
So at what point does all this debate ass-kickage translate to poll movement for the O? Cuz all I see so far is lead slippage in OH, PA, IA, and CO….are we sure we’re seeing the same debates as Joe Dumbass?
pseudonymous in nc
Inability to parse the word “fewer”? Stat.
Original Lee
@Phoenix_rising: Original Son was all, “What does he mean, Iran needs Syria to get to the sea? Doesn’t Iran have TWO sea coasts?” I love my smart son.
aangus
@maryQ:
Done.
: )
Political Observer
It’s going to be a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong election night. Followed by the words, “with state [x] declared, we can now announce Mitt Romney is the next President”.
Sometime around 5 am.
And you all will be so very disappointed. Very, very sad.
RaflW
I thought Obama’s strongest moment was him saying “Mitt, I didn’t go to a fundraiser in Israel, I went to the Holocaust memorial and reflected on the evil that exists in the world.”
Not a moment Fox is likely to even acknowledge, it’ll mostly matter to people who watched it live. Maybe it’ll get some play, but the Village don’t wanna talk holocaust.
Or evil. Surprisingly.
maryQ
@aangus: thanks.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Along those lines, is the Obama campaign still running 47% ads? I think they should. And one with Bill Clinton calling the Romney-Ryan voucherization plan a disaster for America’s seniors, now and in the future
Davis X. Machina
@Punchy: You are seeing the inevitable closing of a gap. There will never be another FDR v. Landon, or Nixon v. McGovern-sized blowout in your lifetime or mine.
In 2008, saddled with a despised incumbent, with the economy in real-time free-fall, despite having nominated their worst Presidential campaigner in 45 years — and a cartoon character for VP — the GOP picked up 46.5% of the popular vote.
jl
But are we losing the bronze race? That’s what worries me.
NotMax
@Original Lee
Someone, somewhere on the edge of the spectrum will almost undoubtedly try to spin what he said as “to get to the ‘C.'”
C being shorthand for Caliphate.
Phoenix_rising
@Original Lee: Yeah, that was a WTF moment on my couch too. She slammed the atlas shut and put it away, because that man already proved he can’t do algebra (you can’t take away something that adds up to 5 trillion with out taking away 5 trillion, because then the two sides of the equation won’t be equal anymore*) and now he can’t do geography either. So why even try to follow what he’s saying? It makes no sense.
*Think this is called the transitive property, or something, but she takes math online because I can’t ever recall that stuff.
pseudonymous in nc
PO: totes adorbz. Soooo cute. Pat its ickle hayd.
victory
Funny how, when you look at all the poll results it shows a clear, unquestionable win for Obama tonight. Yet, if you were to listen only to the talking heads (ABC,NBC,CBS,CNN…we’ll leave FOX out of it, since, well, you know…) one would never guess on the clear, unquestionable win.
You can see for your very eyes, in real time, the media purposely trying to push this election into a close race for ratings sake.
CW in LA
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Hey, he has a Fake Salt Lake sticker, too: Probably NOT serious.
Anyway yahoo’s Fox News For The Functionally Literate admits the Prez “rattled” Willard. I believe in this context rattled means ‘ripped him a new one’.
KG
@handy: Oh, I know. But he’d be saying the same thing no matter who won the nomination. It’s a shame because I know him from my time at Chapman (and he’s not nearly as cartoonish as he seems online), but the guy is as partisan as the sun is hot. The next time he criticized a Republican against a Democrat would be the first.
handy
@Punchy:
Obama’s lead in the polls before the first debate was a bit overinflated probably. But he’s actually bouncing back quite steadily since he hit bottom a couple weeks ago. The only state that looks to be in jeopardy at this stage is FL, but who the hell knows how things will end up shaking in that state. Regardless I wouldn’t be too concerned, since O is close to 300 EV withs as they are.
WaterGirl
@RaflW: I completely agree. That was the moment that he looked just like he did last week when he was going after Romney for politicizing benghazi. Really speaking from the heart and really pissed.
Viva BrisVegas
@Original Lee: But one coast is only good for attacking Turkey.
Quick, man the Dardenelles!
PsiFighter37
@Political Observer: Can we expect your sorry ass to show up here on Election Night, circa 11 PM Eastern, and explain why you were so, so wrong about your predictions?
I bet not. Loser / asshole.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
Are you versed in the use of your snark-o-meter?
Thoroughly Pizzled
@Davis X. Machina: Is this the natural fate of a two-party system? When will we escape?
DPS
@NotMax:
Really? They don’t have, like, ancient siege engines on aircraft carriers? Well, fuck me, I sure learned something today.
WaterGirl
@handy: i have found myself thinking a couple of times that maybe finding out when we did that some of Obama’s crushing leads were soft was actually a blessing in disguise. Would have been terrible to find that out on November 6. This way, there was still time to do something about it.
