Tag Archives: GOP

September 24, 2012 · 10:15 pm

Mitt Romney Wonders Why Airplane Windows Don’t Roll Down

I’m so speechless, I’m posting this without much of a comment…

Except…

How could anyone want this Airhead to be President?

He really ought to understand this…Especially given how much time he spends on planes.

Or maybe his brain just isn’t getting enough oxygen….

 

After his wifes plane was forced to make an emergency landing this weekend, Romney told the Los Angeles Times, he was worried for her safety. The candidate then continued on a bizarre tangent that showed just how little the Republican nominee understands about flight.

“I appreciate the fact that she is on the ground, safe and sound. And I don’t think she knows just how worried some of us were,” Romney told the paper. “When you have a fire in an aircraft, there’s no place to go, exactly.”

Romney said the biggest problem in a distressed aircraft is that “the windows don’t open. I don’t know why they don’t do that. It’s a real problem. So it’s very dangerous.”

The main reason airplane windows dont open is because there isnt enough oxygen at cruising altitude to keep passengers alive. The fear of window or cabin failures, which would lead to potentially fatal hypoxia, is why many planes are equipped with emergency oxygen masks.

“You can’t find any oxygen from outside the aircraft to get in the aircraft, because the windows don’t open,” Romney told the Times, suggesting that additional oxygen in the cabin during the electrical malfunction couldve alleviated the problem. In fact, if there were an electrical fire on board, additional oxygen would have fed the flames.

Strangely, Romney seemed to acknowledge the importance of oxygen later in his comments. “Fortunately, there was enough oxygen for the pilot and copilot to make a safe landing in Denver,” he said.

via Mitt Romney Wonders Why Ann Romneys Airplane Windows Dont Roll Down.

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September 23, 2012 · 12:05 pm

Michelle Obama: Voting Rights Is ‘Movement Of Our Era’

And she is so right….

I’m old enough to remember how hard some folks fought for the right to vote.  I remember the news coverage with fire hoses and attack dogs being let loose on people who only wanted to exercise their Constitutional right to vote.  I never thought this battle would have to be re-fought in my lifetime.

The Republicans are counting on us to have a short memory of American History….

Given its current agenda and the overall demographic trends in the country, the only way the GOP can stay in power is to limit the electorate.  And they are trying desperately to do this with these Voter ID laws.

The Voter ID laws predominately impact Latino’s, Black people, the young, the elderly and other groups that have an interest in supporting the Non-Republican agenda.

And if you think everyone has a government issued Id and it’s cheap and easy to get the documentation to get one, then I suggest you step out of your Middle Class bubble…..

And remember, there is almost no documented evidence of any substantial- or in fact any- voter fraud today that would be impacted by voter ID laws.

I’m much more worried about the GOP manipulating the results via flawed technology in the voting machines and reporting process.  There is much more evidence of concern there than with Voter ID gaps.

And if you think these new laws  don’t apply to you, remember, these angry, rich, impotent, old white guys will get around to you eventually…..unless you share exactly their same self-interests.

From The Huffington Post:

Michelle Obama says protecting the right to vote has become the nation’s most important civil rights issue.

The first lady tells a gathering of black lawmakers and leaders that they owe it to those who fought and died for equal rights in the 1960s to make sure every voter can freely cast a ballot.

Her comments at an annual awards banquet for the Congressional Black Caucus come amidst a push in more than a dozen states to pass laws requiring voters to show ID at the polls. Critics say the laws unfairly harm minorities, poor people and college students – all groups that tend to vote Democratic.

Comparing it to the civil rights movement, Obama calls voting rights “the march or our time” and “the sit in of our day.”

via Michelle Obama Congressional Black Caucus Speech: Voting Rights Is ‘Movement Of Our Era’.

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September 10, 2012 · 3:56 pm

Bye Bye to the Crazy Grand Dames of the GOP

How sweet it would be to be rid of Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin in the same year!  God knows, they have both had more than  their allocated 15  minutes of fame….

People are sick of Sarah and it looks like Fox News isn’t even going to renew her contract.  The GOP certainly didn’t want her around their convention…

And now, it looks like Michelle Bachmann has a very good chance at losing her Congressional seat….

Maybe people really are finally getting tired of mean, crazy people in Politics.

We can hope….

