Happy FRY-day, Everyone. We hope you’v’e enjoyed our featured artist Lizz Wright.
SONG FOR MIA
A FEW VIDEOS FOR YA’LL
The Top Five Reasons Why Mitt Romney Won’t Release More Tax Returns
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Black Girls Rock!
Flickr Photos
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Potus Takes Oath of Office
Flotus & Daughters at Great Wall of China
My Brothers Keeper
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AFRO PUFFS
Most Adorable Shoe Stealer
Six Little Babies
Fatherhood
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Even though 3Chics Politico is written and curated by three women: Ametia, Rikyrah, and SouthernGirl2, I must nominate this as one of the most engaging blogs I've found. Devoted to politics and culture, these three shine a light on contemporary life with humor and spirit.
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Presidential hug
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Jill Biden Campaigns for Obama-Biden Ticket
Dr. Jill Biden campaigned in the Twin Cities for the Obama-Biden ticket on Friday.
VIDEO
http://kstp.com/article/stories/s2766455.shtml
LOL Love this commercial
Breaking
Judge strikes down Wisconsin law restricting union rights
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/14/13868190-judge-strikes-down-wisconsin-law-restricting-union-rights?lite
A Wisconsin judge on Friday struck down the state law championed by Gov. Scott Walker that effectively ended collective bargaining rights for most public workers.
Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas ruled Friday that the law violates both the state and U.S. Constitution and is null and void.
The law took away nearly all collective bargaining rights from most workers and has been in effect for more than a year.
Great news! Walker and his ilk; they are losers.
Rikyrah, did you watch the repeat of the last “Scandal episode” last night?
yes….hee hee hee
Mitt Romney is further DIGGING his grave with the BIRTHERS & BAGGERS.
BWA HA HA HA
Oh God….Deliver us from this evil…
LMBAO This is the type of mindset that is the reason behind the DEMISE of the GOP. And the toothless, ignorant, racists white folks. The demographics in this country shows that they are literally a DYING BREED (INBRED)
Hate is a powerful emotion. It literally KILLS. Love is the EXPANDER. HATE, the CONTRICTOR.
Can you believe your eyes? The gall of this pure nasty trash.
It’s DELIVERANCE 2012!
damn, the ignorance blinds
Love FLOTUS! These boys where just too cute.
Drop off Terry Jones and Steve Klein in Libya and let them suffer the consequences. You cannot have people inciting violence and causing innocent Americans to lose their lives for nothing. Drop the mofos off!
These MOFOs are trying to make the POTUS look bad; weak. It will not work. WE SEE THEM.
tellme about it. personally, I wanna follow the money for that piece of filth
In Meetings, On The Court To Discover ‘Obama’s Way’
September 12, 2012
Author Michael Lewis made a radical request to the White House that he says he was almost certain would be denied: He wanted to write a piece about President Obama that would put the reader in the president’s shoes.
To do this, the Vanity Fair contributing editor would need inside access. So what did he propose?
“I’ve got to basically come and loiter and just kind of get to know him. It’s going to be very free-flowing; I want to do things like play basketball with him,” Lewis tells Fresh Air’s Terry Gross. “I said I wanted to caddy for him on the golf course. I wanted to be in meetings, I just wanted to be around, and no one had ever done this.”
To Lewis’ surprise, access was granted because, according to Lewis, Obama wanted to do it.
LISTEN HERE:
http://www.npr.org/2012/09/12/161003362/michael-lewis-studies-obamas-way
September 14, 2012 05:35 AM
Hannity Cuts Off McCain After He Refuses to Agree With His Egypt- and Libya-Bashing
By Heather
Wow. Even poor old John McCain can’t get any respect on Fox these days. During an extremely contentious interview with Sean Hannity Thursday evening, Hannity ends up cutting McCain’s mic after he refuses to agree with him that the United States should cut off aid to Egypt after the protests there over the last week.
It’s pretty bad when Fox is so desperate to attack the Obama administration that they can’t even get McCain to go along with them:
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/hannity-cuts-mccain-after-he-refuses-agree
Lawsuit: Sheriff Arpaio’s Jail Denied Medicine To Diabetic Inmate, Causing her Death
Source: Think Progress
The family of a woman who died after her custody at Maricopa County Jail is suing the office of the infamous Sheriff Joe Arpaio, alleging authorities neglected her and deprived her of necessary medications for days, allowing her to slip into a diabetic coma.
The local ABC affiliate reports on the circumstances that led to Deborah Braillard’s death, after she was detained for a minor drug possession charge:
Witnesses said that Deborah was constantly moaning and crying out in pain, asking for help, repeatedly vomiting, defecating on herself and having seizures.
“She would shake. Her body would stiffen up,” said Tamela Harper, an inmate in the jail with Braillard. “They never did anything to help her.”
Inmates said they begged officers to do something.