Spaghetti Lee
@Thoroughly Pizzled:
Well, those elections were two-party elections too. I think it’s demographics. Dems won’t see margins like that again because they’ve lost the rural poor white vote they used to own. And Repubs won’t see it again because the electorate isn’t as white as it used to be. In one of Reagan’s wins, I forget which, the electorate was 90% white. I’d bet it’s closer to 75% now.
redshirt
What kind of friend, Cole?
SFAW
So I was all set to sub for Pule-itical Absurder, with something like “Suck it, libtards, Romney kicked Nobama’s ass all over the place tonight. Obambi looked like a deer in the headlights, and all he could say was ‘My foreign policy is just like what Pres- er, Governor Romney says, only he’s white, so I trust him more’ Only FIF TEEN days until President Rmoney sends you all off to Gitmo! FIF. TEEN! !”
But then Absurder shows up, and she writes something stupider than anything I could conceive of, so I’ll just punt.
Geoduck
@Davis X. Machina:
Against a black guy. That was gonna have a big impact, no matter what.
Davis X. Machina
@Thoroughly Pizzled: We have a four, or five, or six-party system, with two labels. In Europe you fight the election, then build the coalition — here it’s the other way round.
When they’re clustered 2-3 or 3-3, or the like, then you get close elections. Until one of the blocs jumps to the other party, or a new one emerges, it’s 45-55 either way, at most.
Jeremy
The problem with some polls are that they are using more conservative voting screens and the electorate is way more diverse in a general election. Look at the early vote and ground game numbers and you can tell that there is no enthusiasm gap. Obama is clearly winning this race and as it stands he will win over 300 electoral votes. Ohio is done for Mitt he never had a chance from the start, Penn even more so than Ohio. NC voting numbers are looking great for Dems even better than 08 with higher turnout and even more specifically with African Americans.
freelancer (iPhone)
If Josh Chaimberlain wasn’t busy spinning in his grave, he’d be on the stump for the black guy.
NotMax
So if sheer numbers are a measure of strength, it should be mentioned that Mitt Romney has fewer wives than his great-grandfather did.
Mike in NC
@Political Observer: Go to bed, DougJ.
Joel
Someone needs to create a Civ 5 screenshot of the armies of Romnesia, featuring Cavalry and Ironclads going up against the Modern Armor, Jet Fighters and Battleships of the United States of America.
Cacti
Political derp is right about one thing. It will be a long election night…if you live in the Eastern time zone.
It will be midnight for you when the polls on the west coast close, and Cali, Washington, and Oregon give the POTUS the 73 electoral votes that put him over the top.
SFAW
@NotMax:
it should be mentioned that Mitt Romney has fewer wives than his great-grandfather did.
He also has fewer clues than my dead turtle, and fewer scruples than a three-card Monte scammer, and fewer original lines than Bulwer-Lytton.
Outside of that, though ….
Davis X. Machina
@Geoduck: 3-4% is the best political-science estimate on race as a factor. So Obama’s race may have made it 52.9% – 45.7% in 2008 instead of, say 55.9% – 42.7%.
1988 — no incumbent — was 53.4% Bush I – 45.7% Dukakis. And we all remember that as an epic blowout.
Cacti
@SFAW:
Fewer gray hairs than a man 20 years younger.
trog
These people are insane is right.
God. I honestly think I’m witnessing the moment when half the country lost their fucking minds. It’s breathtaking.
Bnut
Ah yes, the trusty bayonet. Used to kill old car tires at Parris Island then sat under my bunk until I needed to open an MRE. Or pound in a tent stake with the butt. Or pick my toe nails. Or throw at a dartboard. A superior weapon. Except for the Amazon purchased K-Bar that did the job better.
The Dangerman
A couple of glasses of wine after the debate (read: I don’t promise a sober analysis)…
…but Romney’s strategy was either completely whacked out or brilliant. Among the partisans, it’s whacked (even the Right should be asking WTF?), but Romney debated as if the undecideds didn’t give a shit about Foreign Policy. I hope he’s wrong but fear he’s right.
Not saying he’s going to win, but I don’t think this debate means a lot. The Right isn’t voting for Romney (it’s ABO) and the mushy middle has mush for brains and … if it’s only the economy stupid, well, it will be interesting.
lamh35
@Phoenix_rising: he actually said we also have LESS horses and bayonets. POTUS never said we no longer have horses and bayonets.
And he’s right, we do have less of them.
NotMax
@SFAW
The Bulwer-Lytton reference is pure gold.
GregB
@Cacti:
The beauty is that all of those New England states come in early.
We’ll see Olympia Snowes’ seat fall.
We’ll see Scott Brown get sent packing after two years as a phony tea-bagger.
The GOP is getting false hoped on PA and Wisconsin too.
SFAW
@Cacti:
But more Villagers with man-crushes on him than Rich Lowry has starbursts.
