Duchess St. Rollins' Daily Affirmation: A Letter To Mitt Romney

THERE'S A LATINO SAYING ABOUT PEOPLE OF MITT ROMNEY'S PECULIAR, AND TRULY FRIGHTENING CHARACTER FLAWS: "NO TIENE VERGUENZA EN LA CARA!" This literally means, "He has NO SHAME ON HIS FACE!" The examples of Mitt Romney's bald-faced LIES are legion. And they raise some very disturbing questions. The first one is, "Who is this dude; what does he stand for, what does he believe in?!" The answer we've discovered is, NOTHING, except his family and religion. Which raises even more disturbing questions that just won't go away: The uneasy sense that this individual may believe he is divinely inspired, and anointed by God to be President.

From Romney's perspective, his entire life could be seen as divinely inspired; everything he touched turned to gold and riches for him; his mother told him as a child he was the "special" one; and there's a sense of divine inspiration, a secretive "specialness" in his religion, which includes the so-called "White Horse Prophecy" that the Constitution will one day "hang like a thread" and will be saved "by the efforts of the White Horse." Publicly, Mormons distance themselves from it ... but what would you expect them to say? This is much more dangerous and specific that their nonsense about Native Americans being a "lost tribe" of Israel, and all those planets they're supposed to be awarded to commune with God on his special planet named Kolob. This would explain the drift of his campaign; the statement that there will never be a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue, a stunning departure from established U.S. foreign policy through successive Republican and Democratic administrations; and Ann Romney trying to silence, or censor, critics from their own party by saying:

"STOP IT! This is hard. You want to try it? Get in the ring." She explained: "This is hard and, you know, it's an important thing that we're doing right now and it's an important election and it is time for all Americans to realize how significant this election is and how lucky we are to have someone with Mitt's qualifications and experience and know-how to be able to have the opportunity to run this country."

Aww ... Paging Jesus Christ, or the next BEST thing, Mitt Romney?! Really??? This lady is some kind of delusional. And it's just not about playing the traditional wifey role, standin' by her man. This is the bottom line folks: We know next to nothing about Mitt Romney, what motivates him, and why he has been running for president longer than most modern candidates, except Ron Paul. The Paul crusade has been much more open about its libertarian principles. I may not agree, but I can understand deeply-held policy beliefs. Romney, by contrast, is a REALLY weird cat, disconnected from reality and, by his own admission, half of America (the REAL figure is 99%), who says strange, inappropriate things which his staff then shrugs off as "humor." The other night Rachel quoted another weird evasive Romney reply to a reporter's question, which made no sense whatsoever. Unless viewed through a divine inspiration lens.

The bottom line, folks, is the more we know about Mitt Romney, the more uneasy we become. Does Mitt Romney believe he is the "White Horse" of Mormon prophecy anointed by God to save America? It's time the media ask more probing questions in this vein, and stop regarding religious beliefs as out of bounds. Thomas Jefferson warned of the dangers of a theocracy. If anything, with the rise of religious fundamentalism worldwide, including among Christian sects, the danger is more elevated today. Personally, I believe the man is a delusional sociopath, who lacks the essential quality that makes us human and spiritually whole, which is empathy. In a word, Mitt Romney is — dangerous.

Here's the inimitable Duchess St. Rollins, with more:

After seeing the video that began floating around the Internet yesterday of Mitt Romney at the private fundraiser being an uncensored ass cannon, all I can say is WOW! Okay, I’m lying, that’s not all I can say. I think a brand new letter is in order.

Dear Mitt Romney,

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for finally letting us see the real you!

“I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.” – Mitt Romney on 47% of Americans at a private fundraiser in 2012

Let me begin by saying what many belonging to the 47% of us to which you were referring would like to express:

GO FUCK YOURSELF you snide, narcissistic, self-important PRICK!

You have no fucking CLUE how hard life can really be, but let me enlighten you with a list of things you’ve never had to experience–things that many of us who work our asses off for the peanuts sociopaths like you so generously offer have had to go through. You just sit there like an idiot and nod–you’re good at that.

• The crushing despair of sobbing uncontrollably because you were served with an eviction notice after your husband was laid off and you honestly don’t know if you and your children will be homeless at the end of the week

• The sheer desperation of getting down on your knees and begging God to please let the power company forget about your shut-off notice the next day because your son is running a high fever, it’s 100 degrees outside and your boss didn’t pay you for the overtime you worked

• The unrelenting defeat of working for a company for 20 years only to have them outsource your job so that those at the top can earn a few more bucks, leaving you unemployed and middle aged with no idea how to support your family

• The gnawing fear of using the last bit of food in your home to make a bread and mayonnaise sandwich for the third night in a row because you’re blind or otherwise majorly disabled and your Social Security Disability check is late

• The overwhelming rage of coming back from a war only to find out your home is being foreclosed on by a cruel and heartless bank that could give a shit less you are the one risking his or her life so that the greedy bastards can live in a free country

• The all-consuming sadness of being a child living in a home devoid of hope or the resources to help you succeed

• The undeserved shame of being an elderly American who worked hard and paid taxes your entire life, but now has to use Food Stamps because the Social Security benefits you were promised aren’t enough

• The maddening frustration of working 40+ hours a week at a grueling and brain-numbingly repetitious job and still not being able to make ends meet or take care of your family

In the chart above, “Low Income” means your income falls below $26,400 a year for a family of four. You probably have toilets that cost more than that, Mittens. Shouldn’t our real concern as a nation be that so many people don’t make enough fucking money to pay income taxes and not this “the sky is falling” bullshit about how they aren’t contributing? What part of they are too poor to pay them don’t you evil fucks understand?

These are the real people behind the 47% of Americans you seem to think are just too lazy or lack the tenacity to be successful, you fucking arrogant pool of douche dribble. These are genuine, and in many cases, extremely hardworking people who struggle and strive to have just a taste of what you were lucky enough to be born into. I know, I know….you supposedly gave all your inheritance away and so we’re supposed to believe you’re a self-made man. Bull fucking shit, Mittens. Unless you gave away your stable childhood, supportive family, amazing education and your daddy’s Rolodex you did NOT do it all on your own. Like I already told your twat of a wife, if you would exhibit some fucking HUMILITY and admit that, the rest of us might not be quite so revolted by the two of you.

Regardless of what you or the cock weasels who will predictably leave comments claiming otherwise think, we’re not envious of your wealth. We don’t want to deprive you of your trinkets or gigantic piles of cash–although, admittedly many of us wonder how some can justify such luxuries as a car elevator when there are children literally starving to death in the world–we understand that those are your choices to make. No, we’re not jealous, Mr. Romney–just appalled at your nauseating conceit and smug lack of compassion. Maybe losing this election will cut you down to size.

Sincerely,

Americans Not Too Stupid to Believe Your Bullshit (aka, the smart people)

P.S. The 47% of which you speak aren’t all Democrats, you stupid pompous fuck.

P.P.S. 91% of people that get “entitlements” are disabled, elderly or WORKING and a measly 5% of the federal budget is spent on the NON-WORKING poor…and fuck you.

Elizabeth Warren, Part Deux

I DON'T KNOW WHAT KIND OF "MESSAGE" THE DEMOCRATIC consultant class was trying to convey to Elizabeth Warren during the DNC, but when she left giving these shadowy strategists a thumbs-up and "message received" the resulting reboot unveiled in her first debate with Scott Brown, from where I'm sitting, was less than stellar. See, when these shadowy DNC Einsteins say Warren was coming across as "preachy" I'm reminded of alleged "wise" old Dems with unsolicited foolish and sexist advice. My point is, what cred do these anonymous backbiters have, calling Warren "preachy"?

Think about it. Who speaks like this about strong, assertive women? Ans: Old, white, flaccid males of a certain age, whose better days are behind them. Just a wild guess. But Warren's general passivity in the debate seemed out of character. I wonder what Karen Finney, who knows the type, prolly been harassed by them, thinks of this. Bottom line: Without closely scrutinizing Warren's campaign, my sense is she got bad advice from a bunch of over-the-hill self-important white guys. She should go back to being herself, and let the voters decide who's being "preachy." And Steph, I wish it were so, but no, she didn't kick Brown's ass last night.