“They were telling everyone, ‘There’s nothing we can do about it. This is jail. Get over it,”’ Harper said.
Harper added that officers said Braillard was “kicking drugs” and that she was “getting what she deserved.”
Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/09/13/841161/lawsuit-sheriff-arpaios-jail-denied-medicine-to-diabetic-inmate-causing-her-death/?mobile=nc
Why isn’t the sack of isht arrested for his crimes? If this was a black man violating human rights, he’d have been in jail and awaiting execution.
Trust that when KARMA comes to collect from this MOFO, it will not be pretty.
he is walking evil
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r55gQEKvRtw&feature=player_embedded
You believe in life until after it get here, Paul Ryan. And then it’s YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN.
“I’ve never thought of government as something I belong to,” says Ryan,
daveweigel @daveweigel
“I’ve never thought of government as something I belong to,” says Ryan, who has been a congressman since he was 28.
(Paul Ryan speaking just now before the Family Research Council)
Negotiators have reached ‘framework’ to end Chicago teachers strike, maybe as early as Monday
By Associated Press, Published: September 13 |
Updated: Friday, September 14, 2:34 PM
CHICAGO — The city’s nearly weeklong teachers strike appeared headed toward a resolution Friday after negotiators emerged from marathon talks to say they had achieved a “framework” that could end the walkout in time for students to return to class Monday.
Chicago School Board David Vitale said the “heavy lifting” was over. He declined to say where each side compromised and stressed that union delegates still must vote to formally end the strike.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/negotiators-report-progress-in-talks-to-end-chicago-teachers-strike-schools-to-stay-closed/2012/09/13/79ae1db4-fe06-11e1-98c6-ec0a0a93f8eb_story.html?wpisrc=al_national
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9BSUgY0Xx0&feature=player_embedded
this is crazy hilarious
A tentative deal has been reached in the dispute between the Chicago Teachers Union and the school board, a source with detailed knowledge of the negotiations said.
Students could be back in the classroom as soon as Monday, according to the source.
Schools remained closed on Friday, the fifth day of the strike, amid the negotiations.
Kansas birthers want Obama off statewide ballot
By Steve Benen
Fri Sep 14, 2012 10:06 AM EDT.
In May, Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett (R) dabbled in the “birther” conspiracy theory and publicly questioned whether he’d allow President Obama to appear on the statewide ballot. Soon after, a chastened Bennett—who oversees Arizona elections despite his role as the state co-chair of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign—backed down.
I assumed at the time we wouldn’t hear much more about unhinged Republican activists trying to keep the president off the ballot. I assumed wrong.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/09/14/13862047-kansas-birthers-want-obama-off-statewide-ballot?lite
America wants stupid racists off the the face of the earth. THERE. FIXED!
Post Convention Write Up, Part One
By John Cole September 14th, 2012
I know it has been a couple days since we returned from the DNC, and I keep promising wrap-ups with my thoughts, but I really was just wiped out and then had a lot of other professional obligations I needed to deal with in the last couple of days (and I never talk about my professional obligations because I have worked hard for ten years to separate this blog from my occupation. I’ll just leave it at this- I teach at a university and run a distance learning program for our department. I’ve avoided ever talking about it publicly, because for me the separation between work and this blog is very important. I’d respectfully ask all of you to avoid speculation or sharing of details- if you have questions please email me). Now that I am all smacked up on the Tussin dealing with the cold that comes every time I run myself ragged (fever is only 100, so I will live), I figure I can do a little bit of a rundown.
First things first- I want to personally thank each and every one of you who contributed to the trip. It really was the time of my life, and I never would have gone without your support. I’m sure that Angry Black Lady feels the same way. We had an amazing time, met lots of awesome people, and hell, we met each other. My only regret is that Tim F. has been trying to get me to meet him in Pittsburgh for about 7 years, and I have always said no, I don’t leave the house. I guess that excuse is kind of shot now. So yes, Tim, the next time you have Steelers tickets, I will go, but only if I get to meet that beautiful dog of yours.
Second, and this only is peripherally related to the convention, but I have to say that the Motel 6 episode, even though we called it Murder Motel, was such a positive experience for me. I’ll be blunt. I’m white and I live in a town of a few hundred. I have no black friends in town. I did spend a couple years in the military where almost every one in my platoon was black, to the point that we called ourselves the oreo platoon (4 tanks, each with four crewman, and of those four crewman, only one was white). So I basically spend my entire life in a white cocoon. When I picked up Imani and Heather from the Pittsburgh airport, as we crossed the WV state line, I looked over and told them “I think we just doubled the black population in West Virginia.”
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/09/14/post-convention-write-up-part-one/
Amateur hour continues, this time on Iran
By Steve Benen
–
Fri Sep 14, 2012 1:23 PM EDT.
