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Jane Devin

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The Tapes Don't Lie: What Republicans Have Said About Romney

Posted: 10/07/2012 7:53 pm

Guiliani says he's never seen a guy change his mind on so many things. Brit Hume thinks Romney has exhausted his quota for flip-flops. Santorum believes he has no core. Gingrich thinks Romney's a liar, while Huckabee says he just makes things up.


That was then. Today, of course, all of these men are singing Romney's praises. There's apparently no such thing as a thorny past when it comes to the alternate universe of Republicans, where Bush has ceased to exist, there's no such thing as congressional obstructionism, the deficit is all Obama's doing and -- Halliburton who? Weapons of mass what?

I once knew a woman who kept a pet skunk. She had an affinity for skunks, she said, simply because no one else liked them. She felt they were misunderstood. In political circles, Romney seems to have turned into that skunk. Sure, he's rich, willing to be molded by the party, and has the ability to dodge the truth and warp the facts as well as any Fox news anchor, but he has no real friends, only those who support him as a matter of right-wing unity. To de-scent Romney is a task that, as his wife would say, is hard. So very, very hard. When Romney goes off script, he tends to leave a trail of lingering, cringe-worthy comments that -- depending on which side is talking -- either show his true character, or just need a little spin-translation to be understood.

After Romney's debate performance, Santorum enthusiastically tweeted, "Romney rocked it!" Santorum, like Gingrich, Guiliani, and Hume took to the airwaves in support. The once-soulless, gamey, lying flip-flopper was morphed, if only by party loyalty, into a man of peerless integrity. With this group of peers though, I don't think that's exactly a compliment.

 
 
 

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Guiliani says he's never seen a guy change his mind on so many things. Brit Hume thinks Romney has exhausted his quota for flip-flops. Santorum believes he has no core. Gingrich thinks Romney's a liar...
Guiliani says he's never seen a guy change his mind on so many things. Brit Hume thinks Romney has exhausted his quota for flip-flops. Santorum believes he has no core. Gingrich thinks Romney's a liar...
 
 
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
RJchoice
choose active solutions, not useless reactions.
12:27 PM on 10/10/2012
If documented evidence of Obama's democratic primary opponents calling him a "liar and a flip-flopper with no core" existed, the GOP would have it playing on 'endless loop'. Mitt just lacks character, and has an arrogant contempt for those American voters who want a straight and honest answer about his plans.
03:53 PM on 10/08/2012
It bears repeating - willard stated during a debate "Im running for office, for pete sakes"

To find anyone who is surprised that willard is changing his stances to fit is surprising within itself. it just goes to show that integrity within the gop has left the building along with elvis
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Charles E Miller
Tro// Proof
12:28 PM on 10/08/2012
It's like the GOP went to the cannibal store, took a bite of Romney, then put him back on the shelf.
They were going to eat him alive for lunch, but decided to nominate him anyway. How's that working for ya?
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kmdippenger
Montgomery County, PA
12:12 PM on 10/08/2012
They hate Obama so much, they'd put that skunk in office. And some call this patriotism?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
texancoach
Geophysicist motto: Life seriously...no permanence
12:07 PM on 10/08/2012
Yes ma'am Miss Jane it is truly a mind boggling thing, but it runs deep within the core of the Refiblican's mental framework.

The average Republican is an evangelical moral majority that is a supposed prophesier of Jesus; all else is blasphemy, in which is their claim to disdaining American Muslims.

It's strange though that they emphatically equate one of their own (a Christian) who follows Christ...as not one of them, while vehemently chastising and accusing him as immoral, un-American, socialist and Nazi to cast their vote to one who actually does not recognize Christ as the great last prophet of God, but instead revering Joseph Smith.

How can the religious Republicans as they are, vote for a commander in chief to send our men and women into combat when he himself is a conscientious objector excusing himself and his five sons from ever serving, but instead do missionary work in the name of their religion and not the country?

