The rightwing pundits want you to believe that liberals are using 'skewed polls' as a means of voter suppression. Liberals aren’t idiots. If they wanted voter suppression, they’d do it the effective way—the way conservatives are doing it.
The latest news is that President Obama is still leading in all of the new swing state polls—or for the rightwing pundits, reality still isn’t right. Obama is narrowly leading in Nevada and North Carolina. If this game was fixed, wouldn’t he be leading by a more comfortable margin? Or don’t the rightwingers think that the left wing could lie as effectively as they do?
Another new poll shows that Jewish voters support Obama by better than two-to-one over Romney. There is no way a self-respecting Jew is going to support Mitt Romney. They deal with enough guilt trips from their mothers. They don’t need to live with the fact that they voted for Romney.
Arch-conservative Charles Krauthammer seems to think that Mitt Romney would win if he was talking about “the big stuff: Medicare, entitlements, tax reform...” Charles, Mitt did discuss the big stuff in exactly the kind of conservative terms that you want. The problem is that someone recorded what he said and Mother Jones magazine released the tape.
Mitt Romney is trying to lower expectations for his performance in the debate. Don’t worry, Mitt—if there is one problem you are not going to face from here on out, it’s that expectations for you are going to be too high.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
Fox so-called News personality John Huckabee is sending a message to Republicans in Congress. In an interview on GOP TV – Huckabee suggested that President Obama should be impeached over his handling on the attack on the Benghazi consulate in Libya.
Huckabee said, “Richard Nixon was forced out of office because he lied. And because he covered some stuff up. I will be blunt and tell you this. Nobody died in Watergate. We have people who are dead because of this.”
With these words – Huckabee is giving Republicans their agenda should President Obama win a second term – which is too weigh down his administration with yet another nonsensical investigation, just like they did in his first term with Fast and Furious.
Unlike President Bush who was willing to blame any and everything on terrorism to keep Americans afraid – this administration has been more cautious with how it throws that word around – as they should be.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program live Monday thorugh Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Mitt Romney took part in three network interviews last night! Be careful, Mitt—it’s mighty hard to talk that much without accidentally saying something. On ABC, Mitt dismissed the polls, saying “Frankly, at this early stage, polls go up, polls go down.” True enough—Obama’s polls are going up, and yours are going down.
Mitt told CBS that Obama is engaged in “character assassination.” Luckily for Mitt, he’s immune to character assassination—he has no character to assassinate. Mitt said “they try and completely misrepresent my point of view, along with why I’m in this race.” That’s clearly untrue! For starters, nobody has any idea what your point of view is, let alone why you are in this race.
Mitt was also talking about his healthcare reforms in Massachusetts on NBC. OK, Mitt is officially desperate—he’s talking about his actual accomplishment. Mitt said “Don’t forget - I got everybody in my state insured.” We didn’t forget, Mitt. We thought that you wanted your nutty base to forget. Yes Mitt, you got everybody in your state insured. I think you used something called an “individual mandate,” or as your base calls it “socialist tyranny.”
Dick Morris said “If the election were held today, Mitt Romney would win.” If Dick Morris says that anywhere except at Fox News, people start giving him those little tests they give to see if a person has just had a concussion. One of the things they ask in order to tell if you’ve had a concussion is if you know who the president is. Even if Dick Morris knows the answer to that one, I don’ think he would be willing to say it. Dick also predicted that Mitt would win by a big margin of 4 to 5 points. Gee Dick, if Mitt’s lead is that big, I guess you guys can stop all of your voter suppression efforts. How will Dick Morris be able to show his face after the election? Probably the same way he is able to show his face after it was caught with a prostitute’s toes in it.
Listen to the Randi Rhodes Show Monday thorugh Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
Last week, Clay Cane Live gave you a hilarious best of show because yours truly headed to the nation's capital for the Congressional Black Caucus and NBJC's (National Black Justice Coalition) annual Out on the Hill event. Plus, book signings for For Colored Boys.
On Friday afternoon, I was honored to participate in the panel “How the LGBT Equality Movement Has Impacted Black America and the Media Landscape.” The vibrant commentators (pictured above) included myself, Keith Boykin, Laverne Cox, LZ Ganderson, Jonathan Capehart, Carolyn Brown and moderated by Jeff Johnson. We talked everything from gender identity to the responsibility of being in the media to making a change.
While panels come a dime dozen, this discussion was not just rhetoric — we truly searched for solutions. One, looking at the LGBT community above the groin — as I said in my Huffington Post piece when Frank Ocean admitted he fell in love with a man: "For many in the LGBT community, our understanding of sexual identity was not the first time we had sex, but the first time we experienced a heart-shaking kiss, the first time we waited all day for a phone call from that special person or the first time we fell in love." Many times, gayness is linked to hyper-sexuality, an awful perception that diminishes the love in relationships.
I saw many signs of a new day in Washington, D.C. For example, signing books at the legendary Howard University with Keith Boykin. In past years, Howard had a reputation of homophobia. But the LGBT and straight students I spoke with said they feel "safe" at Howard. They never felt threatened and their orientation was not a focus. The times they are a-changin'…
Lastly, Keith and I attended a private book-signing event at the house of couple who have been together for 11 years —legally married for three years. They welcomed us to their wonderful home with a group of amazing people all in support of For Colored Boys. The beautifully decorated house had an undeniable energy of goodness. I said to myself, "There is so much love in this house."
I saw their wedding album and another married man came by with his two daughters. I said, "It is so great for me to see this because I hear so many gay men complain, ‘Two men can't be together! Especially two black men!' You and your friends are proof that it can work." Only the willfully ignorant would deny love when it was plainly in their face.
As trite is it may sound, it is solely about the love — sometimes the clichés are correct. Last weekend in D.C., I witnessed the actualization of love that we easily forget in a journey to be legalized, affirmed and recognized. Love is not shy or hidden; it is a manifestation of authenticity and freedom.
Listen to Clay Cane Live tonight at 11PM EST on WWRL 1600, your WWRL smart phone app, and right here on www.WWRL1600.com.
Commonwealth court judge Robert Simpson will hear arguments on the state’s controversial Voter Suppression ID law – and there’s a solid chance he could issue an injunction and prevent the law from taking effect before November’s election. On Tuesday – Judge Simpson suggested that he will likely put the law on hold since state officials have yet to prove that the law will not harm eligible voters.
Roughly half of the city of Philadelphia stands to be kicked off the voting rolls come November because they lack the proper identification. Pennsylvania is a battleground state – and earlier this year – Republican State House leader – Mike Turzai – bragged that this Voter Suppression ID Law passed under his watch would “allow Governor Romney to win the state.” But it looks like the courts may throw a wrench in Turzai’s plans.
But make no mistake about it – Republicans will continue to kick as many Democratic voters off the rolls as they can before November. In fact, Florida Governor Rick Scott has restarted his illegal voter purge – targeting those who don’t have white Anglo-Saxon names.