Ask Mitt Romney why he disagrees with President Obama’s foreign policy, and he’ll give you a quick answer: Iran. On “Meet the Press,” for example, Romney said, “I can certainly look at his record and I think one can say that he’s had some successes and he’s had some failures. And perhaps the biggest failure is as it relates to the greatest threat that America faces and the world faces, which is the nuclear Iran.”
But this requires a little more depth. George Stephanopoulos asked Romney a good question: “What is your red line with Iran?” The candidate replied, “Well, my red line is Iran may not have a nuclear weapon. It is inappropriate for them to have the capacity to terrorize the world.”
It led to an interesting exchange.
STEPHANOPOULOS: President Obama said exactly the same thing. He said it’s unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. So your red line is the same as his.
ROMNEY: Yeah, and I laid out what I would do to keep Iran from reaching that red line. […]
STEPHANOPOULOS: But your red line going forward is the same?
MITT ROMNEY: Yes.
What’s wrong with this? Nothing in particular, except two of Romney’s most senior foreign policy advisers, Eliot Cohen and Richard Williamson, said Romney and Obama don’t have the same red line with regards to Iran.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/09/14/13864799-amateur-hour-continues-this-time-on-iran?lite
Eric Cantor: Election Not Just About Economy – Also, Abortion And Gay Marriage
Benjy Sarlin – 11:08 AM EDT, Friday September 14, 2012
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said in a speech at the Values Voters Summit in Washington on Friday that the presidential election was about issues like abortion as well as the economy.
“This election is going to determine whether or not the very moral fabric of our country will be upheld or if it will be torn apart,” he said, citing restrictions on abortion and preventing legalization of gay marriage as two examples.
We need a president, we need a senate, who will stand up with us in defense of life forever,” he said.
]
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/eric-cantor-election-not-just-about-economy-also
Romney defines ‘middle-income’ as $200,000 to $250,000 and less in annual income
By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, September 14, 12:17 PMAP
BOSTON — Mitt Romney is promising to reduce taxes on middle-income Americans.
But how does he define “middle-income”? The Republican presidential nominee defined it Friday as income of $200,000 to $250,000 a year and less.
The definition of “middle income” or the “middle class” is politically charged as Romney and President Barack Obama fight to win over working-class voters. Romney would be among the wealthiest presidents, if elected, and Democrats have repeatedly painted him as out of touch with average people.
Obama also has set his definition for “middle class” as families with income of up to $250,000 a year.
Romney’s comments came an interview broadcast Friday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
“No one can say my plan is going to raise taxes on middle-income people, because principle number one is (to) keep the burden down on middle-income taxpayers,” Romney told host George Stephanopoulos.
“Is $100,000 middle income?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“No, middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less,” Romney responded.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/romney-defines-middle-income-as-250k-and-below/2012/09/14/14b17e52-fe73-11e1-98c6-ec0a0a93f8eb_story.html
Romney On Obama’s ‘Shoot First And Aim Later’ Criticism: ‘This Is Politics’
David Taintor – 6:25 AM EDT, Friday September 14, 2012
Mitt Romney again stood by his statement criticizing the Obama administration’s response to violence against U.S. diplomats in the Middle East in an interview set to air Friday.
“What I said was exactly the same conclusion the White House reached, which was that the statement was inappropriate,” Romney told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. “That’s why they backed away from it as well.”
Asked to respond to President Obama’s assertion that Romney “shoots first” and “aims later,” Romney said, “This is politics. I’m not going to worry about the campaign.”
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/romney-on-obamas-shoot-first-aim-later-criticism
I can state what they’re feeling:
this mofo would get us killed and then smirk about our deaths.
there, done.
…………………………..
PM Editor’s Blog
A Foreign Service Officer’s Lament
Josh Marshall-September 14, 2012, 9:33 AM6007
From a Foreign Service Officer …
It’s probably not a surprise. But can I just say that if Mitt Romney wins in November, he is going to have a very chilly reception from his employees every time he goes abroad? I don’t think I can quite state the rage we’re all feeling towards him.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012/09/a_foreign_service_officers_lament.php?ref=fpblg
STICK A FORK IN MITTENS; HE.IS.SO.DONE.
TEE HEE HEE
The Romney Campaign Implodes after Libya
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2012/09/14/The-Romney-Campaign-Implodes-after-Libya.aspx#page#C18Ous2OTDt8YkKm.99
Who’s your DADDY?
Egypt, Hearing From Obama, Moves to Heal Rift From Protests
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK, HELENE COOPER and MARK LANDLER
CAIRO — Following a blunt phone call from President Obama, Egyptian leaders scrambled Thursday to try to repair the country’s alliance with Washington, tacitly acknowledging that they erred in their response to the attack on the United States Embassy by seeking to first appease anti-American domestic opinion without offering a robust condemnation of the violence.
et off by anger at an American-made video ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad, the attacks on the embassy put President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in a squeeze between the need to stand with Washington against the attackers and the demands of many Egyptians to defy Washington and defend Islam, a senior Brotherhood official acknowledged.