From Salon via Politicususa.com:

A new poll suggests that tea party darling Michele Bachmann is in serious danger of losing her House seat to Democrat Jim Graves.The poll, which was first shared with Salon, found that Bachmann now leads Graves, 48%-46%. Bachmann has gone from a 45%-41% lead with Independents to now trailing 52%-37%. The biggest indicator of how much voters have soured on Bachmann is that 57% of those surveyed gave a fair/poor job approval rating. Almost as many responded rated her as poor 35% as did excellent/good. Respondents also had cool feelings towards Rep. Bachmann as a person. Forty one percent said they had warm feelings towards Bachmann while 46% expressed cool feelings towards the incumbent Republican.After winning her 2010 bid for reelection by twelve points, her 2012 campaign is looking like a return to the norm. Bachmann first won election to the House in 2006 in a three person race by a 50%-42%-8% margin. Bachmann won another three way contest in 2008, 46%-43%-10%. Bachmann’s margin of victory in both 2006 and 2008 combined was less than her margin in the Republican wave year of 2010.Even though her popularity is on the wane in her district, Rep. Bachmann will be difficult to beat because of the massive war chest $15 million she has accumulated. Bachmann also has been heavily supported and funded by the national Republican Party. Michele Bachmann is a right wing media darling who is welcome to go on Fox News, Glenn Beck, or any other conservative media outlet and beg for dollars at any time.

via Bye Bye Crazy Eyes: Poll Finds Democrat in Position to Defeat Michele Bachmann.

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August 30, 2012 · 12:56 pm

Fox News: Paul Ryan’s RNC Speech ‘Was Attempt To Set World Record For Blatant Lies’

I actually tried to watch some of this last night, but couldn’t stomach but so much of Eddie Munster’s lies.  I wondered, as I watched it, if the media would call him on it.

I’m very pleased today to see the media almost unanimously lined up to call attention to the lies Ryan was trying to pass off as facts last night.  I know the GOP lies, but even I’ve been shocked at how blatantly the Romney campaign has spread these lies and refused to acknowledge them.

And for Paul Ryan to stand on the podium at the GOP Convention and look right in the television cameras and lie should be shocking.  What’s shocking is that it isn’t shocking….it’s just the normal GOP way to trying to win.

Lie, Lie and Lie and refuse to acknowledge inconvenient truths and facts.  That’s today’s Republican Party and Paul Ryan is the new two-faced poster boy.

You know it’s really bad when even Faux News, normally the mouthpiece of the GOP, starts calling them on their lying….

 

According to Fox News columnist Sally Kohn, vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan’s speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday “was an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech.”

“On this measure, while it was Romney who ran the Olympics, Ryan earned the gold,” Kohn wrote.

In a surprising move, Fox News joined CNN, The Huffington Post, the Washington Post’s Wonkblog, and ThinkProgress in publishing a fact-check of the Republican vice presidential nominee’s speech, finding that the speech was full of lies and misleading assertions.

via Fox News’ Sally Kohn: Paul Ryan’s RNC Speech ‘Was Attempt To Set World Record For Blatant Lies’.

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August 15, 2012 · 9:04 am

Romney, Ryan and Medicare: The Facts

This is a great, short video that clearly points out the Romney/Ryan plan to end Medicare as we know it…

It also points out the lies they are spreading about President Obama and Medicare cuts….

Take a look…..and, if you have some “friends” on FaceBook like I do who aren’t so well informed,  I strongly recommend you share it on your FaceBook pages.

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August 14, 2012 · 9:16 pm

Happy Birthday, Social Security!

We need to stop and salute one of, if not the, most successful social programs ever implemented by the U.S. Government.

Social Security has protected both the old and the young– and paid a significant part of Paul Ryan’s College education.  Well, nothing is perfect….

Now we have to protect it from Romney, Ryan and the Republicans who would apparently prefer to let elderly people and parentless children starve in the streets so they can give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires….

I do hope people wake up and realize that their goal is to privatize Social Security and put the money in Wall Street hands….Not the safest place for it to be if you actually want to count on it being there when you need it.

Just think of what happened to your 401K plan in 2008…..

Social Security is safe and stable.  The GOP is neither…..

From ThinkProgress.org

 

Today marks the 77th anniversary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act into law, creating arguably America’s most successful social program. “We can never insure one hundred percent of the population against one hundred percent of the hazards and vicissitudes of life, but we have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age,” FDR said on that day.

via 77 Years After It Became Law, Social Security Keeps 20 Million Americans Out Of Poverty | ThinkProgress.

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July 29, 2012 · 11:00 am

Why Mitt Screws Up

Another interesting analysis of why Mitt Romney is looking more and more uncomfortable on the public stage and making more and more mistakes….

I just hope people are paying attention and asking themselves if this man really is capable of being President in a diverse and changing world….

It’s obvious to me Romney is only really comfortable with the wealthy elite, his family and other Mormons.  How can people expect him to “get” their lives and problems if he lives in such a small bubble.  Of course, he screws up when he steps outside this small world….

