Mitt Romney is PANNED by his father's former aide

The New York Times has published an essay by Walt DeVries, an aide to George Romney during his political career.  In the essay, DeVries says he has tracked Mitt Romney's shifts in his positions on such issues as abortion, equal pay for women - sometimes by 180 degrees, sometimes by 360 - and counted 30 such shifts.  This is in stark contrast, DeVries writes, to George Romney, whose "strength as a politician and public office holder was his ability and determination to develop and hold consistent policy positions over his life."  DeVries further states that George Romney often campaigned in factories and union halls, and never would have been seen with the likes of Sheldon Adelson and Donald Trump. It is definitely worth reading this essay through.

THIS is the Mitt Romney America needs to see.  The weasel, the snake-oil salesman.  The man who will say anything, do anything to get elected.  The man who has no core values, no real "dream" to share with the American people.  The man who privately disparages half of America, who sees women in binders, not as productive members of the work force.  The man who was for it before he was against it.  The man who is willing to use the dead bodies of American servicemen and civil servants for political gain.

It is embarrassing that so many Americans are incapable of seeing through Mitt Romney.  And to those you counter that President Obama has flaws as well, of course he does.  But they are in the ways he has acted on his core beliefs, not on those core beliefs themselves.

KitchenAid's Political Tweet

On the evening of October 3, during the first presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, the following Tweet was sent:

According to the LA Times, 

"The appliance maker, which is owned by Whirlpool Corp., quickly deleted the tweet. Cynthia Soledad, a KitchenAid marketing executive, issued a series of apologies via Twitter and Facebook.

"I would like to personally apologize to President @BarackObama, his family and everyone on Twitter for the offensive tweet sent earlier," she wrote. "It was carelessly sent in error by a member of our Twitter team who, needless to say, won't be tweeting for us anymore.""

Whether intentionally or not, yet another line has been crossed in the disrespectful treatment of the President of the United States .  From Joe Wilson shouting out "You lie!" during the State of the Union, to Mitt Romney's blatant disrespect and dishonesty during the debate, and now to this stupid tweet which denigrated the President's family, there is a trend toward more and more open disrespect of both Barack Obama personally and the office he occupies.  

Assuming that the US survives as a united nation, history will look back on this as America's Dark Ages, where knowledge, science, and fact are devalued, when racism rears its ugly head, and where corporate greed and selfishness have devastated the economy.  One small tweet, but with repercussions that have yet to be fully measured.  For shame, America.  For shame, KitchenAid.  For shame, Cynthia Soledad, for tolerating someone with so few values on your "team."

Romney a RISK to US Foreign Policy

As a person with a degree in Foreign Service (BSFS - Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University) I am appalled at the way Mitt Romney's behavior has negatively impacted the United States during this period of exacerbated unrest in the Middle East. Here is a list of characteristics required in a US Foreign Service Officer (FSO). There is a rigorous, highly competitive exam, with written and verbal components. Mitt Romney would not be an acceptable candidate for FSO, much less someone who would set foreign policy. His behavior during these last 3 days shows he cannot meet the first, second, sixth, and seventh requirements. To say the least.

Here is the list of FSO qualifications from the State Department:

Foreign Service Officer Qualifications - 13 DIMENSIONS

What qualities do we seek in FSO candidates? The successful candidate will demonstrate the following

dimensions that reflect the skills, abilities, and personal qualities deemed essential to the work of the Foreign Service:

1. Composure. To stay calm, poised, and effective in stressful or difficult situations; to think on one's feet, adjusting quickly to changing situations; to maintain self-control.

2. Cultural Adaptability. To work and communicate effectively and harmoniously with persons of other cultures, value systems, political beliefs, and economic circumstances; to recognize and respect differences in new and different cultural environments.

3. Experience and Motivation. To demonstrate knowledge, skills or other attributes gained from previous experience of relevance to the Foreign Service; to articulate appropriate motivation for joining the Foreign Service.

4. Information Integration and Analysis. To absorb and retain complex information drawn from a variety of sources; to draw reasoned conclusions from analysis and synthesis of available information; to evaluate the importance, reliability, and usefulness of information; to remember details of a meeting or event without the benefit of notes.

5. Initiative and Leadership. To recognize and assume responsibility for work that needs to be done; to persist in the completion of a task; to influence significantly a group’s activity, direction, or opinion; to motivate others to participate in the activity one is leading.

6. Judgment. To discern what is appropriate, practical, and realistic in a given situation; to weigh relative merits of competing demands.

7. Objectivity and Integrity. To be fair and honest; to avoid deceit, favoritism, and discrimination; to present issues frankly and fully, without injecting subjective bias; to work without letting personal bias prejudice actions.

8. Oral Communication. To speak fluently in a concise, grammatically correct, organized, precise, and persuasive manner; to convey nuances of meaning accurately; to use appropriate styles of communication to fit the audience and purpose.

9. Planning and Organizing. To prioritize and order tasks effectively, to employ a systematic approach to achieving objectives, to make appropriate use of limited resources.

10. Quantitative Analysis. To identify, compile, analyze, and draw correct conclusions from pertinent data; to recognize patterns or trends in numerical data; to perform simple mathematical operations.

11. Resourcefulness. To formulate creative alternatives or solutions to resolve problems, to show flexibility in response to unanticipated circumstances.

12. Working With Others. To interact in a constructive, cooperative, and harmonious manner; to work effectively as a team player; to establish positive relationships and gain the confidence of others; to use humor as appropriate.

13. Written Communication. To write concise, well organized, grammatically correct, effective and persuasive English in a limited amount of time.

Please note that we require no specific education level, academic major, or proficiency in a foreign language for appointment as a Foreign Service Officer.