During a late-night, 20-minute phone call, Mr. Obama warned Mr. Morsi that relations would be jeopardized if Egyptian authorities failed to protect American diplomats and stand more firmly against anti-American attacks.
The rising breach between the United States and Egypt comes at a critical time for the longtime allies. For the Obama administration, it is a test of whether it has succeeded in efforts to shore up influence after the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak and to find common ground with the new Islamist leaders of a country that is a linchpin of American policy in the Middle East.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/world/middleeast/egypt-hearing-from-obama-moves-to-heal-rift-from-protests.html?_r=2&smid=tw-share
Jill Biden visits Macalester, North Hennepin campuses
Posted: Sep 14, 2012 7:41 AM CDT Updated: Sep 14, 2012 7:42 AM CDT
by Mike Durkin
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (KMSP) –
Dr. Jill Biden will be making some campaign stops in the Twin Cities on Friday, rallying support for her husband and President Obama.
Biden will be speaking at North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park at noon.
After that, she’ll visit the Depot Coffee Shop in Hopkins before her final stop at Macalester College in St. Paul. Jill Biden has her doctorate in education.
Read more: http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/19543739/jill-biden-visits-macalester-north-hennepin-campuses#ixzz26SY1Aa45
THESE BOMB THREATS STINK TO HIGH HEAVEN.
UT campus under evacuation order
Source: Austin American-Statesman
At 8:35 a.m. the university received a call from a male with a middle eastern accent claiming to have placed bombs all over campus. He said he was with Al Qaeda and these bombs would go off in 90 minutes. President Powers was notified and it was decided to evacuate all of the buildings out of an abundance of caution.
EARLIER: The University of Texas emergency alert system posted the following notice:
Evacuation due to threats on campus. Immediately evacuate ALL buildings and get as far away as possible. More information to come.
A UT official told the American-Statesman that the university had received multiple bomb threats to multiple buildings.
Read more: http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2012/09/14/ut_campus_under_evacuation_ord.html
NDSU evacuated
Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune
ust across the borders, North Dakota State University has ordered a campus-wide evacuation this morning after a bomb threat.
From the school’s website: “NDSU is requiring all employees and students to leave campus by 10:15 a.m. This includes residence hall students, who, if necessary, should walk to locations off campus. This also includes the downtown buildings and agricultural facilities.NDSU received a bomb threat, prompting this evacuation. Updates will follow.”
Read more: http://www.startribune.com/blogs/169771966.html
Republicans are finished
South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
September 14, 2012
Win, lose or draw in November, the Republican Party is over, finished, kaput. How do I know? Tampa tells me so — -and demographics.
At what should have been the culmination of four years of relentless plotting against President Obama, and in an election cycle that was its to lose, the GOP self-destructed, staging a convention that never got off the ground. It started and stopped and sputtered in between.
But it wasn’t because of Tropical Storm Isaac. The rain or shine outside had nothing to do with the climate inside, where conditions were inclement at best. Fact is: hardly anyone really likes Mitt Romney, even people who say they do — and it showed. He’s everybody’s Cracker Jack box without a prize, the kid to whose birthday party no one wants to be invited to, even though his house has a swimming pool. He’s the would-be head of the richest and most powerful nation on earth, from whom you wouldn’t buy a vacuum cleaner without a money-back guarantee.
READ ON: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/fl-sgduel-oped0914-20120914,0,1246388,print.story
Repost
The lawmakers’ richer halves
By Al Kamen, Published: September 13
What do the wealthiest members of Congress have in common with cast members of the Real Housewives franchise?
Lawmakers might not share the Housewives’ propensity for chardonnay-fueled catfights, but just like those Botoxed women of Bravo, they married well.
Specifically, into gobs of money.
Roll Call on Thursday published its annual list of the 50 richest members of Congress, and among those with the fattest bank accounts are plenty who got their money the old-fashioned way — by marrying into it. (And in case the sight of all those zeros was already making you cross-eyed, keep in mind that most of the lawmakers in question are far wealthier even than listed, since disclosure forms may not reveal the extent of their holdings and since Roll Call uses the minimums of the ranges they report.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/the-lawmakers-richer-halves/2012/09/13/3a15b8b0-fdbb-11e1-a31e-804fccb658f9_story.html?wpisrc=nl_fedinsider
Obama widens lead over Romney to seven points: Reuters/Ipsos poll
By Alina Selyukh
WASHINGTON | Thu Sep 13, 2012 7:40pm EDT
(Reuters) – President Barack Obama widened his lead over Republican challenger Mitt Romney to 7 percentage points in a Reuters/Ipsos poll of likely voters on Thursday, the latest survey to show the Democrat ahead in the run-up to the November 6 election.