All of this should wake us up to the fact that all Americans desperately need a federal right to vote.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
The best indication of how Mitt Romney would handle a disaster is how he’s handling his campaign right now—it’s not only a disaster, it’s a disaster that he created. New polls show Obama widening his lead in the crucial swing states of Ohio and Florida. For Mitt, that’s two swings, and two misses. Obama is leading in the state that’s round on the ends and “hi” in the middle. And he’s leading in the state that’s... well, that’s Florida. Florida is just phallic, from its Pensacola to its Tortugas. Those even sound like things you’d see on a doctor’s chart of the male genitalia. “Your Pensacola is sore because you’ve got Dry Tortugas. Try some ointment.”
On the campaign trail, Mitt Romney admitted that President Obama did not raise taxes. It was an accident—once again, Mitt created such a circle of lies that he came 360 degrees around to the truth. Mitt! Your whole campaign is built on lies. You should know not to say certain things just from the fact that they are true. Of course, as soon as they found out that Mitt had accidentally said something true, his campaign issued a correction. Well, I guess you would have to call it an “in-correction.” Mitt is living proof that it’s easy enough to lie, but it’s rather difficult to lie consistently.
Mitt is trying to use Paul Ryan to save his campaign. He actually has to use Ryan to appeal to his own base. We’re well into the general election, and Mitt still hasn’t really won the primary! Now Romney and Ryan are campaigning together. The campaign is hoping that Ryan can draw crowds, where they can try to force Mitt Romney down their throat. It’s like when you have to give your dog a pill so you wrap it in something they like. Mitt Romney is a de-worming pill, and Paul Ryan is a scoop of peanut butter.
The deadline for Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin to drop out of the Senate race in Missouri has come and gone—and so has any chance the Republicans had of winning the Senate race in Missouri. As soon as the deadline to withdraw passed, Akin’s Democratic opponent Claire McCaskill released an ad documenting the “top 10 crazy Akin moments.” I’m sure that took some selective editing—not to make the quotes sound crazy, to edit it down to 10!
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
The streets of Madrid resembled a war zone on Tuesday, as thousands of demonstrators surrounded the Spanish Parliament demanding the government resign. There were several arrests and injuries as riot police clashed with the demonstrators.
Spain is under immense pressure from banksters to slash government spending and pay down its deficit, but those most affected by this sort of austerity like public sector workers aren’t having it. And already, Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the Eurozone, which will only get worse with more austerity.
Demonstrators called for a national referendum to let the Spanish people – and not technocrats – decide their own fate when it comes to paying the nation’s debts. To make matters worse, the Catalonia region of Spain called for an early election at the end of November – which could be a vote for independence from Spain altogether as the region runs into its own financial problems.
Meanwhile on the other side of Europe, workers in Greece are on strike today to protests another round of spending cuts under consideration by the Greek government. Public employees, teachers, medics, lawyers, and even bankers walked off their jobs and took to the streets to protest salary and pension cuts.
It’s the first such strike since the new Conservative government took power in June. Organizers of the strike were expecting upwards of a million people in the streets of Athens. Austerity is literally ripping nations apart in Europe – and it’ll do the same thing here in the United States if Republicans win big in November.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Spoiler Update: NFL refs return to action tonight.
The debacle that has become the NFL referee's lockout will hopefully end before any real damage is done to the sport or its players. However, stepping back for a moment, we see that the greed of a $9.3 billion dollar a year enterprise and the owners who run it fits into a pattern of recent labor events that aren't nearly as well known.
Consider the plight of the workers at the Stella D'Oro factory in the Bronx. A few years ago, the new owners of the company decided to draw a line in the sand, much as the NFL owners are doing now. Unfortunately, those workers didn't have people in media writing daily about their situation. Eventually, the bad guys won, the factory closed, and dozens of unionized workers lost the ability to feed their families. There are other examples, but this one stands out because it happened in New York.
I knew there was going to trouble with the "replacement refs" before the regular season started. I was watching a pre-season game (the teams involved don't really matter), when a penalty was called. The ref who was going to make the announcement stepped into the camera frame, opened his mic, and promptly froze. I mean froze for an embarrassing period of time. That was but a harbinger of things to come.
The criticism of the replacements (some call them scabs) started as a whisper, and by the end of the games on Sunday had turned into a roar. Penalty miscalculations, times out granted that shouldn't have been, a helmet to helmet collision with no penalty call was bad enough.
Then came this past Monday. The Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks came right down to the final play of the game. A pass into the end zone and a blown call later, the story of the replacement refs ceased to become just a sports item, and moved into the realm of the larger American consciousness. The question now becomes how long will the NFL continue to lock out their legitimate refs? Do they figure that the integrity of the game will withstand this short term blip? Or are they miscalculating, letting this drag on until either players are hurt or another game is decided by a blown call?
I'd like to think they'll come to their senses and get this thing settled. What do you think?
Listen to The Mark Riley Morning Show Monday through Friday 6 AM to 9 AM on WWRL 1600.
President Obama addressed the United Nations today, which is a good time to remind yourself how you would feel if that sentence read “President Romney addressed the United Nations today.” If Mitt Romney were president and was addressing the United Nations, the first thing you would feel would be worry, and the second would be embarrassment. To Mitt Romney, the rest of the world is either a place to hide money, or a place to threaten so that you can sound tough to your base. Romney can’t even go to the Olympics as a private citizen without causing an international incident. Do you really want him going to the UN as our president?
President Obama told the United Nations that time for diplomacy on Iran’s nuclear program is running out. And if Mitt Romney becomes president, there’s no time for diplomacy at all. Obama said “the United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” But if it’s up to Romney, he won’t do what we have to do—he’ll do what he’s told to do, by neocon nutcases. Addressing the unrest in the Arab world, the President said “we must speak honestly about the deeper causes of this crisis.” You know that’s going to set the Republicans off. If there’s anything they absolutely refuse to deal with, it’s any deeper cause of anything. Republicans prefer to deal with the surface of things. That’s why their candidate is an empty haircut like Mitt Romney.
Mitt was criticizing the President’s address at the UN before he gave it. What do you expect from somebody who criticized our embassy staff in Cairo at the same time they were being besieged by a hostile mob? The Romney campaign said “On the eve of his United Nations address, President Obama's foreign policy is in disarray.” A little advice, Mitt—avoid the term “disarray.” It reminds people of your campaign. Romney's campaign added, “As president, Mitt Romney will repair our relationships abroad.” Mitt doesn’t even have a friendly relationship with the people in his own party. Mitt, you don’t have any hopes of pacifying the world if you can’t even pacify Peggy Noonan.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
For those who still don’t think Citizens United is having a profound effect on our democracy – consider this: 78% of the $465 million in outside spending so far this election was only made possible by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision.
