As you've probably observed already, Mitt Romney is a lie machine. Steve Benen at Maddow Blog has been tracking Romney's mendacity and the tally is usually 20-30 items per week. That's a lot, and Benen probably doesn't catch all of them.
Any normal human being has to work hard to lie that much. But Mitt Romney is doing it as a matter of campaign strategy, specifically as a way to fire up the gullible and desperate tea party base. By the time a Romney lie is fact-checked, it's already too late, and, besides, Romney supporters won't actually read/believe the fact-checkers who are obviously part of the liberal conspiracy to re-elect a communist Muslim. It's a strategy based on the maxim: "A lie travels halfway around the world before the truth can get its shoes on."
Meanwhile, as I've documented here, Republican legislatures have passed laws in 11 states requiring photo IDs in order to cast a ballot. These laws will make it more difficult for lower income registered voters to participate on Election Day even though numerous studies, including a five year investigation by the George W. Bush Justice Department, have proved that voter fraud is practically nonexistent.
Recently in Ohio, Republicans tried to significantly cut back the window for early voting from five weeks to three weeks. They failed to keep the law on the books, but the Republicans managed to ban early voting on the weekends, except for military veterans who can continue to vote on Saturdays and Sundays.
However, the Obama administration filed a lawsuit against Ohio to restore weekend voting for all registered voters. Soldiers would retain weekend voting privileges, and voters would once again be allowed to vote on those days. Once again, the Democrats are trying to make voting easier and the Republicans are trying to strip people of that fundamental right.
Over the weekend, Mitt Romney, while clearly benefiting from Republican voter purges and Voter ID laws meant to discourage minority and working class voters, accused the Obama Justice Department of somehow trying to disenfranchise military voters. In other words, the Democrats are the ones who are trying to disenfranchise people -- and they hate the troops, too! The troops!
The Romney Unit on The Facebook:
President Obama's lawsuit claiming it is unconstitutional for Ohio to allow servicemen and women extended early voting privileges during the state's early voting period is an outrage. The brave men and women of our military make tremendous sacrifices to protect and defend our freedoms, and we should do everything we can to protect their fundamental right to vote. I stand with the fifteen military groups that are defending the rights of military voters, and if I'm entrusted to be the commander-in-chief, I'll work to protect the voting rights of our military, not undermine them.
In addition to sounding like a Patrick Bateman speech, that's arguably the biggest Romney lie so far (although his new welfare reform attack might have topped it). There's nothing here that's even remotely close to the truth. The Obama administration has absolutely not done what Romney says it's doing -- in any way. The president is actually trying to extend weekend voting to everyone, while preserving it for the troops. Romney has used this twisted Orwellian Karl Rove style backwards logic to trick his supporters into buying this bag of hooey while reinforcing the myth that the president -- the commander in chief of the armed forces -- hates the military. At the same time, he's reversed the Voter ID debate by making it seem as if the Democrats are trying to disenfranchise voters.
And it's in print. It's not a jittery, Uncanny Valley Romney gaffe or something he blurted out on a cable news show. He (his advisers) carefully crafted this one, and it's entirely untrue. And, for what it's worth, Politifact declared it to be "False" while entirely debunking the Facebook post.
It is simply dishonest for Romney and his backers to claim that Obama's effort to extend early voting privileges to everyone in Ohio constitutes an attack on military voters' ability to cast ballots on the weekend before elections.
But none of that matters because it's out there now. The Facebook post has been "Liked" more than 152,000 times and shared by more than 19,000 Romney Facebook friends. And it's a lie by every measure. To wit, here are some choice comments from Romney's Facebook:
"Obama is trying to make it more inconvenient for the military to vote. Obama is a db.""suing Ohio for equal voting days between military and civilian voters , is an attack on military voters .common sense something dipshit liberals dnt have ..."
"What a hypocrite! He sues to overturn voter ID laws so that no vote is turned away and then sues to prevent servicemen and women from disgusting! He is a disgusting President!"
Everything is taken at face value because Romney's lies are crafted to be exactly what the base wants to hear. They want to hear that the president is a hypocrite who hates the troops. They want to hear that it's the president who doesn't want people to vote -- not the GOP state legislatures and governors. So Romney gives them what they want: red meat, irrespective of its veracity.
Crossposted at The Daily Banter.
Subscribe to the uncensored and totally raw Bob & Chez Show After Party podcast.
Click here to listen to the Bubble Genius Bob & Chez Show podcast, with Bob Cesca and Chez Pazienza.
Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog! Go!
Follow Bob Cesca on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobcesca_go
Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm: Not Voting? The Koch Brothers Thank You
 |
 |
|
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
However, every citizen must have EXACTLY the same rights and access to a voting booth at voting time. To do otherwise is to create a class of citizen voters who have more rights than other citizen voters...and the reason our men and women serve in the military is to ensure that all Americans have Constitutionally EQUAL rights and access to the voting booth.
It happens every election: mysterious fliers, robocalls, malfunctioning machines that deny blacks the right to vote. Now the Republican Party has explicitly embraced the strategy.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/13/michael-tomasky-on-how-the-gop-plans-to-block-the-black-vote.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=cheatsheet_morning&cid=newsletter%3Bemail%3Bcheatsheet_morning&utm_term=Cheat%20Sheet
And when it comes to lies, my word, have you listened to the rot about the woman dying of cancer because of Romney? Or the hypocrisy of harping on Romney's tax returns when over 3/4 of our democratic members of congress aren't releasing theirs either, nor Pelosi, nor Reid. Damn, if we are going to accuse someone else of something, we have to do right ourselves, and our party isn't doing right. It is a pack of lying hypocrites.