The daily online poll asked 990 likely voters over the previous four days which candidate they would pick if the vote took place today, with 48 percent choosing Obama and 41 percent picking Romney.
The gap has been widening since Obama grabbed the lead in the rolling poll on September 7 when he scooped up 46 percent of likely voters to Romney’s 44 percent after the Democratic convention.
“What that really means is that Obama is in good shape,” said Ipsos pollster Julia Clark, attributing some of Obama’s uptick to the slowly improving sentiment toward the direction of the country shown in Wednesday’s telephone poll.
Among all 1,231 registered voters surveyed online, Obama led with 45 percent to Romney’s 39 percent.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/13/us-usa-campaign-poll-idUSBRE88B0IG20120913
Obama Plays Hardball and Egypt’s Morsi Folds
Posted on 09/14/2012 by Juan
The attack on the US consulate in Benghazi happened because the Libyan government is still weak, rebuilding after its revolution against Muammar Qaddafi. But there was no doubt that the new government was a friend of the US ambassador who was killed, Chris Stevens, or that it would mobilize to deal with the cells of the Ansar al-Shariah extremists that launched the attack. Pro-America demonstrations regretting the attack on the consulate have been held all over Libya.
The puzzle comes in Egypt, where the government and security forces are strong, but were not deployed in force to protect the US embassy (unlike in the past), and where newly elected president Mohammad Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, did not explicitly condemn the small crowd that tried to invade the embassy grounds on Tuesday and which tore down the American flag.
Morsi was no doubt himself offended by the trailer on Youtube of a movie villifying the Prophet Muhammad, and he was probably concerned to not be outflanked by Muslim forces to his right, the Salafi Nour Party or the Gama’ah Islamiya (formerly a terrorist organization that has given up violence). But his declining to make a firm statement in defense of the sanctity of foreign embassies annoyed the Obama administration mightily.
In an interview with Telemundo, President Barack Obama showed his annoyance with Morsi:
http://www.juancole.com/2012/09/obama-plays-hardball-and-egypts-morsi-folds.html
Posted at 06:00 PM ET, 09/13/2012
TheWashingtonPost
The go-to move for Republican losers
By Jonathan Bernstein
The thing about today’s turn in the campaign, in which Republicans have decided to gang up on the press, is just how tired and pointless the whole exercise is. It is, of course, nothing new; every losing Republican presidential campaign in the last 20 years (at least) has turned to it, from “Annoy the Media, Vote for (George H.W.) Bush” on.
Hey, Republicans! You have a president who has presided over a mediocre economic recovery and just had a foreign policy episode that certainly could be characterized as a mistake: Why are you giving up? Because you know what? To any experienced political observer, that’s exactly what this media-bashing sounds like.
My guess is, too, that it either sounds whiny or just irrelevant to most voters. No doubt it gets terrific responses from hard-core Republican voters, the kind who show up to campaign rallies, but you know what? Those voters aren’t your problem. Your problem is voters who voted Republican in 2002 and 2004 but turned against you because Iraq went bad and the economy went worse. They might be interested in returning, since Barack Obama hasn’t given them all that much, but they’re really, really, unlikely to be convinced that a media conspiracy against your candidate is the whole problem.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/the-go-to-move-for-republican-losers/2012/09/13/c3669af6-fdea-11e1-98c6-ec0a0a93f8eb_blog.html
Romney Defenders Have to Ignore the Substance of Romney’s Statement on the Attacks
By Daniel Larison • September 13, 2012, 4:53 PM
Peter Feaver does his best to ignore the substance of Romney’s statement on Tuesday:
But to argue that Romney’s critique crossed a line and justified the aggressive political response of Obama partisans — as, to pick just one from dozens of ardent Obama partisans in the media, Dana Milbank, does — requires that you ignore completely the substance of Romney’s critique and focus entirely on the timing and tone, which, of course, is what Milbank and the rest of the campaign does.
It’s telling that Feaver accuses others of doing exactly what he is doing. The substance of Romney’s Tuesday night statement can’t be defended on the merits at all, so the next best defense is to claim that critics have ignored the substance. As I said earlier today, the timing and tone may have been bad, but they don’t account for the fierce backlash against what Romney said. The relevant part of Romney’s statement was this:
It’s disgraceful that the Obama Administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.
The substance of Romney’s critique, such as it is, consists of a false accusation (the first response was to “sympathize” with embassy attackers), which is based on an equally baseless framing of Obama’s foreign policy record (the so-called “apology tour”). Even if Romney were right to hold the Obama administration responsible for an unauthorized statement, the embassy statement doesn’t support Romney’s accusation, either. The embassy statement wasn’t evidence of sympathy for the attackers.