According to a new report by the Sunlight Foundation – SuperPACs have dished out $272 million so far on this year’s election – and trade organization and non-profits, which according to Citizens United don’t have to disclose their donors, have spent another $93 million so far. The consequences of this surge in outside spending are a lot more negative ads. More than 75% of the outside spending this election has been used for negative ads – with a lot more negative ads targeting President Obama than Mitt Romney.
As a Republicans know best, negative ads suppress voter turnout, this giving Republicans a better shot at winning. We’re a month-and-a-half away from the most expensive election in this nation’s history, and the ultimate test of whether organized people can defeat organized money.
Listen to the Thom Hartmann Program live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
When asked what she wants to say to Republican critics of Mitt, Ann Romney said “Stop it! This is hard!” I have news for you, Ann—being president is hard too. And people criticize you even after you get the job! You think this is hard? Try running the country while the other party has ground the Congress to a halt and their base accuses you of being a foreign-born imposter. Ann, maybe you should unwind with some comfort food. Go make yourself some tuna and pasta. Or have the kitchen staff make it.
This week the candidates faced Hispanic voters. Mitt Romney seemed to do it with a face that was a couple shades browner than his regular face. It looks like Mitt was wearing a fake tan to darken his skin when he went on Univision! That explains why, when I first saw the tape, I thought “Why is George Hamilton on Spanish TV, lying about his stand on immigration?” If Mitt was putting on an actual fake face for the Hispanic voters, it was the perfect metaphor for the two-faced way he responded to their questions. The big difference is that Mitt’s fake tan was applied with much more skill and subtlety than his fake answers.
You’re doing a heckuva job, Brown-nosers! Just last month, Mitt Romney handed out bonuses to his campaign staff. Well actually, he just gave bonuses to his “top” staff. But since we’re talking about Mitt Romney, I didn’t have to tell you that part. I can only assume that Mitt holds 47 percent of his own staff in contempt as well. Actually, I’m glad Mitt gave his top people bonuses. It’s going to be a long, long time before any of those folks finds another job.
People in Texas and Virginia have lynched a chair in their yards in apparent reference to Clint Eastwood’s equating of Obama with an empty chair. That’s the rightwing extremists for you! Let’s take something that gave everybody a good laugh (even Mitt Romney, or so he says) and turn it into something that makes everybody want to vomit.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
That’s the conclusion of a new study by the Center for American Progress looking at data from the Pew Research Center. The study looked at unionization rates within states and found that states with the highest percentage of unionized workers also have the highest rates of economic mobility – as in, the chances that someone born into the middle class can work their way into the upper class.
Being able to come from nothing and live a successful life is the basis of the American Dream. Unfortunately, the United States now lags behind the rest of the developed world when it comes to economic mobility.
Today, more than 2/3 of Americans born in the bottom-fifth income bracket – will stay in the bottom two-fifths income brackets their entire lives. A lot of that has to do with a 32-year war against organized labor starting with Ronald Reagan. The study concludes by showing that just a ten-percent boost in unionized workers in an average state would increase economic mobility by 4%.
It’s time to bring democracy back to the work place through unions and give workers a shot at what they’ve been promised – a shot at the American Dream.
Listen the Thom Hartmann Program live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600..
Yesterday Senate Republicans managed to kill a bill to provide jobs for veterans. It sounds like Senate Republicans don’t need those lazy 47 Percenters any more than Mitt Romney does. It’s nice to know that even in the middle of an election, GOP Senators are able to get their work done. Unfortunately, their work is making sure that the Senate doesn’t get any work done. Sen. Tom Coburn led the opposition, saying that we are $16 trillion in debt, and this bill will “make the problem worse.” Gee Tom, you didn’t have any problem spending the money that sent these vets to Iraq in the first place.
Mitt Romney has a plan to rescue his floundering campaign. If it’s anything like his plans for everything else, it will just consist of cutting taxes on the rich and doing away with regulations. Mitt’s plan for salvaging his campaign is to focus on Mitt. Uh, Mitt’s campaign has had a lot of problems—but one of them has never been a lack of Mitt. Mitt, I don’t know how closely you’re paying attention, but the thing that got you into this mess... is Mitt! A Romney campaign advisor said “there’s a desire among the electorate to know more about Mitt.” Yeah, so they can protect themselves from him! A “desire to know more about Mitt” isn’t a good thing for Mitt. There’s also a desire to know more about the path of a hurricane. That doesn’t mean people want the hurricane to hit.
The Republican retreat from Mitt Romney is turning into a rout. Even Connecticut Senate candidate Linda McMahon is distancing herself from Mitt. And this is a woman who is intimately associated with professional wrestling! Linda McMahon has no problem being associated with people who wear masks and spandex costumes and hit each other over the head with folding chairs. But she draws the line when it comes to being associated with Mitt Romney.
Mitt is trying to distract from his problems with a crusade against “redistribution.” It isn’t a question of whether or not we will have redistribution. It’s a question of whether the money will flow to a handful of billionaires, or to everybody. Think of the economy like the human body. For the body to be healthy, blood has to flow to every part of the body. If money only flows to rich people, it would be like if blood wasn’t getting to the whole body, but just to the ass.
Listen to me Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
Mitt Romney is desperately trying to change the subject. But then they always have to do that when the subject is Mitt Romney. The Romney campaign is pointing to a tape of an Obama speech from 1998. Wow. I know Republicans like to think George Bush never existed, but do they have to go all the way back to the Clinton years to find anything on Barack Obama?
The Romney campaign says that Romney’s comments on the tape clarify his positions. Yes, they do. That’s exactly the problem. The video shows that Mitt seems to genuinely dislike a lot of Americans. He’s still that spoiled, nasty prep-school bully. Mitt Romney wants to give 47 percent of Americans an involuntary haircut!
The 47 percent freeloaders that Mitt was talking about are mostly red state Republicans. Mitt is not only trying to get these people to vote against their own interests, he’s trying to convince them that their own interests are exactly what’s wrong with this country! And a lot of them are going to believe him.
Erick Erickson at Red State says that Mitt Romney’s comments could be “another Chick-Fil-A moment.” Maybe—in the sense that Mitt Romney is cooked. The biggest difference is that, before that controversy erupted, people LIKED Chick-Fil-A. Another difference is that even Chick-Fil-A has now backed away from their “Chick-Fil-A moment.”
Clint Eastwood is talking about his presentation at the Republican convention. And this time he’s talking to more than just a chair. Clint said “I figure if somebody’s dumb enough to ask me to go to a political convention and say something, they’re going to have to take what they get.” I think Clint Eastwood just threw Mitt Romney under the bus. And if you’ve ever seen “The Gauntlet,” that’s a fast rolling bus!
Listen to me Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
The Mitt Romney campaign is still in crisis after a leaked video showed Romney deriding 47% of Americans who he claims are victims who don’t pay taxes, and who are dependent upon government for everything. Romney argued that he doesn’t need to worry about these people – and they represent the President’s base.