What the hell do I know, anyway.

Memo To Rachel: You And Elizabeth Warren Need To Talk

RACHEL, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAD A CHANCE TO WATCH THE BROWN-WARREN debate, but Professor Warren's seeming passivity and lack of specificity was somewhat frustrating. She held her own against Brown, but NOT ONCE did she mention the fact you've been pounding for MONTHS on your show, that Brown is Wall Street's favorite Senator of ALL! Meanwhile he was thumping his chest repeatedly with some nonsense about being the Senate's "second most bipartisan" (who's the first?) senator. That would have been a perfect opportunity for Warren to come back with: "That may be true, but you're the Senate's FIRST MOST POPULAR RECIPIENT OF WALL STREET LARGESSE!" (And then she could have pivoted to make the larger point about what's wrong with Washington, where the little guy doesn't get a break because so many senators are bought and paid for by special interests and lobbyists. It was a missed opportunity.)

Why didn't she do it? Also, he said given the chance he'd have voted for the Lilly Ledbetter equal pay bill, and she said he voted AGAINST equal pay for women, but didn't specify what it was he voted against, which left me wondering. She could have done more knocking his voting record; as well as how many times he voted with the Republican minority to uphold filibusters. Etc. It was an OK performance, but I was disappointed. I hope you convey some of these constructive critiques to Elizabeth. Scottie Brown is a buffoon, and by rights she should have creamed him. Instead, she let him escape with a whole lotta shit.

THE ORANGE MITT-MAN (THEORY) ...

ADDRESSING A LATINO AUDIENCE WITH HIS USUAL DISDAIN AND CONDESCENSION, Mitt Romney painted himself Boehner Burnt Orange, but had a major makeup malfunction when he failed to apply the Republican war paint evenly (see photo below). It was piss-poor white Mormonic stereotyping of the ethnically and culturally diverse Latino community, which assumed all Latinos come in one skin tone and body size. Consider the typical Mitt-like Latino politician to the left of Romney (below), with the splotchy white skin, liver spots, and several pre-cancerous lesions.

In a WEIRDLY supernatural SATANIC PROPHECY, Mitt Romney's Luciferean visage appears on the album cover of a band called THE ORANGE MAN THEORY with the song entitled, "SATAN TOLD ME I'M RIGHT." (Cue the chilling "OMEN" soundtrack. Gotta admit, this is kinda creepy.)

Tea Party Remedial ED: To Make Yer WIDDLE Brains Explode!

POP, POP, POP, GO THE TEABAGGER BRAINS ... Some of your own party denizens are SO DISGUSTED with the OFF-THE-CLIFF RIGHT WING DEATH SPIRAL of the Republican Party being dragged down and out by YE TEABAGGERS, ignorant, misinformed misinterpreters of YOUR OWN HISTORY (!) (Thank you very, VERY MUCH!) — that they've formed "REPUBLICANS FOR OBAMA:" Says their Mission Statement: (Save yourselves, TEABAGGERS! SIGN UP!)

"The Republican party isn't what it used to be. Our leaders and our most vocal activists have written moderates out of the party and have refused to work with the other side, to the detriment of the nation. Center-right presidents such as Reagan, Bush Sr., Ford, Nixon and Eisenhower would have no chance being nominated today.

Unfortunately, Mitt Romney has not proven to be able to stand up to our party's most extreme elements. Instead, he has fallen for the "one-size-fits-all" mentality that tax cuts for the already-wealthy will solve all of our problems, and has no workable plans to solve the challenges we face.

President Obama has shown himself to be a common-sense centrist. He has cut taxes when necessary, has taken steps to protect the environment, and has aggressively pursued Islamic extremists who threaten America. Most notably, he has reformed our healthcare system by signing a Republican-inspired healthcare plan into law. In most other points in our party's history, Obama would fit in well as a Republican."

Neil Young, Eternal Hippie, Musical Genius: Long May You Run

TODAY'S NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE HAS A GREAT PROFILE of the serendipitous Neil Young, among the greatest rockers of all time, whose rich, unforgettable career spanned some four decades. Neil, who lives in relative seclusion with his family on his expansive California ranch, granted a rare interview on the occasion of the imminent publication of his autobiography, “Waging Heavy Peace.”

One building on his ranch houses his model train collection; another his vintage cars. After some health issues, including an aneurysm, Neil has been clean of pot and sober for a year: “The straighter I am, the more alert I am, the less I know myself and the harder it is to recognize myself. I need a little grounding in something and I am looking for it everywhere.”

“... Old Black, his painted-over Gibson Les Paul guitar. Young, born in 1945, is the older brother to Old Black, made in 1952. Through the years, Old Black has been souped up, tweaked and rebuilt, but it has never been replaced as his musical partner. When he plays it, he often looks and sounds furious.

In our crisscrossing the ranch, at one point we stopped in an outdoor graveyard of old cars, a white-trash tableau of desiccated, rusting sheet metal. He stroked the giant fin of a ’59 Lincoln and said it may yet roar to life. “Every car is full of stories. Who rode in ’em, where they went, where they ended up, how they got here.”

Here's Neil Young and his reliable partner, Old Black, playing, very appropriately given the quote above, one of his greatest, most beautiful, and memorable tunes: Long May You Run!

Memo To The Rev: Where's Your 'Street Smarts', Pal

JUST LIKE THAT GREAT FOLKSY DEMOCRAT 'MUDCAT' SAUNDERS SAID in a previous segment, you and he have what Romney lacks, except, it seems, when a pretty face flips you. I refer specifically to Erin McPike of RealClearPolitics, a CONSERVATIVE website; and she's covering Mitt Romney. Aside from the annoying snarky grin she sports on your show and MSNBC generally, a Mark Halperin fellow traveler (?) perhaps, Erin seldom HAS ANY USEFUL INFORMATION TO IMPART.

See, Rev, I don't care if she's a Republican so long as she's a reporter FIRST. The fact is, we're not stupid, and her skating is getting REALLY OLD REALLY FAST. Whatever her reasons — most likely she doesn't want to compromise her sources, or worse, her bias prompts her to try sneaking in Romney propaganda in the outrageous Halperin mode, but maybe feels somewhat constrained — I have a one-word description for Erin: GUARDED. That won't do, Rev. I like a pretty face as much as the next guy, but MSNBC ain't FOX, if you catch my drift, and Erin sure ain't Lady Alex! Rev, you're insulting our intelligence by foisting Erin on us who, time and again, has NOTHING MUCH to say or report.

And Rev, speaking of 'street smarts', here's a FREE TIP: How to spot a REPUBLICAN woman at, say, the DNC, or MSNBC: Nine times out of ten, she's the one wearing the string of pearls — not a locket, or more colorful neckwear; but pearls — like Susan Page, Andrea Mitchell, and of course, Erin. It's a dead giveaway. Srsly.

New York Times, Bringing Up The Rear: Mitt Romney, Class Warrior

THE NEWSPAPER OF RECORD HAS SPOKEN. Welcome to the fold, slo-pokes.

Mitt Romney, Class Warrior (Emphasis mine.)

It turns out that Mitt Romney was right. There is class warfare being waged in the 2012 campaign. It is Mr. Romney who is waging it, not President Obama, and he’s stood the whole idea on its head.

When you think of class warfare, you probably think of inciting anger, resentment and jealousy among the have-nots against the haves. That’s what Mr. Romney has accused Mr. Obama of doing, but those charges have always been false. The truth is that Mr. Romney has been trying to incite the anger of a small slice of the richest Americans who need no government assistance but get it anyway, against the working poor, older Americans, the disabled workers and veterans, and even a significant chunk of middle-class Americans.

That was the message of remarks that Mr. Romney made in May at a private fund-raiser held at a private equity manager’s estate in Florida, a moment when he thought he was safe from annoying reporters and cameramen, and other Americans who are not rich enough to have bought a ticket to the event.

A video made public on Monday by the magazine Mother Jones showed a Mitt Romney who felt free to speak candidly about his campaign and how he would conduct a presidency. In that safe zone, Mr. Romney spoke with a bone-chilling cynicism and a revolting smugness. If he is elected, he said, capital will come back and “we’ll see — without actually doing anything — we’ll actually get a boost in the economy.” That’s the state of trickle-down economics in the 21st century.