The truth is that Romney was trying to link his opponent in the minds of the public with the people attacking U.S. diplomatic missions. He made this attempt on the basis of the flimsiest evidence available. His accusation was then repeatedly shown to be false before he appeared at his Wednesday morning press conference. Undeterred by having been proven wrong, Romney pressed his dishonest attack once again. Since then, Romney’s defenders have worked very hard to avoid addressing the substance of Romney’s statement, perhaps because they know they can’t defend it and don’t even want to try.
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/romney-defenders-have-to-ignore-the-substance-of-romneys-statement-on-the-attacks/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=romney-defenders-have-to-ignore-the-substance-of-romneys-statement-on-the-attacks
Talking Smack is a Tool
by BooMan
Thu Sep 13th, 2012 at 08:39:19 PM EST
Markos has never really fancied himself an analyst. He makes predictions, but not in any kind of methodical way. He gets a feel for things and then he lets it rip. And that’s fine. That’s why he can talk so much smack without fear that his career will be negatively impacted if he’s wrong. Talking smack is not the same thing as telling people what is going to happen. It’s actually more focused on having an influence on what will happen. Presidential elections can turn out a lot like other feats of strength. I’ve used the analogy of arm-wrestling, where two people struggle on seemingly even terms for quite a while before it ends suddenly in victory for one side. Another example is from the battlefield, where any disorganized retreat can quickly turn into a rout.
While Romney is down, struggling with a disappointing convention, a disenchanted press, a dysfunctional party, a series of gaffes, and bad polling numbers, the time is right to push him hard to see if he will crumble. It’s not really about the presidential election, since barring some Act of God, Obama has already proven himself the superior candidate. It’s about routing Romney and getting enough coattails to keep the Senate and take over the House. It’s about totally dispiriting the opposition so that they flee before us and we can hear the lamentations of their women.
More seriously, it’s about creating panic and lack of enthusiasm and infighting and finger-pointing and chaos. It’s about putting pressure on the man to see if he can take the stress. Talking smack isn’t just about expressing self-confidence, it’s about spooking the enemy.
This is why Joe Namath and Muhammed Ali talked smack, and it’s why it worked. People don’t root for losers. They’ll pull for the underdog, sure, but only if they think they have a fighting chance.
So, Kos is trying to put his boot down on Romney’s neck. He’s doing his part to break him.
When I tell you Romney is going to get his clock cleaned, it’s because I have analyzed the race and that is what I truly believe. That’s why I was talking smack in the spring. That’s why I was talking smack when the polls were a dead-heat. I was making a prediction…a bold prediction, that flew in the face of conventional wisdom.
But I also know that self-confidence breeds success. People are attracted to self-confidence in every area of life, from making hiring decisions, investment decisions, finding sexual partners, to electing politicians. A party of mopers and worry-warts isn’t going to win. In 2010, I couldn’t be optimistic, so I gave you the straight dope. We were going to get slaughtered. But when things look good, why not talk a little smack? It adds a little activism to the analysis. Two birds with one stone, and all that.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/9/13/203919/585
September 13, 2012
The right’s last stand: the fetal position
You know it’s all over when the only ones left to shoot are the messengers.
Mitt Romney, who has ferociously hewed to assaults on Obama’s economy through the rather unorthodox strategy of blathering about welfare checks and Medicare’s destruction and embassy cables, has expired his list of geopolitical foes; his frenemies are abandoning the yacht in self-preserving horror; those eight-or-nine-or-so battleground states’ 36 undecided voters have finally decided; and flush Democrats’ weightiest decision is now that of choosing between a cheeky Krug Clos d’Ambonnay and the more serviceable Dom Perignon ’66–but they must order soon, well before January 20th, because supplies are limited.
Yes, it’s all over, they’re all gone, except the messengers. Ergo the desperate right-winging press is having a nostalgic field day in its pressed desperation: Romney is toast, his friends are traitors, Dems are too deliriously happy to care anymore–so what greater, more splendid opportunity to attack the “uninhibitedly” as well as “implicitly liberal media”?
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page kicks things off with “Romney Offends the Pundits”–a somewhat brooding (isn’t it fun?), self-explanatory screed about “the press corps [being] offended by [a foreign policy] debate.” But no one can embarrass himself and his self-righteous cause like the NY Post’s neoconningly demented John Podhoretz. In “The media lash out,” he scrawls:
http://pmcarpenter.blogs.com/p_m_carpenters_commentary/2012/09/the-rights-last-stand-the-fetal-position.html
Silver-tongued
Should political polling ever fall into unacceptable disrepute, the NY Times’ statistical mystic, Nate Silver, can always go into international diplomacy.
Check out this elegantly worded denigration of Romney Inc.’s smarts:
[A]n exceptionally skilled campaign ought to recognize that it is never operating in a vacuum, and that the evaluation of its reaction to news events [such as Libya/Egypt] is likely to be affected by these contingencies. It may have to employ some delicacy in choosing its battles.
