Happy HUMP day, Everyone! Hope you’re enjoying the incomparable Mr. Nat King Cole.
SMILE
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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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Romney stands by Mourdock despite rape comments
By Steve Benen
Wed Oct 24, 2012 1:21 PM EDT.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) of New Hampshire was scheduled to be in Indiana today, campaigning in support of Republican Richard Mourdock’s Senate candidacy. Those plans were scrapped this morning.
Mourdock, of course, declared last night that when a woman becomes pregnant during a rape, “that’s something God intended,” which is why he’s comfortable with laws that force women impregnated by rapists to take their pregnancy to term.
The larger question now is why Mitt Romney isn’t following Ayotte’s lead. The Republican presidential hopeful appears in a television ad on Mourdock’s behalf — Romney’s only general election ad for someone other than himself — and Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan, has supported Mourdock’s campaign financially.
Team Romney has said he “disagrees” with Mourdock’s comments, but that’s really only the first in a series of questions. Will Romney ask that his ad supporting Mourdock be taken down? So far, no. Will Romney pull his endorsement? Apparently not.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/10/24/14671923-romney-stands-by-mourdock-despite-rape-comments?lite
Jobless claims improve as roller-coaster ride continues
By Steve Benen
Thu Oct 25, 2012 8:38 AM EDT.
Watching initial unemployment claims lately is not for the faint of heart. Two weeks ago showed extraordinary improvements, which was followed a week later by a sharp increase. The new figures from the Department of Labor have bounced back in an encouraging direction
Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 369,000 in the week of Oct. 14-20, the Labor Department said Thursday, in line with market expectations. Initial claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 392,000 from an original reading of 388,000, based on more complete data collected at the state level. New claims have jumped up and down over the past three weeks because of seasonal quirks and other technical problems with the government’s weekly data, mainly involving the state of California. The four-week moving average, which smoothes out volatility in the weekly reports, was little changed, rising 1,500 to 368,000.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/
Harry Reid, ‘one-man wrecking crew’
By Kent Jones
Wed Oct 24, 2012 12:38 PM EDT
Are the days of mild-mannered Harry Reid gone for good? Here at TRMS, we’ve had fun with this idea, but lately the Senate Majority Leader seems intent on shedding his Bruce Banner side for good.
For instance, at a press conference Monday in Carson City, Senator Reid said he would be a “one-man wrecking crew” on the topic of Mitt Romney’s unreleased tax returns and went to on a characterize the Republican nominee as a:
plastic man running for president who changes his position every chance he gets. He isn’t someone who should represent this country.”
BOOM!
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/10/24/14669849-harry-reid-one-man-wrecking-crew?lite
Joy Reid @TheReidReport
Bottom line: to win, Obama has to beat Mitt Romney AND the mainstream media. The latter will protect #thenarrative as long as possible.
Have a seat John McCain. Murdock is a Republican, like you. It’s the GOP PLATFORM. No need for that nutcase to apologize. You’re a part of the white male club, who want to control women’s bodies. GO FUCK YOURSELVES.
Mitt Romney implicated in perjury and stock fraud, made millions in process
http://www.examiner.com/article/mitt-romney-implicated-perjury-and-stock-fraud-made-millions-process
Mitt Romney has been implicated in a complex case involving perjury, stock manipulation, and possibly consumer fraud.
Mitt Romney lied in the divorce proceedings of his wealthy friend, Tom Stemberg, founder of Staples, according to a story by radaronline.com. At least that is what Stemberg’s former wife, Maureen, says. She is a MS patient who says her husband was so vindictive he even cut off her health insurance. Unfortunately the records for this case have been sealed, and participants are unable to discuss them. Other forces are in motion to lift the gag order.
It is a matter of public record that Mitt Romney went on the stand claiming that Staples as a business was “overvalued.” He also specifically said:
didn’t place a great deal of credibility in the forecast of the company’s future.
Because of Romney’s testimony the court valued the corporation at a paltry percentage of its actual worth, and Maureen Stemberg was granted a tiny settlement.
Meanwhile, weeks after the divorce was finalized, Mitt Romney and his buddy Tom Stemberg sold their shares of Staples to Goldman Sachs and made millions in the process.
Oh what a tangled web we weave. When first we practice to deceive.
it might take awhile, but the truth does come out
Bin Laden raid film incenses GOP as news emerges of extra Obama footage
http://goo.gl/EA3Et
excerpt
Conservatives were angry about the film and its timing even before the re-edit, calling the Weinstein Company and Voltage Pictures production a blatant attempt to influence voters.
