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William Bradley

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Fiat Lux, Willard!

Posted: 05/31/2012 9:45 pm

Amazingly, Mitt Romney has not one but two Harvard degrees. (Unfortunately for Harvard.)

On Thursday, during his California fundraising swing, Romney made a surprise, secret visit to the shuttered Fremont plant of Solyndra, the late solar firm which got a half billion in loans from the Obama Administration before going under in the face of cut-throat pricing from Chinese firms.

Trying desperately to turn attention away from attacks on his record as a corporate takeover specialist at Bain Capital, and from his close embrace of birther billionaire Donald Trump -- the presumptive Republican nominee celebrated his clinching the party nomination Tuesday night at Trump's casino on the Vegas Strip -- Romney declared that Solyndra is "Obama's Taj Mahal."

His Taj Mahal?

Romney's Harvard degrees are in business and law. He's a professional man, not an intellectual. (Maybe that's why he rips Barack Obama for being "too Harvard" when he's spent the most time at the place. He only used the specialty libraries.)

Still, even though he is no intellectual, he should know what the Taj Mahal is before he invokes it in such a pointed yet fundamentally goofy way.

The United Nations, placing the Taj Mahal on the World Heritage List, describes it thus: "The Taj Mahal is the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."

Is Romney really saying that the shutdown Solyndra plant is an aesthetic masterpiece, one of the greatest places in the world?

Yeah, probably not.

Romney simply doesn't know what he is saying.

Again.

No wonder Romney has aligned himself so closely with the anti-Enlightenment forces in America -- birthers, evolution deniers, greenhouse deniers, anti-solar types, the drill baby drill crowd who don't get that oil is a global market so even more drilling here won't drop the price of gasoline, etc.

Jefferson and Franklin would roll over in their graves listening to this gabble.

Romney's visit to the Taj Mahal of Fremont, and his latest adventure in talking like the Harvard he went to is Harvard Junior High in East Nowheresville, came after a big fundraiser Wednesday night at the 65,000 square foot Chateau Carolands in Hillsborough. The gardens are modeled after those at Versailles.

Now that is one famous place that Romney actually knows about. (A superhawk today, he was a Mormon missionary in France during his prime military-eligible years in the Vietnam War, which he strongly advocated.)

"Corporations are people, my friend." Let them eat cake!


You can check things during the day on my site, New West Notes ... www.newwestnotes.com.


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Amazingly, Mitt Romney has not one but two Harvard degrees. (Unfortunately for Harvard.) On Thursday, during his California fundraising swing, Romney made a surprise, secret visit to the shuttered Fr...
Amazingly, Mitt Romney has not one but two Harvard degrees. (Unfortunately for Harvard.) On Thursday, during his California fundraising swing, Romney made a surprise, secret visit to the shuttered Fr...
 
 
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
kharrast
I try to be the person my dogs think I am.
10:05 AM on 06/20/2012
Since Romney made the reference while hanging with Trump it is possible he was referring to the Trump Taj Mahal. I think that place cost a lot and led the Donald to file bankruptcy or at least come close at one point. This is based on my recollection of some years ago. I tried to google more info but I got bored and quit. Feel free to check and tell me I'm right or wrong.
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
04:35 PM on 06/29/2012
Ah, no.
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09:58 PM on 06/09/2012
It was a poor choice of words on Romney's part but Obama's pronouncement that the "private sector is doing fine" really takes the prize. Before you defend the statement, Obama came out of his taxpayer paid lair and totally walked his statement back. A Harvard man should get it right the first time.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
kharrast
I try to be the person my dogs think I am.
10:11 AM on 06/20/2012
My first thought when you mention the private sector is the large banks and corporations sitting on record amounts of cash. I would say they are doing fine. Especially when compared to the rest of us. I am aware that the private sector encompasses more than just that group but I can forgive Obama for saying what he said.
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
04:35 PM on 06/29/2012
It was stupidity.
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10:24 PM on 06/05/2012
HA HA HA!!! Yay, Bill Bradly. This is wonderfully funny.
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
04:35 PM on 06/29/2012
Thanks, I appreciate it.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
TheOin2012
My micro-brew is empty.
07:17 PM on 06/05/2012
Whoa, bye bye, Lane.