A “frank” and “candid” assessment, a lively “exchange” of ideas, which in the real world is translated as: Mitt, you are unbelievably inept.
http://pmcarpenter.blogs.com/p_m_carpenters_commentary/
Lawrence O’Donnell on the Pennsylvania Voter ID court case.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45755883/vp/49027803#49028006
The Carterization of President Obama?
By Imani Gandy (ABL) September 14th, 2012
Maybe I’m paranoid, but the douchebag who made the video that sparked the protests in Libya is hiding out from the media about an hour from my house, and I just read this article in The Independent, and it got me thinking that Republicans may be trying to “Carterize” President Obama:
“There’s a pretty compelling story that if you had a President Romney, you’d be in a different situation,” Romney adviser Richard Williamson told the Washington Post. “For the first time since Jimmy Carter, we’ve had an American ambassador assassinated.”
Moreover, the comments for the article from The Independent—and, indeed, the article itself—are telling:
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/09/14/the-carterization-of-president-obama/
China: Romney’s rich because of us
Xinhua is not happy with Mitt Romney.
The official Chinese news agency, in an English-language commentary, attacked the GOP presidential nominee for his proposal to label China a currency manipulator.
If these mud-slinging tactics were to become U.S. government policies, a trade war would be very likely to break out between the world’s top two economies, which would be catastrophic enough to both sides and the already groaning global economy,” Xinhua’s Liu Chang writes. “For generations, China-bashing has been a cancer in U.S. electoral politics, seriously plaguing the relations between the two countries.”
The commentary also takes a shot at Romney’s wealth, declaring it “rather ironic that a considerable portion of this China-battering politician’s wealth was actually obtained by doing business with Chinese companies before he entered politics.”
China insists the exchange rate for the yuan is set by market forces, while the Treasury Department has consistently said the yuan is undervalued. A weaker yuan makes Chinese goods cheaper in the United States, contributing to the American trade deficit with China. Labeling China a currency manipulator could potentially lead to trade sanctions against the world’s second-largest economy.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/81205.html#ixzz26RrzPkie
The thin line between bravado and delusion
By Steve Benen
Fri Sep 14, 2012 8:42 AM EDT.
I’ve never worked on a presidential campaign, but I can imagine how insular it can become. If a campaign team isn’t careful, epistemic closure can take over — a candidate thinks he or she is great, aides only look at polls and news stories that reinforce their preferred beliefs, and those who question the agreed-upon narratives are held suspect.
But if Mitt Romney’s campaign actually believes its own rhetoric about foreign policy, the Republican and his aides aren’t just embracing bravado; they’re also slipping into delusions.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/09/14/13860795-the-thin-line-between-bravado-and-delusion?lite
Lawrence O’Donnell cracking up on Fox News downplaying their own damn poll, which shows POTUS leading Willard by FIVE.
bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45755883/vp/49027803#49027947
LMBAO DICK Morris & O’Lie-ly; what a team!
September 14, 2012, 7:01 am17 Comments
Poll: Obama Holds Narrow Edge Over Romney
By JEFF ZELENY
President Obama holds a narrow three-point advantage over Mitt Romney among Americans most likely to vote in November, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
With their back-to-back political conventions behind them and the general election season fully engaged, the poll found Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney running essentially even among those seen as the most probable to vote. The president has 49 percent and Mr. Romney has 46 percent, a difference within the margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points on each candidate.
The nationwide poll was conducted during a turbulent week in the campaign, with a new wave of television ads from Mr. Romney, a disappointing jobs report for Mr. Obama and both candidates reacting to turmoil and deadly violence in Egypt, Libya and across the Arab world.
Mr. Obama has an advantage among likely voters of 12 percentage points among women, the poll found, while Mr. Romney holds the upper hand among men by eight percentage points. Mr. Obama leads his Republican rival across all ages of voters, except those who are 65 or older, who favor Mr. Romney by 15 percentage points.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/poll-obama-holds-narrow-edge-over-romney/
http://twitter.com/laughingzebra/status/246553491898765312/photo/1
too cool
House ensures there will be no pre-election shutdown
By Steve Benen
Fri Sep 14, 2012 7:59 AM EDT.
House Speaker John Boehner got the outcome he wanted yesterday.
It hasn’t generated much interest over the summer, but there’s been a looming threat of a pre-election government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year. It seemed unlikely, and it lacked the drama of the previous three government shutdown threats, but the possibility remained.
To recap, Democrats and Republicans struck a deal last summer on spending levels for the upcoming year, which seemingly cleared the way for a smooth budget process. In April, however, House Republicans said they no longer liked the agreement they’d already accepted, and demanded even deeper spending cuts. Without an agreement, we’d see a shutdown this month.