Gone was the pretense that he will be a president of all Americans. Mr. Romney rather neatly divided the country between the people who matter and the 47 percent he does not care about.

To Mr. Romney, that 47 percent consists of people who do not make enough money to be required to pay federal income tax. They are freeloaders, he said, “who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.” It is not his job, he said, as a candidate nor apparently as president if he is elected, “to worry about those people.”

By his definition, those undeserving freeloaders include workers in low-paying, menial jobs (sometimes more than one job) who don’t even earn $9,750 a year, the amount at which they would start to owe federal income tax. Also included are older Americans whose Social Security pensions are too low to be taxed, disabled veterans and people who were maimed on the job.

This group also includes some middle-income Americans who make, say, $50,000 a year but are not required to pay taxes after they take advantage of child credits, marriage penalty relief and other tax breaks, many of which are part of the Bush-era tax cuts that Mr. Romney backs with a blind ideological fervor.

But, of course, Mr. Romney was not talking about the Americans who make so much money that they are able to avoid paying any tax at all or who, like him, are able to shelter their incomes in overseas banks or tax loopholes that permit them to pretend that ordinary income comes from investment and thus pay lower taxes. Mr. Romney has been paying, by his own account, about 13 percent to 15 percent of his enormous income in federal income taxes. Just compare that with your own tax return.

Everything about Mr. Romney’s characterization of this mythical slice of lazy, shiftless Americans was wrong. A vast majority of Americans pay federal taxes, either income tax or payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare — or both — as well as other federal fees. They also pay state and local taxes and sales taxes.

The government’s revenue problem does not start with the poor but with the richest people, through the Bush tax cuts and other changes. The tax cuts for the richest people should expire now, and the middle-class cuts should do so eventually. But that will not happen as long as people like Mr. Romney protect the rich by turning the working poor and middle class into the enemy.

Mr. Romney may have been talking about electoral tactics: those people are going to vote for Mr. Obama, so let’s concentrate on our kind of people. It’s also possible that he was mouthing the words of the extreme right without really believing them. But all the possible explanations say terrible things about Mr. Romney’s character.

The right wing has long been whining about people who don’t pay taxes and who, therefore, don’t deserve a say in government. They have it backward. The shame is not that those people don’t pay income taxes. The shame is how many poor people there are when the top 1 percent can amass uncountable fortunes fed by tax breaks and can donate tens of millions of dollars to political candidates to keep it that way.

Memo To Mitt 'The Odious Twit': Have You Heard Of The FUBAR Political Rule?!

HERE 'TIS, GRAPHICALLY REPRESENTED WITH YOUR CAMPAIGN LOGO. YA JUST CAN'T SHOVE the Aquafresh back in the tube, pal.

SMILE! ... YOU'RE ON CANDID CAMERA!!!

OOOH, LOOKS LIKE MITT'S HAVING A BAD HAIR DAY, TOO ...

More BAD NEWS For Romney CLOWN Attack ...

NEW PEW POLL SHOWS STRONG PUBLIC DISAPPROVAL OF ROMNEY's politicization of the murder of our Ambassador and three other diplomats in Libya, with strong approval for the President's handling of the attacks and killings of our diplomats. UH-OH. The American electorate may be the most MISINFORMED in history, but when they get their facts straight, they're NOT stupid:

About four-in-ten Americans (43%) have followed news about the attacks on U.S. embassies in the Middle East and the killing of an American ambassador very closely, making it by far the most closely followed foreign news story of the year.

Those who have followed this story have much more positive opinions about Barack Obama’s handling of the situation than Mitt Romney’s comments on the crisis. Nearly half (45%) approve of Obama’s handling of the recent attacks on U.S. embassies and the killing of the U.S. ambassador in Libya; 36% disapprove of Obama’s handling of this situation.

In contrast, only about a quarter (26%) of those who have tracked news on turmoil in the Middle East approve of Romney’s comments on the situation; nearly half (48%) disapprove.

BEST ONE-LINERS DESCRIBING ROMNEY MELTDOWN

The Real Romney Captured on Tape Turns Out to Be a Sneering Plutocrat, By Jonathan Chait

Thurston Howell Romney: a country-club fantasy, By DAVID BROOKS

Today, Mitt Romney Lost the Election, By Josh Barro (Bloomberg)

Romney in panic mode, Salon

... To which the Romney camp, rather than apologize, retooled by rolling out their latest self-explanatory campaign poster: 

Elizabeth Warren Is SURGING!

AS MASSACHUSETTS 'PROLES' ARE GETTING RESTIVE. I THINK THERE ARE TWO THINGS AT WORK HERE: 'BEAM ME UP' SCOTTIE BROWN, the bow-legged man — imagine watching Scottie and 'Magic Underwear' Mitt walking side-by-side: What a weird, bizarro HOWLER! — who consorts with KINGS, QUEENS, AND PRIME MINISTERS was (1) whacked by a SPECTACULAR Warren speech at the AWESOME DNC CONVENTION:

And (2) The voters of Massachusetts, or 'PROLES', i.e., "those people" as they're know at Romney DISASTER HEADQUARTERS in Boston, are FED UP of being UNDER OCCUPATION by the MOST REPUGNANT REPUBLICAN campaign since Pat Buchanan howled "LOCK AND LOAD" and vowed to wage a "CULTURE WAR" that would take back America "street by street." We hear echoes of this in the Romney campaign when he yelps in his high-pitched chihuahua stump voice, "I want my country back!"

Elizabeth Warren is the genuine article, who is SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER. And this year, the voters are hankering to blow away the smoke, and shatter the mirrors, and elect AWESOME candidates like Elizabeth Warren.

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON ROMNEY'S CRAVEN LIE

MITT ROMNEY, THIS LOATHSOME, DESPICABLE EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN, HAS IT WRONG THAT 47 PERCENT OF AMERICANS DON'T PAY TAXES. HERE's Ezra Klein, setting the record straight: (Emphasis mine.)

— 53.6 percent of households pay the federal income tax. Presumably Romney is okay with these folks.

— 28.3 percent of households pay no federal income tax, but they do pay the payroll tax. That means they don’t need Mitt Romney to convince them to “take personal responsibility and care for their lives.” They already have jobs.

Most of the households in this group don’t pay any federal income tax because they qualify for enough deductions that their income tax liability has shrunk to zero. See this Tax Policy Center report for more, which gives an example of “a couple with two children earning less than $26,400. They get an $11,600 standard deduction and four exemptions of $3,700, and that takes their liability to zero.” Indeed, it’s worth noting that many of these deductions and credits were part of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, which Romney wants to extend.

— 10.3 percent of households pay no federal income tax because they’re retired and elderly. Many retirees aren’t taxed on their Social Security benefits, which they earned by paying into the system over many years. If Mitt Romney secretly thinks that these households are all irresponsible freeloaders, he has a weird way of showing it, as he keeps insisting that he doesn’t want to cut Medicare or Social Security benefits for those over the age of 65.

— That leaves 6.9 percent of households which are non-elderly and have incomes less than $20,000 per year and aren’t paying the payroll tax. These poorer households pay neither income taxes nor payroll taxes. Perhaps Romney thinks that they should all pay more in federal taxes. It’s hard to say. But this is also a much smaller fraction of Americans. [YOU CAN SAY IT EZRA; THEY'RE THE POOREST OF THE POOR IN THIS, THE RICHEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, IS A DISGRACE! FIFTY YEARS AGO, BOBBY KENNEDY, THE VERY ANTITHESIS OF ROMNEY AND THE REPUBLICANS, SAID IT. AND THIS SCUMBAG ROMNEY IS WHAT WE'VE COME TO  — BLAMING THEM?!] Meanwhile, just as a reminder, the vast majority of Americans still pay state and local taxes — in fact, these taxes tend to be more regressive. When you add up all the different types of taxes, most income groups in the United States tend to pay an amount that’s roughly commensurate with their share of the national income.