_______________________
International vote monitors warn Texas: Don’t mess with us
http://feedly.com/k/XWdzhP
Hillary Clinton: The U.S. Doesn’t Rely on Facebook for Intelligence
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2012/10/hillary-clinton-us-doesnt-rely-facebook-intelligence/58318/#
The Obama administration came under fire on Wednesday after Reuters and Fox News reported that internal State Department emails revealed that an Islamic militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the Benghazi attacks on social media platforms, but this afternoon, Hillary Clinton fired back saying U.S. intelligence isn’t based on random Facebook posts.
“Posting something on Facebook is not in and of itself evidence,” Clinton told the AP while at the State Department. “I think it just underscores how fluid the reporting was at the time and continued for some time to be.”
________________
LOL Damn, Hillary; that should leave a mark!
Michelle Obama Defends Husband, Says Black Women Have Her Hubby’s Back [Exclusive]
Oct 11, 2012
ByAbena Agyeman-Fisher
In a six-person roundtable meeting (pictured with NewsOne Senior Editor pictured left in black) in Leesburg, Va., First Lady Michelle Obama discussed her reaction to her husband’s debate performance, what’s at stake in this election, and whether Black women have her husband’s back before connecting with local residents in a electrifying rally.
Dressed in a lovely patterned dress that accentuated her svelte frame, the distinguished First Lady didn’t mince words on how she felt President Obama fared on his first debate last week.
“You know I’m biased. I think my husband has done a phenomenal job not just in the debate but over these last three and a half years, and I continue to be in awe with just how poised and consistent and honest he is and his ability to lay out a detailed and common sense plan,” Mrs. Obama said.
“I always sit there, like, He’s right! This is where we need to go! So I don’t feel the horse race of it. We just don’t spend a lot of time talking about it. I’m so proud of him, and I make sure that he knows it every single day.”
Proving just how unfazed they — and Obama supporters — were by any negativity stemming from President Obama’s performance, Mrs. Obama added that afterward, they not only went on to celebrate their 20th anniversary privately at a restaurant, but then the next day, the President was met with 35,000 “passionate” ralliers.
“There was a 35,000-person rally in Madison, Wisc. So what we always see is there’s sort of the scrum [the drama] and then there’s what’s happening in the world. You have 35,000 people…feel so passionate about this race that they want to make sure that they are engaged. That’s always been this road we’ve been on: There’s sort of this scrum, the punditry, and the analysis — and then there’s the passion we see every single day.”
To Mrs. Obama, voters are more concerned with the real issues as opposed to what the media and various politicos have to say, “People are really focused on the choices. And the choices are clear. Like the debate or don’t like the debate, the truth is there are a lot of women out there who care deeply that we and our daughters have the right to make decisions about our own bodies. We have people who are desperate to ensure that their kids can stay on their insurance until they are 26 years old.”
http://newsone.com/2057753/michelle-obama-campaign/
Michelle Obama: ‘Every Voice Must Be Heard, Every Vote Must Be Counted’ [Exclusive]
Oct 23, 2012
By Michelle Obama
Sometimes, it might seem like the battles for our rights and liberties are some distant memory – even something you’ve only read about in a textbook or seen in a documentary.
The Emancipation Proclamation was signed a century and a half ago. The marches and boycotts and lunch counter sit-ins of the civil rights era are 50 or 60 years behind us.
And today, there are no longer any separate water fountains, no more guards keeping any of our children from the schoolhouse door. That’s a sign of how far we’ve come – we live in a world with progress that our parents and grandparents would never have even dreamed of.
But that doesn’t mean that our work is finished.
And while today’s challenges may not feel as glaring, they’re every bit as urgent. Do children who go to an understaffed, crumbling school truly have a fair shot at success? If a family has a son or daughter born with a genetic disease, should they have to fight day and night with insurance companies just to get the insurance coverage they need? Are our children falling behind because our communities aren’t safe or supportive enough for them to reach their potential? And how do we preserve our most fundamental right to cast our ballots for our children and grandchildren?
All of those questions have one common answer – and it’s an answer that harkens back to the generations before us. It’s about all of us standing up, getting engaged, and making our voices heard. It’s about getting engaged in our communities. It’s about using the power of our vote to elect leaders who will fight so that those students get the schools they deserve, and those families keep their insurance, and those communities will have voices speaking out on their behalf.
Make no mistake, here in our time, it’s more important than ever that we show up to vote, not just this year, but every year and in every election. Every voice must be heard and every vote must be counted.