Violet
Said in the previous thread that watching the Undecided voter lines on CNN was fascinating. Women consistently liked Obama better than Men. The Men liked Romney better than Women did. And Men particularly didn’t like it when Obama called Romney on a lie.
I’m betting most male undecided voters are white and they don’t like the black man being uppity to the white man.
Soonergrunt
In a nine man Infantry squad, only five men can actually use a bayonet as designed.
Two SAW gunners and two Grenadiers cannot fix bayonets to their weapons.
For Mech Infantry, there’s even fewer–3 bayonets per squad.
Do they even issue bayonets to Armor crew?
The last bayonet charge by a US military organization was during the Korean war.
We trained with bayonets as Infantry. It’s great physical training. Great for working a sweat up, but not much else. If the enemy gets close enough to use a bayonet, you’ve got other problems.
Spaghetti Lee
@The Dangerman:
IIRC, we’ve had two above-expectations monthly job reports in a row now. Does October’s come out before election day?
SFAW
@NotMax:
I was hoping tonight’s weather would be in keeping with that, but it’s pretty clear. Although it IS dark.
NotMax
@ lamh35
One less White Horse is all I want to see.
Political Observer
@PsiFighter37:
Yes. Yes you can.
Radio One
I thought it was a draw for the first fifteen minutes. Then Obama decided to knock the hell out of Romney. I think our lizard-brain instincts far overpower our desire to appeal to the better angels of our nature unfortunately. And Obama proved once again that not only is he a better politician than Mitt Romney, he is a obviously a better Commander in Chief.
Soonergrunt
@Bnut: My tanto blade was much more useful in Iraq and Afghanistan. We never even took the bayonets out of the locker that we put them in when we deployed.
Ms. D. Ranged in AZ (IrishGirl)
@victory: Hysterical, thank you, I needed that.
Yutsano
@Bnut: See? It wasn’t completely useless, now was it?
Political Observer
@PsiFighter37:
Yes. Yes you can.
Democrat Party=The Party of Losers.
James E. Powell
On the impact of this debate.
Partisans saw what they wanted to see and will insist their guy prevailed.
The Great American Undecided Voters will continue to be undecided because that’s who they are. The ones we see on TV will continue to be undecided because they like to be on TV and the food and beverages are pretty good.
What matters is we get a few days of “Obama Won!” because that’s what the corporate press/media will say, now that polls taken in the immediate aftermath told them what to say.
It’s better than anything else they might say, so we have to go with it. It’s GOTV time.
dmsilev
@Spaghetti Lee: Yes, the October report comes out the Friday before Election Day.
Warren Terra
@RaflW:
I don’t know it was the strongest, but it was definitely a moment that should get more play. Jeffery Goldberg is trumpeting that Politifact ruled as truthful Mitt’s assertion that as President Obama hasn’t visited Israel. Sure, it’s true – and a bunch of other Presidents didn’t visit Israel in their first term, either. But Obama plainly cares an awful lot more about actual Israelis than Mitt does, even as Mitt says he’ll do whatever Likud tells him to. Mitt just wants to fellate Sheldon Adelson and to sidle up to Bibi Netanyahu so the Christian Millenialists will figure Mitt is bringing on the Rapture. Obama’s contrast of their trips to Israel as candidates was very telling indeed.
Ms. D. Ranged in AZ (IrishGirl)
@maryQ: Consider yourself, helped. :)
Just sayin
The last US bayonet charge was probably Vietnam, but the British had them in Afghanistan and Iraq. Not that the spin is any less silly, of course.
NotMax
Resubmitted from way, way downthread for those who may not have seen it:
Excerpted from New Yorker’s eloquent and ringing endorsement:
Bnut
@Soonergrunt: @Yutsano: I loved walking into the armory and seeing the bayonets. They were so clean and nice looking, like museum pieces. Meanwhile my tanto is still going strong, though a little worse for wear after i got drunk and tried to chop down a tree with it a few years ago. And for what it’s worth, I had a friend from infantry school who made Recon and went to the pack animal school. Had the tip of his pinkie bitten off by a mule.
Hill Dweller
@The Dangerman: I think Obama won that debate in every conceivable way: optics, body language, assertiveness, command of policy. Obama posted a bigger win gap in credible polls than Willard did in the first debate.
Willard didn’t have effective messaging, regardless of the topic. His substance was largely forgettable, but he flailed a couple of times and looked sweaty and worn down by the end. That will be the takeaway, IMO.
Mike in NC
@Political Observer: Go to bed, DougJ.
Yutsano
@Bnut:
I think only the Silent Squad ever pulls them out anymore. At least you’re more likely to see a saber in real life. And that has a really cool history.
Morbo
I think the Obama campaign may have budgeted too much for buying domain names.