But a new study by the Tax Foundation shows that those Americans Romney was referring to who don’t pay federal income taxes aren’t from Blue states – they’re mostly from Red states. The top ten states with the highest percentage of residents who pay no federal income taxes are all in the South, plus Idaho. And each one of those states – with the exception of Florida – has consistently voted for Republicans.
Mitt Romney may have thought he was writing off President Obama’s electorate – but in reality, he was writing off his own.
Unfortunately, Republicans have used racist dog-whistle politics in the South since Nixon to convince tens of millions of Americans to vote against their best interests. And they’re trying to do the same thing today to convince poor, southern Americans that priority number one is to get the black President out of the White House.
Listen to me live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
In the immortal word of Rick Perry: “Oops.” I’ve got to give Mitt Romney credit—he is certainly making this race interesting. Not interesting in the sense of who is going to win—that’s more obvious than ever—just interesting in terms of the process. I would describe this as the final nail in the Romney campaign’s coffin, but at this point that coffin has been nailed, bolted, and cemented shut. It’s been wrapped in chains and dropped into the East River like it’s part of some David Blaine escape stunt. How bad is it? There is a chance that Mitt Romney might just release his tax returns in order to provide a distraction.
If you haven’t heard, Mitt Romney got caught on videotape at a gathering of rich donors saying some very stupid things. I know your next question, and yes, they were stupider than the things he routinely says when he knows cameras are on. Mitt said that 47 percent of Americans are leeches who are dependent on the government. Then he said “And so my job is not to worry about those people.” Don’t worry, Mitt—you’re not going to be getting the job you’re talking about! And now the black heart of the matter—Mitt says “I’ll never convince them – they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.” Wow. Half of Americans won’t take personal responsibility for their lives. We must be the most dysfunctional society in the history of the earth. A nation where half the population is a bunch of whining freeloaders! Mitt, why would you want to be the president of such a den of rogues? And you can tell the ones who won’t take “personal responsibility” for their lives—they’re the ones who aren’t rich. You would think that they would catch on!
The video was shot this May at the Boca Raton home of billionaire Marc Leder, at a $50,000-per-person fundraiser. Hey, for only $50,000 you can witness the incident that finally sinks the Romney campaign! The best part of the video is that Mitt is making derisive comments about most working Americans, while in the foreground of the hidden camera you can see harried waiters and serving staff bustling around in the galley. While Mitt is saying these people want the government to provide them with everything, they’re scurrying around his little audience of fat cats providing them with all their food and drink needs. “These parasites won’t take personal responsibility for their own lives! Hey you, could we get some more cognac and caviar over here?”
Listen to me Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
And so is police repression of the movement. Yesterday, Occupy celebrated its one-year anniversary with demonstrations in New York City and more than 30 other cities nationwide. But in New York, the police were in full force to crackdown on the movement. More than 180 people were arrested by the NYPD on Monday – including some journalists – mostly for disorderly conduct or behavior that used to be allowed under the 1st Amendment.
Coincidentally, this police crackdown against free speech and free association also occurred on Constitution Day – the 225th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. Men like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison who understood the importance of dissent and periodic revolution would be horrified at the way peaceful Americans have been treated since the Occupy Movement began a year ago. It’s time to throw banksters in jail, not activists.
Listen to me live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
By now Mitt Romney's comments about the 47% of Americans he says don't pay taxes are well known (at least they should be). As a window into the soul of a man who wants to represent all Americans, it's indeed a revelation. For the record, this is what he said, courtesy of Mother Jones Magazine and Website:
"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.
My job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
Mind you, he uttered this doggerel in front of a bunch of fat cat donors, including his host Marc Leder, equity titan and party boy extraordinaire. One wonders what his straight laced Evangelical voting audience must think of parties featuring nudity, sex acts, and Russian dancers on platforms (or do they even know?).
All fluff aside, this about a presidential candidate who apparently has no clue that more than one in five of the 47% he spoke of are senior citizens! Fully half of those who pay no federal income taxes are too poor to reach the threshold necessary to have any tax liability. At the other end of the pay scale, there are millionaires who also pay no taxes. That's because they move their assets offshore, and take advantage of tax loopholes the rest of don't even know about.
But you see, that's exactly who Mittens was talking to. When he speaks of entitlements, he's not talking about people who run equity funds and foist pension costs of companies they devour on the government. Some of these clowns are entitled to do so, and they do. But that's not the 47% Mitt's talking about. One would think he'd be a little circumspect in talking about people who pay no taxes, when the American public knows little or nothing about the taxes he pays.
The most entertaining aspect of all this is watching conservative pundits and strategists trying to defend this guy. He wasn't even their first choice, and now they're trying to dig him out of a hole almost as deep as the one George W. Bush put this country in.
There are those who say this latest gaffe puts the nail in Mitt Romney's campaign coffin. I wouldn't want to bet the store on that, not yet, not this far out from November 6th.
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan courted the religious conservatives at the “Values Voters Summit.” That’s poorly named—there is no summit and there are no values. The problem is that there are voters, and a lot of them. Paul Ryan spoke in person. Mitt Romney appeared in a video message. That’s fine—the real live Mitt Romney doesn’t seem any more real or alive than a video message anyway. Besides, the video exudes more warmth than he does, and it’s more likely to answer questions.
Religious conservatives are more driven to vote out of fear of President Obama than by enthusiasm for Mitt Romney. While it’s crazy to be afraid of Obama, you could argue that it would be even crazier to be enthusiastic for Mitt Romney. If they were that afraid of Obama, you’d think that they would have nominated a more electable alternative than Mitt Romney. It all goes to show that you really shouldn’t make important decisions when you’re frightened.
Rick Santorum told people at the Values Voters Summit that “We will never have the elite smart people on our side.” If he meant to make air quotes when he said “elite smart people,” he forgot to do it. It came out sounding like Rick actually meant to say “We’re dumb and we’re proud of it.” Either he really meant that, or he was too dumb to phrase it any other way.
Politico has a story about how the Romney campaign has stumbled recently. As you might expect, it’s a very long article. Romney has taken a very active role in shaping his own campaign. There’s a red flag right there. At least George Bush had enough sense not to let George Bush get involved.
Mitt Romney says our embassies wouldn’t have been attacked if he were president. When asked yesterday if that is true, conservative guru George Will said that during elections the “great superstition” about the power of the US president “reaches an apogee and becomes a national narcissism.” George! Remember who you’re talking to! No big words! I think the only reason George Will isn’t drummed out of the Republican Party is that they can’t understand what he’s saying.
