And Mitt Romney might be responsible. As Craig Unger at Salon reports this week, the pharmaceutical company that’s responsible for the outbreak, Massachusetts-based New England Compounding Company, was cited for numerous violations in 2004 while Mitt Romney was Governor. However, his administration did nothing to punish the company or place more regulations on it. Records show that that between 2003 and 2006 – there were six complaints against the New England Compounding Company, yet the Romney administration did not crack down on the company, and instead signed an agreement allowing the company to regulate itself in the future.
It should be noted that New England Compounding Company is a big political donor to both Mitt Romney and Republican Senator Scott Brown in Massachusetts. But as a result of their “self-regulation” order by Romney – 25 Americans are now dead. As an attorney representing the victims argues, “It goes all the way up to Mitt Romney…When the person who is supposed to be in charge of oversight does not believe oversight is necessary, this is what happens.” This is why a Romney presidency is so dangerous to America.
The safety of our air, water, food, medicine is in jeopardy thanks to government regulation that Mitt Romney wants to get rid of. We know what happens when we try to let capitalism regulate itself: economics crash and lives are ruined.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
A natural disaster is a good time to reflect on what we need to do to avoid an unnatural disaster. Right now, that’s clearer than ever—don’t allow Mitt Romney to become president. When asked about FEMA in the primary debates, Mitt said responsibility for disaster relief should be foisted onto the states. How would you like to be in a life threatening situation, and be depending on Rick Scott or Jan Brewer for help? Evidently Mitt was concerned that wasn’t crazy enough for base, because he added “And if you can go even further, and send it back to the private sector, that’s even better.” Got that? If you’re flooded, call Goldman Sachs! Mitt wants for-profit disaster relief! Mitt, there are already private-sector people taking part in disaster relief—those slime-balls who do things like sell bottled water for $10 a bottle. Mitt wants that on a corporate scale!
Mitt actually called federal disaster relief “immoral”! He said “It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids.” Yes, how will we ever explain to our children that we wasted the money on saving lives? Mitt wants massive tax cuts for billionaires, but he thinks that it’s immoral to send bottled water into a flood zone! I guess leaving disaster victims to fend for themselves is one way to force the 47 percent to take personal responsibility for their lives!
The Romney campaign has been running an ad in Ohio that is blatantly false even by Mitt Romney’s standards for the truth—and Mitt Romney has no standards for the truth. The ad is designed to give the false impression that Jeep is moving US production to China. You have to admit—Mitt is the best liar there is. But this time he might have bitten off more truth than he could chew up. Mitt is facing some major blowbackfrom his lies about Jeep. And blowback is very serious when you blow as much as Mitt Romney does. The Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote a scathing editorial that said “Ohio voters know who stepped up when the auto industry was at the abyss — and it wasn’t Romney.” It’s a good thing for Mitt that he’s spending plenty of time in Ohio—because after this, I don’t know if he’ll ever be welcome back.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
The streets of lower Manhattan are underwater, and there are 16 reported deaths after Hurricane Sandy pummeled the Northeastern United States. Bloomberg is estimating that the storm damage could top $20 billion. Before making landfall – Sandy recorded the lowest barometric pressure of any Atlantic storm to hit the area in history. This suggests that just like all the other freak weather we’ve seen in recent years – this, too, is climate change related - now that there’s 5% more moisture in the atmosphere than at any other time in human history.
Storms will only get bigger, wetter, and windier moving forward – which makes how we, as a nation, respond to these disasters all the more important. Over the last few years, had Mitt Romney and Republicans been successful in what they wanted to do to federal disaster relief programs like FEMA, which is to privatize or drastically cut them, then the citizens of New York and New Jersey and other areas affected by Sandy would be all on their own today to clean up.
We are a “we” society, not a “me” society – and that’s all the more important during times of crisis like today.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Boy, John Sununu sure has carved himself out a slimy niche in this year’s election. John, what are you doing—trying to reassure Donald Trump that he’s not the biggest butthole in this entire process? Sununu said that Colin Powell’s endorsement of Obama was all about race. He said “I think when you have somebody of your own race that you’re proud of being president of the United States, I applaud Colin for standing with him.” John, it doesn’t work that way. When George Bush was president, white people weren’t proud that he was president. Most of them were embarrassed.
Meat Loaf has thrown his weight behind Mitt Romney. That weight would have been a lot more considerable back in the 70’s—in more ways than one.
But his endorsement of Romney was a tad rambling and disconnected. I think this Meat Loaf may have been baked a little too long. Meat Loaf blasted Obama for saying “‘the cold war is over,’” claiming “I have never heard such a thing in my life.” Well then, I guess you weren’t reading newspapers back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Meat Loaf wants you to vote for Romney—he’ll bring the Cold War back! Maybe that’s the secret to Mitt’s mysterious “12 million new jobs.” They’re going to be building back yard fallout shelters again!
Classic! President Obama took a dig at Paul Ryan by saying that Ayn Rand is for misunderstood teenagers. Asked if he had read Rand, Obama said “Ayn Rand is one of those things that a lot of us, when we were 17 or 18 and feeling misunderstood, we’d pick up.” Maybe for you wonks, Barack—some of us listened to Janis Ian. Besides, Barack, you were 18 back in 1979. Ever hear of The Clash? Call me lazy, but it’s a lot easier to listen to “London Calling” than it is to read “The Fountainhead.” I’m sorry, but if you’re 17 or 18, feeling misunderstood, and you pick up a 900-page novel by a bitter Russian woman… maybe there’s a reason you’re misunderstood. But the philosophy of The Clash still holds up. As the President points out, people have to outgrow Ayn Rand. But you never outgrow “Train in Vain.” Obama said of Rand, “Unfortunately, it does seem as if sometimes that vision of a ‘you’re on your own’ society has consumed a big chunk of the Republican Party.” To be fair, not all of them read Ayn Rand. Some of them are just naturally mean and selfish.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
The latest CEO to threaten his employees if Mitt Romney loses. White is the owner of the industrial equipment firm Rite-Hite – and he recently sent an email to his 1,400 employees cautioning them that should Barack Obama win a second term, then he will have to drop the company’s contributions to employee retirement funds. He also warned there is a “good chance” employees will also lose their healthcare should President Obama win.
Ever since Mitt Romney was caught telling the National Federation of Independent Businesses to tell their employees who they should vote, several CEOs have done just that – including the Koch brothers. And if it works, then this will be just the beginning when it comes to politicking in the workplace. Expect day-long seminars in the future with employers campaigning on behalf of political candidates and feeding their workers misinformation about who they should vote for.
This is the rise of the corporatocracy – as corporate CEOs receive their marching orders from bought-off corporate politicians – and then turn their workers into foot soldiers to campaign and vote on behalf of the interests of the oligarchs. Yet another consequence of post-Citizens United America.
Today, Colin Powell strongly endorsed President Obama (full video). Give Colin Powell credit—ever since that “vial of anthrax” fiasco at the UN, he has been obsessed with getting things right. Colin Powell has been a huge help to Barack Obama. But Obama has been a big help to Powell too. The endorsements of Obama did as much to restore Powell’s reputation as they did to enhance Obama’s reputation. Colin Powell called Mitt’s foreign policy “a moving target.” Worse—it’s a moving target that is full of holes!
President Obama has responded to GOP Senate candidate Richard Mourdock’s comments about rape by saying “Let me make a very simple proposition. Rape is rape.” “Rape is rape.” Period. Not comma, or dash, or question mark, or “see note at bottom of page.”
Mitt is trying to distance himself from Richard Mourdoch while still embracing him—not an easy trick, even for a shape-shifter. The Romney campaign said they would not ask Mourdoch to take down an ad featuring Romney heaping lavish praise on Mourdoch. Hey, if you guys asked, I’m sure the Obama campaign would be willing to pay to run that ad!
It turns out that Donald Trump’s “huge” bombshell is him offering $5 million for President Obama’s college transcripts! How stupid is Donald Trump? All the Obama campaign has to say is “Gladly—as soon as Mitt Romney releases his tax returns.” Of course, what Trump thinks is that the record will show that President Obama benefited from affirmative action. In Trump’s twisted mind, that would cause America to rise up against Obama. Donald, if there’s any doubt whether Barack Obama deserved to go to Harvard, take a look at what he has done with his life. And to really drive the point home, compare it with what you’ve done with your own life.
The things that Mitt Romney has been saying about having momentum are being exposed for what they are—things that Mitt Romney says! Yes, Romney got a bounce from Denver. But Denver is the “Mile High City,” and Mitt has come down a long way since Denver. Mitt, there’s a difference between a “bounce” and a “blast off.” And your brief ride up is quickly being overtaken by gravity.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
This is to those folks who are registered to vote, but thinking about not showing up at the polls November 6th.
Dear potential absentee,
I'm not going to harangue you with stories from the civil rights era, or run down a list of people who died so we can all vote. I should, but I don't think it will make any difference to you. What would make a difference is if you think voting would improve your own particular condition. You don't. Add to that a healthy dose of "they're all crooks", and I get where you're coming from.
I know you because I used to be one of you. Back when I was a very young man, I thought all politics was a load of crap. I wanted a better world for me, and those around me. I thought politics was the least likely road to that better world. I was supremely confident in my cynicism. You couldn't tell me there was a reason on earth to pay attention to who my representatives were.
I was so bad I didn't even think the late Sen. George McGovern would change anything back in 1972. He didn't get a chance, due in part to people like me. So along I went, smug in the knowledge that I was better than politics, or any politician I could think of. Voting was for suckers, since nothing would come of it.