DPS
@Violet:
I saw today that Obama’s getting about a third of the white male vote. I wonder what that percentage is specifically in the south.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Ash Can: Too funny!
PS love the nyms of your fam. M-80, Bottle Rocket. I lit off a few of those in my misspent youth. No Ladyfingers though?
MikeJ
@Cacti:
BUt you don’t actually have to wait for the polls to close here. As soon as Obama breaks 200 from the east and central, the election is over.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@NotMax:
Right, And, like, throwing a jet into the air isn’t “offensive weaponry”. Just a higher tech version of the stuff in LOTR.
/snark/
Davis X. Machina
@DPS: Nate Cohn on the regional vote.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
I think the last thread had it right: Political Observer is totes adorbs.
/pats pathetic troll on head/
Ms. D. Ranged in AZ (IrishGirl)
@Violet: Yes, absolutely. I watched all three on CNN and the dialometer (or WTF ever it is called) definitely showed a gender gap. The males never liked it when the President went on the attack against Romney….they liked it when the President spoke positively about what he would do but the minute he faced Romney and started to say anything negative about Romney’s plan, true or not, the male line would plunge into negative territory. Only thing I could come up with was the “uppity” issue. Nothing else made sense.
Brachiator
@Violet:
This is fascinating in a sad way. Romney clearly despises most of these men, and yet they identify with him and bristle at Obama’s attempts to represent them and their interests.
I wonder how many of these Undecided Men will be able to shake off their fear and stupidity and vote for Obama.
Chris
@Davis X. Machina:
So who are the parties, or factions?
I know the New Deal coalition ones fairly well – Democrats = the South + ethnic minorities + unions + “the left,” whereas Republicans = Moderates (East Coast, supported by large corporations) + Conservatives (Western, supported more by small and medium sized businesses).
The lines have gotten all muddled since Nixon/Reagan. White people of all classes have coalesced more behind the GOP, minorities have grown, big corporations have fallen back in line behind conservatives, the union vote’s shrunk and the white collar class expanded. What’re the new factions?
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@pseudonymous in nc: Great minds think alike. Or is it hive minds thing alike?
BSoSR +3 in relief. Thank FSM the debates are over.
NotMax
Mitt is in desperate need of some reschooling in that whole “thou shalt not bear false witness” thing.
Heirn
@Brachiator: I wouldn’t count on many at all. They are set in their ways. They are lost to us.
Yutsano
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: You’re welcome. :)
Violet
@Ms. D. Ranged in AZ (IrishGirl): Yeah, especially because when Romney would talk directly to the President in a strong manner, the Male Line on CNN would go up. They were fine with Romney being Alpha, but not Obama. Gotta be the black man. Horrifying to see it in real time.
I was comforted that women seemed to be sensible. They like the President much more than they liked Romney.
The Dangerman
@Hill Dweller:
Oh, I agree; Obama easily won the debate…
…but I smell something. It’s based on the fact that I don’t think Romney’s a total idiot. Evil, yes; idiot, no. His effectively taking a dive tonight doesn’t make me happy.
Romney got crushed and I fear it may not matter; again, not saying Romney will win, but it’s going to be too fucking close for any comfort other than Southern. Because I do believe Romney will send us to ruin…
? Martin
So, apparently Mitt is serious that the UN would just arrest Ahmadjenidad, apparently unaware that he regularly speaks before the UN general assembly, without getting arrested.
hhex65
@maryQ: +1’d…excellent work
Spaghetti Lee
@Chris:
I think (and I’m not an expert, this is just what I think) the big one is well-off suburban white people that aren’t very ideological economically and fairly liberal socially. My own home county in suburban Chicago went Reagan 75-25 in 1984, but Obama won it in ’08 and I’d bet on him winning it again: it hasn’t gotten less diverse.
I think the reason is that the suburbs have gotten more racially diverse, obviously, but somewhat more cosmopolitan. They used to be just a place for families to get away from the cities, but now the older ones have cultures of their own. And people who see themselves as cosmopolitan tend towards the Democrats, or at least the Brooks wing of the Republicans.
Ruckus
@Cacti:
I think Rmoney is mistakenly labeled as smarter than Bush for the fact he can be wrong in complete sentences.
Smarter than Bush. That bar is so low ants can’t limbo under it.
BTW Great!
Davis X. Machina
@Chris: I’m not sure there are any new ones just yet. You may need a shock of the magnitude of the Civil War or the Great Migration to shake one free.
Process/goo-goo Republicans have vanished, though, and they were an identifiable faction, from George Norris to Jacob Javits.
Heirn
@? Martin: I was totally stuck with that line as well. what is the thinking there?
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@SFAW:
I dunno about the rest of the blog, but you can have my internets for the rest of the night. Where do I send the rent check?
CW in LA
@The Dangerman:
Still, if there’s skullduggery in the works, I have to believe the Prez is wise to it. The unsatisfactory record on surveillance has to be worth something here…
Spaghetti Lee
@Violet:
Well I don’t know where they’re finding these men, but I’m not one of them.