Just take a look at the last election. My husband won Florida by about 236,000 votes, Ohio by 262,000 votes, and North Carolina by 14,000 votes. Now that might sound like a lot, but when you spread those votes out across thousands of precincts, in Florida, he won by just 36 votes per precinct. He won Ohio by just 24 votes per precinct. And he won North Carolina by just five votes per precinct.
States like those could decide the coming election.
Barack has said all along that this election is going to be even closer than the last – and we won’t know which state might be this year’s North Carolina until November 6th. So we need you to think about all those folks you know who need a little nudge to get to the polls this year – the cousin who’s always too busy, the aunt who’s never voted before, the niece or nephew who just turned 18 and isn’t tuned in yet.
If all those folks don’t show up this fall, the story of the next four years could be entirely different.
http://newsone.com/2064122/michelle-obama-campaign-2/
Breaking: GOP Caught Red Handed, Election Fraud in Indiana
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/24/1149641/-Breaking-GOP-Caught-Red-Handed-Voter-Fraud-in-Indiana
There’s a story developing in La Porte County, Indiana. It seems a voter purge in 2011 went rogue. The local GOP successfully purged about 20% of our voters—%16 of them illegally, it seems. Fortunately, they were caught red handed at the last minute, and County scrambles to get eligible voters back in system.
In today’s paper, La Porte County Democratic Chair John Jones has called for Federal Investigation of election fraud here.
Check out Joy Reid at the 4:45 mark.
“We have to stop calling it pro-life, this is a forced-birth movement”
Joy Reid ROCKS!!!
Where’s Joy Reid’s SHOW? She’s smart, poised, on point, and gives fact-based analysis.
WAITING MSNBC….
Wow!
Tunisia: Reported Consulate Suspect Arrested
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/tunisia-reported-consulate-suspect-arrested-17554708#.UIh3I3ZKSzA.twitter
A Tunisian man who was arrested in Turkey this month with reported links to the attack on a U.S. consulate in Libya is facing terrorism charges, his lawyer said Wednesday, as an Egyptian official said a militant suspected of involvement was killed in clashes in Cairo.
Ali Harzi was repatriated to Tunisia on Oct. 11 by authorities in Turkey, and a judge issued his arrest warrant, lawyer Ouled Ali Anwar told The Associated Press. He said his client was told by a judge Tuesday that he has been charged with “membership of a terrorist organization in a time of peace in another country.”
A person who saw Harzi’s court dossier told The Associated Press that the file links him to the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that left Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans dead.
Oh my goodness! Way too precious!
Lot of LIGHT in this pic. The LIGHT of LOVE.
the series of pics are just wonderful
REUTERS POLL: Obama Is Going To Trounce Mitt Romney In A Landslide
http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-romney-electoral-college-map-reuters-poll-ipsos-2012-10
With two weeks to go before Election Day, a new Reuters/Ipsos forecast released today predicts an Electoral College landslide for President Barack Obama over Republican rival Mitt Romney.
Obama leads Romney by a point in the Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll, 47-46. But results from Ipsos’ tracking in key swing states leads to a projection of a much bigger Electoral College victory. The Ipsos projection has Obama winning the big three swing states of Florida, Ohio and Virginia.
Romney’s camp is living in La La land, and feeding him a load of DO DO. They’ve got this clown thinking he’s ahead. Andn the media is trying their damnest to help push it.
NOT.GOING.TO.WORK.
There is some real clowning going on in my neck of the woods!
Greg Abbott, Texas Attorney General, Threatens To Arrest U.N. Elections Observers
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/24/greg-abbott-texas-un-elections_n_2010081.html?show_comment_id=199499641#comment_199499641
Greg Abbott, the Republican Attorney General of Texas, issued a stern warning this week to members of a United Nations-affiliated delegation expected to be on hand to monitor voting at polling places around the country on Election Day.
In a letter to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, a body created by U.N. charter and responsible for helping to ensure the integrity of elections, among other tasks, Abbott warned the diplomatic poll-watchers that their involvement in U.S. elections could have strong legal repercussions.
_______________
Translation: how dare you observe us cheating.
Updated 3:10 p.m. EST
Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), responded in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying that Abbott’s threat put the state of Texas at odds with an agreement between the body and state authorities.
“The threat of criminal sanctions against OSCE/ODIHR observers is unacceptable,” Lenarčič said. “The United States, like all countries in the OSCE, has an obligation to invite ODIHR observers to observe its elections.”