I was wrong. So are you if you think politics makes no difference in your life. Who you elect, from the President on down to your local assembly person or state senator, does have an impact. They decide whether wars get fought, and whether some, most, or all of us have affordable healthcare. They decide how much money will be spent to educate your children. They'll decide, believe it or not, whether your favorite restaurant will have outdoor seating.
In short, every aspect of your life, unless you choose to live off the grid, will be contingent on who votes, and how many people will be cynical like you (or me, back in the day).
I'm not egocentric enough to tell you who to vote for. I'll leave that to the Koch brothers, and others who try to extort votes from their employees. All I can ask you to do, humbly, is get and and vote on November 6th.
The fight between Sensata workers and Bain Capital is heating up. Bain Capital is shutting down the Sensata factory in Freeport, Illinois on November 5th, just before the election, and sending 170 American jobs off to China. But the workers who will lose their jobs aren’t going down without a fight. Workers have been holding rallies outside the factory for weeks, prompting Bain Capital on Tuesday to issue a threat that if protests continue then Bain would immediately shut down the plant.
In response, on Wednesday, workers filed unfair labor practices charges against Sensata – and then attempted a march to the facility to demand a meeting with the plant manager. Reverend Jesse Jackson joined with the workers in the march, but he and thirteen others were arrested outside the plant.
Workers have been pleading with Mitt Romney to use his influence to prevent the closing of the factory. But Romney hasn’t said a word – and according to 2011 tax returns, he still owns stock in the company and stands to profit from the outsourcing of Sensata. Unfortunately, President Obama hasn’t said a word about Sensata either. That’s because both parties, by and large, have bought into these neoliberal free trade policies that are decimating American manufacturing.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – the first political party to stand up and defend American workers and America’s manufacturing base by cracking down on free trade and outsourcing policies will win big at the polls.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Richard Mourdock, the GOP candidate for the Senate in Indiana, says that babies resulting from rape are a gift from God. If they are, I wish God would find a better way of delivering the gift. Mourdock said it at a debate. He was trying to explain the reasons for his opposition to abortion even in cases of rape or incest. The bad news for him is that I think he did. Mourdock said “life is a gift from God, and I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something God intended to happen.” Just to be clear, Richard—you’re not God’s official spokesman on this are you? I think you might be a rogue surrogate. I don’t know about rape being a gift from God, but Mourdock’s opponent in the race certainly thinks the comments were a gift from God.
At this late date there is no possibility of replacing Mourdock on the ticket—so the Republican Party is going to be forced to carry him to term. Senator John Cornyn, head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said “Richard and I, along with millions of Americans – including even Joe Donnelly – believe that life is a gift from God.” Yeah John, we weren’t talking so much about the gift as about the packaging.
Mitt Romney has come to Indiana to campaign for Mourdock, and Mitt has appeared in Mourdock’s TV ads. You can really judge a guy by the company he keeps—and that works both ways when you’re talking about Mourdock and Mitt. Romney’s campaign spokesperson said “Romney disagrees with Richard Mourdock’s comments, and they do not reflect his views.” Of course, they would have reflected Mitt’s views... if that’s what it took to win the Republican nomination.
A BBC poll of people around the world shows that people in other countries much prefer President Obama to Mitt Romney. One of the reasons has to be that there aren’t many countries on earth that Mitt hasn’t insulted. The country with the biggest pro-Obama edge is France. The reason for that is obvious—Mitt Romney lived in France! Mitt lived in France... and the French hate Mitt. Do you see a pattern? People in Michigan, California, and Massachusetts all hate Mitt too. Everyplace that Mitt lived ends up hating Mitt. It’s a good thing for Mitt Romney that he never lived in Ohio!
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
But, the only person going to jail for these crimes is the guy who blew the whistle on all of it. On Tuesday, former CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou plead guilty to revealing the identity of a CIA agent when he turned over classified secrets to the New York Times exposing the Bush administration’s torture program back in 2007. Kiriakout told the story of Al Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah who was captured and waterboarded more than 80 times. Kiriakou was originally charged under the Espionage Act, to which he pled not guilty.
Tuesday’s decision to plead guilty to a lesser charge allows Kiriakou to get out of prison within two and a half years. Whistleblower advocate Jesselyn Raddack with the Government Accountability Project said of Tuesday’s events, "The only person to be criminal prosecuted, and now likely jailed, as a result of the Bush-era torture regime is John Kiriakou, who refused to participate in torture, helped expose the program, and said on national television that torture was wrong."
President Obama said it’s time for the nation to look forward and not prosecute the crimes of the past. Unfortunately, that same standard isn’t applied to whistleblowers. And until we DO actually hold Bush and his team accountable for war crimes, this gaping moral wound in America won’t heal.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Three down and two weeks to go! Three debates and one election that is. And the polls are in. First debate's winner? Mitt Romney. Second and Third? President Obama.
As I headed home from the studio last night to watch the last 30 minutes of the third and final Presidential debate, I was surprised to see my husband watching. My husband, an Orthopedic Surgeon is not big on politics. Normally he has voted Democratic; often asking me who to vote for. :)
But this year is different. He really wants to know the issues, the candidates and his choice. My husband, ( up until last night), stood alongside a number of people, whose numbers are now so small they could fit in the palm of my hand; they're known as the undecided voter(s).
So imagine my surprise, that not only was my husband home at a decent hour, but watching the debate. And there we sat, red wine in hand, side by side watching. My five year old son said "is that Barack Obama?" I answered yes, and I said, "Do you know who that is?" And he is yes, he's the President. (smart kid, of course with a little coaching from Liberal/Progressive Dem mom!)
And when it ended, my husband said "what did you think?" And I said, "Oh no, you go first...." So my husband said that he's been undecided. And as a physician fears the cuts that come with the President's Affordable Care Act; yet struggles because he feels everyone should be insured, be able to access preventative care, etc. Socially he's also very liberal
.
After the first debate my husband felt that Mitt Romney not only won, but Mitt Romney was his candidate. Of course I told him he would have to sleep on the couch! He told me that Mitt Romney seemed more Presidential, prepared, self assured and he liked Mitt Romney's answers to the moderators questions better than the President. He also didn't like that the President wasn't looking at Governor Romney, nor standing tall and he kept writing things down.
Now after the Vice Presidential debate my husband walked into our home, jubiliant and said "Did you watch the debate!?" I said "yes...what did you think?" He said "I loved it, it was fun to watch, I want Joe Biden to be my President!"
And after the second Presidential debate, he felt that President Obama won, his answers seemed to "make more sense," he seemed more confident.
So I really wanted to know this undecided voter, who I happen to live under the same roof with and share the same bed with's opinion of this latest debate.
My husband said..."Obama won. He got stronger with each debate. (and here is the winning line of the night folks)....What I saw one man who was President, the Commander in Chief, and another who wants to be, but doesn't have what it takes."
And poof! Just like that, the sheets came off the couch! My husband had made up his mind to vote for President Obama!
We're two weeks away from the election. We know who won each debate based on polls of who WATCHED those debates. The real question comes down to who will VOTE for these two men, and of course, who will not. who will stay home.
The way I see it, and I'm not a mathematician by any means, but the President has the lead with presumed electoral votes in his favor. And looking at the map, it would seem that Mitt Romney has to win Florida to become President; and also need to win Ohio. We all know that no Republican has ever won without Ohio since JFK days. But with the states that are the most crucial in play; it does seem to me, that although close, the President will be doing the victory dance on November 6th. Although a tight race, I believe the President will get Ohio; but some are saying he might not even need it. If the President wins in the states where he is leading ( Wisconsin, MIchigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Nevada, Oregon, Minnesota, New Mexico, New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington and Maine; he would only need about 17 votes. That's where looking at Iowa, Colorado and of cousre Ohio and Virginia come into play; but how, he could even win the Presidency without Florida of course, and even without Ohio. Whereas, Mitt Romney needs three big wins, the President only needs one- so says the current electoral vote count and those presumed wins for either candidate.
So my husband won't be sleeping on the couch due to his decision to vote for my candidate...and maybe, although it will be a nail biter of a race, just maybe hubby and I will be doing some celebrating of our own on November 6th....and I'm not talking about victory dances. :)
Listen to The Leslie Marshall Show weeknights at Midnight on WWRL 1600.
Well, now Mitt Romney really has his hands full — because he just got his ass handed to him. I know one thing—Mitt Romney must be getting nostalgic for the days when his debate opponents were dim-bulbs like Herman Cain, Rick Perry, and Michele Bachmann.
All night long, Mitt didn’t really show how his foreign policy would substantively differ from President Obama’s. Here’s one important area of difference—even if Mitt were doing the exact same thing, he would totally screw it up. Finding his lack of ideas exposed, Mitt Romney thought he would try to get away with using Obama’s ideas. This time the shape-shifter tried to assume the shape of his opponent. If this were a science fiction movie about some shape-shifting alien, at least it would have some good plot twists. Why did Mitt’s foreign policy look so much like Obama’s? It’s because his research showed people liked Obama’s foreign policy. So Mitt simply adopted that policy like the chameleon that he is. Mitt’s motto is: “If you can’t beat them, become them.”
President Obama said that Mitt Romney’s policies were “All over the map.” And despite that, Mitt doesn’t seem to know the map too well. At one point, Mitt said that Syria is Iran’s “route to the sea.” Iran and Syria do not touch at any point... and Iran already has a very long coastline. Mitt’s foreign policy advisors need to take him aside and explain to him—“Governor Romney, those blue parts on the map... that represents water.” The Washington Post said they couldn’t even give the statement a Pinocchio rating “unless we create a category for weird language.” I think I’ve stumbled onto Mitt’s secret—people can’t prove you’re lying if they can’t understand what you’re saying.