Ruckus
@DPS:
Nice.
And it’s still a catapult. And it still throws an offensive weapon into the air.
The Dangerman
@CW in LA:
No, not skullduggery, either; if the fix was in, I think he acts differently tonight.
No, Romney is a numbers guy to the max; his numbers either tell him he’s fucked (this was my thought a day or 2 ago) or that he’s looking really good but for those in the mushy middle that couldn’t find Syria on a map (read: idiots).
I guess I have the extremes covered. Romney’s either fucked or looking pretty good. I’m going to bed ;-)
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@maryQ: Interesting comments on your review, too.
? Martin
@Heirn: Sounds like something Newt would say, so it mst carry with conservatives somehow.
SRW1
God, this is the third time I find use for this quote tonight:
“I believe in the horse, the automobile is just a temporary.”
Emperor Wilhelm II.
Hill Dweller
@The Dangerman: I think they wanted to play it conservative because Willard is out of his depth on foreign policy, but there is no way they wanted their candidate looking like he did tonight. Willard looked haggard and all his 65 years by the end of that debate.
If Willard’s campaign believes he is ahead, it is a razor thin margin. Taking that beating doesn’t help them in any way.
I’m hoping this will help energize Obama’s base. It will be all about turnout now.
Ruckus
@Soonergrunt:
If the enemy gets close enough to use a bayonet, you’ve got other problems.
Like you’ and all your mates are completely out of ammo, the radio is out and the helicopters can’t fly?
Yutsano
@Ruckus: We cannot afford for there to be a trebuchet gap with Czechoslovakia!
Kane
Three debates and a convention speech, and Romney never said the word veteran once. Amazing.
BruinKid
Funniest thing I heard was arguing with a right-winger on another site who claimed that the PPP poll of swing state voters showing Obama won the debate was actually good news for Romney because of the question of whether they were “more/less likely” to vote for either candidate. On that regard, Romney was doing better among Independents.
They ignored that Independents also thought Obama won the debate 55%-40%, and that they plan to VOTE for Obama by a 46%-36% margin.
The right-winger actually closed with “People are looking for president not a debate team member.” Which is why, you know, he ignored the direct “Who are you going to vote for?” question, and instead focused on the vague “more/less likely to vote for” question.
FlipYrWhig
@Hill Dweller: I was going to say. I think Romney in general looks good for his age. But tonight his face when he wasn’t talking looked old. Worn and old.
Ash Can
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: M-80 has several young female cousins who are top-notch Ladyfingers!
lamh35
So the fact that Romney stood up for not one of the things he said in regards to foreign policy this whole campaign is no big deal.
I get the political calculation, but damn we have soldiers still in combat and even if it’s the economy stupid, a candidate for President should take the discussion of FP way more seriously than Romney did tonight. Him and his team made the calculation to just try not to supply Obama with any “knock outs” I guess, but it was a disservice to anyone who supported Romney based on his rhetoric so far.
I guess we will see if cynicism wins out over conviction in this election. Will the voters who loved all of Romney’s bluster on foreign policy really forget their convictions in any attempt to beat Obama.
Heck, I’m no Romney supporter, but even I can see the writing on the wall if Romney wins, he will stab anyone in the back even those who voted for him to get his prophecy fulfilled Everything he does will be poll tested and I fully expect him to never stand up for anything. He will just fully expect him being President to get done by virtue of him being President I guess. GOP voters are fools
Comrade Luke
One of my friends on FB said “300 million people in the country and not one viable candidate. So depressing.”.
Which I interpret as “I’m a Republican, but my candidate is too pathetic to justify voting for. So depressing.”
suzanne
@FlipYrWhig: He looked hung over.
gene108
@Davis X. Machina:
IT’s how the population is distributed versus how it is counted for the EC. Most of the U.S. population is concentrated into a handful of states.
The U.S. Presidential election is essentially 50 different state elections to elect the President and the more states you win the bigger the blow out becomes. The popular vote isn’t the real measure of getting elected (see the 2000 election).
Yet every small-red-state gets it’s electoral votes going for the Republican, the Republican is guaranteed to win about 20 states or so.
So from an EC perspective it’s not the same sort of blow out that we saw in 1980, 1984, or 1988, despite a Democrat getting the same percentage of the popular vote.
Hill Dweller
@FlipYrWhig: I think Willard has had some work done. The dyed hair and fake tan shows his vanity. A little nip and tuck isn’t a huge step from there.
ETA: Romney’s age is an underreported aspect of this election. He’s looked spent for the last week or so, and campaigning is much easier than being President.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Comrade Luke: Greta van Susteren said her emails were howls of rage from disappointed conservatives. Not that I’m counting on their hatred fading over the next two weeks. Very few people not named Romney are actually voting for Willard, as opposed to against Obama.