REAL Romney, What He REALLY Thinks of HALF The Voters ... BEHIND CLOSED DOORS!? (OOPS)

THIS IS FOR YOU, LOW-INFORMATION PUBLIC, SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING A VOTE AGAINST YOUR OWN SELF-INTEREST, for 'Mitt The ODIOUS Twit': Here's how CONTEMPTUOUSLY Romney looks down his nose at YOU. The folks who are voting for President Obama, of course, are exempted. They're smart and grounded in reality. But according to Romney, we're ALL BUMS dependent on the government, including his SINGLE BIGGEST (AND DUMBEST) CONSTITUENCY, senior citizens, who get Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Are you paying attention, seniors?! One last thing: This RATBASTARD, this DISDAINFUL, ARROGANT SCUMBAG has the UNMITIGATED GALL to say we don't pay taxes while he's been twisting himself into a pretzel to keep his under-13% tax returns with all those foreign tax shelters from review by US FUCKING FORTY-SEVEN PERCENT WORKING STIFF AMERICANS! Here's the secret video obtained by Mother Jones Magazine, of a swank Romney fundraiser thrown by a fellow VULTURE CAPITALIST:

Paulie MUNSTER Demands To Be "Unleashed" ...

WAS GRANTED HIS WISH AFTER HE BIT SENIOR ADVISOR ERIC FEHRNSTROM (OF ETCH-A-SKETCH FAME), who then flew into a rage and flung the Romney HQ soda vendor across the lunch room with apparent supernatural strength. Said one campaign insider, "It's hard to keep him on a LEASH with all the red meat we're tossing to the crowds." OOH, we're SO SKEERT of lettin' Ryan be Ryan, with all those lead balloons they're hiding from us ...

Musical Interlude: Gotye — Somebody That I Used To Know

A YOUTUBE ORCHESTRA REMIX OF INDIE ARTIST GOTYE'S "SOMEBODY ..."

Does This UGLY Mutha Look Like A Veep To You?!

THIS DUDE, PAULIE 'THE NOSE' RYAN, SHOULD TEAM UP WITH JOE PESCI TO MAKE A FILM ABOUT IRISH and Italian Mob rivalries. Set in Boston. Directed by Clint Eastwood. With a subplot involving a CULT of rich, secretive Mormons looking to launder their Mob investments through Caymans and Swiss laundromats.

One thing Monica 'The Wingnut 'Ho' Crowley and NYT columnist Maureen Dowd have in common is TRULY HIDEOUS taste in men:

Romney Explains His Hollow Core And Lack Of Decency ...

SIMPSONS-STYLE. AND BELOW A DRAMATIC RE-ENACTMENT OF HIS PSYCHOTIC MELTDOWN this week. (Better for the voters sooner than later.)

Memo To Michael Steele: Time To Spit The Bit ...

DON'T EVEN TRY GETTING ARGUMENTATIVE WITH JOY-ANN REED, PAL. You're just not in her league. Stick to your little Fred Luntz talking points and your B.S. filibuster sessions with best buddy, Chris. Once a political hack, always a political hack.

METAPHOR FOR HOW RYAN-ROMNEY INTEND TO TREAT SENIORS

AS THE LITTLE PUNK MAKES A JOKE ABOUT THE 71-YEAR OLD RETIRED PLUMBER, WHO WAS ROUGHLY WRESTLED TO THE FLOOR AND HANDCUFFED: "I hope he's taking his blood pressure medication." Are you paying attention, seniors?!

"As Congressman Paul Ryan cracked a joke about him, Tom Nielsen found himself face down on the floor being handcuffed by police. The 71-year-old retired plumber from Kenosha was thrown to the ground, placed in handcuffs, and arrested for trespassing and resisting arrest after objecting to Ryan's plans to gut Social Security and Medicare during his congressman's only public appearance scheduled during the August recess — a $15 Rotary Club luncheon. Nielsen repeatedly told police that he wasn't fighting them and that he didn't want to make any trouble. He also told them several times that he had a broken shoulder. Police officers ignored his comments as they wrestled him to the ground despite his howls of pain."

Gail Collins Takes A Whack At The Mitt Piñata ...

DON'T YOU LOVE IT? GAIL SPEAKS THE LANGUAGE OF THE FEMALE SUBURBAN "INDEPENDENT" VOTER, millions of whom at this very moment are considering Gail's kitchen table conclusion: "Two months to go and we’re rethinking our presumption that the Republican primary voters picked the most stable option."

Mitt’s Major Meltdown
By GAIL COLLINS
Mitt Romney broke our deal.

Perhaps he didn’t know he’d made it, although, really, I thought it was pretty clear.

He could do anything he wanted during this campaign as long as he sent out signals that once he got in the White House he was not likely to be truly crazy.

We, in return, were going to be able to continue with our normal sleeping patterns through the fall.

It didn’t seem to be a lot to ask, but when the crisis in the Middle East flared up, Romney turned out to have no restraining inner core. All the uneasy feelings you got when he went to London and dissed the Olympic organizers can now come into full bloom. Feel free to worry about anything. That he’d declare war on Malta. Lock himself in a nuclear missile silo and refuse to come out until there’s a tax cut. Hand the country over to space aliens.

Here is the Republican candidate for president of the United States on Wednesday, explaining why he broke into a moment of rising international tension and denounced the White House as “disgraceful” for a mild statement made by the American Embassy in Cairo about the importance of respecting other people’s religions:

“They clearly — they clearly sent mixed messages to the world. And — and the statement came from the administration — and the embassy is the administration — the statement that came from the administration was a — was a statement which is akin to apology and I think was a — a — a severe miscalculation.”

Feel free to reread this when you’re staring at the ceiling at 4 a.m.

This all began on Sept. 11. There were protests in the Middle East, at least some of them involving an anti-Islamic movie, “Innocence of Muslims,” which depicts the Prophet Muhammad as a cowardly, drunken torturer of children and old women. I did not see any puppies being dismembered, but then I only watched the 14-minute trailer.

A man identifying himself as Sam Bacile told The Wall Street Journal that he made it in California with $5 million from more than 100 donors. However, nothing Bacile said about himself seemed to hold up in the light of day. And if he did raise $5 million, those donors need to hire a lawyer. The trailer looks as though it was made by a 13-year-old boy with access to a large supply of fake beards.

The film popped up on YouTube dubbed in Arabic, stirring outrage. In response, the American Embassy in Cairo said it deplored “the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims — as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions.”

Does that seem all that bad to you, people? It was definitely a film whose only point was to offend people of the Islamic faith. I would also call whoever made it not well-guided.

It isn’t clear how the movie, the protests in Egypt and the murders of four American diplomats in Libya fit together. That’s the job of intelligence experts. We’re stuck with the task of evaluating Mitt Romney, who went for a cheap attack at a time when any calm, mature adult would have waited and opted for at least a brief show of national unity.

The one big advantage to being a boring candidate is that you give the appearance of calm and stability. But, suddenly, Romney seemed to want to go for a piquant mélange of dull and hotheaded.

Virtually nobody seemed to think this was all that great a plan. The Romney campaign, according to CNN, helpfully passed out suggestions for supporters who might want to defend Mitt. (When asked whether he was too quick on the attack, loyalists were supposed to say: “No. It is never too soon to stand up for American values and interests.”)

But not all that many other Republicans seemed excited about joining in. A few social conservatives did unveil a hitherto-unnoticed passion for the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom to make fun of religion. “It was disheartening to hear the administration condemn Americans engaging in free speech that hurt the feelings of Muslims,” said Senator Jim DeMint.

And, let’s see, who else. Donald Rumsfeld tweeted support. Party chairman Reince Priebus chimed in: “Obama sympathizes with attackers in Egypt. Sad and pathetic.” Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona said the embassy’s comment “is like the judge telling the woman that got raped, ‘You asked for it because of the way you dressed.’ That’s the same thing.”

On this side: Mitt Romney, a totally disgraced former secretary of defense, a person named Reince Priebus, and a new Republican rape comment.

Two months to go and we’re rethinking our presumption that the Republican primary voters picked the most stable option.

ROMNEY'S SMIRK, AFTER DEATH OF 4 U.S. DIPLOMATS ...

FOLLOWED BY PRISSY, MAGIC UNDERWEAR WALK. CAN YOU SPELL: REPULSIVE?!