Listen to me Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
Today marks the one-year anniversary since Americans began highlighting Wall Street's crimes by occupying Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan and eventually hundreds of other cities across the nation. Events and rallies are underway in New York City and elsewhere around the nation to commemorate the occasion, and already there are several reports of more than 70 demonstrators arrested in lower Manhattan. One year ago, Occupy changed the game by changing the national conversation away from deficit-reduction and austerity and toward wealth inequality and job creation.
After brutal police oppression, the encampments disappeared from the public eye. But Occupy didn’t go anywhere, it’s been working under the radar saving Americans from foreclosure, helping students with debt, and helping workers organize. The nation is in a crisis, and, in response, the American people are pregnant with revolution.
Occupy was simply the first tactic in the burgeoning, grassroots revolution. What comes next we don’t know for sure, but it’s absolutely essential to pick up on what Occupy started a year ago, get organized and get active to take on the corporate 1% that have taken over our government and economy and is destroying the American middle class.
Listen to me live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Romney adviser Richard Williamson said that the attack on our consulate in Libya would not have taken place if Mitt Romney were president. No, if Mitt Romney were president, our diplomats would already have been chased out of most countries across the globe. And I include Great Britain in that. They’re still pissed about Mitt’s Olympics comments.
Romney advisor Lanhee Chen admitted that the Romney campaign pounced on the Cairo embassy statement because it fit their “narrative.” Chen said “We’ve had this consistent critique and narrative on Obama’s foreign policy, and we felt this was a situation that met our critique.” Amazing! What Chen is essentially saying is that “here we had a situation where we were convinced that the fantasy world we created had actually intersected briefly with the real world.” The problem for the Romney people was that real world wasn’t nearly as close to their fantasy realm as they thought. The intersection with reality was just another of their fantasies.
Very few Republicans have publicly supported Mitt Romney in this latest fiasco, but at least Todd Akin has his back. Of course, Mitt doesn’t want Todd Akin anywhere near him, front OR back. That’s the current state of the Republican Party—the only people who aren’t embarrassed to be associated with Mitt Romney are the people that Mitt Romney is embarrassed to be associated with.
Now the rightwing echo machine is trying to spread the lie that Marines at the Cairo embassy were not allowed to carry live ammunition. The lie has been repeated so much that the Marines had to issue a statement debunking it. They do have better things to do, you know. I want the US Marines armed AND available to respond to threats. I don’t want them wasting their time responding to lies on Fox News. Even after the Marine Corps refuted the rumor, it still was repeated on Fox News. Fox News is where all rightwing lies head towards, just as surely as everything you swallow eventually ends up in your lower colon.
Listen to me Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
The fallout from an anti-Islam film made here in the United States continues, as anti-western protests sweep across the Middle East, Asia, and North Africa – including Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Iraq. More than a dozen nations have now seen protests against Western diplomatic buildings – including British and German embassies. Reuters is reporting this morning that an angry mob has breached the walls and rushed the American embassy in Tunisia – another nation that’s undergone revolution during the Arab Spring.
And while our nation tries to contain what could be a major foreign policy crisis, the Romney campaign continues to exploit it for political gain. Romney’s top foreign policy adviser, Richard Williamson, told the Washington Post, “There’s a pretty compelling story that if you had a President Romney, you’d be in a different situation…For the first time since Jimmy Carter, we’ve had an American ambassador assassinated.” He’s right – With a Romney presidency, we would be in a different situation - we’d likely be at war with a dozen other nations.
Romney has employed the same Neo-Cons who worked under the Bush Administration, which brought us two illegal wars and enflamed the Middle East. This is not about a movie. This is not about Islam. This is about a twisted foreign policy that has been pushed by the far right for decades – and perpetuated today – that America can bring democracy to the rest of the world down the barrel of a gun. It can’t – and we’re learning that harsh lesson now.
Listen to me live Monday through Friday 3 Pm to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Mitt loves to attack Obama for supposedly apologizing. Mitt said of the Obama administration that “They clearly sent mixed messages to the world.” On the other hand, Mitt is clearly sending one message: “I am not qualified to be President of the United States.” Mitt himself was the one behind issuing his idiotic statement. And he got it out early! Give Mitt credit for being right out of the gate in creating this disaster for himself. He really hit the ground running. Or to be more accurate, he hit the ground stumbling. Can you even imagine Mitt Romney doing the job of President of the United States? He can’t even handle the job of criticizing the President of the United States. (And that’s the only job he’s held in many years.) Of course, instead of backing away from the statement when it began to look like a disaster, Mitt doubled down on it. Mitt! You finally picked something to commit to... and it’s this piece of crap?
The reaction to Mitt’s comments from his own party was not good. They didn’t just reject Mitt’s comments, they had an allergic reaction to them. Republican leaders like Mitch McConnell and John Boehner distanced themselves from Romney’s comments. Their statements basically boiled down to “Mitt who?”
However, some Republicans did support Mitt. Senator Jon Kyl even rushed out with a statement that seemed designed to take the heat off of Mitt by actually trying to be worse than what Mitt said. Kyle said of the embassy statement “This is like a judge telling the woman that got raped, ‘You asked for it because of the way you dressed.” The most surprising thing about that statement is that it seems to imply a level of concern for rape victims. That was probably a mistake. I’m sure everybody in Mitt’s campaign thought “Thanks for bringing rape back into the spotlight, Jon!” Really, Jon, why didn’t you just make it a joint statement with Todd Akin?
Today, Rush Limbaugh theorized that Al Qaeda intentionally gave up Osama bin Laden to make President Obama look good and get reelected! Suddenly, Mitt Romney doesn’t look like the most desperate man on the planet! Rush asked “What if Ayman al-Zawahiri gave up Osama bin Laden for the express purpose of making Obama look good? Giving Obama stature, political capital?” Genius, Rush! Hey, what if bin Laden loved President Obama so much that he actually arranged his own death!?
Listen to me Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
Unrest spread to Yemen today – as an angry mob stormed the U.S. embassy in Sanaa – tearing down the American flag, burning it, pelting the building with rocks, and smashing windows. So far reports indicate that no one inside the embassy was injured. Just like the attacks on the U.S. embassy in Egypt and U.S. consulate in Libya on Tuesday, officials believe this attack in Yemen was prompted by the anti-Muslim film made here in the United States insulting the prophet Muhammad. However, new reports are suggesting that the attack in Libya that claimed the life of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other diplomats may have been pre-planned for 9/11 by a terrorist organization. These recent attacks against American diplomatic interests are straining ties between the United States and foreign leaders.
In an interview with Telemundo on Wednesday, President Obama said that he doesn’t consider the current government in Egypt an “ally.” And the U.S. military is deploying two warships, marines, and drones to Libya in response to the attack on the consulate. Egypt, Libya, and Yemen are all nations that got swept up in the Arab Spring and today are in the midst of revolution, which is never easy.