The Dangerman
@lamh35:
If he wins, it will be four years of “Fuck you; I have a mandate”. He could give a shit about polls if he gets what he wants (tax cuts) and, perhaps, may not even run for a 2nd term.
Ruckus
@Yutsano:
Oh Nos! What ever will we do?
I’d bet we still have more working catapults than the rest of the world combined.
Ruckus
@lamh35:
GOP voters are fools
I prefer Fucking douchebag assholes, myself.
Chris
@Comrade Luke:
Same here. The one Republican who made noise was talking about not voting or writing in Ron Paul. To be fair, I think she’s part of the group that’s either disgusted by what her party’s become or disillusioned by the distance between rhetoric and reality. Hope there are many more like her.
Joel
@Comrade Luke: Yep, one of my “libertarian” friend (who proudly displays Ann Coulter in his bookcase) was lamenting the poor quality of politics himself. Always a good sign.
Ruckus
@The Dangerman:
I believe he has stated he intends to be a one term pres.
And I think it would be for the following.
1. He gets what he wants and then expects to only get one percent of the vote for a second term.
2. He gets what he wants and in 2014 congress goes Dem in a big way and he gets impeached.
halfcynic
@lamh35: Well, no. FEWER. (sorry, had to)
? Martin
@Ruckus: Definitely. And so long as we defend our pumpkin patches well, we’ll never run out of ammo.
Chris
@Ruckus:
What? A one termer? He really said that? Damn.
LosGatosCA
@Brachiator:
None.
Enhanced Voting techniques
@Just sayin: No, it was Korea.
mandarama
@Soonergrunt:and bnut and other vets…I’m in a pickle and hope you can offer some perspective. A friend of mine who is a complete religious wingnut (I know, but I’ve known her for years) has a husband who went out and joined the Navy reserves right after 9/11. He did two tours in Iraq as a Seabee. Tonight she posted this on FB:
“You promise to “keep the faith with our military”? Dear Obamessiah, you’ve already threatened to take away the GI bill from my children…their college education thanks to their Father’s military service and our family’s monumental sacrifices. And our Tricare health premiums are going to double under Obamacare. Doth my ears deceive me??!!”
Stupid me…I went and got a bunch of articles from the DoD and OMB and waded in with policy descriptions and pleas for factual debate and so forth. She replied saying that they got letters saying that Tricare was going to go up hugely and that her kids will now have to take out loans and other aid first and THEN the GI Bill will kick in, so Obama hates military families.
I know I’m an idiot for engaging. I’m up til 1 am doing so and it’s my 3rd annual 39th birthday, too, and a very depressing beginning to it. But is there anything you can tell me about Tricare changes? I mostly pointed out that Gates began that initiative in 3 of his budgets; that it isn’t some personal Obama-throwing-military-under-bus.
mandarama
I think I would have been able to resist the futile engagement if she hadn’t used the “Obamessiah” bullshit. And as my husband pointed out…his dad’s military career spanned WWII, Korea, and Vietnam and he went to all 3, and yet my husband didn’t get any GI Bill benefits for college. Is that new, I guess, for dependent kids?
Ugh, I feel so dumb for getting sucked in. I’m from MS, too, so my FB feed is like Loki: “Mind like a bag of cats.” Only my cats are smarter.
Yutsano
@mandarama: It doesn’t matter what the facts are. She BELIEVES it. She feels it in her heart, and none of your high-falutin’ facts are gonna change that.
PS: my Dad was in the Navy for 21 years and I didn’t get a GI benefit for college. So I have no idea where that is coming from.
Seanly
@Seth Owen:
Off topic, but I met a 1st Cav vet who trained on horseback in the late 30’s, fought in WWII in a tank destroyer, fought in the Korean War and on his first day as door gunner in Viet Nam, fell out & broke his back. He had some crazy stories…
mandarama
@Yutsano: Exactly; that’s what my husband said too. Is she complaining about partially losing benefits that are really generous recent additions?
And you’re right; you’re right; I know you’re right. Truthiness.
blehmann
My son was in in Army Basic Training in 2005. He was told that his was the last class to train with bayonets.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Comrade Luke:
I see that you can translate Lamenting Conservative. Kudos. :)
Ruckus
@Chris:
I believe I read that but can’t remember where because I’m having another senior moment. Or an aneurism. On of the two, which ever is serious but not deadly.
amk
Brutal nyt editorial on mittbot’s debate debacle.
Just sayin
@Enhanced Voting techniques:
I’ve seen references to squad or so sized bayonet engagements in Vietnam, but I guess it depends on what constitutes a “charge” exactly.