I am so whatever over it...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Carl Caroli
I just don't understand people
07:20 AM on 06/02/2012
Mitt spits and his rabid drones lap it up.
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
02:12 PM on 06/02/2012
Perhaps.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
TheOin2012
My micro-brew is empty.
07:08 PM on 06/05/2012
Indeed.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Allene Stucki
01:33 AM on 06/02/2012
I'm guessing that what he's actually trying to say is that it (Solyndra) is Obama's monument to himself, sort of like the Taj Mahal is some Indian's monument to something - seems obvious to me, but then my mind isn't fogged by liberal dogma.
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01:07 PM on 06/02/2012
A google search for that statement by Romney returns 3 hits from Fox, 2 from the Washington Examiner and 1 from the Weekly Standard. Curious eh?
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
TheOin2012
My micro-brew is empty.
07:09 PM on 06/05/2012
They're the ones who dig it.
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
02:13 PM on 06/02/2012
Speaking of having a clouded mind ...

Sorry, you have to be quite off to imagine that a solar plant is a monument to Obama.

You always have to be quite ignorant of what the Taj Mahal is.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
TheOin2012
My micro-brew is empty.
05:58 PM on 06/08/2012
Indeed.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cheryl tobin
Alpha Dog with my pack!
09:35 PM on 06/01/2012
and Romney sneaked out to Solyndra with press in tow because he was afraid if Obama knew about it he wouldn't let him speak on public grounds surrounding the closed plant. Something is very disturbing about Romney and his paranoia.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Allene Stucki
09:52 AM on 06/02/2012
Nobody's better qualified to understand paranoia than Cheryl.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cheryl tobin
Alpha Dog with my pack!
01:26 PM on 06/02/2012
Allene, I'm sure if you read some psychology books you would understand the definition of paranoia too!
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
02:14 PM on 06/02/2012
Romney was very concerned that his little stunt would be shown up immediately by a knowledgeable spokesperson on hand.
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
02:14 PM on 06/02/2012
The stunt backfired on Romney.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
doodlebug2
07:35 PM on 06/01/2012
good summary, thanks
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
02:15 PM on 06/02/2012
You're welcome.

It's not really a summary, though, more observations.
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
TRex86
Enjoying life in West Ohio
06:14 PM on 06/01/2012
Bill, I don't get it. Romney is so vacant. He's been on BOTH SIDES of everything the past 25 years and provides no narrative to explain his transformation from "left of Ted Kennedy" to "severe conservative." Is something in the water? Voting for him is a suicidal act, inviting the end of the First Republic (French reference). The only thread I find (besides propaganda manipulation by goofy billionaires) is that his support isn't support; it's rabidly anti-Obama. Insofar as Obama has done a decent job in the face of Republican obstructionism I can only conclude that racism is what draws the base to this phony, amorphous plutocrat.
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
07:25 PM on 06/01/2012
The country is very polarized. There's 40% that believed Obama wasn't really an American, for example, with equivalent numbers denying evolution science and climate science.

Romney, supposedly a moderate but not, plugs into all that anti-Enlightenment junk.

His record? Those folks don't want to be confused with facts.
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
TRex86
Enjoying life in West Ohio
09:52 PM on 06/01/2012
What an accomplishment that would be, to be elected by a coalition of idiots and ignoramuses. He's keeping his record as governor a secret lest the Tea-baggers revolt.
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TheOin2012
My micro-brew is empty.
07:10 PM on 06/05/2012
40 pct. of this country is so far to the Know Nothing Right it is unbelieveable...