Last night’s big Twitter obsession was Obama’s line about “horses and bayonets.” Horses and Bayonets! That sounds like one of those New Romantic British bands from the 1980’s. I think I once saw them open up for Adam and the Ants. When Mitt said we have fewer ships than in 1917, Obama said “Well governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets.” You see, Mitt—military technology moves forward... unlike your grasp of military affairs. It’s not 1917, Mitt! I know that tonight you wanted to reassure people that you would not lead us into a war, but it seems that the war you were talking about was World War I.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
President Obama and Mitt Romney tackled foreign policy issues down in Florida. Turns out, there’s little difference between the two men when it comes to what we should be doing in the Middle East. Romney’s strategy heading into the debate was to put all of those war mongering foreign policy advisors, who used to work for George W. Bush and now work on his campaign, in a lockbox – silenced, then embrace each and every one of President Obama’s policies in the Middle East and North Africa.
Most of Romney’s attacks against the President were rhetorical, but when it comes to what the President has actually done in winding down the war in Iraq, intervening in Libya, placing sanctions on Iran, and setting a timetable for withdrawal in Afghanistan, Romney agreed, agreed, agreed, and agreed. The only difference is – Romney clearly didn’t have the depth of knowledge on the issues that the Commander-in-Chief had – and to make up for it, Romney lied or told half-truth 24 different times last night. But that didn’t help him - as most post-debate polls gave President Obama a clear victory Monday night.
Still, those who are shocked by drone warfare and military interventionism in the Middle East walked away from Monday night’s debate outraged that neither party is willing to speak out against these horrors. The truth is, rarely are wars in American history partisan – as the vast majority of military engagements have been supported by both parties.
This isn’t a new phenomenon – it’s a symptom of the rise of the military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about. And today – this war machine has captured both parties.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
It’s the final debate night! Tonight’s debate is about foreign affairs, so Mitt Romney has to lie about things he doesn’t understand. The only thing that Mitt knows for certain about foreign policy is that President Obama didn’t call the attack in Benghazi a terrorist attack until 14 days later... and that’s completely wrong. Mitt Romney is going to say that President Obama’s response to Libya was muddled and contradictory. Hello! Everything Mitt Romney ever says or does is muddled and contradictory. He can’t even make a statement about his own positions without his campaign having to correct within the hour. Mitt says his business career qualifies him to conduct foreign policy. Mitt’s business career consisted of taking over and dismantling smaller companies. You can’t make a foreign policy out of taking over and dismantling smaller countries. We know, because George Bush tried and failed.
Tonight’s debate is in Boca Raton, Florida. That works out for Mitt Romney—Florida is a traditional place to end a person’s career. Boca is where Mitt made his infamous “47 percent” comments. Democrats should be promoting this debate as the “Return to Boca.” Nobody wants Mitt Romney making policy in the Middle East—evidently including Mitt Romney himself. In his previous Boca Raton appearance, Mitt said his “plan” was “we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it.” The sad thing is that that plan for the Middle East has more details to it than Mitt’s economic plan or tax plan. “Hope something will happen and resolve it”? And they made fun of Obama for his “Hope” slogan! At least Barack Obama’s brand of hope didn’t involve just crossing your fingers.
As the GOP’s Libya cover-up conspiracy theory unravels in the pages of major U.S. newspapers (like here, here, here and here), House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa is so intent on taking out President Obama that he doesn’t care what the collateral damage is. Issa issued a document dump aimed at President Obama that ended up endangering the lives of Libyans who are working with the United States. Issa claims he is investigating security failures. What he is really doing is creating security failures. Issa didn’t even bother to redact the names of Libyans who are helping us, endangering their lives. Darrell, you’re the head of the Oversight Committee—that doesn’t mean you should be making stupid oversights.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Maybe I'm just getting old and crotchety, but this election cycle is getting on my nerves. Sure, the charges and countercharges by the candidates will fly right up until election day. That's to be expected. Yet the means by which we elect the President of the United States and many other offices, from Congress on down, needs to be scrutinized, and in my humble opinion, changed. Hence my list of five changes that will make for better debates, and hopefully, elections. They''re limited to the presidential race, but they don't have to be. There are more, but some are impossible in my lifetime (life standardizing voting machines). So here goes:
1) Remove supervision of debates from the Commission on Presidential Debates. It should never have left the purview of the League of Women Voters, but it has, and for some time now. Can anybody reasonably argue we've gotten a better quality of debate because of the switch? Someone with sense should go on bended knee and and beg the League of Women Voters to take it over once again. If they won't, find a non partisan group that will.
2) Stop using polls as criteria for who can be in a presidential debate. The notion that candidates from so called "minor parties" are precluded from being on stage with the "big boys" sticks in my craw. And there's no argument about clutter or some other condescending garbage that passes the smell test. Polling should not be the criteria. Getting on the ballot in a requisite number of states is far more fair and equitable, and both the Democrats and Republicans know it. How about 45 states? And anyone who tried to stop candidates from getting ballot access (like some have tried to do with Gary Johnson) would have their candidate removed from the ballot in that state.
3) If there's going to be a town hall debate format, let the folks who ask the questions do the followup if they don't get clarity. I wonder what would have happened if the lady who asked about gun violence at the last debate was allowed to say "you haven't answered my question".
4) Change election day from Tuesday to either Saturday, Sunday, or both. There may have been a legit reason for holding elections on Tuesday back in the day. It's no longer valid. Consider that Venezuela just had an election a few weeks ago. It was held on a Sunday, and 80.4% of the eligible electorate voted. Think they know something we don't?
5) Last but not least, how about we chill with the polls? Another day, another poll, and what do they mean? I'm not sure the people who do them know any better than the average person. Yet to hear some in media tell it, each polls is life or death for a candidate. I know this will probably never happen either. Too many pollsters make too much money, as do the pundits, pontificators and talking heads who have a stake in the horserace that presidential elections have become, and likely will be in the future.
So there you have it. Can any of this stuff get done? You tell me.
Listen to The Mark Riley Morning Show Monday through Friday 6 AM to 9 AM on WWRL 1600.
In a pivotal third and final debate in Florida. The focus of the debate will be on foreign policy. On the table are the recent attacks in Benghazi, nuclear capabilities of Iran, the withdrawal of US troops in Afghanistan, and the implications of the Arab Spring. For the most part – there isn’t too much difference between the two candidates when it comes to foreign policy in the Middle East – aside from the fact that Mitt Romney has the same advisers George W. Bush had that dragged our nation into this decade of war to begin with.
Also on the table tonight is foreign trade and the rise of China. Romney has been touting himself as the candidate who will be toughest in China – but what he doesn't want you to know about is what’s happening in Freeport, Illinois – where Bain Capital is in the process of deconstructing a profitable American manufacturing plant owned by Sensata Technologies – and shipping the equipment and all 170 American jobs overseas to China. This would be a slam-dunk line of attack for President Obama in tonight’s debate. Unfortunately, he also is drinking the free trade Kool-Aid and negotiating the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which is reported to be NAFTA on steroids, and will also result in an exodus of American jobs to low-wage nations.
Both parties have failed us when it comes to war and foreign trade. Where’s Ross Perot when we need him?
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Last night President Obama and Mitt Romney took a break to deliver jokes at the Al Smith dinner (video). Mitt Romney isn’t very good at delivering jokes—he was much funnier the other night at Hofstra, when he was doing pratfalls. President Obama made a lot of jokes at his own expense, and Mitt Romney also made a lot of jokes at President Obama’s expense. You know that phrase “He’s not afraid to make fun of himself”? Well Mitt Romney is evidently terrified to make fun of himself. Mitt just copied the cadence of comedy and pretended that this was something he was comfortable doing. I have a feeling that’s the same way he approaches a conversation. Mitt did do a joke about the formal attire for the evening being what he and Ann wear around the house. He didn’t specify what house.
As Paul Krugman points out, Mitt is blatantly lying about his jobs plan, starting with his claim that he has a jobs plan. Does Mitt Romney have a plan for jobs? No, Mitt has a plan for job—his job. Mitt thinks the mere fact of him being elected would cause confidence to soar and the economy to rebound. Mitt doesn’t provide solutions because he is convinced that he IS the solution.
Ann Romney took Mitt’s place on “The View.” According to Ann, the choice voters face is between reproductive rights and economic issues. It’s one or the other, ladies, so choose wisely! You can have control over your own body... or you can have a job—but you can’t have both. Oh, and that job will not pay the same as a man’s job. Ann divides the electorate into those who want abortions, and those who want economic freedom. For Ann, this election comes down to a battle between baby killers and job creators! Evidently the only way to guarantee a better future for your children is to have absolutely no control over how many children you have.
Jerome Corsi is travelling with Mitt Romney’s campaign on their airplane. Corsi is the guy from World News Daily, which covers “news” like the fact that President Obama is secretly a gay Muslim. So, the “World” in World News Daily is not the same world that normal people inhabit. Corsi claims that Obama is secretly gay. Corsi’s informant from the Chicago gay scene told him that Obama is “very much into older white guys.” Sounds to me like that’s more wishful thinking on Jerome Corsi’s part than anything else.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday thorugh Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
The Nobel Prize winning European Union is trying to force indebted nations to privatize critical natural resources. The European Commission is insisting that privatization of municipal water supplies must be a condition to receive future bailouts. As in, if nations like Greece, Portugal, and Spain want to receive bailouts in the future – then they have to hand over their most critical resources – like water – to transnational corporations to run for profit.