Geoduck
@Ruckus:
There have been favorable comments floated about James K Polk, who did make a “one term” pledge, and stuck to it, but the Romney campaign hasn’t remotely made such a promise official.
calliope jane
@mandarama: This thread is pretty much dead, but…so, so strange. My mom hasn’t gotten any info about Tricare going up…and I had GI benefits for school only because my dad’s death was service related (cancer). I had a scholarship (no loans) and the GI benefits paid out a set amount each semester, depending on what chapter you were in, if I remember right (big if :). I don’t think the amount would have covered the semester, but it was very, very, very helpful. This was during the (W)Bush administration.
Strange. My dad wasn’t a reservist, so that may be her issue?
In contrast, my mom has seen the republicans cut benefits for 20+ years for military families and she makes sure all of her republican friends/family know it.
Ruckus
@Geoduck:
You sound like you remember better than me. Maybe it was someone talking about mittshit. Or maybe I’m actually right for once and I am having a senior moment.
If I can remember tomorrow I’ll try to find it.
Brachiator
@lamh35:
I don’t get the sense that Romney listens to polls. And he is a chameleon who has demonstrated incredible fear and weakness in pandering to the worst of the GOP, and also incredible stubbornness over small and personal issues, such as his refusal to open up about his tax returns.
But since he is also a shameless liar, I have no idea what he would be like as president. The only thing that I can be certain of is that he would be openly the Plutocrat in Chief, since he is clearly more comfortable with his fellow fat cats than he is with any other group.
My gut tells me that he is a shallow coward who would be a disaster as president.
But the business interests and the GOP would breathe a huge sigh of relief if he is elected, and bend over backwards to support him. To the detriment of the rest of the country.
? Martin
@mandarama: No. GI BIll sends YOU to college, not your kids. Always has worked that way. Why the fuck would it work the other way – makes no sense. The point is to get young people to enlist and do their college swing after paid by the govt.
Hob
@Davis X. Machina: I dunno if it’s just because I’ve had a few drinks and a fine evening with my sweetheart, and am surrounded by a whole town full of very happy Giants fans, but something about your comment there just really cheered me up. I mean, it’s a ridiculous state of affairs, but your description makes a lot of sense (especially since I have family in Europe, & am used to hearing similar kinds of frustration translated into a parliamentary system)… and if something’s going to be ridiculous then I prefer that it make sense.
Ruckus
@? Martin:
I believe there are or were exceptions depending on the vets situation, as in certain circumstances survivors can get VA benefits. As @calliope jane: pointed out. Not sure of the extent of those benefits but I just started using the VA and have noticed that survivors benefits for some things still exist, something I didn’t know a month ago.
mandarama
@? Martin: I know, but the Post 9/11 GI Bill allows the service member to transfer unused benefits to his/her children…maybe that’s what she’s on about? Anyway, it seemed to me like she was complaining about having benefits modified that before Obama she wouldn’t have even HAD. And yet I’m sure she’s very, very concerned about the deficit as well.
I know the simple answer is to stop being friends with these kinds of people…but it’s hard when you know a person for 15+ years, you know? And I’m the southern woman who hates to have anyone upset, blah blah bullshit acculturation bullshit. It’s been so hard on Facebook this election. People from my hometown in MS will post, “I’m not racist or anything, but…” and I think, “Um. Yes, you are. I grew up with you. I remember your jokes.” My husband, as a Massachusetts native, tells me he thinks we actually grew up in different countries.
halfcynic
His primary commitment would be, as always, to enriching his cronies at the expense of everyone else. He’d likely try to throw some bones to the cultural conservatives, especially with the judiciary appointments. And he’d be an utter fucking disaster at foreign policy. He’d end up like Dubya only less popular, I think. Pray God we don’t have to find out.
halfcynic
@CW in LA: Skullduggery there may be, but I seriously doubt there’s any strategy in him looking bad tonight, any more than there was for Obama in the first debate. This is just the best he can do, is all. How else was he going to be? He could have played “severely conservative” and more aggressive, sure, but while it might have pleased the base, it’d have fucked him pretty good with most everyone else.
The Syria/Iran comment is, I think, a good indication of what might have happened if he’d tried to go even farther out into the weeds defending a different position from Obama’s. “Show your work.” He can’t, really. He probably crammed for this over a couple of nights; he’s got other shit to do, as does Obama; but the latter has the advantage of this shit actually having been part of his job for the past four years.
Also, bluntly, while Mitt may not be a total idiot, he’s no genius, either. And, I strongly suspect, not nearly as smart as Obama.
He’s also rather thin skinned.
mothra
Obama did say fewer; Sewn.
Paul
@victory:
CNN’s own poll showed Obama won 48-40. CNN on the air admitted that their were more Republicans than Democrats in their poll. Yet later they had the audacity to claim their poll basically showed a tie.
And they claim they have the best political team in the business. Perhaps they do. It doesn’t much in this country considering how awful they all are. But the best political team in the business failed basic math.