Lenarčič took issue with insinuations that officials in the group would meddle with elections, reiterating that they were bound by national laws and regulations, as well as their own strict code of conduct.
“Our observers are required to remain strictly impartial and not to intervene in the voting process in any way,” Lenarčič said. “They are in the United States to observe these elections, not to interfere in them.”
A release relaying Lenarčič’s comments pointed out that the OSCE has observed five previous U.S. elections since 2002, all without incident.
Romney’s son apologizes to Obama for ‘swing’ remark
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/23/romneys-son-apologizes-to-obama-for-swing-remark/?hpt=hp_t2
(CNN) – Tagg Romney, Mitt Romney’s oldest son, apologized to President Barack Obama Monday for saying he wanted to “take a swing” at him during contentious presidential debates.
Obama and Tagg Romney were seen speaking on the stage after Monday’s final presidential debate, held at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. Two Obama aides said the conversation included an apology for the remark, made last week during a radio interview
GOP-GOT NOWHERE TO RUN; NOWHERE TO HIDE
AP / October 24, 2012
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte has cancelled her plan to campaign with Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, who said that when a woman becomes pregnant during a rape, ‘‘that’s something God intended.’’
Mourdock said on Wednesday said he abhors rape and meant only that God creates life.
But Ayotte’s spokesman, Jeff Grappone, said that the senator disagrees with Mourdock’s comments, which do not represent her views. Ayotte was scheduled to campaign with Mourdock on Wednesday, but canceled her trip and is in New Hampshire instead.
Mourdock’s comment, made at a debate Tuesday night, has pushed the issues of rape and abortion to the forefront. The campaign of Republican Mitt Romney, who appears in a television ad for Mourdock, said the presidential nominee disagrees with Mourdock.
Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2012/10/24/sen-ayotte-cancels-event-with-mourdock/R3DuhfEDD5OFTj96IMxN3J/story.html
Posted at 11:10 AM ET, 10/24/2012
TheWashingtonPost
In that Des Moines Register interview, Obama makes an unusually clear case
By Jamelle Bouie
The Obama campaign recently found itself in a little hot water after it was caught asking for an off-the-record interview from the Des Moines Register — the largest newspaper in Iowa. Normally, the Register publishes its interviews with presidential candidates, but in this case, it agreed to an off-the-record conversation with President Obama. Afterwards, however, it revealed the situation in an editorial, which led to an embarrassing moment for the campaign. In response, the Obama campaign allowed the Register to publish the interview, as is custom.
This interview didn’t need to be kept from the public — it’s a familiar statement, from the president, on why he deserves a second term. If there’s anything remarkable about it, it’s that Obama is unusually clear in making his case. Take this, for example:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/in-that-des-moines-register-interview-obama-makes-his-best-case-yet/2012/10/24/0c5d41e4-1dec-11e2-8817-41b9a7aaabc7_blog.html
Not looking good for Mittens in MA. I hope voters follow suit with Scott Brown.
Go Elizabeth!
Romney And Mormonism’s Long History Of White Supremacy
One question I have asked is: what did Mitt Romney, who claims he wept when he heard the news about the end of white supremacy in the LDS Church in 1978, do to challenge the racist policy before he was 31? In a WaPo piece by Jason Horowitz a while back, there’s a clue in an anecdote about his time at Brigham Young University. Money quote
Romney was not incensed by the racism as some of his peers were. He regarded their protests as “unseemly.” He was incensed that BYU’s racism led to a boycott of BYU’s football team! And he saw that boycott – not the policy – as bigoted.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/10/romney-and-mormonisms-long-history-of-white-supremacy.html
What Early NC Voting Can Tell Us
by BooMan
Wed Oct 24th, 2012 at 01:23:08 PM EST
In looking at the early voting numbers in North Carolina, I’m struck by a few things. First, voting is up among all groups, which is not what most people would have expected. As a general rule, higher voter participation is good for the Democrats. Throughout the year conservatives have frequently questioned the polls under the assumption that 2012 would have much lower turnout than the pollsters were assuming based on 2008 models. While all things may not be equal (polling hours, for example), after five days of early voting there are no signs of depressed turnout. In fact, the evidence suggests that turnout will be higher this time around.
Second, in 2008 blacks made up 22% of the North Carolina electorate. So far, they are 35% of the early voting electorate. In fact, if I am reading this correctly, 12,000 more African-Americans have voted in North Carolina than have white registered Republicans.
Third, it looks like about 55% of early voters are women and that about 60% of those women are registered Democrats. Those are two numbers that should concern Team Romney because, in combination, they suggest that left-leaning women are pretty fired up about voting in this election.