It’s the only world he knows…

From Justin Frank at Salon.com:

 

But what is not hard to do is to think about what most likely motivates this behavior that puzzles so many in the media – including supporters who are frustrated with Romney’s unwillingness to disclose more of his tax returns. I think the force behind this behavior is massive anxiety, pure and simple. He is anxious about revealing who he is and about interacting with people he doesn’t know. He appears to have much less experience than Obama in interacting with people from all walks of life. Basically, he is uncomfortable except within his own family and in the presence of those who share his wealthy background and Mormon faith. There are many ways to defend against overwhelming anxiety, one of which is to act certain about every answer given.

What comes out besides this sense of smiling certainty are signs of anxious contempt toward others – whether it is how the British run their Games or saying that kids who can’t afford college should borrow money from their parents. Put together, these and many similar statements – his pleasure at firing people or his belief that corporations are people (is that why he can comfortably bankrupt some?) – are all evidence of a hostility not dissimilar to stories about his bullying of others during his prep school days. At this stage, I suspect Mitt Romney is too anxious to be an effective president.

via Why Mitt screws up – Salon.com.

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July 27, 2012 · 9:26 pm

Is There Something Really Wrong with Mitt Romney?

Interesting and frightening article from Joan Walsh at Salon.com….

She goes so far as to suggest Romney is s not just insensitive, entitled and socially incompetent, but may have a personality disorder…

Hat tip to Jon Aravosis  at Americablog.com where I first saw this mentioned…

I’ll just keep watching and we can all draw our own conclusions as time goes by….

Here is an excerpt from Ms Walsh’s article and a link to the full column:

I’ve written that Romney’s many gaffes reflect his enormous sense of entitlement and lamentable lack of empathy. Surveying British Olympics logistics, he felt entitled to hold forth on its flaws harshly, because that’s the sort of thing he did at Bain Capital. Perhaps Romney thinks the British should have outsourced the Olympics. Or maybe he sees an opening for a leveraged buyout, to make it more efficient. At any rate, the guy who said, “I like to be able to fire people who provide services to me,” is a guy used to mercilessly appraising a situation and delivering a slashing verdict. He clearly feels he’s entitled to do that anywhere.

But could it be more than entitlement and an odd personal style? I’ve found myself wondering over the course of the campaign whether Romney has some kind of personality disorder, so dissociated does he occasionally seem from the well-worn routines of normal human interaction. Maybe we should be asking to see his medical records and not just his tax returns. I don’t mean to be flippant about that or insensitive to any kind of problem he may struggle with. But his struggles are our struggles; he’s running to be our president. There is something very odd about Mitt Romney.

via Joan Walsh – Salon.com.

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July 27, 2012 · 5:30 pm

Tampa Strip Clubs Await GOP Cash Bonanza from the Republican Convention

It must be hard living up to all those Family Values the GOP subscribes to….

Apparently, so hard that they all break loose at Strip Clubs as soon as they get out of town…

I especially love the comments about the “Promise Keepers” in this New York Times Article….

And they are all going to be even more excited to see the Sarah Palin look-alike stripper…..

Or, I guess maybe this is just their version of “Trickle Down” economics…

Hypocrites….

From the New York Times:

As Tampa gears up for the Republican National Convention, the biggest party it has ever held, the city and its businesses are primping and polishing for the August arrival of tens of thousands of visitors. Like it or not — mostly not, for city officials — Tampa’s well-known strip clubs have joined the welcome wagon.

Club owners here say they have schmoozed with their counterparts in former host cities, like Denver, and have been told that revenue pours in during conventions, sometimes quadrupling earnings from a Super Bowl week. As for party affiliation, this is one place where the country’s caustic partisan differences fall away, owners say.

Angelina Spencer, the executive director of the Association of Club Executives, which serves as a trade association for strip clubs, said an informal survey of convention business in New York and Denver had determined that Republicans dropped more money at clubs, by far.

“Hands down, it was Republicans,” she said. “The average was $150 for Republicans and $50 for Democrats.”

As further evidence of the clubs’ nonpartisan appeal, Don Kleinhans, the owner of the 2001 Odyssey, said when the Promise Keepers, a male evangelical group, came to town years ago, business was rollicking.

“We had phenomenal numbers all weekend, and they walked in wearing badges and name tags and weren’t shy at all,” he said.

via Strip Clubs in Tampa Are Ready to Cash In on G.O.P. Convention – NYTimes.com.

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July 27, 2012 · 12:21 pm

“Mitt the Twit”

At least that was the headline in the UK Newspaper “The Sun”  and other UK papers this morning….

Seems his diplomacy trip has made quite the impression…

Just not the one he intended…

He makes George W Bush look like a skilled diplomat….

Here is a great summary of his Greatest Diplomatic Blunders- so far:

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