BOYCOTT PENNSYLVANIA

BOYCOTT PENNSYLVANIA, the anti-American, GESTAPO state. Donate to the ACLU to get this law overturned. IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR COUNTRY, YOU WILL ENFRANCHISE EVERYONE. This is the second WORST ABUSE of political power any party has perpetrated in my life time, right after George W. Bush sending our troops to die in Iraq. All businesses, sports groups, convention planners, travel agents, etc. should boycott PA.

Until this law is overturned, I will go across the river and give my patronage to *barf* New Jersey businesses.

The Skanky film the Right made about President Obama.

Right-wing mouthpiece Dinesh D'Souza has made a "documentary" based on his latest book, called 2016: Obama's America. I hadn't heard of the film until I read this article, even though Fandango says it is #1 in pre-sales on their website.


In the above clip from his film, D'Souza baits George Obama to try to get him to say something bad about his brother. Can you imagine the uproar there would be if President Obama HAD helped his Kenyan relatives? The right can't have it both ways! Confronted by an obviously intelligent, thinking man, Dinesh D'Souza is reduced to a stammering child. Hw obviously doesn't understand what George Obama has written or said. Like the standard Republican of today, he isn't interested in having a productive discussion. He just wants George Obama to say something controversial that D-Souza can get attention for repeating.

To me, President Barack Obama is the quintessential American. He was not born with a silver spoon, as were George W. Bush and W. Mitt Romney. The money that he has, he earned - LITERALLY - with his own hands, by writing. Michelle Obama is literally the descendant of slaves. That Barack and Michelle became the President and First Lady of the US is a tribute to their hard work and strong values. It is a wonderful thing that the President has a half-brother living in a hut in Kenya, who doesn't feel that he needs help from his powerful brother.

Is Ryan LYING, or PREVARICATING???

This should be all over the news - why isn't it? Paul Ryan LIES - in public, and gets caught. Ryan has claimed repeatedly that he opposed the stimulus and would not take stimulus money. He even went as far as to say that “I’m not one [of those] people who votes for something then writes to the government to ask them to send us money. I did not request any stimulus money.”

Yet the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, and now ABC News have confronted Ryan with letters he wrote to Cabinet members requesting money for two Wisconsin energy conservation projects.

Ryan's response? "They were treated as constituent service requests in the same way matters involving Social Security or Veterans Affairs are handled,” Ryan said in a statement. “This is why I didn’t recall the letters earlier. But they should have been handled differently, and I take responsibility for that."

Yuck.

Ryan Retroactively Discloses ... and MORE

According to Politics USA, Mitt Romney could not be confirmed in a Cabinet position unless he disclosed more tax returns than he has to date. What this means is that we have higher standards for Cabinet officers than we do for the Presidency. Yikes.

But the main thrust of the article is Paul Ryan's "inadvertent" omission from his financial disclosure the existence of a trust worth between $1 and $5 million, with income between $100K and $1 million in 2010.

According to the article,

"The House Ethics folks aren’t worried about Mr. Ryan’s slip, but then we have to remember that the Republicans appeared to want to kill the Office of Congressional Ethics when they took over in 2010. Ethics are for Democrats. Both parties violate ethics rules, but only one party seeks to hold the offenders accountable. Remember the Republican outrage over Tom Daschle’s $140,000 in taxes owed for a car and driver provided by a donor? That inadvertent admission rendered Tom Daschle unfit for a cabinet position."

THIS is what is really divisive, the fundamental philosophy that divides the world into "us" and "them," with vastly different standards for each.

There is NO Obama Spending Spree

In a May article,
Forbes points out that Obama has the smallest amount of spending since Eisenhower. Real numbers. Real facts and figures. NO SPIN.

Here is their graph. Read it and weep, Romney.

HA - Rudy Guiliani thinks Biden is STUPID

The Fix blog on the Washington Post site this morning talked about a speech yesterday by Vice-President Joe Biden:

"Campaigning in southern Virginia on Tuesday, Vice President Biden told an audience that Mitt Romney’s approach to regulating the financial industry will “put y’all back in chains,” a remark that triggered a flurry of Republican criticism, including a sharp rebuke from the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

BIDEN's RESPONSE:

‎“I got a message for them,” Biden said. “If you want to know what’s outrageous, it’s their policies and the effects of their policies on middle-class America. That’s what’s outrageous.”

Biden is exactly right. It kills me, that ANY Republican - after participating in the most DIVISIVE, PARTISAN session of Congress EVER - has the balls to call what Biden said divisive. Republicans in the House have refused to pass any legislation that would improve the economy and weaken their anti-Obama position. Romney's tax plan explicitly includes tax cuts for the rich. {According to Fox News, an August 1 study released by the Tax Policy Center projects that "taxpayers making more than $1 million would see tax cuts averaging $175,000. Those making between $75,000 and $100,000 would see an average tax cut of $1,800. And those making under $30,000 would see an average increase of $130, according to the report."}


Then again, the chief Republican strategy seems to be to repeat lies often enough that they become perceived as truth

Creepy Republican and former mayor of New York Rudy Guiliani seized on Biden's comment for another round in their on-going adversarial relationship (maybe better characterized as a spat). Here is the video:


Looking at the video, how can you conceivably categorize Biden as stupid? He has survived on his wits for long enough in Washington. Sure, he has Sarah Palin's tendency for verbal gaffes, but he also has a keen intellect to along with it. Get over yourself, Rudy.

President Obama's ad "The Choice" presents the CRUX of the matter

The Obama campaign has produced an ad that calmly, without name-calling, lays out the focal issue of this campaign - the economy - and the choice the voter has to make. Barack Obama doesn't get any better than this.