Yesterday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) managed to keep his caucus in line, and the chamber agreed to keep the government’s lights on through March
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/09/14/13859826-house-ensures-there-will-be-no-pre-election-shutdown?lite
Sep 14, 2012 6:57am
EXCLUSIVE – Romney on Debates: Obama Will ‘Say Things That Aren’t True’
With the first Presidential debate less than three weeks away, Mitt Romney is spending lots of time getting ready behind closed doors. In his first comments on that debate prep, he told me that Sen. Rob Portman is a tough stand-in for a President who basically lies in debates.
“I think the challenge that I’ll have in the debate is that the president tends to, how shall I say it, to say things that aren’t true,” Romney said. “I’ve looked at prior debates. And in that kind of case, it’s difficult to say, ‘Well, am I going to spend my time correcting things that aren’t quite accurate? Or am I going to spend my time talking about the things I want to talk about?”
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/exclusive-romney-on-debates-obama-will-say-things-that-arent-true/
Your LIES have been CHRONICLED, Mittens.
Pat Caddell Has a Major Sad
By John Cole September 13th, 2012
Pat Caddell, the resident “Democratic” pollster for Fox News, who is much the same way a “Democrat” as Geraldine Ferraro was a civil rights pioneer and Dick Morris is a fervent Democratic partisan, has a major, major sad:
Oh, you poor baby. When Romney loses, can you promise to move to Brazil with the rest of your ilk until you drop dead and stop providing wingnuts with the opportunity to say “Even the liberal Pat Caddell…” Trust me, I bet Marty Peretz will join you, and you boys in Brazil can have lots of fun conversations about why black people stink, the problems with the untermensch Palestinians, why gays should shut the fuck up and be second class citizens, and how Nancy Pelosi ruined America.
Or, you both could just fuck off and die, hopefully choking to death on your own bile.
BTW- notice that it never occurs to Caddell that the reason Romney is failing is because his ideas are awful, the Republicans are insane and dangerous and represent about, well, 27% of America, and he is out of touch with America. No, no, no… It’s just bad messaging. That’s like saying rectal cancer is unpopular only because it has a shitty logo and the jingle sucks.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/09/13/pat-caddell-has-a-major-sad/
Tee hee hee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVyotjVX5Z8&feature=player_embedded
those were good segments.
Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
Talk show hosts Tavis Smiley, Cornel West, fire up ‘Poverty Tour’ in Northern Virginia
By Fredrick Kunkle, Published: September 13
The Washington Post
Talk show host Tavis Smiley and Princeton professor Cornel West brought their “Poverty Tour 2.0” to Northern Virginia on Thursday, serving up a panel of liberal activists and political figures who mixed sober economic analysis with fiery rhetoric.
Hosting a live radio show at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Smiley and West said they hoped to jump-start a national conversation about poverty and political action in four battleground states before November’s election.
The hosts conducted a similar tour last year that stimulated debate over whether President Obama’s policies had helped African Americans. On Thursday, the hosts of Public Radio International’s show “Smiley & West” used their setting in one of the nation’s wealthiest metropolitan areas to remind listeners that poverty is everywhere.
Speaking not far from the upscale homes and shops of Old Town, Alexandria Schools Superintendent Morton Sherman said about 60 percent of the school district’s children qualified for free or reduced-price lunches, a widely used measure of poverty.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/talk-show-hosts-tavis-smiley-cornel-west-fire-up-poverty-tour-in-northern-virginia/2012/09/13/8f46090e-fdeb-11e1-b153-218509a954e1_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines
just gonna say it….the Nuns on the Bus were more effective…cause they didn’t have a hidden angle
Romney hits new low in Libya remarks
By Eugene Robinson, Published: September 13
The Washington Post
Once upon a time, there was a silver-tongued president. His foreign policy must have been seen by enemies of the United States as weak and feckless, because these enemies became emboldened. Mideast terrorists staged a brutal, bloody attack in which innocent Americans were killed. The president’s response could be seen as a display of shameful weakness rather than steely resolve.
I’m referring, of course, to Ronald Reagan and the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, which claimed 241 American lives — and led Reagan to withdraw U.S. forces from Lebanon.
It’s useful to keep this antecedent in mind as opportunistic critics embarrass themselves looking for ways to bash President Obama over the spreading anti-U.S. violence in Egypt, Libya and now Yemen.
I mean, Mitt Romney. Really. U.S. diplomatic posts are attacked abroad, and your first reaction is to issue a statement blasting the president? J. Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, and three other officials are killed in a commando-style assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, and your instinct is to seek not safety for other Americans at risk, not justice for the cold-blooded killers, but political advantage for yourself?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-romney-hits-new-low-with-libya-remarks/2012/09/13/8c5b4950-fdd4-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions
Good Morning, Everyone! :-)
Good Morning, Ametia and Everyone :)