Fourth, and this is the only bad news, Monday was the first day that the Democrats didn’t exceed their numbers from 2008, but Republicans and unaffiliated voters stayed above the 2008 watermark. This could be a blip, or the first indication of a problem.
I’m not willing to sign off on MattTX’s methodology, but he presently estimates that Obama has banked a 93,000 vote lead in the Tarheel State. But, remember, he only won the state by 14,000 votes the last time around.
I think it’s important to look at these number for more than just what they can tell us about North Carolina. They seem to prefigure a high turnout election, much like 2008. We are still seeing the Democrats show much more enthusiasm than the Republicans for early voting, but the advantage hasn’t necessarily increased; there are just more voters on both sides. In any case, what we’re seeing in North Carolina is encouraging for what it tells us about the state of the race.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/10/24/13238/677
What this tells us is the media and GOP are full-o-shit.
Everything About Romney Is Fake
“The color he’s choosing is totally not believable. It’s a dead giveaway… They’re clearly using way too dark a formula for his skin tone, It’s just like, ‘Oh my God, he got sprayed. It’s just so obvious,'” – Anna Stankiewicz, owner of the New York-based spray tan company Suvara on Romney’s fake tan.
Can we also observe that he obviously dyes his hair as well? The president at 51, has more gray hair than Romney at 65. The dye-job is particularly noticeable from the back, where the dark helmet gives way at certain angles to a white mop underneath.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/
*HOLLERING* Damn, Sully!
Misleading registration forms deceiving New Hampshire voters, local election officials report http://thkpr.gs/S50XV1
SHORT: ROMNEY’S LOSING NEW HAMPSHIRE
President Obama has embarked on a non-stop, two-day tour of Iowa, Colorado, Nevada, Florida, Virginia, and Ohio to highlight his plans for a second term.
Check out this map to see some of the progress we’ve made in the six states along the “America Forward!” tour: http://bit.ly/RVIo2h
Read the President’s detailed plan for a new economic patriotism: http://bit.ly/P2H405
And don’t miss: The Atlantic: Obama’s Edge: The Ground Game That Could Put Him Over the Top http://bit.ly/Xgve4p
And the Liberal OC on Romney’s irrational exuberance in this election – and why math is important: http://bit.ly/RVLjYR
DOJ Sues Mississippi for Its Egregious School-to-Prison Pipeline
http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/10/doj_sues_mississippi_for_its_egregious_school-to-prison_pipeline.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Mississippi is breaking the law by violating the due process rights of kids who are getting funneled through its juvenile justice system, the Department of Justice has said. It filed a lawsuit today against the state itself, as well as the city of Meridian, Lauderdale County and judges of the Lauderdale County Youth Court for doing exactly that.
“The department is bringing this lawsuit to ensure that all children are treated fairly and receive the fullest protection of the law,” Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “It is in all of our best interests to ensure that children are not incarcerated for alleged minor infractions, and that police and courts meet their obligations to uphold children’s constitutional rights.”
Just crazy beyond comprehension.. These white men really should have a VAGINA. In fact, they all have VAGINA ENVY. it’s the only organ they don’t & can’t possess. Just SICKENING…
Obama endorsed by La Opinion, largest Spanish-language newspaper in the country http://bit.ly/TFVzUs
BREAKING NEWS: Gunman opens fire in chapel of Georgia megachurch; 1 person critically wounded. Man shot inside Creflo Dollar’s church.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/shooting-breaks-out-creflo-dollars-church/nSmdb/
One shot at Creflo Dollar’s Georgia megachurch
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/24/one-shot-at-creflo-dollars-georgia-megachurch/?hpt=hp_t3
At least one person was shot Wednesday morning at the suburban Atlanta megachurch of pastor Creflo Dollar, and police are looking for the gunman.
The shooting happened at a chapel in the World Changers church in College Park, Georgia, a police spokeswoman said. CPR was being performed on the victim, whose identity wasn’t immediately released, CNN affiliate WXIA reported.
The church does have a morning service, but Fulton County police Cpl. Kay Lester said she didn’t know if the service was in progress at the time of the shooting.
Romney distances himself from Mourdock’s comments
Source: newsday
— A spokeswoman for Mitt Romney says the GOP presidential hopeful disagrees with comments made by Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock about rape and
During a debate Tuesday in Indiana, Mourdock said when a woman becomes pregnant during a rape, “that’s something God intended.”