I'm not bashing religion, just exposing politcal/religious warped logic.
11:33 AM on 10/08/2012
I think Jane is spot on! Romeny is lying through his teeth! This man will say anything to convince the naive that he is going to make things better. But there is much doubt of that happening. He wants to go back to the good old Bush days! Don't fall for it, he's the same as he was before the debate stating that he did not care about the poor and the 47%. But it seems people in this country will fall for anything, as they did when they elected Bush twice, twice I said. Really!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Osmona
Its GREAT to be alive and SANE.
11:24 AM on 10/08/2012
Ms. Devin, these guys play for KEEPS. With them, its not about integrity or truth. It's about WINNING by any means necessary. Romney is NO McCain. McCain had integrity and HE DID NOT make things up. This SHOULD be a lesson for President Obama. I hope he ACTS accordingly. I BELIEVE he will.
10:54 AM on 10/08/2012
Well, look at the alternative -- Obama.

So, despite Romney's history of flip flopping, we already know Obama. At least, Romney has been successful in business. Obama is not qualified to manage a lemonade stand.
ZoeyKay
Momma didn't raise a fool!
11:10 AM on 10/08/2012
George W. Bush was supposedly successful in business too - and look what a wonderful job he did with the country.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
daveat1910
11:23 AM on 10/08/2012
Sucessful in business? If you mean screwing a lot of workers- you're right.
12:23 PM on 10/08/2012
Even if some workers lost jobs, the fact that Bain capital purchased a failing business and extended its life, or turned it around, proves that Romney was successful in 'creating or saving' jobs. [I wonder where I heard the term 'creating of saving'....hmmmm.]
08:44 AM on 10/09/2012
I just read "Retirment Heist" by WSJ reporter, Ellen Schultz. Appalling stories of how business is screwing retired employees of their deserved pensions.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
shankapotomus
10:45 AM on 10/08/2012
Its good he changes his mind when he sees a better way that what smart people do.
10:01 AM on 10/08/2012
Your blog should be Obama's next national ad; Romney's base needs to be reminded how the even the elite in his own party didn't trust him with the truth during the primaries. I have been reminding republicans how they have become flip-floppers themselves since then - first hating Romney, now embracing him. No mention now of Romney's warts in the form of inconsistencies, lies, and changes of dancing horses in the middle of streams. With each election month, it seems republicans find brand new memories, washing all the old ones clean with massive bubbles of denial.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Hugh Ostrow
TO SAVE ONE LIFE...IS TO SAVE THE WORLD
09:47 AM on 10/08/2012
I do not know a lot about gambling....just enough to know that I do not like gambling in almost any form. It is hard to believe that so many Tea-Repubs are asking us to play "Romney Roulette". How would anyone know exactly what to expect of the "Romney" until the roulette wheel finally stopped spinning what the result would be?
09:22 AM on 10/08/2012
Obama should surprise everyone by pausing during the second debate to play this clip. The whole country will see just who Mitt really is. That would be something.
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HuffGeist
Pragmatic Dyslexic: Handed lemons? Make melonade!
09:22 AM on 10/08/2012
His own party, they just don't like him, they eviscerated him and they always have and now they're stuck with him. What a creep!
09:14 AM on 10/08/2012
please do the same review from when Obama was running in 2008. you will see the same scathing remarks from bill and hillary clinton, as well as all the other democratic candidates. now, they are in total agreement and so much in love with the president. Jane this is so totally one sided.
10:12 AM on 10/08/2012
I disagree. There is no way Hillary or Bill called Barack a liar. Nor did they call him on his multitude of flip-flops and out of touch gaffes. No one did what they're doing with Romney, with Obama. Obama is nothing like Romney. Obama isn't the type of person who will say or do anything to become president, like Romney is. Romney is a breed all his own, and we will call him on his lies and remind you all how even his peers considered him entirely untrustworthy. Were they lying then, or are they lying now?
botazefa
Sounds like Bodhisattva
12:08 PM on 10/08/2012
"please do the same review from when Obama was running in 2008. you will see the same scathing remarks from bill and hillary clinton"

Funny.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Socrates100
Ethos, Pathos, Logos
08:47 AM on 10/08/2012
The good news is of course, there is a version of Romney for everyone.