Quotable, Richard Williamson: Romney's Top Foreign Policy Aide Justifies Mitt's Behavior

"Ty Cobb was the greatest hitter of all time and he batted about .355. And he is still the greatest hitter. There isn’t something in my 63 years I couldn’t have done better except con my wife into marrying me.” ~ Williamson trying to explain Romney's slam of President Obama before the dust had cleared, and the death toll was known.

COMMENT: I kid you not; you can't make this stuff up, folks.

Mark Halperin Redux, Ad Nauseating ...

COMPOUNDING THE SURREAL REACTION OF THE CHATTERING MSNBC CLASS — MARTIN BASHIR WON THE DAY FOR ELOQUENT REPORTING AND COMMENTARY, hands down, while Chris Matthews is back in the DOGHOUSE — the ubiquitous Mark Halperin returned to Hardball to spread more Romney apologist garbage on a very tough day.

Not that Halperin's initial statement from his Time Mag perch wasn't carefully auspicious ... for Halperin. It was probably more of a self-invite to as many MSNBC spots as he could land on this day to spread more Romney crapaganda and disinformation. Sounded good, though:

"[Romney's] doubling down on criticism of the President for the statement coming out of Cairo is likely to be seen as one of the most craven and ill-advised tactical moves in this entire campaign." Of course, notice Halperin said, "likely to be seen;" Trans: Not by me. Sure enough, he was invited back on Hardball to put lipstick on this pig. Opposite Halperin was his newly-minted ass-kisser, the Huff Post's Howard Fineman.

Halperin mildly called the Romney statement, "a "mistake politically" and "it's the wrong thing to do." But then, while Chris slumped in his chair under Halperin's famous hypnotic trance, the Romney MEDIA MOLE went on an uninterrupted, uncorrected, typical pro-Romney Halperin riff:

"Mitt Romney feels this incident reveals" something about the President's foreign policy (WHAT, exactly?!); that he's "too apologetic" (AGAIN, A BALD-FACED LIE, REPEATEDLY DEBUNKED AND JUST AS REPEATEDLY ECHOED BY HALPERIN EVERY CHANCE HE GETS, ON MSNBC), the President does not "manage" foreign policy (WHAT? ... A PATHETIC HALPERIN PLOY, TO REPEAT THE BIG LIE AND HOPE SOMETHING STICKS); "there's questions" about the Cairo Embassy statement, "how it got put out," and it's "not the best worded statement" (EXCUSE ME?! — See statement below); as Halperin concludes with the nauseously familiar FALSE EQUIVALENCY: Said Halperin, this comes "from both sides — an unwillingness to back down, a macho, testosterone impulse to not back down."

LIES, LIES, LIES, LIES, LIES! This is so outrageous, it's literally a question of, 'where to begin', every time Halperin shows his ugly mug. The thing that is so infuriating about this expert crapagandist is his ability to make expert-sounding declarative statements WITHOUT A SHRED OF SUPPORTING EVIDENCE. There is NO EQUIVALENCY between the ROMNEY LIES and the Obama campaign. The "macho" and "testosterone" Halperin whines about is that he and Romney CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH. The Obama attacks on Romney's evasions, secretiveness about releasing his taxes, and his UTTER FOREIGN POLICY INCOMPETENCE laid bare before us, today, HAPPEN TO BE FAIR GAME BECAUSE THEY'RE TRUE.

Sorry, pal, but your best-laid plans ... Or as Harry Truman famously said: "I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell."

Memo To Mark Halperin: You may think, with some justification given how easily you can pull the wool over Chris's head or invoke the 'buddy system' with Howard, that you can spread your Romney LIES with impunity. But we've got your number, pal. And we're not the only ones. As long as these scribblings reach someone with a brain, who can connect the dots RE: the FETID media culture you're such an expert at manipulating, we'll continue telling the TRUTH about you.

WOULD YOU WANT THIS DESPICABLE CLOWN AS PRESIDENT?!

MORE TO THE POINT: CAN AMERICA SURVIVE A ROMNEY PRESIDENCY? UNLIKE MITT ROMNEY, I'LL stick to the facts commenting on a fluid, incendiary foreign policy crisis. This much is known: Romney launched his despicable political attack on the President (a) before all the facts were in; and (b) BEFORE THE VICTIMS WERE IDENTIFIED AND THE NEXT OF KIN NOTIFIED.

In context, the Cairo Embassy statement, issued by seasoned diplomats with knowledge of the potential inflammatory reaction by the Arab Street to a YouTube film attacking the Muslim religion, was a tactical effort to quell the passions of the crowd and prevent an escalation, which eventually happened, tragically for our diplomats in Libya. Here's the Cairo Embassy statement:

“The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims — as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions.

Today, the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy. Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others.”

This statement was made a full six hours before the Embassy walls were breached, as unrest grew outside. Shamefully and irresponsibly, Romney issued a statement attacking the President for "sympathizing with those who had breached our embassy in Egypt instead of condemning their actions." Only the Cairo Embassy statement was issued before the attacks in a failed attempt to calm the passions of the crowd! Tragically, the attack to our consulate in Benghazi, Libya resulted in the deaths of four U.S. diplomats, including our Embassador. Secretary Clinton and the President issued strong statements condemning the attacks. There is reason to believe the Libya attack was a terrorist operation to coincide with the 9/11 anniversary.

No one seems to want to pull a Romney, but I will: It's not unreasonable to consider whether his jingoistic statement may have further inflamed the crowd as protests continue outside the Cairo Embassy. As far as they're concerned, the American political class speaks with one voice, and it's one huge anti-Muslim conspiracy. They're all connected to the net, twitter and facebook, too, so Romney's bellicose statement almost certainly drowned out the more reasoned, dignified, and respectful statement issued by the Cairo Embassy. When he says America will "not apologize" the mob could interpret it as no apologies for the despicable anti-Islam film by a (alleged?) right wing Israeli hater, which started this tragic train of events.

Mitt Romney should STFU and APOLOGIZE himself, if he's man enough. The lives of Americans abroad, including our diplomats, are at stake in this fluid crisis. As Condi Rice said, "we have one President at a time." Step aside Mitt Romney, you odious, shameful ratbastard, stop nipping at President Obama's heels. It's undignified. American lives are on the line. Is nothing sacred?!

Instead, with a recklessness and stupidity that fundamentally disqualifies Romney from being president (if the MSM do their jobs the voters will perceive this), Romney doubled down on his earlier statement, trying to glean political advantage even after the deaths of four American diplomats. Evidently, with this odious clown — nothing really is sacred.

Memo To Rachel, Producers: Your Timing's WAAAY OFF!

RACHEL, HERE'S A PRETTY BASIC JOURNALISTIC RULE: NO TWO INTERVIEWS ARE THE SAME! Some rather boring folks you've had on for "THE INTERVIEW" got more air time than tonight's interviewee Kurt Eichenwald, who has uncovered new evidence that the Bush administration knew much more about the "imminent" 9/11 terrorist attacks, i.e. they ignored repeated urgent and specific warnings from CIA, and did nothing.

So what do YOU do: You give us a teaser about Ari Fleischer accusing Eichenwald of being a 9/11 "truther" ... Then, having dropped this tantalizing bomb, YOU FUCKING END THE INTERVIEW! ... "Kurt Eichenwald,valedictorian,former New York Times reporter,Vanity Fair contributor,author of X, Y and Z,little league coach ... BLAH-BLAH-BLAH ..." This after you spent an inordinate amount of air time, with those truly ANNOYING breaks, ACTUALLY ANNOUNCING THE INTERVIEW!

Rachel, Rachel, RACHEL ... One would think you might have learned something about good clock management from the Rand Paul interview, or FROM YOUR FAVORITE NFL COACH!

9/11 — A Date To Remember

ELEVEN YEARS LATER, HAVE WE ABSORBED THE LESSONS of the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks? To hear the chickenhawk bellicosity of Mitt Romney, to see the stubborn ascendancy of America's fascist ruling class, the neocons, led by Dick Cheney and his PNAC cohorts, like John Bolton, Paula Dobriansky (a PNAC founder), Eliot Cohen, Robert Kagan, and Dan Senor, to name a few, all members of Romney's "war cabinet," the answer is a resounding and frightening NO.