His comments quickly drew criticism from Democrats, including challenger Joe Donnelly, who is locked in a
Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said Tuesday in an email to The Associated Press that Mourdock’s comments “do not reflect” Romney’s views.
Mourdock’s comments come a day after a new ad featuring Romney giving his support for the GOP candidate started airing. It was the latest effort by both parties to break open the Senate race.
Read more: http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/romney-distances-himself-from-mourdock-s-comments-1.4145959
WATCH LIVE: Obama campaigns in Iowa http://tpm.ly/SsT9ts
kennethgriffith@kennethgriffith
BREAKING NEWS: U.S. September new-home sales rise 5.7% to 389,000 annual rate according to @BloombergNews. The Obama Economy growing strong.
After editor’s blog, President Obama releases transcript of Register interview
Without comment, campaign officials for President Obama this morning released to the Des Moines Register a transcript of an interview he had Tuesday with Laura Hollingsworth, president and publisher of the Register, and Rick Green, editor/vice-president of news. Initially, the White House had asked that the conversation be considered off-the-record and its details not shared with readers. Its release comes on the heels of a Tuesday evening DesMoinesRegister.com blog post by Green questioning why an endorsement interview with the Register would be off-the-record.
Read it here: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20121024/NEWS09/121024003/President-releases-transcript-of-Register-interview?Frontpage&gcheck=1&nclick_check=1
October 24, 2012
New Federal Rules for Debt Collectors
By EDWARD WYATT
WASHINGTON — Debt collection agencies, whose sometimes aggressive tactics have earned them scrutiny from consumer protection groups and state regulators, will come under federal supervision for the first time beginning Jan. 2, when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau begins oversight.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/business/new-federal-rules-for-debt-collectors.html?smid=pl-share&_r=0&pagewanted=print
President Obama: ‘We Have to Pump Up the Vote’
Black America Web
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
President Obama explains why he was not rude at the debates.
— Obama says it will be a close election in every state; there are lawyers deployed in every state to guarantee absentee votes are counted properly.
— The president jokes: “Like I said after the first debate, didn’t I say it was going to be a seven-game series?”
President Barack Obama called the Tom Joyner Morning Show today to talk about the debates and why voting early is crucial to the election.
After a lackluster first debate, but better second and third debate performances, critics remained vigilant in opposing the president. Fox News, Obama’s biggest critic, called the president rude. But Obama remains unfazed by the comments, choosing not to worry and press forward with his efforts to secure a second term.
“What we want to do is just make the American people clear he’s got this agenda for going back to the economic policies of George Bush and the foreign policies of Dick Cheney, a top/down economics that has not worked for America?” said President Obama. “We’re making real progress digging our way out of the mess that they left and I intend to continue to do that for the next four years.”
http://www.blackamericaweb.com/news/national-news/president-obama-we-have-pump-vote
Meet me in the Lincoln room. I’ll throw a a long into your fire. *heads to the naughty corner*
hubba hubba!
Can’t thank you enough for finding that clip yesterday.
You’re most welcome, rikyrah.
http://youtu.be/cat5SyMBSpk
DISGUSTING
Who ascribes ‘momentum’?
By Steve Benen
Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:15 AM EDT.
I saw a curious headline from NPR this morning: “Romney Rides Momentum To Nevada, Colorado.” Reuters had a similar headline this morning, touting Romney’s “momentum,” and Slate did the same thing yesterday.
I have no idea what they’re talking about.
To be sure, the Republican saw significant, possibly even election-changing, gains after his first debate with President Obama three weeks ago, erasing the advantage the incumbent built up in September.
But what’s happened since? By every measure, Obama won the second debate last week, then won again in the third debate. The polls that showed the president’s lead evaporating have leveled off. Early voting totals have looked quite favorable for Democrats. In Nate Silver’s model, Obama’s odds of winning have gone from 61.1% two weeks ago to 68.1% yesterday.
So why simply ascribe Romney with “momentum”? Based on what, exactly? Does the Republican have momentum because he’s telling the media he has momentum?
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/10/24/14666805-who-ascribes-momentum?lite
People Won’t Like President Romney
by BooMan
Tue Oct 23rd, 2012 at 08:02:03 PM EST
Michael Tomasky on Mitt Romney’s ability to lie without shame or even apparent self-awareness.
We’re used to a politician who says, “You know, I once thought…” or something like that. Then our minds can kind of buy the idea that he’s flip-flopping. Most pols do this. It used to be thought by political consultants that pols had to do that part of it. But not Romney and his team. No acknowledgement, not an inch. A complete lie. And a real f-you, by the way, to voters who’d like to know why he changed his mind, except why bother, really, since there’s no substance there. He changed his mind to win, period.