After that, you just have to con or scare another 5 or 6 pct.
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
TRex86
Enjoying life in West Ohio
03:29 AM on 06/06/2012
We probably have already passed peak oil. The Saudi's are cagey about their reserves, and they're at least 1/4 of the planet. The ONLY reason we invaded Iraq was Black Gold. It's funny how the right wingers shriek about gov't spending and demand highly subsidized gas prices. Can't get between a Tea Bagger and his favorite empty slogan.
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TheOin2012
My micro-brew is empty.
06:00 PM on 06/08/2012
My numbers are off by 5 pct., sorry.
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05:03 PM on 06/01/2012
Conservatives want the USA to concede alternative energy and the future to China, India and the rest of the world who are moving in that direction and want to tie our future to oil and fossil fuels. So they mock Solyndra. Secure in their stupidity and clinging to the past.
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
05:23 PM on 06/01/2012
There's a fantasy about America being an island of some sort.

Also, the far right is heavily invested in the old energy economy.
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
TRex86
Enjoying life in West Ohio
06:18 PM on 06/01/2012
They're grabbing all the money they can before peak oil crushes the petroleum-dependent economy. They have not only imposed a zero sum economy on the "bottom" 99% they've made it negative sum, fighting for crumbs.
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TheOin2012
My micro-brew is empty.
08:29 PM on 06/01/2012
American Exceptionalism?
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
TheOin2012
My micro-brew is empty.
07:10 PM on 06/01/2012
They're stuck in the past.
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
08:47 PM on 06/01/2012
Another way of putting it.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
gsocratesasks
Obama is keeping troops in Afghan past 2014...
02:08 PM on 06/01/2012
LOL...Did they clean up the toxic waste solyndra left behind?.. At least Romney's business ventures worked and he was playing with his money not our grand children's... I'm not even sure producing solar cells is green, it seems like it takes way to much energy to make the cells, plus the toxic waste they produce in manufacturing and there is no return if there is no govt subsidy to buy them to boot?
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
04:47 PM on 06/01/2012
As usual, you get it wrong.

Romney played with OPM, other people's money.

As for the rest, the usual far right anti-Enlightenment nonsense you constantly spew on my pieces.

It's been a bore for a long time.
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Allene Stucki
06:03 PM on 06/01/2012
Maybe he did play with "OPM", but at least he didn't play with TPM. Taxpayers' Money!
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05:03 PM on 06/01/2012
Is that why you want to concede solar energy to China?
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
05:24 PM on 06/01/2012
A familiar "commenter," with familiar shallow far right "points."
05:22 AM on 06/01/2012
Destroy language and you can destroy thought. In a dimly, semi-conscious, anti-intellectual, hating way the Republicans know what they are doing.
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
04:47 PM on 06/01/2012
Oh, yes. You can't call what Fox News and the others do "spontaneous."
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TheOin2012
My micro-brew is empty.
07:12 PM on 06/01/2012
Indeed.
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05:05 PM on 06/01/2012
Ask Frum-Bush's speech writer. He was very clever at dancing around a lie while telling no falsehoods. Destroying our nation with words of deception.
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
05:25 PM on 06/01/2012
He's a moderate compared to most of these folks, who are just plain blatant.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
TheOin2012
My micro-brew is empty.
07:12 PM on 06/01/2012
Faith-based, too...
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
crazymonkey
11:29 PM on 05/31/2012
Rmoney, what a cad!
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
04:47 PM on 06/01/2012
I hadn't thought of that word, but I suppose it can fit.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
TheOin2012
My micro-brew is empty.
08:30 PM on 06/01/2012
Why, was he mean to Peggy Olson?

:)
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
02:18 PM on 06/02/2012
Wrong conversation.
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LizM
My micro-bio is too long for this space.
10:26 PM on 05/31/2012
So, was this as much fun to write as it was to read? :)
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
William Bradley
I have no microbe bio.
04:48 PM on 06/01/2012
Yes, it flowed very quickly. :)
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TheOin2012
My micro-brew is empty.
07:12 PM on 06/01/2012
Didn't I see this elsewhere?