At the same time, most Democrats capitulated to the Bush regime's national security state 2.0 — the first version was the establishment of the CIA during the Cold War years, as the secret arm of American empire, the tyranny of the domestic surveillance state under J. Edgar Hoover, the illegal spying on prominent Americans such as Martin Luther King, on the civil rights and anti-war movements, and COINTELPRO, only to be codified today under cover of 9/11. Americans have ceded our freedoms to the national security state as a result of the trauma of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Today's New York Times has a devastating Op-Ed detailing the multiple warnings ignored by the Bush administration of the impending attacks, "The Deafness Before The Storm." Ironically, the CIA emerged as the good guys in this tragic debacle:

"And the C.I.A. repeated the warnings in the briefs that followed. Operatives connected to Bin Laden, one reported on June 29, expected the planned near-term attacks to have “dramatic consequences,” including major casualties. On July 1, the brief stated that the operation had been delayed, but “will occur soon.” Some of the briefs again reminded Mr. Bush that the attack timing was flexible, and that, despite any perceived delay, the planned assault was on track.

Yet, the White House failed to take significant action. Officials at the Counterterrorism Center of the C.I.A. grew apoplectic. On July 9, at a meeting of the counterterrorism group, one official suggested that the staff put in for a transfer so that somebody else would be responsible when the attack took place, two people who were there told me in interviews. The suggestion was batted down, they said, because there would be no time to train anyone else."

But today is a day for remembrance and reflection; a day to honor the victims and give thanks for we, the living; a day to rededicate ourselves to a world without war, strife, and terrorism. And a day to understand the lessons of 9/11/2001, that ultimately security comes not in trading our freedoms and democracy for Fortress America but in striving for a world in which terrorism and war are finally obsolete.

Prez Gets Epic Bear Hug From Pizzaman, 'Biker' Joe Does Brando

YUP, THEY'RE THE WILD ONES, THIS DEMOCRATIC DYNAMIC DUO. Romney and Ryan can't connect with THE PEOPLE, like this:

Incidentally, the Pizza owner is a Republican who voted for the President in 2008 and will do so again, this year, obviously. And here's 'Biker' Joe, um, courting the biker vote:

THE PRO-ROMNEY BELTWAY MEDIA INFECTION AT MSNBC METASTASIZES

OF COURSE IT HAS, WITH THE ELECTION APPROACHING, AS THE SENSE OF URGENCY to get Mitt Romney's message out to the corporate MSM, beyond the right wing FOX echo chamber (have you seen their ratings, lately?), grows stronger. The culprits, the facilitators, the principals at MSNBC, by their own admission and actions are Phil Griffin (who actually mentioned that execrable "a star is born" nonsense about Paul Ryan to make his point about MSNBC being so fair and balanced), Steve Capus who is a corporate Griffin lackey, and the two most egregious violators of providing a forum, or platform, for the false Romney Beltway Media narrative, Chris Matthews and Andrea Mitchell.

They're gone. Andrea, or as our sometime corporate collaborator Rachel says, "our beloved Andrea," is a willing co-conspirator. Chris Matthews, I'm convinced, is clueless about the circles he moves in; the D.C. political class is too intertwined and incestuous to escape the POLITICO groupthink. The Andrea-POLITICO connection is well known. As is the POLITICO Romney-Republican false narrative, willingly promoted by Andrea and perhaps unwittingly by Chris.

Today, in Hardball's opening segment, the theme was a "sweet" Democratic convention versus a "sour" Republican one. Chris hosted a real journalist, the Huff Post's Howard Fineman, and a Romney crapagandist, chief POLITICO RATBASTARD, Jim Vandehei. Immediately, Vandehei began pushing back with Romney trash talk:

• The Repugs had successfully sold the electorate on the need for a change. Oh really? Then why have the polls not moved ONE IOTA for Romney beyond the Repug electoral base?! Even Vandehei had to reluctantly admit the Romney campaign "internals" in Ohio have Obama ahead by 8. 

• Then he sought to diminish the FABULOUS Democratic convention, first, by denying the obvious, that Republicans weren't enthused for Romney, trying to build a TOTALLY FALSE case that they were; then he made another excuse, that the Democrats went second; SO WHAT!? That has NOTHING to do with putting on a great, well-managed convention. 

• Then Vandehei dismissed the Democratic "bounce" which was significant to Chris in one poll, because it placed Obama for the first time above 50% approval, at 52%, saying he agreed (naturally) with the Romney pollster who characterized it as a "sugar high."

Let's pause here to look at the BIG PICTURE. What Vandehei, and that RATBASTARD ROMNEY SNAKE Mark Halperin working the Andrea beat, are doing with these specious, false/sophistic arguments is to build, brick-by-brick, a pro-Romney corporate Beltway narrative, almost subliminally influencing their subjects (which is a little harder to do with Chris, now that we read him the RIOT ACT; but not much) to repeat it on-air, hence spreading the false "message" for adoption by the MSM lemmings. Finally, for the Vandehei misinformation coup de gras:

• He began claiming Romney's supposed debate prowess, while diminishing the President's. The aim here is to build false a priori expectations for who has "won" and "lost" the debate. It goes something like this: If the President wins, but Romney more or less holds his own, according to POLITICO's spin, then the debate goes to Romney. If the President creams Romney, then he has won "on points" but Romney connected with some dubious points. If the debate is perceived by the viewing public as more or less even, or a draw, then Romney has "won" because the diminished expectations, suddenly elevated, were so much higher for the President.

Such is the game the Vandeheis and Halperins of this world play. Speaking of Mark Halperin, he was  on Andrea's show making all sorts of false assertions, saying the President's speech was about the "fourth or fifth" best and didn't include any "specifics," then proceeded to riff on totally specious, sophistic points that sounded plausible but were completely false. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any transcript to rip this RATBASTARD's Romney crapaganda to shreds. Andrea, rather sheepishly, said to her other guest Obama's speech had more "specifics" than Romney's. UM ...YEA-AH.

Here's the thing, Chris. (Andrea, I'm not talking to you.) I don't care, or mind, if you have SELF-IDENTIFIED Republicans on your show to make their case for Romney. Good journalists, like Howard Fineman and Gene Robinson among many others, no matter their politics, leave their ideology at the door, and give us the benefit of their professional expertise and insights. Jim Vandehei and Mark Halperin are 'journalist' poseurs — and to host them on false pretenses on a news and commentary network is completely unacceptable.

The Democratic Party Anthem: "We Take Care of Our Own."

WHAT A MOMENT ...

GABBY GIFFORDS LEADS THE DNC IN THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. Wow.

 

"I'M THE PRESIDENT."

FOR ME, AS A STUDENT OF HISTORY, THE MOST POIGNANT MOMENT of President Obama's thoughtful, reflective speech last night was when he invoked his hero and role model, Abraham Lincoln: "And while I'm proud of what we've achieved together, I'm far more mindful of my own failings, knowing exactly what Lincoln meant when he said, 'I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go.'"

When Abraham Lincoln said these words, the war was not going well for the Union following Lee's victory at the Second Battle of Bull Run, briefly deferring Lincoln's intention to issue a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. It was a low point for the President, still mourning the death of his eleven year old son, Will.

President Obama prefaced this quote with a powerful, Lincolnesque statement: "I’m no longer just a candidate. I’m the President. I know what it means to send young Americans into battle, for I have held in my arms the mothers and fathers of those who didn’t return. I’ve shared the pain of families who’ve lost their homes, and the frustration of workers who’ve lost their jobs. If the critics are right that I’ve made all my decisions based on polls, then I must not be very good at reading them."

THE PRESIDENT

 If there's a hint of frustration and self-pity here, we, the people, should forgive and embrace our President. For he was merely vocalizing what every great leader, from Lincoln to FDR to Churchill, has experienced in perilous times — the burdens of leadership and the loneliness at the top, where life and death decisions are made, alone, every day.

Mitt Romney, you have no earthly idea.

It was a brief but revealing opening, a crack in the armor of our President, who has endured so much abuse from haters and naysayers, much as Lincoln did in his time, only to let us know that he, too, is a human being tasked with making wrenching, momentous decisions. As Bobby Kennedy once said, quoting the Greek poet Aeschylus, as Bobby delivered the news of Martin Luther King's assassination to a stunned campaign crowd, “He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.”

