I've been struck by the baldness of Romney's repetitive lies about Obama -- that Obama ended the work requirement under welfare, for example, or that Obama's Affordable Care Act cuts $716 billion from Medicare benefits.
The mainstream media along with a half-dozen independent fact-checking organizations and sites have called Romney on these whoppers, but to no avail. He keeps making these assertions.
Every campaign is guilty of exaggerations, embellishments, distortions, and half-truths. But this is another thing altogether. I've been directly involved in seven presidential campaigns, and I don't recall a presidential candidate lying with such audacity, over and over again. Why does he do it, and how can he get away with it?
The obvious answer is such lies are effective. Polls show voters are starting to believe them, especially in swing states where they're being repeated constantly in media spots financed by Romney's super PAC or ancillary PACs and so-called "social welfare" organizations (political fronts disguised as charities, such as Karl Rove and the Koch brothers have set up).
Romney's lying machine is extraordinarily well financed. By August, according to Jane Mayer in her recent New Yorker article, at least 33 billionaires had each donated a quarter of a million dollars or more to groups aiming to defeat Obama -- with most of it flooding into attack ads in swing states.
In early August, "Americans for Prosperity," one of the nonprofit front groups masquerading as a charity, and founded in part by billionaire right-wingers Charles and David Koch, bought some $27 million in ad time on spots now airing in eleven swing states.
So Romney's lying machine is working.
But what does all this tell us about the man who is running this lying machine? (Or if Romney's not running it, what does it tell us about a man who would select the people who are?)
We knew he was a cypher -- that he'll say and do whatever is expedient, change positions like a chameleon, eschew any core principles.
Yet resorting to outright lies -- and organizing a presidential campaign around a series of lies -- reveals a whole new level of cynicism, a profound disdain for what remains of civility in public life, and a disrespect of the democratic process.
The question is whether someone who is willing to resort to such calculated lies, and build a campaign machine around them, can be worthy of the public's trust with the most powerful office in the world.
ROBERT B. REICH, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration. Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has written thirteen books, including the best sellers "Aftershock" and "The Work of Nations." His latest is an e-book, "Beyond Outrage." He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause.
Follow Robert Reich on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RBReich
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 |
|
| 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 |
Can we please force a giant "these statements have not been approved by facts" banner on every politicians forehead when they are spouting lies while advertising themselves as the people who should be allowed to govern our lives?
Neither party has all the answers and until all the sheep on both sides wake up to this fact this country is going to have a very rude awaking in the not so distant future. America is slowing moving backwards because our priorities are so backwards that I don't even think most people know what they want anymore.
Most people including our politicians are more worried about the all mighty dollar and their own wealth that most of the social and economic issues are being ignored because the only way to fix them is for both parties to actually work together. If you don't believe me then look at our statistics of Eduction, the value of the dollar among other things. All slipping year by year.
Pretty well sums it up. I worked with a person very similar to Romney. The individual was well educated, from a good family, etc yet had absolutely no problem with lying to serve his needs.
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The only "core principle" Romney won't outwardly lie about is his Mormon religion. Yet his religious beliefs as they pertain to public policy are not up for discussion.
I am all about free speech.. so we have to keep it real, the Republicans are LYING... every point is based on lies and economy... or lies to improve the economy of certain lobbyist employers.
What about Obama's statement that his Affordable Care Plan has cured cancer, and "the moment you elected me, the oceans began to retreat and the earth began to heal."? The most ridiculous statements uttered by anyone in this campaign.
A fair professor would provide different points of view. Reich is nothing but a Democratic hack who comes up with new ways to bankrupt the USA every month.