The Romney campaign is a massive f-you to anyone who actually pays even partial attention to American politics. I honestly don’t know how politically-engaged conservatives can take Romney’s flip-flops without growing disgusted and voting for Gary Johnson or something. As much as they dislike President Obama, at least he isn’t the leader of their party. To have Romney take over the Republican Party for four or eight years ought to terrify anyone in the party who actually has a principle they are not willing to sacrifice. It’s not that Romney would govern as some moderate. It’s that he’s never made a promise he isn’t willing to break the moment it might confer him some advantage. He literally never means what he says. His word is worth absolutely nothing. And those are not attributes you want in the leader of any organization, whether it be the federal government or a political party.
To put it another way, one silver lining of Bush v. Gore was that it denied Joe Lieberman the advantages of incumbency in 2008. It’s quite possible that Lieberman could have used his clout and fame after eight years as vice-president to win the nomination of the party in 2008, and he could be running for reelection right now. That would have done strange and unpleasant things to the progressive movement in this country, and I am glad that I didn’t live in that alternate reality even if the reality I did live through in the Bush years was a living hell.
But Joe Lieberman isn’t a perfect corollary to Mitt Romney. It’s not that Mitt Romney would buck his party and endorse Hillary Clinton in 2016. He’s not some kind of secret moderate. He’s nothing. He’s whatever he thinks you want him to be at any moment. He’s not the most interesting man in the world; he’s the world’s least reliable man.
You can find various lists of Romney’s flip-flops on the Google Machine. Here’s one. They are never exhaustive because Romney creates one or two or three new flip-flops every day. No human can keep up, although people try.
Here’s what I’m saying. I’ve been watching this campaign for three years now, everyday, all day long. I know Mitt Romney really well at this point. And anyone who is thinking of voting for him should know that they are going to get to know him very well, too, if he is the president of the United States. And, you know what I can tell you with 100% confidence after watching Romney so closely all this time? You are going to hate a President Romney worse than anything you have ever hated in your life. Americans will begin counting the days until they can replace Romney within 90 days of his inauguration. No one likes Mitt Romney. There are three kinds of people. People who hate Mitt Romney. People who hate Mitt Romney but hate the president more. And people who have not spent enough time with Mitt Romney.
And most of the people in the second category are also in the third category
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/10/23/2023/8475
Mourdock and Ryan Are Peas in a Pod
by BooMan
Wed Oct 24th, 2012 at 09:00:24 AM EST
Yesterday, during what the Evansville Courier & Press says was an otherwise strong debate performance, Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock handed the Democrats a gift. He was asked to explain why he opposes abortion rights for rape victims and he said that “even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.” I think we can set aside philosophical and theological discussions about predestination and the degree to which God controls and approves of everything that happens. As a political matter, what Mourdock said is poison. It makes it sound like every pregnancy resulting from rape is part of God’s plan. And the logical inference from that is that God approves of rape if it results in pregnancy. One can imagine a rapist’s defense attorney attempting to use this defense in court.
Mitt Romney’s spokeswoman Andrea Saul immediately said that the presidential candidate does not agree with Mourdock’s statement. Yet, somewhat awkwardly, a commercial featuring Romney and Mourdock began running on Indiana television on Monday. So far, the Romney campaign has not committed to taking down that ad.
After the debate, Mr. Mourdock attempted to do some damage control:
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/10/24/9024/9250
Obama replicating 2008 coalition in Ohio? A good point from the Fix crew: Obama is now very close to enjoying the same margins among African Americans and young voters in Ohio that he did in 2008. The big question remains whether Romney’s pedigree and profile — and the Obama team’s relentless assault on his opposition to the auto bailout — will prevent him from running up the numbers he needs among blue collar whites.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line
Posted at 09:03 AM ET, 10/24/2012
The Morning Plum: For now, the math still favors Obama
By Greg Sargent
News orgs have been too credulous in reporting on Mitt Romney’s supposedly continuing “surge.” The Romney campaign has carefully orchestrated the appearance of “momentum,” and even though tracking polls suggest the race has stabilized, the “momentum” storyline persists.
But little by little, a new storyline is taking hold: Whatever is happening on the national level, the fact remains that Romney faces a more daunting climb in the electoral math than Obama does — meaning the President is currently leading.