That is what I expect of the Republicans, but when I see my own party doing worse than them I just want to break down and cry.
According to Congressional inquiry, under Obama 1 trillion in direct stimulus and 5 trillion in indirect subsidy from the Federal Reserve were handed out to the big banks. 3 trillion would have paid off every middle class and working class mortgage in the country. We paid them 5 trillion to cover the mortgages, and the people are being repossessed anyway. Can't you see the racket in that? All courtesy of Obama.
There is no doubt that the Republicans are serving the billionaires of the earth, but what you guys won't admit to yourself is that Obama is as well. Your being played for suckers. Pick any card and you end up with globalist ideology. Reelecting Obama is not going to keep "us" in office. It is going to keep the big mega banks in office.
probably because Obama & democrats passed bank reform bill to protect us
from banks .
1. I will cut the deficit in one half in my first term.
2. If we do the stimulus package, unemployment will not go above 8%. It has been over 8.2% for the past 43 months. And I agree, that is part of GWB fault too.
3. Fast & Furious---Americans died and he invoked executive privledged so the truth would not come out.
4. The three branches of Government should have the same health care program as the American people.
We can go on and on, but I believe we get the points.
2. each candidate should have equal air time, as per pre-reagan era. might ease up on the 'arms race' on billion dollar elections.
3. mark twain quote was classic. and true.
That alone should keep 99% of Americans awake at night .
Years ago Peter Jennings interviewed a man that had just lost his job due to outsourcing . The man told Jennings he realized his job loss was because of Republican policies . Jennings asked the man was he going to vote Democratic in the future and the man said he would never vote Democratic .
So regardless of what Romney has done , and is doing , or says to the citizens of this nation , Republican ideology has a hold on some citizens in this country that is paramount to even earning a living .
Which fortunately is not enough to get Romney elected . Romney won the governorship with a blitz kreig attack on his opponent and he had hopes of giving the President the same treatment . But he is being blitzed before he can get his war machinery working .
But Mr. Romney did speak publicly regarding what he would do as president in clear and understandable terms if those you note would simply get informed and think, and discern the connection of such statements to where true political priorities are.
Mr. Romney has sent enough signals that he is unquestionably the upstanding representative and poster candidate of the 1%, and not the 99%/middle class. How much more does any middle class voter need to hear to understand this than what was said by Mr. Romney in the Republican debates? He said that he was unanimously and unreservedly in complete approval of the massive $ hundreds Billions bail outs of US banks in 2008 (during the greatest US economic crisis since the Great Depression originating during the previous Republican administration), but was adamantly and aggressively against giving any Federal LOANS to US auto companies.
Highly favoring and supporting enormous US taxpayer bailouts of the banks (i.e. the 1%) while being aggressively and adamantly against any US taxpayer LOANS to help absolutely critical and foundational US auto corporations survive the catastrophic economic crisis would have resulted in the permanent loss of multi-millions of direct and indirect US middle class jobs. Thank God President Obama stepped in and saved this vital US manufacturing sector.
Why would anything more need to be said for the middle class to understand where Mr. Romney's real priorities are?
It's important that you vote, and if you can't vote for Obama, then vote for Jill Stein (Green).
Too many centrists, including those in the media, assume that Obama represents the left, and they triangulate between Obama and the Republicans to decide where the "truth" lies. It doesn't occur to them that the truth may be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to the left of Obama.
Consider this question: what is the centrist position on tax rates now, and what was it 12 years ago? The shift was not because of any success of the Bush tax cuts--the thought is absurd. The shift is because the Democratic leadership has been too taxphobic to exploit the failure.
I consider myself a loyal Democrat, and I don't know if I'd ever have the guts to cast a meaningful protest vote; but I think the Nader hating has allowed the Democratic leadership to put a Sisyphean quest for the centrists ahead of representing their base.
But we don need to get as many voters to the polls as we can. We need people to say, "I am here. If you want my vote, you need to move in my direction."
Do us all a favor and get off that liberal socialist soapbox of yours and start comparing Romney's lies with Obama's lies. Jeez, this isn't rocket science, Bob. They've BOTH voluntarily attended the Bilderberg meetings and that only happens when the elite globalists, whose main goal is to crush our middle class into a worthless pulp and dissolve the US Constitution, decide that these two are BOTH willing the "play ball" with Agenda21, NAFTA, and ICLEI. What, you hadn't connected those dots yet?
There are many good positive attributes to responsible socialism just as there are many good attributes the responsible capitalism; the PROBLEM is that both systems fall prey to corruption and THAT is the main story here, Bob, not Romney's freakin' taxes or Obama's birth certificate. Both of these clowns are leading their brain-dead constituents down the path of destruction, and you're still arguing about the fleas on Romney's lapel.
Thank God that you are a member of the GOP; the party of: Palin; Chambliss; Rove; Boehner; Newt; Cantor; Trump; Cornyn; McConnell; Kyl; Shelby; Bachmann; George W (and others of that ilk).
Bet on Obama being reelected; THEY will ensure it!!! (He said with utter contempt).
And that should be the next campaign ad by one of those independent groups that's absolutely not co-ordinating with the Obama campaign or any other Democratic party candidate:
Mitt Romney--Carefully Crafted Lies
1. Lying is allowed because je$u$ is on our side.
2. Tax cuts for wealthy are already mentioned in bibIe.
3. People are only willfully poor, otherwise they would be rich, but they don't want to.
4. US is going bankrupt because poor has taken all the money.”