And decades of U.S. meddling in those nations – propping up kleptocrats, conducting military operations, and syphoning off resources – leaves our interests in the area vulnerable to these sorts of attacks. Let’s hope we as a nation don’t fall into the same trap of overreaction and military misadventure that characterized the Bush administration, and which Mitt Romney and his Neo-Con advisers are calling for today.
Listen to me live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
I’m sure you’ve heard by now that the US ambassador to Libya and three other staffers at the American Embassy there have been killed in an attack. The mob was irate over an anti-Muslim video publicized by crazy Pastor Terry Jones. Yes, the Koran burning guy! Not happy with setting Korans on fire, Terry Jones is trying to set the world on fire.
This attack should make us all relieved that Mitt Romney is not president. Unfortunately, he is a presidential candidate... giving him a platform to say stupid and destructive things. The Romney campaign’s statement said “It’s disgraceful that the Obama Administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.” Really, Mitt? This is how you react to a delicate international incident as a candidate? Are we supposed to hope that your reaction as president would be any more helpful? What President Obama said was “While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants.” If you don’t understand that, Mitt, that’s because it’s presidential!
This "movie" is a complete outrage—and I’m not even referring to its inflammatory content. It’s an outrage purely on the strength of its absolutely terrible movie-making. Guys! It is possible to spew hate without violating every rule of filmmaking! Watching this movie answers the question “What if director Ed Wood was an anti-Muslim lunatic?” All the Mohammed scenes take place in front of green-screen scenes of deserts that look like outtakes from “One Million Years BC.” Honestly, I kept waiting for Raquel Welch to run across the background in a loincloth being chased by a giant lizard. How can people riot over this crap? Don’t attack an embassy over this—just give it two thumbs down... or 5 rotten tomatoes.
Meanwhile, on 9/11 Dick Cheney said that President Obama tried to take “sole credit” for getting Osama bin Laden. Dick, if getting credit for killing bin Laden was so important to you, maybe you should have spent a little time trying to do it.
Listen to me Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
The Arab Spring turned ugly in Libya and Egypt on Tuesday, as angry crowds stormed U.S. diplomatic buildings killing Christopher Stevens – the U.S. Ambassador to Libya – and three other American diplomats. The deadly attack occurred on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya as an angry mob firing machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades stormed the building and set it on fire. Stevens is the first U.S. Ambassador to be killed on duty in more than 30 years.
The attack in Libya occurred just hours after angry protestors stormed the U.S. Embassy in Egypt – climbing the walls, taking down the American flag, and hoisting up a black Islamic banner. Both attacks were prompted by a movie made here in the United States by a California filmmaker who claims to be both American and Israeli. The movie depicts the prophet Muhammad as a fraudster and womanizer – something that is deeply offensive to the Muslim faith. The film was promoted by anti-Muslim organizations and a trailer for it was posted on Youtube sparking the outrage.
According to the filmmaker, who is now in hiding in the United States, he made the film to show that Islam is a “cancer.” President Obama strongly condemned the attacks and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released a statement saying, “we are heartbroken.” On the other hand, Mitt Romney and Republicans have used this tragedy to launch political attacks on the President – claiming that he sympathizes with the attackers. Of course Romney has employed the same foreign policy hacks and Islamophobes who served under George W. Bush.
This all demonstrates the damage that Islamophobia at home can do to our troops and diplomats abroad. And while we can’t make judgments on millions of Egyptians and Libyans based on the senseless acts of an angry mob any more than we can condemn Los Angeles for the riots after the Rodney King beating – we can say there are deep grievances that go way beyond religion in these nations that must be resolved before the dreams of the Arab Spring can finally be fulfilled.
Listen to me live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
The anniversary of 9/11 is a good time to remember that there are things that the government not only should do, but must do. We need a president who won’t ignore the warning signs of an event like 9/11. Mitt Romney didn’t even see Clint Eastwood coming. Think about it—Mitt didn’t even have a firm grip on what he was putting out on national television moments before the biggest speech of his life. I don’t trust him to know what’s going on in caves in Pakistan. I don’t think Mitt would do very well finding out what the terrorists are up to. Mitt’s specialty is keeping his own secrets, not finding out other people’s secrets. But on the other hand, Mitt might get lucky if the terrorists are hiding their plans in the same exotic foreign locales that Mitt is hiding his money. If there is a terrorist cell in the Cayman Islands, you can be sure that Mitt Romney will smoke it out.
George Bush did not keep us safe... despite the History of the Bush Administration as presented by Jeb Bush during the RNC. Bush did manage to prevent a second attack on the scale of 9/11, but that evidently took all of the watchfulness he had. Then he let the biggest economic catastrophe since the Great Depression sneak up on him. George Bush wasn’t good with warning signs. That’s odd, since the fact that George Bush was in charge was the biggest warning sign of all that things could go terribly wrong.
The Wall Street journal is saying that Mitt Romney is too vague about everything. Gee, I hope they’re not waiting for a definitive response. Of course Mitt Romney won’t explain the substance of his agenda—he knows that it’s a politically toxic substance. Other rightwing outlets are also pushing Romney to provide more details of his plan. Part of that is that they don’t think Romney can win if he doesn’t. And part of that is that Romney’s slimy-ness is just annoying to everybody. Conservatives are just as fed up with Mitt Romney as anybody else is—more-so, in fact. They’re more fed up because they’re the ones who have to swallow this loser. If you think that it’s frustrating running against a slimeball like Mitt Romney, imagine how frustrating it must be to have a slimeball like Mitt as your nominee!
Listen to me Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
The nation remembers 9/11 today, and is reminded about the utter failures of the Bush administration leading up to the attacks. As a new op-ed published last night in the New York Times uncovers, the Bush administration was repeatedly warned in the months leading up to the attack that terrorists were operating in America and determined to carry out an attack. But rather than doing anything about it – the Bush Administration dismissed the warnings as mere distractions pushed by Saddam Hussein, even though there was absolutely no proof of any coordination between Bin Laden and Hussein.
The incompetence – and downright negligence – of the Bush administration is staggering – and Americans paid dearly for it. It’s now been 11 years since the attacks – and since then we’ve seen 11 years of continuing war, 11 years of continuing surveillance, and 11 years of continuing disintegration of our civil liberties.
Today we honor the victims who lost their lives on that day, but as a nation we must also recognize the profound impact the decisions our leaders made in the months and years after 9/11 that have made our country less safe, destabilized the planet, and shredded our constitution. Let’s hope that future memorials to this day aren’t clouded by war, anger, and xenophobia.
Listen to me live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
This weekend Mitt Romney was on “Meet the Press,” which is completely different from a “Meet the Press” featuring a normal human being. They should call it “Mitt the Press.” Mitt has spent years trying to avoid being on Meet the Press. And he continued trying to avoid it even while it was on.