Charlie Cook, a nonpartisan analyst who helps shape conventional Beltway wisdom, pointed out yesterday that the math is harder for Romney. And today, Mike Allen’s Playbook led with the same idea:
As an antidote to the (perhaps) irrational Republican exuberance that seems to have seized D.C., we pause for the following public-service announcement. To be President, you have to win states, not debates. And Mitt Romney has a problem. Despite a great debate and what The Wall Street Journal’s Neil King Jr. on Sunday called a polling “surge,” Romney has not put away a single one of the must-have states. President Obama remains the favorite because he only needs to win a couple of the toss-ups. Mitt needs to win most of them. A cold shower for the GOP: Most polling shows Romney trailing in Ohio, Wisconsin, Nevada, New Hampshire and Iowa — by MORE than Obama trails in North Carolina….
Barack Obama had the math. And math, not momentum, gets you the big house, the bulletproof car, the cool plane.
To make this as clear as possible, I am not predicting an Obama victory, and have not done so in the past. This race is a dead heat, and I’ve said for a long time now that Romney can still win, even back when Obama held a comfortable lead.
That said, the polling averages tell a very clear story right now: Obama is slightly ahead in the electoral college. All of the four major national averages — Real Clear Politics, Pollster.com, TPM, and Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight — show Obama with small leads in Ohio, Wisconsin, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Iowa (which is tighter). That would put Obama well past 270. He has more room for error right now than Romney does.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line
Yesterday at 11:07 AM
Romney Says He’s Winning — It’s a Bluff
By Jonathan Chait
In recent days, the vibe emanating from Mitt Romney’s campaign has grown downright giddy. Despite a lack of any evident positive momentum over the last week — indeed, in the face of a slight decline from its post-Denver high — the Romney camp is suddenly bursting with talk that it will not only win but win handily. (“We’re going to win,” said one of the former Massachusetts governor’s closest advisers. “Seriously, 305 electoral votes.”)
This is a bluff. Romney is carefully attempting to project an atmosphere of momentum, in the hopes of winning positive media coverage and, thus, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Over the last week, Romney’s campaign has orchestrated a series of high-profile gambits in order to feed its momentum narrative. Last week, for instance, Romney’s campaign blared out the news that it was pulling resources out of North Carolina. The battleground was shifting! Romney on the offensive! On closer inspection, it turned out that Romney was shifting exactly one staffer. It is true that Romney leads in North Carolina, and it is probably his most favorable battleground state. But the decision to have a staffer move out of state, with a marching band and sound trucks in tow to spread the news far and wide, signals a deliberate strategy to create a narrative.
Also last week, Paul Ryan held a rally in Pittsburgh. Romney moving in to Pennsylvania! On the offensive! Skeptical reporters noted that Ryan’s rally would bleed into the media coverage in southeast Ohio and that Romney was not devoting any real money to Pennsylvania. Romney’s campaign keeps leaking that it is planning to spend money there. (Today’s leak: “Republicans are genuinely intrigued by the prospect of a strike in Pennsylvania and, POLITICO has learned, are considering going up on TV there outside the expensive Philadelphia market.” Note the noncommittal terms: intrigued and considering.) The story also floats Romney’s belief that, since Pennsylvania has no early voting, it can postpone its planned, any-day-now move into Pennsylvania until the end. This allows Romney to keep the Pennsylvania bluff going until, what, a couple of days before the election?
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/10/romney-says-hes-winning-its-a-bluff.html
Indiana’s Mourdock: rape pregnancies ‘something God intended’
By Steve Benen
Wed Oct 24, 2012 8:00 AM EDT.
Republican Richard Mourdock, his party’s U.S. Senate candidate in Indiana, has earned a reputation as one of 2012’s most notable extremists, but the candidate clearly broke new ground last night in a debate with Rep. Joe Donnelly (D).
Explaining why he believes the government should force women impregnated by rapists to take their pregnancy to term, Mourdock argued, “[E]ven when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”
It didn’t take long for Democrats to connect the comments to the national race.
http://youtu.be/onHSC_VQra4
The timing for Mitt Romney couldn’t be much worse. With two weeks until Election Day, the Republican nominee is eager to narrow the gender gap, and shift attention away from his party’s “war on women” agenda. But just this week — literally, Monday — Romney appeared in a new ad announcing his support for Mourdock’s candidacy.
As it happens, the only general-election Senate candidate in the nation to benefit from a Romney ad is also the Senate candidate who believes rape pregnancies are divine creations.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/10/24/14665293-indianas-mourdock-rape-pregnancies-something-god-intended?lite
*hollering@you got those mamajeans*
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