Soonergrunt
@Ruckus: yup. And the fact that the enemy is too close to use indirect is a real problem for you.
Gus
The election is over, and Obama has won. I’ve been really worried about it, but Bill Kristol has spoken:
Soonergrunt
@mandarama: You tell her to stop lying because it’s unchristian.
If he’s using Tricare Reserve Select, it doesn’t really matter how much it might be going up, which DoD has wanted to do for over a decade, because it will still be much, much lower than anything else she can get, and she knows this if she pays attention at all. If she’s complaining about Tricare Retired Reserve, well, tell her to get in line. It was ALWAYS massively expensive, on the order of $1200/month with little coverage because the Republican Congress designed it that way when they created it. They wanted to be seen to be doing something nice for the troops without actually doing something that would cost a lot of money, so they created this insurance program that was intentionally too expensive for anyone to want to use it.
Soonergrunt
@Yutsano: A couple of years ago, Congress changed the GI Bill to allow dependents to use it, since there are a lot of Vets who earn the GI Bill but never use it or use all of it.
BruceK
Hey, when I was conscripted into the Greek army, all of four years ago, they issued me a bayonet to go with the rifle. Of course, they also issued me load-bearing equipment that predated the Vietnam War, so take that for what it’s worth.
Citizen_X
Laugh about the horses ‘n bayonets all you want, libtards, but I think that this debate is where Obama lost the all-important Brony demographic.
MikeJ
@Citizen_X: No, I think Obama, acknowledged we have fewer, but better ponies.
Lee
Read about some of the last bayonet charges
SFAW
@Gus:
I had been worried, until I saw what you posted.
Sometimes I think Billy Kristol would have more success if he started trying to do a Miracle Max or Fernando Lamas routine. I mean, he’d still fuck that up, but at least it’d be nothing of any importance to anyone.
Of course, the downside is that we’d have no way of predicting near-term events. (Since we wouldn’t know what the opposite of Kristol’s predictions would be.)
ksmiami
@lamh35: A commenter after my own heart… Romney is indeed deeply contemptuous of most of his would be voters particularly the ones in redbumf**istan having spent most of his life among basically wealthy, reasonably cosmopolitan people. FFS, he has a mansion in La Jolla and has resided mostly along the northeastern seaboard. He will either be driven purely by poll issues, or he will get used by the crazy neocon cabal while our soldiers are sent to die in Iran. In other words, he is Nixon 2.0 and that should scare the crap out of people; no moral center, no compassion for people outside his church or his socioeconomic strata.
AxelFoley
@themann1086:
Gears of War reference FTW!
mandarama
@Soonergrunt: Thanks so much, sooner–that was the gist I got from reading military newsletters (not really acrimonious about these changes the way she’s being, just sort of putting the info out) and the OMB’s deficit reduction plans. But yutsano called it…she hates Obama, so he’s definitely out to hurt her children despite her husband’s severe sacrifices. Lying isn’t really lying when it’s Christianist, I guess.
The Moar You Know
@mandarama: I can tell you this: If you insure your entire family under Tricare, your premiums are $460 a year.
$234/year if it’s just you.
Tricare premiums have not been raised since 1996.
Offer to kick in the difference if she votes for Obama.
g
Oh my god. I just this second heard NPR interview someone who repeated that very talking point about Afghanistan!!!
Jamey
Wait, is Sean Hannity actually lecturing POTUS about how the military works?
Part of me wants BHO to send a drone to Hannity’s home address to show him just how the military works.
Bubblegum Tate
My beloved wingnuts have already arrived at the “nuh-uh, Romney totally won!” stage of denial:
Mandarama
@The Moar You Know:
LOL–I so wish I could say that! But I don’t want to open the door to further reasons that Obama makes Jesus cry.
Mandarama
@Bubblegum Tate: All the people from my hometown in Dixie were posting “Barry’s on the mat!” and so forth. I didn’t watch, but after reading the Juicer liveblog, I think they must have been watching some different channel. One that airbrushes out sweat. And geographical confusion.
henqiguai
@? Martin (#178):
New rules – you can transfer your GI college benefits to your children. Brought to my attention by an Air Force vet friend because my wife is the family veteran and we didn’t know.
Pity no-one will see this comment…
stratplayer
That lame effort doesn’t even merit a “nice try.” The Romneyites are forgetting the First Rule of Holes. Let’s hope they keep digging.
WaterGirl
@Radio One: I re-watched the debate today so I could watch without also reading the CoveritLive blog.
6 minutes. That’s how long Romney looked okay in the foreign policy debate. It might not have been 6 full minutes of romney, but it was at the 6-minute mark on my tivo recording, which started at 8:00 sharp.
Romney looked fine while he answered his first question (even though he didn’t really answer on topic). But the minute Barack started speaking to answer his first question, Romney’s face went all pasty and he planted the fake smile on his face and he looked really scared for most of the debate.