Mitt spoke about his stance about healthcare. An aide later had to clarify that Mitt thinks “the marketplace” will take care of people with preexisting conditions. But Mitt, how will someone whose infant child needs multiple heart-surgeries decide among all the competing offers for low-cost health insurance? Maybe Mitt thinks that people with preexisting conditions should just ask their parents to provide health insurance. Got that, Grandma? Ask Great-Grandma to handle that for you.
It comes as no surprise that Mitt’s tax plan is missing a lot of vital information. Information about taxes is the last thing that Mitt Romney wants to give out. Now Mitt claims that his tax cuts for the rich will not “reduce the tax burden” for the rich. Uh… so why are you doing it? Mitt, I don’t give you credit for many real convictions, but I will admit that you have a deep and sincere desire to reduce taxes for rich people. Mitt claims his plan is a tax cut for everyone but that he closes loopholes so that the taxes of the rich don’t go down. I will give him this much—if he really did want to close tax loopholes for the rich, Mitt Romney would be the go-to guy. He knows more tax loopholes for the rich than anybody anywhere. Mitt says his tax cuts for the rich aren’t tax cuts at all. Mitt, why don’t you just start telling people that you are not Mitt Romney? That’s not much of a leap from where you are now!
Amazing—15 percent of Ohio Republicans said that Mitt Romney deserves more credit for killing Osama bin Laden than President Obama does. When exactly did Mitt Romney have time to kill Osama bin Laden? Wasn’t he too busy saving the auto industry? The bottom line is, if Mitt Romney was in charge of getting Osama bin Laden, you can be sure that Mitt’s plan would be to let “the marketplace” take care of it.
Listen to me Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
The nation’s third largest school district is without teachers today. After contract negotiations fell through over the weekend, the Chicago Teachers Union declared a strike and walked off the job this morning. This is the first time Chicago teachers have gone on strike in 25 years. Altogether 29,000 teachers and school workers are joining in on the strike to demand better pay, working conditions, and stop the march toward privatization of the city’s schools.
At the heart of the strike are several issues: One is a four-percent pay increase teachers were promised last year – but was cancelled by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Instead, the mayor is asking teachers to work a longer school day. Also, teachers are asking for a state limit on classroom sizes – a law that’s in place in 32 other states, but not in Illinois. Plus, teachers are trying to reverse the Mayor's plans to slash public education funding and use that money to create 250 non-union, for-profit charter schools.
Chicago has now become ground-zero in the battle over how we as a nation will educate our children. Will we embrace the public school system that Thomas Jefferson and Horace Mann worked so hard to create – and support teachers who perform one of the most important jobs in our society? Or, will we hand off educating our kids to the money-changers and corporate CEOs who see education as a get-rich-quick scheme? Keep an eye on the Windy City.
Listen to me LIVE Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Day two of the DNC was one giant punch in the gut to Republicans. The night featured Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke painting a picture of what America would look like for women if Republicans win in November. She described a Republican Party that will restrict access to contraceptives for women – force women to undergo intrusive probing before an abortion procedure – and redefine rape. As Fluke said – the choice comes down to, “a country that honors our foremothers by moving us forward, or one that forces our generation to re-fight the battles they already won.”
After Fluke, Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren took the stage to give a spirited defense of the middle class in America. She exposed how “rigged the game” is against working people in America – and she blasted the idea of corporate personhood, saying, “Corporations are not people. People have hearts. They have kids. They get jobs. They get sick. They thrive. They dance. They live. They love. And they die. And that matters.” That might mark one of the first times in political convention history that the issue of corporate personhood was given the spotlight.
Then, closing off the night – former President Bill Clinton took the stage to defend the Obama presidency – and tear down the myth of trickle-down economics. Clinton explained how over the last several decades, Republican presidents have added the majority of debt, while Democratic presidents have added the majority of jobs. And then he went after the Republican lies – saying that it takes a lot of “brass” for Paul Ryan to attack President Obama’s Medicare savings – while including those very same savings in his own budget.
Ultimately, Bill Clinton’s message could be summed up by this one warning he gave to the nation, which is, we can’t “double down on trickled down.” Never mind the fact that some policies signed into law by Bill Clinton got us into this mess, the former President gave one of the best defenses of the Obama Presidency yet – and explained how dangerous today’s Republican Party is to the nation.
Listen to me live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Bill Clinton offered a spirited defense of President Barack Obama and his efforts to right America's ship Wednesday at the Democratic Convention. In sports parlance, he set a great table for the cleanup hitter. Always great with stats, the former president came up with some numbers that as startling as they are true. Since 1961, Republican presidents have presided over the creation of 24 million jobs in 28 years. During the same period, Democratic presidents have been in charge while 42 million jobs were created in 24 years.
Keeping in mind that presidents themselves don't create jobs, how is the Romney-Ryan ticket's promise of 12 million jobs in four years looking right now? Unless my math is terribly wrong, they're promising 3 million jobs a year. Spread that over eight years and you begin to see the problem. The only president who can credibly say he presided over the creation of anywhere near that many jobs is…..wait for it…. Bill Clinton!
Bill Clinton also talked of moving people out of poverty. To Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, poor folks are a foil, to be sued to reinforce the notion of a class of freeloaders riding on the backs of hard working Americans. That's because the GOP believes the path to power lies in creating "others", that is, people who aren't as good as the rest of America. Bill Clinton knows this is wrong, and so does Barack Obama.
So Thursday night it's the current president's turn. To try to generate the extraordinary enthusiasm of four years ago is a heavy lift indeed. He also must steel himself for the Friday jobs numbers, which may help or hurt his argument for a second term. However, one thing is for sure. Barack Obama had the finest group of people leading up to his speech (including his wife) that any president has ever had.
Now that’s a convention! That could make people forget all about Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan’s speeches, which is perhaps the best news possible for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. The Democrats made excellent use of real people showing the real life benefits of Obama’s policies. A woman named Stacy Lihn explained how Obamacare saved her daughter, Zoe, who was born with a serious heart condition that requires multiple heart surgeries... or as Republicans call it—“freeloading.”
It was quite a night. Mitt Romney got his ass kicked... by a man who’s been dead for over three years. They showed highlights of Ted Kennedy’s 1994 debate against Mitt Romney. Ted is still a star at Democratic convention over three years after his death. He’s the Tupac Shakur of liberal politicians.
San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro got the same keynote speaking slot that Barack Obama got back in 2004. Talk about pressure! That’s like taking over the Beatles’ Saturday night gig at the Cavern Club. Julian Castro has a twin brother. If he does end up someday becoming a successful president, that would be an innovative way around the two-term presidential limit. Castro said “the American dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay.” Not according to Mitt Romney—according to Mitt, it’s a million-dollar dancing dressage horse.