Several organizations including Food & Water Europe and the Blue Planet Project have pushed back against these demands. As the Directors of European Affairs with Food & Water Europe said about the privatization demands, “This really demonstrates how the Commission has lost touch with reality. Their ideological arguments are not based on substantiated facts and goes to the extreme of ignoring the democratic will of the people.” A letter has been sent to the Vice President of the European Commission, calling for the privatization plan to be ditched.
The battle happening right now – and well into the future – will be over our commons. And we must make sure that “We the people” remain the stewards of our commons – and not transnational corporations looking to exploit resources for a profit.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Binders full of women! Twitter users started making fun of a random phrase because it sounded funny, so people took a closer look at it. It turned out to be a lie. What were the odds? We’re talking about Mitt Romney—the odds were 100 percent. Mitt didn’t ask for the binders full of women, as he stated in the debate. They were created by a bipartisan women’s group and presented to him. All he did was to accept them from the women—and probably roll his eyes a little when they weren’t looking. We know that Mitt doesn’t like to have any women telling him how to do things. Just look at how he treated Candy Crowley. For Mitt, a woman’s place is in the stables. His wife can fill her spare time riding her dancing horse—and the working class woman can clean the stables.
When Mitt ran for Senate in 1994, his excuse about the lack of women at Bain Capital was that the private equity profession “doesn’t attract many women and minorities.” Hey, if it’s full of guys like you, I can see why. No women or minorities want to enter private equity? It’s a profession where people with no discernible skill get obscenely rich. EVERYBODY wants a job like that, For Mitt, a woman’s place is in the stables. His wife can fill her spare time riding her dancing horse—and the working class woman can clean the stables.
Super-rich CEO’s are threatening their employees with losing their jobs if Mitt Romney isn’t elected president. Romney himself has even encouraged the behavior. Hey, at least if they get fired, they’ll have health insurance if Obama is president. Several CEO’s have sent out messages to all their employees telling them that they will lose their jobs if Obama is reelected. Evidently their businesses can handle four years of Obama during a huge economic crisis, but not four years of recovery and growth. My advice to these employees is vote for Obama. He’s going to win anyway, and you don’t want to lose your job AND know you voted for a sleazebag like Mitt Romney.
Tagg Romney wants to tag President Obama. Romney’s son Tagg said he wanted to “take a swing” at the President during the debate. Hey, Tagg could have taken a swing at Obama from his seat in the back and still not missed by as much as his dad missed Obama with that wild swing about the Rose Garden statement.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
In the last few weeks – several corporate CEOs have been exposed for compelling their employees to vote for Mitt Romney – and warning them that should Barack Obama win re-election, then they might lose their jobs. Billionaire CEO of Westgate Resorts – David Siegel wrote a mass email to his employees saying that during a Obama second-term, he will, “have no choice but to reduce the size of his company.” Similar emails have been sent out within the Koch brothers Georgia Pacific Corporation – and Ohio’s Murray Energy company. Now, we know where all of this may have started.
As labor journalist Mike Elk with In These Times reports – during a June 2012 conference call with the National Federation of Independent Businesses – Mitt Romney told employers that they should make it clear to their employees who to vote for this election. As Romney said, “I hope you make it very clear to your employees what you believe is in the best interest of your enterprise and therefore their job and their future in the upcoming elections…Nothing illegal about you talking to your employees about what you believe is best for the business.” One of the consequences of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision is that employers now have a lot more freedom to compel workers to vote in a certain way.
So not only can corporate plutocrats spend as much money as they’d like to help Mitt Romney – but they can also enlist their employees to be Romney campaign foot soldiers. And Mitt Romney is in on the ploy. In the Citizens United world – the wealthy have seen their free speech rights expanded, while working people have seen their free speech rights restricted.
This radical ruling needs to be overturned to stop Mitt Romney and the plutocrats’ power grab. Go to MoveToAmend.org.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Wow! Last night President Obama showed up with a delivery for Mitt Romney. One carton of whup-ass! Sign here, Governor. I love it! At some point or other, Obama must have said every possible variation on “That just isn’t true” or “Little of what Governor Romney just said is true.” I thought that Obama was going to run out of ways to say that Romney was lying. Hey, when you’re stuck, there’s always “Malarkey!” Obama leapt to his feet every time it was his turn! Of course, Mitt was leaping to his feet, too—even when it wasn’t his turn. Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot—it’s always Mitt’s turn. At the end, it really looked like the end of a boxing match—not only was Mitt Romney dazed, Obama was smiling so broadly that his teeth looked like he had a mouthpiece in.
Unfortunately for Mitt, the only time that he really drew blood...it was his own. Mitt Romney’s big “Aha!” moment turned into an “Uh oh!” moment. This is what happens when a “Gotcha!” goes terribly wrong! When Mitt challenged the President over his Libya statement in the Rose Garden, he was trying to set the President up for a fall, and didn’t even notice that he himself was standing over the shark tank! The best part was Mitt’s smarmy little raise of his eyebrows. It was like Mitt was saying “Now I have him just where I want him!” Here’s a clue, Mitt—in the movies, whenever the bad guy thinks “Everything is going according to my diabolical plan!” that means something very bad is about to happen to him.
Thank God that we’ve finally gotten a system in place where Mitt Romney gets fact checked to his face. It’s always nice to get the truth out there, but it’s so much more fun to watch Mitt’s reaction to it. Still, Mitt lied about immigration, contraception, deportation, and energy production... for starters. You can sift through tapes of the primary debates and come up with tape that shows Mitt Romney taking the exact opposite stand from most of what he said last night. The amazing thing is that Mitt is contradicting everything he told conservative voters for the past year. What do these people do—watch the TV and think “Oh, that’s OK—he’s lying.” Nobody in America doubts that Mitt Romney is lying. It’s just that conservatives actually comfort themselves with that thought.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
Mitt Romney told 31 lies and half-truths during just 41 minutes of speaking time. That’s according to a report out this morning from the Center for American Progress. Romney managed to beat his previous mark of telling 27 lies and half-truths during the first debate – which he won. The only difference this time though…President Obama called out those lies. Unlike the first debate, President Obama took the fight to Mitt Romney – successfully painting Romney as an out-of-touch corporate plutocrat who made a living “harvesting” American businesses and selling U.S. jobs off to China.
According to three snap polls after the debate – one from CBS News, one from CNN, and one from PPP – President Obama was the unanimous winner Tuesday night. The President blasted Romney’s so-called 5-point economic plan, calling it a one-point plan aimed at giving the super wealthy more tax breaks. Also unlike the first debate, the President tied Mitt Romney to those now infamous 47% comments – and tied Romney to former President George W. Bush.
And in one of the more tense moments of the debate, Romney was caught in a lie when he accused the President of not calling the attacks in Libya an act of terrorism the day after they occurred. President Obama did actually refer to the attacks as terrorism and debate moderator Candy Crowley immediately fact-checked Romney. President Obama looked Presidential last night and did what he needed to do to take back control of this race.
Still, voters have lost out. With two debates down, there’s been no talk about global climate change, drone warfare, domestic surveillance, and corporate corruption of our government. These are the big issues facing our nation and the world – and they deserve top billing in these debates.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Debate tonight! I hope President Obama is spending the day practicing how to say “That is simply not true!” in a firm, yet presidential tone. Obama needs to assertive without coming off as being too aggressive. In other words, in the eyes of Fox News’ Dr. Keith Ablow, Obama needs to come off as just somewhat demented. This will be a “town hall” type event in which audience members will ask the candidates questions. Mitt is going to have a tough time relating to people… or at least to 47 percent of them.
When Mitt Romney says his record in Massachusetts shows that he was bipartisan, he’s lying. In fact, he was a “severely” partisan governor. As Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt literally put up a velvet rope to keep people from walking into the governor’s offices. Was this guy running Massachusetts, or Studio 54? As Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt issued over 800 vetoes—and 707 of them were overridden. So he wasn’t just a roadblock, he was a totally ineffective roadblock. At the end of Mitt’s term as governor, he had an unfavorable rating of 65 percent! Admittedly, Mitt was not a good fit for Massachusetts... but he’s an even worse fit for the United States of America.
Paul Ryan has been caught totally faking a photo op of him washing pots and pans at a soup kitchen. Paul Ryan stopped by the soup kitchen for 15 minutes on his way to the airport—after it had closed, and after all the cleanup had already been done. They’re just lucky it wasn’t Mitt—he would have shut the place down and moved it to China. The president of the organization in charge of the soup kitchen said “They did not have permission. They got one of the volunteers to open up the doors.” Is there a better metaphor for how Romney and Ryan want to treat the American people? Romney and Ryan want to get in by tricking us into opening the door—and then they want to do a bunch of stuff under the guise of helping people that only really benefits them!
Rudy Giuliani says that Mitt Romney “should be exploiting” the tragedy in Benghazi for political gain. Rudy, are you saying that from here on out, everything Mitt says should just consist of “a noun, a verb, and Benghazi”?
Listen to The Randi Rhdoes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
After the attacks on the US Embassy in Benghazi, Republicans have been quick to blame President Obama on his, as they put it : "failed foreign policy." Funny, how when on September 11, 2001 we were attacked by terrorists on American soil which resulted in over 3000 deaths, Republicans did not feel that George W Bush was responsible; nor that his foreign policies had failed.