Joe Biden witnessed this President first-hand: "I'm here to tell you what I think you already know. But I watch it up close. Bravery resides in the heart of Barack Obama, and time and time again I witnessed him summon it. This man has courage in his soul, compassion in his heart and a spine of steel." Earlier, President Clinton amplified this quality of leadership, known only to those who have, frankly, been there and done that: "I want to nominate a man who’s cool on the outside, but who burns for America on the inside."

Wise words from those who know. The British would say, approvingly, that this President has "a stiff upper lip." For those who cravenly question this President's birthright because of the color of his skin, he summoned, as Lincoln did, the better angels of our nature: "But we also believe in something called citizenship — citizenship, a word at the very heart of our founding, a word at the very essence of our democracy, the idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations."

President Lincoln, in a custom that is unheard-of today would greet common citizens at the White House, as well as others seeking patronage or jobs, with a simple, "What can I do for you?" His door was almost always open. For him, it was a way to stay connected with the people. In a touching, revelatory moment, Michelle Obama described a very similar ritual, upgraded to the times we live in, her husband insisted upon from the start, that his staff set aside ten constituent letters for his reading, at night.

"That's the man I see in those quiet moments late at night, hunched over his desk, poring over the letters people have sent him. The letter from the father struggling to pay his bills... from the woman dying of cancer whose insurance company won't cover her care ... from the young person with so much promise but so few opportunities. I see the concern in his eyes...and I hear the determination in his voice as he tells me, "You won't believe what these folks are going through, Michelle; it's not right. We've got to keep working to fix this. We've got so much more to do." I see how those stories — our collection of struggles and hopes and dreams — I see how that's what drives Barack Obama every single day."

Significantly — tellingly — a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation hangs in the Oval Office. President Obama is a good, decent, and caring man with extraordinary leadership qualities, who has done his very best for us and for our nation, every single day. And his very best is the very essence of American exceptionalism. How much does Barack Obama deserve re-election? It's not even a close call, no matter what happens at the polls in November.

Tea Party Remedial Ed: How Much Do You Love And Support Our Troops?

SO MUCH THAT MITT ROMNEY BECAME THE FIRST REPUBLICAN to accept his party's nomination since 1952 without mentioning war, specifically our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — the latter, started by Bush and ended by President Obama — as nearly 80,000 U.S. troops remain in harm's way defending our country in Afghanistan.

Vice President Biden: "And tonight I want to acknowledge — I want to acknowledge, as we should every night, the incredible debt we owe to the families of those 6,473 fallen angels and those 49,746 wounded, thousands critically, thousands who will need our help for the rest of their lives.

Folks, we never — we must never, ever forget their sacrifice and always keep them in our care and in our prayers."

President Obama: "And tonight we pay tribute to the Americans who still serve in harm's way. We are forever in debt to a generation whose sacrifice has made this country safer and more respected. We will never forget you, and so long as I'm commander in chief, we will sustain the strongest military the world has ever known.

When you take off the uniform, we will serve you as well as you've served us, because no one who fights for this country should have to fight for a job or a roof over their head or the care that they need when they come home."

You see, Teabaggers, the President, the Vice President, their wives and the Democratic Party have a proud record of supporting our troops, of passing into law a "second" GI bill, extending benefits and college tuition credits to this new generation of post-9/11 veterans, and of supporting our military families. Jill Biden is a military mom. President Obama's grandfather served in Patton's Army during WWII. Not a single member of the Romney clan has ever served this nation's military. (I don't know about Ryan; nothing he says is true, anyway.)

In fact, the Romney clan is better known for running away from military conflict — whether it was to escape revolution in Mexico, or more recently Romney's father George sinking his presidential aspirations by claiming to have been "brainwashed" by the military brass in Vietnam. Meanwhile, 'Fortunate Son' Mitt participated in pro-war college demonstrations but then ran off to Paris, France as a Mormon "missionary," courtesy of DADDY, who used his influence to pull religious "exception" strings ensuring Romney's number wouldn't come up. But somebody else took his place; among thousands of unknown, unprivileged American boys who weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouths, only to have their names carved into the Vietnam Memorial wall.

For once at least, Mitt Romney, the dishonorable candidate, wasn't being a LIAR and a HYPOCRITE. As Romney's secretive convention remained silent, the Democrats paid tribute to our veterans gathered onstage with a heartfelt "THANK YOU" as they soaked in the love in the hall:

Quotable, John Kerry: Are You Better Off Now ...?

"ASK OSAMA BIN LADEN IF HE IS BETTER OFF NOW THAN HE WAS FOUR YEARS AGO." ~ Senator John Kerry skewering Mitt Romney on foreign policy: "Before you debate President Obama, you'd better finish the debate with yourself ... Mitt Romney talks like he's only seen Russia by watching Rocky IV!" (Nicely done, Senator.)

SORRY, RACHEL ...

BUT BETWEEN EZRA KLEIN AND JENNIFER GRANHOLM ... It's no contest: MUTE! Chris Hayes' bounciness is like a good silent flick, anyways.

OH, JENNIFER! (And the replay just don't match EN VIVO!)

THE BIG DOG HAS LANDED: TRUTH ROCKS THE HOUSE; BUBBA OWNS THE REPUBLICANS!

FROM ONE POTUS TO ANOTHER AND ANOTHER, THROUGH THE AGES: President John Adams famously said, “Facts are stubborn things.” And last night President Bill Clinton, addressing US GROWNUPS in the American electoral majority, reiterated this ETERNAL VERITY by invoking Reagan to call out the GOP LIARS: “As another president once said: ‘THERE THEY GO AGAIN.”

President Obama, Clinton reminded us, “inherited a deeply damaged economy, put a floor under the crash, began the long hard road to recovery, and laid the foundation for a modern, more well-balanced economy that will produce millions of good new jobs, vibrant new businesses, and lots of new wealth for the innovators.”

“President Obama started with a much weaker economy than I did. No president— not me or any of my predecessors could have repaired all the damage in just four years. But conditions are improving and if you'll renew the President's contract you will feel it.”

“Are we where we want to be? No. Is the president satisfied? No. Are we better off than we were when he took office, with an economy in free fall, losing 750,000 jobs a month. The answer is yes.” And, to put a FINE POINT ON IT, FOR THE GROWNUPS, CLINTON EMPHASIZED:

“President Obama started with a much weaker economy than I did. No president— not me or any of my predecessors could have repaired all the damage in just four years.”

“LISTEN TO ME, NOW,” said BUBBA, or as we say around here, ‘TEA PARTY REMEDIAL ED’. Memo To The LYIN’ ROMNEY CAMPAIGN: You’ll have to come up with a better EXCUSE than Romney pollster Neil Newhouse to ABC News — “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers” — BECAUSE THE FACT CHECKER-IN-CHIEF is on the job!

Let us SCORE President Obama’s record, shall we, KIDDIES:

ON PRIVATE SECTOR JOBS CREATED, DEMS v. REPUGS, 52 YEARS —

“We Democrats think the country works better with a strong middle class, real opportunities for poor people to work their way into it and a relentless focus on the future, with business and government working together to promote growth and broadly shared prosperity. We think we're all in this together is a better philosophy than you're on your own.”

• “Who's right? Well, since 1961, the Republicans have held the White House 28 years, the Democrats 24. In those 52 years, our economy produced 66 million private sector jobs. What's the jobs score? Republicans 24 million, Democrats 42 million.”

PRESIDENT OBAMA v. RYAN-ROMNEY REPUG CONGRESS —

“In 2010, as the president's recovery program kicked in, the job losses stopped and things began to turn around.

• The Recovery Act saved and created millions of jobs and cut taxes for 95 percent of the American people. In the last 29 months the economy has produced about 4.5 million private sector jobs. But last year, the Republicans blocked the president's jobs plan costing the economy more than a million new jobs. So here's another jobs score: PRESIDENT OBAMA PLUS 4.5 MILLION, CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS ZERO.