The night’s big draw, Michelle Obama, chose to go sleeveless. Wow. I didn’t expect to tune in the Democratic convention and see a gun show! Michelle Obama proved that it’s possible to appeal to women without yelling “I love you women!” You don’t have to yell if you’re just telling them the truth. Michelle said Barack believes that when you go through the “doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you.” But Mitt Romney didn’t really go through the doorway of opportunity—he was born on the other side of it. By the way, Michelle’s speech generated tweets at twice the rate that Mitt Romney’s did. But to be fair, I bet Mitt would have generated even more tweets than Michelle if he had chosen to go sleeveless.
Listen to me Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
The nation of South Korea is expected to have internet speeds 200-times what we have here in the United States by the end of the year. And here’s the kicker: They’ll pay only $27 a month for it. According to a new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – the United States is falling way behind other developed nations when it comes to internet speeds and connectivity. Currently, more than 94% of South Koreans have access to high speed internet. In that United States, only 70% of us do – with roughly 100 million Americans unable to access high-speed internet.
So what’s the secret in South Korea? Government regulation that prevents oligopolies from rising up in the internet market and charging whatever they want. It’s time we start enforcing the Sherman Anti-trust Act in America again – break up the giant internet cartel – and bring more competition into the market to lower prices. Internet is the basis of the new economy – and thus it should be fundamental right for all Americans to have access to it.
Listen to me live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
They say behind every strong/smart/successful man there is a strong/smart/successful woman. It reminds me of a joke about a gas station attendant who is flirting with Hilary Clinton. Bill Clinton says to her, 'he likes you, he really likes you....hey Hil, maybe you could've married him, huh? And in true joke fashion, Mrs Clinton responds, "if I married him Bill, HE would have been President."
Tonite, when First Lady Michele Obama spoke, the crowd was electrified. Talking about her relationship as a mom with her two daughters and with her husband, our President; the First Lady did something that Mitt Romney has not been able to do; and even her own husband has not had highest poll numbers on...and that is being relatable.
This is a woman who bridged the gap between personal and political in one speech. She discussed women's bodies, healthcare, benefits for military families, education, date nights, the fair pay act, the glass ceiling in the workplace, same sex marriage....all in one speech. And she did it in an educated, warm, funny, relatable manner.
Normally conventions are pep rallies for the faithful; whether they be Democrat or Republican. As November fast approaches and the two candidates continue to be neck in neck in the polls; every little bit helps....and so does every vote; especially among women. Women might actually decide the outcome of this election and even though the President leads Mitt Romney with women; increasing that percentage lead could be the difference in four more years or one term.
When you look at the reaction on Twitter to the First Lady's speech; to say it was well received is putting it lightly. Women identified with her...trusted her....could they trust her enough to vote for her husband for four more years? Obviously only time will tell whether her passionate plea to women will actually translate into votes in November.
But for now, I think it's safe to say that Mrs Obama can trade in her "mom-in-chief" title to 'The Obama Campaign's Secret Weapon."
Listen to me Monday through Friday 12 Midnight to 1 AM on WWRL 1600.
The numbers are out, and Mitt Romney got almost no bounce out of the Republican convention. That’s odd—a basketball that full of hot air would have an incredible bounce. The latest Gallup poll says that the convention had a “minimal impact” on Mitt Romney’s poll numbers. Minimal impact? The centerpiece of the convention was Clint “Sudden Impact” Eastwood! 40 percent of people say they are more likely to vote for Mitt after the convention, but 38 percent say they are less likely! I think 40 percent of the people must have been watching the convention with the sound off. The net effect for Mitt is an increase of 2 percent. That’s not a bounce—that’s more like a dribble.
I hope you didn’t spend Labor Day in House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s parallel universe. Cantor managed to issue a statement that celebrates Labor Day without celebrating labor! He said “Today, we celebrate those who have taken a risk, worked hard, built a business and earned their own success.” Yeesh! Conservatives are always talking about a supposed “war on Christmas.” They’re waging a war on Labor Day!
This week is the Democratic National Convention. At his convention, Mitt Romney never said what he would do. Now at his convention, President Obama has a chance to tell people what Mitt Romney would do. David Axelrod pointed out that at the RNC, “For three days they never offered anybody a plausible alternative.” Mitt Romney’s policies were more invisible than the Barack Obama that Clint Eastwood was talking to!
Republicans are pushing the talking point of asking if you are better off than you were four years ago. That gives them the opportunity to lie about where you were four years ago AND where you are now. Not only are we much, much better off than we were four years ago, but Mitt Romney wants to take us back to four years ago.
Now Paul Ryan has a marathon lie. And I don’t mean that he’s been on a marathon of lying, although he has. On top of that, he actually lied about a marathon! When asked what the fastest marathon he ever ran was, Paul Ryan said “Under three [hours], high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something.” No surprise—Paul’s numbers on his marathon time were no more real than the numbers in his budget. It turns out that Ryan ran exactly one marathon in his life, and it took him a little over 4 hours. That’s actually longer than it took the magazine Runners World to fact check Ryan’s claim. My God! Does Paul Ryan feel he has to lie about everything? I guess we shouldn’t ask him—he won’t tell you the truth. Ryan supporters will tell that it’s no big deal if he lied about his marathon time. They’ll tell you there are more important things to worry about. The problem is that Paul Ryan will lie about those too.
Listen to me Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced a so-called comprehensive immigration plan. And, as usual, Democrats conceded to Republican demands in the name of compromise. Over the last five days, the Judiciary Committee members considered over...
I must admit, I've never been to Oklahoma. I have family friends from there, but it's one part of the Great Plains I've managed to avoid in my life. Yet that didn't stop me from feeling quite a bit of empathy with those folks in...
For over a week, Republicans have refused to focus on anything but so-called scandal. And, it turns out, that's exactly the way they want it. On Thursday, the Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank, sent a letter to...
A new CNN poll shows Obama's favorability rating at 53 percent. That's up from 51 percent in April, and up from the 51.1 percent from the poll that really counted last November. Like before the scandals, 45 percent of people disapprove of the...
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have made their point – they hate Obamacare. And, just in case anyone didn't get the message the first 36 times they made that point, they're about to waste even more taxpayer...
It turns out the IRS was investigating conservative organizations seeking tax-exempt status. Duh! And the TSA has been looking at people seeking to get on airplanes. None of the conservative organizations that the IRS was "targeting" were...
The Associated Press has accused the Justice Department of "massive and unprecedented intrusion." That's according to one of the AP's top executives, after learning that the government secretly acquired two months of the news...
It seems that the Republicans won't stop until their attacks over Benghazi are as vicious as the attack in Benghazi. The Republicans would have you believe that the Obama administration altered the talking points on Benghazi out of political...
According to the U.S. Supreme Court, Monsanto has the right to control our food supply. In a unanimous ruling released this morning, the nine Justices sided with the agricultural giant, and held that an Indiana farmer violated Monsanto's...
Yesterday, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives postponed all floor votes so they could hold their ninth hearing about Benghazi. Instead of working on any number of pressing issues effecting Americans, Republicans spent nine...
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