Now we learn, in our quest for transparency, that the White House is considering a strike in retribution for the deaths of Ambassador Stevens and the other U.S. Embassy staff members who were murdered.
After 9/11/01, we dropped both bombs and sandwiches into Afghanistan. As we can see from Afghanistan today, that knee jerk reaction was not the smartest thing to do. And the same can be said of our invading the soverign nation of Iraq.
If we look back to our launching missles, rather quickly during the Clinton Administration after the embassy in Nairobi had been attacked; it was a different country, region, situation and of course, in this attack on Benghazi, there is not a pharmaceutical plant nearby which might be manufacturing chemicals to help Al Qaeda.
What we do have is two governments, Libya and Mali with fragile interim governments. What we do have is two governments the US does not fully trust to cooperate and assist us with arrests and bringing these murderers to justice through a criminal court system. What we do know is that we have no target currently, as Ansar Al Shariah is suspected to be responsible; and other than a phone call bragging about the event, and a couple of eye witnesses seeing Ansar AL Shariah members near the embassy in Benghazi on September 11th, there simply is not enough evidence to arrest, nor certainly attack- bomb or otherwise. Also, the FBI has been delayed in being able to fully investigate this matter; delayed by lack of cooperation by the Libyan government.
We as Americans forget that we're dealing with international territory. We can't simply use drones, missles, etc. without the approval of that foreign nations government and it's leaders. We have seen how using drones in Pakistan has hurt our relationship with the Pakistani government, and perhaps has helped to increase the Taliban's numbers by angering civilians. We dont need or want that to happen in Libya or Mali. Our relationship with these countries, being very mindful of innocent civilian lives that could be lost as well as that of our military, and the presence of Al Qaeda in the north of Mali, and Al Qaeda's presence in Libya through their relationship with Ansar Al Shariah must all be considered before a strike. And that is exactly what this President, his administration and our top brass in the military are doing.
So of course Republicans are saying this is political. And it is....but not for the reasons Republicans are stating. Listening to a top security adviser to Mitt Romney on the radio this morning, when pressed to answer the question: "Would this attack have occured if Mitt Romney were President..." he stopped short of answering "yes." For terrorists are murderers, and they could care less if the U.S. President is black, white, Democrat, Republican, Christian or Mormon.
And I believe, for the President, the decision as to what target(s) we attack, in what country/countries is very political; but not in his bid for re election; rather, to ensure the security of Americans here and abroad and to maintain and strengthen our relationship throughout the world; creating allies as opposed to enemies. In other words, the President is doing his job as Commander in Chief.
Listen to The Leslie Marshall Show weeknights at Midnight on WWRL 1600.
And the stakes are high. Polls now show a dead heat between the two men – and even swing state polls show a much tighter race. Mitt Romney has already made his debate strategy very clear – which is to lie every chance he gets – and run away from every far right position he’s taken over the last year in hopes of painting himself as a moderate.
In the first debate – Romney employed the Ronald Reagan strategy of saying whatever he needs to to win, just as long as he says it sincerely. And it worked because President Obama adopted the Jimmy Carter strategy and didn’t call out any of Romney’s lies. Tonight, with Joe Biden’s blistering debate performance still fresh in the minds of progressives – the President must channel his inner fighter and not let Mitt Romney the liar go unchallenged for an hour and a half again.
If the President fails, then there’s a good chance he could suffer the same fate as Jimmy Carter – a one-term failed President. Not because he actually failed in his first term, but because he let Republicans convince the American people that he did.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Republicans are trying to score political points off of the tragedy in Libya. Lindsay Graham said “The truth is we’re not safer. Al Qaeda is alive and counterattacking.” Lindsay, Al Qaeda is alive and counterattacking in Benghazi, Libya. When the last Republican was president, Al Qaeda was alive and counterattacking in lower Manhattan and the Pentagon. Mitt Romney is framing the Benghazi incident as a question of leadership. Who showed leadership, Mitt—the President, or the guy who mocked and criticized our embassy staff while the attack was still going on?
Conservatives are even comparing President Obama’s handling of the attack in Libya to President Bush’s handling of Iraq! Darrell Issa actually said “We’re going through a ‘Mission Accomplished’ moment.” OK, the day Barack Obama struts out on an aircraft carrier wearing a codpiece, that’s the day I start campaigning for Mitt Romney. This tells you the importance of having a Democrat as president—even Republicans know that the worst thing they can say about a president is that he’s doing the same stuff that a Republican president did. It’s one thing to resort to name calling—but the name they’re calling Obama is “Republican!” What’s the message here? “Don’t vote for him—he’s doing what we did!” If you really want to avoid a repeat of the Bush foreign policy mistakes—take a good look at whose campaign all of Bush’s former foreign policy advisors are working for.
Even Fox News has called out the Romney campaign on the “six studies” that Mitt always cites to support his mathematically impossible tax plan. This weekend, Chris Wallace confronted the Romney campaign’s Ed Gillespie about the studies. Chris Wallace has allowed dozens of Romney campaign untruths to go unchallenged, and then out of nowhere, he pounces on this one. This lie must feel like a speeder who gets singled out for a ticket when everybody on the freeway is driving 90 miles per hour.
Fox’s resident psychiatrist, Dr. Keith Ablow says that last week’s debate shows Joe Biden may have dementia. I’m not a doctor, but how many seriously demented individuals win a political debate on national television... by beating the intellectual champion of the other side?
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
Over the weekend, labor reporter Mike Elk with In These Times magazine revealed that the Koch brothers sent political fliers to all of their 45,000 employees at Georgia Pacific – hinting that their jobs might be on the line if they don’t vote for Mitt Romney. The letter warns that if employees elect Barack Obama, then “many of our more than 50,000 U.S. employees and contractors may suffer the consequences.” The letter goes on to list political candidates that the Kochs support – all of which were Republicans. Elk also exposes social media rules at Georgia Pacific that work to limit the political speech of their workers as well as intimidation used against workers who are too politically active.
The Kochs are the latest in a long line of CEOs that have made veiled threats against their employees to vote for Mitt Romney. Last week – Westgate Resorts billionaire CEO David Siegel warned his employees that should Barack Obama raise his taxes, then he would be forced to downsize his company. Also – ASG Software Solutions CEO Arthur Allen sent an email to his employees warning there will be “fallout” if Barack Obama wins the presidency again. And then there’s Murray Energy – the largest private coal company in the nation – which, according to The New Republic, has coerced its employees to donate money to Republican politicians.
Unbelievably – coercing employees like this to support certain political candidates is not illegal. And it’s just the latest example of how the super-rich have a lot more free speech rights now in America than working people do. And since many Americans are desperate for a job – they have to go along with what their bosses say just to be able to keep food on the table - knowing full well that a vote for Mitt Romney is against their own best interests.
This is how the "corporatocracy" operates today.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
The Romney/Ryan ticket walked into a buzz saw Thursday night during the Vice Presidential debate. That buzz saw was named Joe Biden. In stark contrast from President Obama’s debate performance last week – Joe Biden was the aggressor all night – not letting one convenient lie from Paul Ryan go unchallenged.
Biden exposed Romney and Ryan’s plans to voucherize Medicare. He exposed their plans to stick the middle class with a tax hike while giving the super rich a massive tax cut. He exposed the hypocrisy of Paul Ryan criticizing the stimulus act, while at the same time Ryan was writing letters to Biden asking for stimulus funding to create jobs in his Congressional district. He exposed Ryan’s previous attempts to privatize Social Security. And he exposed Ryan as belonging to a Party that has been committed to obstruction over the last four years preventing a genuine economic recovery.
If Vice President Joe Biden accomplished one thing Thursday night – it was to hype the Democratic base – and give his and the President’s re-election campaign some much needed energy and focus with just a few weeks to go until the election.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Let's be down front about this. It's high noon for New York City's Stop, Question and Frisk policy, as implemented by its Police Dept. The drama started when it was revealed that last year, around 685,000 people, most of them black and Latino, were stopped by police. The overwhelming majority had done nothing more than look suspicious. The battle lines were quickly drawn. On the one hand, the Mayor and Police Commissioner stood by the practice, and promised a "return to the bad old days" if it were eliminated or substantially altered. On the other side were those advocating for everything from a radical alteration of stop and frisk to it's complete demise.
Earlier this week, The Nation.com released an audio recording, part of a larger documentary on the practice. It was, to say the least, chilling. The audio was one of the first instances that a stop and frisk was exposed to the wider public. It wasn't pretty. The young man involved, Alvin, aged 17, was stopped twice, two blocks apart in Harlem. If you want to hear what transpired, I'd seriously suggest you watch the video presentation on thenation.com.
There's another aspect to this, however. Also in the video were conversations with two police officers, one with a decade on the job. They themselves had a problem with stop and frisk. One said something that should send a chill down the spines of all New Yorkers, regardless of race or ethnicity. He said, "The civilian population, they're being hunted by us. Instead of being protected by us, they're being hunted and we're being hated".
Hunted and hated. These words should never refer to the relationship between police and the communities they're sworn to protect. The excesses of stop and frisk are spreading through some neighborhoods like a cancer, and mistrust of police, quiet as it's kept, can allow criminals safe harbor where there should be none.
The City Council held a hearing yesterday to consider a series of bills that would reign in those very excesses. The Mayor and Police commissioner didn't show. That was a mistake on their part. The more entrenched their position becomes, the more strident the calls for change.