• Over that same period, more than MORE THAN 500,000 MANUFACTURING JOBS HAVE BEEN CREATED UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA— the first time manufacturing jobs have increased since the 1990s.

• The auto industry restructuring worked. IT SAVED MORE THAN A MILLION JOBS, not just at GM, Chrysler and their dealerships, but in auto parts manufacturing all over the country. That's why even auto-makers that weren't part of the deal supported it. They needed to save the suppliers too. Like I said, we're all in this together.

• Now there are 250,000 more people working in the auto industry than the day the companies were restructured. GOV. ROMNEY OPPOSED THE PLAN TO SAVE GM AND CHRYSLER. SO HERE'S ANOTHER JOBS SCORE: OBAMA 250,000, ROMNEY, ZERO.

• The agreement the administration made with management, labor and environmental groups to double car mileage over the next few years is another good deal: it will cut your gas bill in half, make us more energy independent, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and ADD ANOTHER 500,000 GOOD JOBS.”

THE KILLER B'S

 “We do need more new jobs, lots of them, but there are already more than three million jobs open and unfilled in America today, mostly because the applicants don't have the required skills. We have to prepare more Americans for the new jobs that are being created in a world fueled by new technology. That's why investments in our people are more important than ever.”

“Student loan reform lowers the cost of federal student loans and even more important, gives students the right to repay the loans as a fixed percentage of their incomes for up to 20 years. That means no one will have to drop-out of college for fear they can't repay their debt, and no one will have to turn down a job, as a teacher, a police officer or a small town doctor because it doesn't pay enough to make the debt payments. This will change the future for young Americans.

I know we're better off because President Obama made these decisions.”

RYAN WHIFFS ON JOBS — STRRRR-IIIII-KE ONE!!!

OBAMACARE —

“The Republicans call it Obamacare and say it's a government takeover of health care that they'll repeal. Are they right?

Let's look at what's happened so far:

• Individuals and businesses have secured more than a billion dollars in refunds from their insurance premiums because the new law requires 80 percent to 85 pecent of your premiums to be spent on health care, not profits or promotion. Other insurance companies have lowered their rates to meet the requirement.

• More than 3 million young people between 19 and 25 are insured for the first time because their parents can now carry them on family policies.

• Millions of seniors are receiving preventive care including breast cancer screenings and tests for heart problems.

• Soon the insurance companies, not the government, will have millions of new customers many of them middle class people with pre-existing conditions.

• And for the last two years, health care spending has grown under 4 pecent, for the first time in 50 years.

So are we all better off because President Obama fought for it and passed it? You bet we are.”

MEDICARE, ALLEGEDLY “ROBBING” IT OF $716 BILLION —

“Here's what really happened:

• There were no cuts to benefits. None.

• What the president did was save money by cutting unwarranted subsidies to providers and insurance companies that weren't making people any healthier.

• He used the saving to close the donut hole in the Medicare drug program, and to add eight years to the life of the Medicare Trust Fund.

It's now solvent until 2024. So President Obama and the Democrats didn't weaken Medicare, they strengthened it.”

RYAN WHIFFS ON MEDICARE — STRRRR-IIIII-KE TWO!!!

When he starts complaining about the STRIKE ZONE, ELVIS THE UMP SETS HIM STRAIGHT:

“When congressman Ryan looked into the TV camera and attacked President Obama's "biggest coldest power play" in raiding Medicare, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. You see, THAT $716 BILLION IS EXACTLY THE SAME AMOUNT OF MEDICARE SAVINGS CONGRESSMAN RYAN HAD IN HIS OWN BUDGET. IT TAKES A LOT OF BRASS ...”



STRRRR-IIIII-KE THREE!!! PAUL RYAN, YER OUTTA HERE!!!!

“[Mitt Romney] will re-open the donut hole and force seniors to pay more for drugs, and reduce the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by eight years. So now if he's elected and does what he promised Medicare will go broke by 2016. If that happens, you won't have to wait until their voucher program to begins in 2023 to see the end Medicare as we know it.”

ROMNEY WHIFFS ON MEDICARE — STRRRR-IIIII-KE ONE!!!

MEDICAID CUT BY ONE-THIRD —

“But it gets worse. They also want to block grant Medicaid and cut it by a third over the coming decade. Of course, that will hurt poor kids, but that's not all. Almost two-thirds of Medicaid is spent on nursing home care for seniors and on people with disabilities, including kids from middle class families, with special needs like, Down syndrome or autism. I don't know how those families are going to deal with it. We can't let it happen.”

ROMNEY WHIFFS ON MEDICAID — STRRRR-IIIII-KE TWO!!!

WELFARE WORK REQUIREMENTS —

“Now let's look at the Republican charge that President Obama wants to weaken the work requirements in the welfare reform bill I signed that moved millions of people from welfare to work.

Here's what happened. When some Republican governors asked to try new ways to put people on welfare back to work, the Obama administration said they would only do it if they had a credible plan to increase employment by 20 percent.

You hear that? More work. So the claim that President Obama weakened welfare reform's work requirement is just not true.

But they keep running ads on it. As their campaign pollster said "we're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers." Now that is true. I couldn't have said it better myself— I just hope you remember that every time you see the ad.

THE DEBT, ONE WORD: “ARITHMETIC” —

“Let's talk about the debt. We have to deal with it or it will deal with us.

• President Obama has offered a plan with $4 trillion in debt reduction over a decade, with $2 of spending reductions for every $1 of revenue increases, and tight controls on future spending. It's the kind of balanced approach proposed by the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles commission.

• The President's plan is better than the Romney plan, because the Romney plan fails the first test of fiscal responsibility: The numbers don't add up.

• It's supposed to be a debt reduction plan but it begins with $5 trillion in tax cuts over a 10-year period. That makes the debt hole bigger before they even start to dig out. They say they'll make it up by eliminating loopholes in the tax code. When you ask "which loopholes and how much?" they say, "See me after the election on that."

People ask me all the time how we delivered four surplus budgets. What new ideas did we bring? I always give a one-word answer: arithmetic. If they stay with a $5 trillion tax cut in a debt reduction plan— the— arithmetic tells us that one of three things will happen:

1) they'll have to eliminate so many deductions like the ones for home mortgages and charitable giving that middle class families will see their tax bill go up $2,000 year while people making over $3 million a year get will still get a 250,000 dollar tax cut; or

2) they'll have to cut so much spending that they'll obliterate the budget for our national parks, for ensuring clean air, clean water, safe food, safe air travel; or they'll cut way back on Pell Grants, college loans, early childhood education and other programs that help middle class families and poor children, not to mention cutting investments in roads, bridges, science, technology and medical research; or

3) they'll do what they've been doing for thirty plus years now— cut taxes more than they cut spending, explode the debt, and weaken the economy. Remember, Republican economic policies quadrupled the debt before I took office and doubled it after I left. We simply can't afford to double-down on trickle-down.

President Obama's plan cuts the debt, honors our values, and brightens the future for our children, our families and our nation.”

ROMNEY-RYAN WHIFF ON THE DEBT BIG TIME — STRRRR-IIIII-KE THREE!!!

THE BIG DOG SIGNS OFF (FOR NOW), MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:

“My fellow Americans, you have to decide what kind of country you want to live in. If you want a you're on your own, winner take all society you should support the Republican ticket. If you want a country of shared opportunities and shared responsibilities— a "we're all in it together" society, you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden. If you want every American to vote and you think it's wrong to change voting procedures just to reduce the turnout of younger, poorer, minority and disabled voters, you should support Barack Obama. If you think the president was right to open the doors of American opportunity to young immigrants brought here as children who want to go to college or serve in the military, you should vote for Barack Obama. If you want a future of shared prosperity, where the middle class is growing and poverty is declining, where the American Dream is alive and well, and where the United States remains the leading force for peace and prosperity in a highly competitive world, you should vote for Barack Obama.

I love our country— and I know we're coming back. For more than 200 years, through every crisis, we've always come out stronger than we went in. And we will again as long as we do it together. We champion the cause for which our founders pledged their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor— to form a more perfect union.”

And so, Teabagger kiddies: To mix my sports metaphors: GAME; SET; AND MATCH — DEMOCRATS! But wait — the best is yet to come: TONIGHT, TONIGHT ...