I've said this before. It's past time for the interested parties here, and there are many, to sit down and expose, then reconcile their differences. The people of this city deserve a police department they can trust, and the police deserve a citizenry that respects what they do.
I dont know what made me cringe more., the Pew Research poll showing Romney ahead of President Obama in the polls, or Lara Logan's speech as a "journalist."
Logan is a 60 Minutes correspondent. She's won Emmy's. She's been throughout the Middle East on assignment and she was the victim of a terrible crime when she was assaulted in Tahrir Square in Cairo during that nation's quest for freedom.
Speaking at the annual Better Government Association luncheon in Chicago, Logan said and did a few things that left me feeling very uneasy; even angry at times.
First, as a journalist I was uncomfortable with her speech considering her role. She is a journalist. And as one who holds such degrees myself, I was always taught that a journalist tells you the story; they aren't supposed to become the story; it's not all about me and it should not be all about Lara Logan. One of the reasons I became a talk host was, formerly as a journalist, I was only supposed to tell the story; report the facts and never inject my opinion.
Secondly, Ms. Logan was spreading fear with her words about the Taliban, Al Qaeda, our role in Afghanistan, etc. Her words such as "Years later they still hate us" (referring to terrorists) "now more than ever" and "they're coming back" were shocking to this audience and to many who heard of her remarks. Now I dont want to be rude, but is this a huge news revelation? Does all of Ms Logan's experience and reporting bring her to the conclusion that the terrorists still don't like us? Wow! Of course they hate us, that's what terrorists do! HATE! Did Ms Logan really believe that invading a sovereign nation like Iraq, or dropping bombs on Afghanistan and then sandwiches, or ridiculing their religion, discriminating against their people, etc. would lead to us standing in a circle holding hands and singing Kumbaya?! And I've got news for Ms Logan when she said "they're coming back" they never went away. The idea that we would go to Afghanistan and the Taliban would simply disappear is ridiculous, and a very unrealistic expectation to place on our military.
Third, Ms Logan feels that our government for the past two years, our military, etc. have basically been lying to us. And those remark made me angry. Never in the past two years have I heard the White House speak of a kindler/gentler Taliban. Has anyone ever heard of Taliban light? Our military is the finest in the world. In some areas of Afghanistan they have wiped out the Taliban. In some, they have not and yes, in some areas of Afghanistan their numbers grow. Perhaps their hatred of us grows while we continue to remain in their country; perhaps it is time our troops came home and ended this longest war. And does Ms Logan really believe President Obama makes such decisions without consulting the top military brass?
Fourth, to call retribution for the murder of Ambassador Stevens and the other embassy workers is irresponsible. America simply cannot attack every country that kills an American. That is an emotional knee jerk reaction; and we saw what reacting in that exact manner after September 11th has left us with the very things Ms Logan was outraged about.
Lastly, although she may have an Emmy, I find it amusing that Ms Logan seems to know more about fighting terrorists, who we should bomb, which countries we should stay and fight in and which we should leave, than the Pentagon, Military, CIA, FBI, White House and our anti terrorism task force who, with all due respect to Ms Logan, I think know a bit more about the military and how to defeat the Taliban and fight terrorists. She's using a computer and a microphone; they use tanks and guns with real bullets.
So although Ms Logan certainly has a right to her opinion; I prefer her role as a journalist and I think she should stick to that.
Listen to The Leslie Marshall Show weeknights at Midnight on WWRL 1600.
Give Mitt Romney credit—he has found time to lie about abortion, while continuing to lie about taxes, economic plans, and foreign policy. The man is a multi-tasker of mendacity. Mitt said “There’s no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become part of my agenda.” Mitt is reaching out to people who don’t agree with his past statements to assure them he never means a damned thing he says.
Does Mitt ever say anything that his campaign isn’t forced to contradict within a couple of hours? He’s like a circus elephant parading down Main Street while his handlers follow behind with a bunch of brooms. The campaign issued a statement saying that Mitt is “proudly pro-life and will be a pro-life president.” Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle. Maybe Mitt only supports 47 percent of life.
Ann Romney went on Fox News and compared President Obama to a petulant child. She didn’t use the word “petulant.” She doesn’t want to confuse the Fox News viewers with unfamiliar vocabulary. Ann said she thought the president was being like someone “in the sandbox that like lost the game and they’re just going to kick sand in someone’s face and say, ‘you liar.’” Somehow I don’t picture little Mitt Romney playing in the sandbox. If Mitt wanted to play in the sand, he was probably flown to a tropical island where he could build sand castles on the beach. Hey, maybe that’s where Mitt first discovered the Cayman Islands! Ann, next time you visit your dancing horse, remember to scrape your boots before you leave. We’re tired of you dragging your horse crap in here.
Jack Welch, who insisted that Obama was cooking the unemployment numbers, has quit his job at Fortune magazine after they compared his job creation numbers to Obama's. Wow! Jack Welch is going to ruin the unemployment numbers for the month of October, even if it means he has to quit his own job to do it! Welch said he was quitting Fortune to get better “traction” elsewhere. Jack, you’re a rich former CEO. Do you really think there’s a better place for you than at a magazine called “Fortune”? I don’t think you’re going to get better traction than at “Fortune”... unless there’s a magazine out there called “Rich Butthole.”
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
You ain’t seen nothing yet. A new report by Open Secrets reveals that non-Party SuperPACs and “dark money” groups with mystery donors have spent more than a half billion dollars this election cycle – more than the total amount of spending by non-party groups in every election since 1990 COMBINED. And most of that money is not being used in the Presidential election – it’s being used in Congressional and state races where it doesn’t take much money to sway an election and the media markets are cheaper.
But here’s the thing – the majority of spending this year is still likely to come. According to historical precedents – most spending occurs in the final weeks before the election, meaning voters are about to be hit with a tidal wave of TV ads financed by unknown corporate donors.
According to some estimates – total outside election spending will be well into the billions before it’s all said and done.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
It seems that Mitt Romney’s little foreign policy speech yesterday didn’t sound good in any language. Mitt blamed problems in Iraq on the withdrawal of American troops by President Obama. Mitt, it wasn’t withdrawing American troops that made Iraq a mess—it was sending them in. Tell us, Mitt, is there any mistake that George Bush made that you wouldn’t repeat? I bet Mitt’s first act after getting elected would be to get himself fitted for a codpiece.
McClatchy newspapers said that Mitt blasts Obama over foreign policy, and then comes up with policies that look like what Obama is already doing. The only time Mitt differs from Obama about foreign policy is when he’s lying about what Obama did on foreign policy. In many areas, Mitt’s policies are identical to the policies of the Obama administration that Mitt is attacking. So let me get this straight—everything Obama does is wrong. And you’ll continue to do it.
The Obama campaign responded to Mitt’s speech by saying the President refuses “to be lectured by someone who has been an unmitigated disaster on foreign policy every time he’s dipped his toe in the foreign policy waters.” But wait—this time it’s a different toe!
Rush Limbaugh says that when President Obama speaks on foreign policy, it’s a “green light” to our enemies. Mitt Romney would never give the green light to our enemies. No, Mitt would have the green, yellow, and red lights all on at the same time. That’s Mitt’s approach to every problem.
Charlie Fuqua, a GOP candidate for the Arkansas House has come out in favor of the death penalty for rebellious children. Wow. These people refuse to terminate a 4-week pregnancy, but they have no problem terminating a 4-year old child! Do we have to kill them? Can’t we just scare children by eating Big Bird in front of them, like Rick Santorum wants us to do? Charlie does caution “The death penalty for rebellious children is not something to be taken lightly.” Ah! So what he’s saying is—no mass executions of children! I knew that conservatives believed “spare the rod, spoil the child.” It appears that they also believe “spare the child, and spoil the child.”
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
The International Monetary Fund cut its growth forecasts for the world economy – and warned that there is a “alarmingly high” risk of deep economic slowdown. IMF projections now show the global economy growing by a mere 3.3% this year – the slowest growth since 2009. As the IMF says in its report: “Confidence in the global financial system remains exceptionally fragile…Bank lending has remained sluggish across advanced economies.”
With Europe’s economy contracting, the United States headed for a “fiscal cliff,” and emerging economies like India and China also slowing down – IMF leaders are calling on policy makers to address the threats in their economies. All around the world – we are witnessing the collapse of corporate globalism.
The only question left is: just how messy will it get before working people around the world come together to forge a new economy for the 21st century.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Show live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
This weekend was the mock debate between Jon Stewart and Bill O’Reilly. It was kind of nice to watch a debate that couldn’t possibly result in a pathological liar becoming President of the United States. You don’t mind watching Bill O’Reilly saying outrageous things because you know he’s not going to ever be in a position to impose his ideas on you... unless you lose your TV remote. It was a great debate—a comedian versus a joke.
Today, Mitt Romney is speaking about foreign policy. You know what that means—today, Mitt Romney is lying about foreign policy. Mitt will lie, no matter what he is talking about. If he had a job making arrival announcements at the train station, he would lie about when the trains were coming in—just because he’s Mitt Romney. If Mitt conducts foreign policy the same way that he’s conducting his campaign for president, he’s going to try and deal with foreign adversaries by out-lying them.
Former GE CEO Jack Welch refused to back away from his statements that the White House manipulated the unemployment numbers. But then it’s hard to back away when you’re standing up to your neck in bull crap. When Chris Matthews asked Welch if he had anything to back up his assertions, Welch said “I have no evidence to prove that.” Gee, at that point, most people would conclude that you have no right to say that. Sorry Jack, but you can’t just twist numbers the way Mitt Romney twists his positions.
Meanwhile, Allen West was on CNBC, also claiming that the White House is fixing the labor statistics. No, Allen—they’re fixing the economy. I’m guessing that Allen West would like to replace the Bureau of Labor Statistics, probably with something called the Bureau of Stuff Allen West Thinks. Come on, Allen—you’re better with numbers than that! Aren’t you the guy who figured out that there are exactly 78 to 81 communists in the Democratic caucus of the House of Representatives?
Mitt Romney just wants to kill Big Bird. It turns out that Rick Santorum wants to kill and eat him. I hope Newt Gingrich doesn’t chime in. He probably wants to dress in Big Bird’s skin and dance under the moonlight. When asked if he wants to kill Big Bird too, Santorum said “I’ve voted to kill Big Bird. That doesn’t mean I don’t like Big Bird. You can kill things and still like them. I mean, maybe to eat them.” Rick, we know you don’t care about children after they’ve been born, but could you at least refrain from scaring them? Eat Big Bird? There’s more to PBS than just Big Bird, you know. Rick Santorum is going to have to eat Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie, Charlie Rose, and Bill Moyers.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
A Tea Party organization has drawn the attention of a Member of Congress for its efforts to suppress the Democratic vote. The group True the Vote has filed a lawsuit in Ohio to kick thousands of minorities, students, and impoverished residents off the voting rolls – claiming they aren’t properly registered. This is just one of the many tactics being used by the Right this year – along with Voter Suppression ID laws, cutting short early voting, and new hurdles to registration – to keep Americans from voting in November.
Sensing what’s going on in Ohio – a key swing state – Democratic Congressman Elijah Cummings sent a letter to the True The Vote – alleging a criminal conspiracy. As the letter reads: “At some point, an effort to challenge voter registrations by the thousands without any legitimate basis may be evidence of illegal voter suppression. If these efforts are intentional, politically motivated and widespread across multiple states, they could amount to a criminal conspiracy to deny legitimate voters their constitutional rights.”
Sadly – Congressman Cummings is right. Throw in to the mix the RNC’s growing election fraud scandal with the political firm Strategic Allied Consulting – and you just have to wonder, “Why is it that only Republicans are getting busted for election fraud?”
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
The unemployment rate has fallen to 7.8 percent. These unemployment numbers are good news for the nation... and for the Obama campaign. And the even better news for Team Obama is that these are numbers that Mitt Romney can’t lie about. OK, I should qualify that—Mitt Romney can lie about anything. But these numbers are much more difficult for him to lie about than the numbers he just makes up.
Mitt Romney claimed “This is not what a real recovery looks like.” Thanks Mitt, but I can’t think of anyone less qualified to comment on what is “real.” Mitt wants to tell us what a “real recovery” looks like! He can’t even tell us what’s really in his own tax plan, or his own tax returns, for that matter.
If you doubt that the new unemployment statistics are great for Obama, the biggest indication is that Republicans are accusing President Obama of cooking them. Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch accused Obama of falsifying the numbers. Come on, Jack—if you don’t like those numbers, why not just go with Mitt Romney’s fantasy numbers? Welch tweeted “Unbelievable jobs numbers. These Chicago guys will do anything. Can’t debate so change numbers.” The debate was Wednesday, Jack. They certainly changed them quickly. You should look at the report for signs of white-out! Does anybody even remember white-out? It must still be around. I think Jack Welch has been sniffing it.
Mitt Romney has some new things to say about his infamous “47 percent” comments. Mitt, I don’t care what you tell us about those comments. I want to hear what you tell a room full of millionaires about them. I don’t know exactly what Mitt would tell a room full of millionaires about his 47 percent comments, but I guarantee the first thing he would say would be “Is anybody recording this?”
Yesterday President Obama was on the campaign trail saying that he didn’t get to debate the “real” Mitt Romney. I’m sorry, Mr. President, but if you were debating a guy who was shape-shifting and lying outrageously, that probably was the real Mitt Romney.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
New jobs numbers released today show the economy added 114,000 jobs in September. The Department of Labor also said the economy added 86,000 more jobs than previously estimated in July and August. Most promising for President Obama’s re-election hopes, the unemployment rate dropped from 8.1% down to 7.8% - the lowest it’s been since President Obama took office in January of 2009. The number of unemployed Americans – now at 12.1 million – is also at its lowest level since January of 2009.
The optics of this new report look good for President Obama – but thirty years of Reaganomics are still presenting deep structural problems with our economy. The U-6 unemployment rate – which includes those who are no longer looking for work or are underemployed – is at 14.7%. And it’s true that many of the new jobs being created each month are low-wage service sector jobs – instead of good paying manufacturing jobs.
If we’re ever going to see a robust economic recovery – we need to begin rolling back the Reagan Revolution by making the wealthy pay their fair, regulating Wall Street and corporate America, strengthening the Social Safety net, ditching so-called Free Trade, and investing in American infrastructure once again.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
This debate performance will make a lot of people take a second look at Mitt Romney. That’s not necesarily a good thing for Mitt—the closer people look at him, the less they like. Mitt got good reviews, but we have to wait for what President Obama said to sink in, and for what Mitt Romney said to sink, period. Mitt Romney seems to be an experiment in just how far a complete fraud can go. I thought we settled that with George W. Bush—and the scary part about that experiment was that the answer was “two terms as president.”
Most of what Mitt Romney said last night has already been contradicted—sometimes by Democrats, sometime by Mitt’s own staff, and always by the facts. If Obama’s strategy was questionable, at least his facts were not. You can certainly question Obama’s approach, but you can’t question what he said. You can and should question every statement Mitt Romney made.
Mitt claims that his $5 trillion tax cut would be paid for by the extra earnings resulting from robust growth. In other words, for his plan to work, it has to succeed beyond anybody’s wildest expectations. I don’t think you get it, Mitt—the plan is supposed to be the thing that makes everything better. It shouldn’t be dependent on everything getting better before it will work.
The only thing that made Mitt Romney’s lies about his tax plan look small were Mitt’s lies about healthcare. Mitt said his plan would cover people with preexisting conditions. Yes... as long as they also have preexisting health insurance. Mitt’s plan doesn’t provide coverage for people who have lost their insurance. I’m not an expert, but aren’t those the people who need insurance? Mitt kept saying that he wants the individual states to do for healthcare what he did in Massachusetts. There’s a brilliant idea! Why accomplish something by doing it once when you can get it done by doing it 50 times?
We know one thing from last night’s debate—if Mitt Romney wins, Big Bird is fricassee. Come on, Mitt! Sesame Street teaches kids to count. Hey! Maybe that’s why Mitt Romney doesn’t like it.
Listen to me Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
So Mitt Romney's handlers, friends, and enablers are crowing about last night's debate. They shouldn't. It's time to stop looking at winners and losers, and look at just what was (or wasn't) accomplished last night in terms of clarifying positions on issues. On that score, no matter who you support, the debate was a failure.
Leave aside for a moment the fact that several issues were notably absent from the dialogue on either side.
Mitt Romney came no closer to defining himself or his policies than he had before Wednesday night. He was lucky. For reasons known only to President Obama, he failed to call Romney out on flip flopping that would have made a fresh caught fish on a boat proud. Romney managed to backtrack on policies he staked out in the primaries on education, healthcare, Medicare, and the president didn't look for a moment like he was confronting a guy who desperately wants his job. Did anybody else notice that Romney's adviser had to walk back his pledge on covering pre-existing conditions in his healthcare plan not an hour after the debate ended?
Some say Barack Obama looked tired, that the thin air of Denver got to him. Others say he's torn a page from Muhammad Ali, and that a rope-a-dope style was being used in this, the early going. On that score, the real test for Romney is whether any voters were won over by his act. That we may not know for a minute.
Back to the debate itself. Jim Lehrer is one of the finest journalists this nation has produced. He didn't show it last night. The debate meandered in a way that may have driven some New Yorkers to check out the Yankee game that was running simultaneously. Long story short, the people who watched the debate deserved better. There are two more to go, plus the VP contest between Paul Ryan and Joe Biden. There's still time for redemption.
The issues Wednesday just seemed to float away like so many bubbles. Vouchers for Medicare, education cuts, a tax plan (or not), not to mention the 47%, gun violence, and voter suppression, none of which saw the light of day. Folks will go on for the rest of today's news cycle about who won and who lost. It may even last until tomorrow.
If one candidate can lie for a half-hour and then be declared the winner? That’s the question we should all ask ourselves one day after the first presidential debate in Denver, Colorado. The consensus among pundits is that Mitt Romney won the debate – and strictly in terms of style – he did win – taking the fight all night to a lethargic President Obama.
But as the Center for American Progress points out this morning – Romney told 27 lies or half-truths in a matter of just 38 minutes on stage last night. Romney lied about his own tax plan – saying that it’s not a $5 trillion tax cut, despite independent analysis of his plan saying it is. He lied about Obamacare – repeating the same debunked myth that the President cut over $700 billion from Medicare. He lied about the President’s Wall Street reform law – saying it designates five banks as too big to fail and deserving of blank check bailouts. There’s no such provision in the law. And he even flirted with the idea of death panels in Obamacare!
Rather than acting like sportscasters this morning and declaring Mitt Romney the winner – the media needs to be doing its job and fact-checking. But ultimately – President Obama did fail last night. He failed at calling out Mitt Romney as an agent of the oligarchs. The President didn’t mention the “47%” comments – he didn’t mention Romney’s ultra-low tax rate and offshore tax havens – he didn’t mention Romney’s career harvesting businesses at Bain.
If the President can’t make the argument that Romney is only looking out for the 1% - then he’s going to lose.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Last week, a friend of mine who is a Republican; (yes I have Republican friends) said to me " Mitt Romney's going to win the debate." And I told her that she would say that no matter what, she agreed. Then she said to me "well, you will say Obama won no matter what..." and I told her she was wrong. And she was.
If I had to rate the debate tonight, honestly I would have to say it was a tie.
Mitt Romney's goal in this first debate, which normally favors the challenger to the incumbent; was to a) appear Presidential - he did, b) to defend his position- he did and to c) not seem intimidated, being strong without being insulting- he did
Now the President had some goals as well: a) to outline the differences between he and Romney's position on the issues- he did, b)defend his record- he did and c) to poke holes in some of his opponents proposals- he did.
Now there were times that didnt seem to sit well with the American people- for some ( myself included) when Romney just plowed over the moderator insisting he would finish. Showing us a glimpse of that elitist , the rules don't apply to me type of guy. And there was the President's parting shot at Romney- pointing out that there are a lot of ideas with no specific plan. For some, it was a shot; for some it was a necessary point to be made.
Now we'll wait to see who, if any of these candidates enjoys a brief bump from these debates. But my prediction is we might see Romney get that "sugar high" as his campaign called the President's bump after the Democratic National Convention.
There was nothing spectacular tonight, no huge one liners to be remembered and quite frankly, it was a bit lackluster. Many people on twitter questioned the use of Dodd/Frank , etc types of references and the amount of stats included; it was as if you could hear a huge yawn in the viral world.
The two candidates were cordial, even respectful of each other. There are some that expected both to be more aggressive and for some; not aggressive enough.
Before the debate, there were many on the left feeling that this election was all but over. I'm a pessimist at heart and warned my fellow Dems of that fat lady who hasn't sung yet. The President might be leading in most of the swing states. But as many times before, it will all come down to Florida; where the President has a very slim lead. And of course, Mitt Romney was hoping to bridge that gap tonight.
Will he? The polls that come out in the next few days will tell all.
But if the President were to ask my advice, I would say, Mr President, don't be so confident; remind America of why we voted for you. For although I knew Mitt Romney was intelligent and would be a great debater, I did expect him to stumble tonight, and he didn't. There are two more debates to go...and if the President doesn't hit a homerun, then that lead the President has both nationally and among swing voters could narrow....just as the fat lady hits the stage, stands before the microphone and begins to sing her song.
Listen to The Leslie Marshall Show weeknights at Midnight on WWRL 1600.
It’s debate day—but don’t get too excited. And yes, I’m talking to you, Mitt Romney. Sometimes a debate can be a game-changer. But this election, the Republicans’ problem isn’t the game—it’s the team that they’ve fielded. There has never been a debate that’s been a team-changer.
While Democrats are succeeding in getting more people to vote for President Obama, Republicans are failing in their efforts to get fewer people to vote, period. A judge has blocked the harsh Pennsylvania vote ID law. Now if Republicans in Pennsylvania want to block access to the polls, they’ll have to physically surround them with barbed wire. Oops, maybe I shouldn’t give them ideas.
Tucker Carlson is breathlessly promoting a “bombshell” video from 2007, which has been available to anyone since 2007. It’s just that this is the first time since then that anyone has been desperate enough to use this as a weapon in the campaign. Tucker claims the tape is shows Obama speaking in a “phony” black vernacular meant to be “racially divisive.” Racially divisive? In the words of Bill Clinton “It takes brass to attack a guy for what you did.” Or for that matter, to attack a guy for what you’re doing while attacking him. Obama is addressing the Hampton University Annual Ministers Conference. The audience is primarily black, and primarily ministers. But notice that Carlson doesn’t accuse Obama of talking like a minister. Obama is speaking more informally than he would in a State of the Union speech. But nobody ever accused Ronald Reagan of being divisive when he would go into on his “folksy old Midwestern uncle” routine. Was George Bush being divisive when he talked like a dimwitted good ole boy? No. He was being authentic.
Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and the Drudge Report were all relentlessly promoting the tape of the speech as big news. But all the rightwing hype on the speech fell totally flat. It’s not just that these guys were flogging a dead horse—they were flogging a horse that had been dead since 2007. That’s a very dead horse. Once again, the rightwing tries to embarrass Obama, and merely succeeds in embarrassing themselves.
Listen to me Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
On Tuesday, Fox so-called News, the Drudge Report, and the Daily Caller threw together a rather pathetic - and racist - attempt to create an October Surprise against President Obama. And in the end – they failed miserably. Yes – the kings of the rightwing media bubble released what they called “Obama’s Other Race Speech” yesterday evening, which they promised would create controversy and unleash accusations of racism against the President.
It did neither. That’s because the so-called bombshell video was already well-known and had been publicly available on the web ever since he gave the speech 5 years ago in 2007. The video shows then-Senator Barack Obama speaking at Hampton University in front of a largely African American crowd.
In the speech, Obama accurately pointed out that when Hurricane Andrew hit mostly-white parts of Florida, the federal government waived the requirement for local matching funds for rebuilding, but when Katrina hit mostly-black New Orleans, the Bush Administration still wanted the city to pay the matching funds. And to Fox News, that was a declaration of a race war.
Oddly – Fox News already aired the speech back in 2007, believing that it would cost Obama the Democratic nomination. It didn’t – so now they’re dusting the video off again five years later to try again.
The Mitt Romney campaign is denying any involvement in the video re-release. White House reporter at Mediate, Tommy Christopher, best summed up the whole fiasco when he wrote, “This will be remembered as the day Sean Hannity, Matt Drudge, Tucker Carlson, and much of the right wing prepared to board their white resentment mothership, only to have it crash and burn.”
Listen to the Thom Hartmann Program live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
The banksters’ blatant fraud in the run-up to the financial crisis hasn’t gone unnoticed to one top lawyer in the nation. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman – who also chairs the President’s mortgage fraud task force – filed a civil suit against JP Morgan Chase for “widespread fraud in the sale of mortgage-backed securities.” This is the first legal action brought against the banks by this taskforce.
Most of the allegations are actually again failed bank Bear Stearns, which was bought by JP Morgan Chase just before the economy went into meltdown in 2008. According to the lawsuit – banksters at Bear Stearns knowingly sold defective loans and mortgage backed securities and kept their investors in the dark about how crummy these deals were.
Just like banksters at Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns’ banksters openly bragged to each other about how bad the deals were and how much their customers are getting screwed. Officials within Schneiderman’s office are suggesting the JP Morgan Chase is just the first in a long line of banks that could be hit with similar lawsuits.
Yes, hitting the banks with lawsuits for their fraud is a good thing. But we need to go a step further – instead of civil lawsuits – we need criminal lawsuits. The only way to stop these billionaire predators from crashing our economy against – is to send some suits to jail.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
When asked this weekend for specifics about Mitt Romney’s tax plan, Paul Ryan said “It would take me too long to go through all of the math.” How about just a summary, Paul? Something along the lines of “the middle class is screwed.” Do you know what this kind of “no details” crap is doing to your campaign, Paul? Romney is down by 9 points in Ohio. There’s a little math that doesn’t take long at all to explain.
This weekend Chris Christie was saying that only losing candidates blame the media... while Paul Ryan was blaming the media. Paul Ryan needs to try to stay on the same page as Chris Christie. That should be easy, Paul—it’s the page with all of the food stains on it. We’re used to people in the Romney campaign contradicting each other, but usually it’s Mitt Romney contradicting Mitt Romney.
Christie also says that Mitt is going to turn this thing around, big time, at Wednesday’s debate. There’s a chance of that—if Mitt is half as good at flipping the narrative as he is at flipping his positions. Christie said “Come Thursday morning the entire narrative of this race is going to change.” Will the entire narrative change? Maybe, but it could just as easily change from “Mitt is losing” to “Mitt has lost it.”
There are several ways that Mitt Romney can win the debate, but most of them involve President Obama showing up wearing a dress. We know one thing for sure—Mitt isn’t going to throw a bunch of facts and figures at Obama. Those are two things that Mitt always avoids.
Ann Romney said her biggest concern if Mitt actually wins is “for his mental well-being.” Ann, if Mitt is elected, I’m worried about the mental well-being of everyone in this country. If Mitt Romney is elected, there won’t be a vacant psychiatrist’s couch in America. Ann did add “I have all the confidence in the world in his ability, in his decisiveness, in his leadership skills, in his understanding of the economy.” So… you’re saying he would be a great president, it’s just that he’s going to cover all the walls of the Oval Office with tin foil to stop the voices.
Listen to me Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL 1600.
Trying to sabotage the Democratic vote ahead of this year’s election. As Brad Friedman at BradBlog.com reported, the Florida Republican Party cut ties with a political firm known as Strategic Allied Consulting after it was discovered that firm changed addresses on numerous voter registration forms to block newly-registered Democrats from voting in November.
The scandal is now spreading, as at least ten counties in Florida have discovered these fraudulent registration forms. And law enforcement authorities are getting involved in the matter. And the National Republican Committee has also cut ties with the firm, which it gave 3.1 million to register voters in wing states like Florida, Nevada, Colorado, North Carolina, and Virginia.
Unclear how much damage this election fraud may have on the elections in those states. This is blatant election fraud committed by the Republican Party, which has been focused on non-existent voter fraud the last two years, also, in an effort to rig the elections.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Show live Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 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...
.jpg)
.jpg)
